USA cars were VERY cheap in the 1980's

tgray, Jan 1, 6:23am
In 1988 I bought a 1976 6600cc Plymouth Fury from a car dealer in LA for $150 (really!).
He had a sign on the windscreen for $250 which I thought was very cheap and I had the cheek to offer him $150, which he accepted.
Me and a mate then travelled around the States for 6 months and then dumped the car at the end of our travels.
It was a pretty cool car. 2 doors, 17 ft long (from memory) and not the fastest V8 around, but proved reliable all the same.
Some happy memories of those days.

westwyn, Jan 1, 6:32am
Ha ha- inflation, eh? In 1994 I bought a 1977 Chevrolet Caprice Classic 9-passenger Woody wagon in San Mateo for $750, a one-owner car in super-nice condition apart from the a/c not working (which was to almost prove a Waterloo moment later in my trip), did around 15,000 miles in it before selling it on the side of the street in New York City on 103rd and Amsterdam for $300- complete with camping gear, some 3 months later. I'd specifically targeted a GM car with a 350 and turbo 400 auto, knowing I could get parts for it anywhere in the lower 48 and Canada. Epic fun!

socram, Jan 1, 7:15am
How about an ex works 250GTO Ferrari in about 1963, for possibly $10,000 - now worth well north of 20 million.

lookoutas, Jan 1, 7:27am
Know a guy who did a deal on a 73 Mustang for $300.
Went out to the car and got some tools - took the bonnet off and left the rest there, leaving a gobsmacked yank standing there wondering what he was going to do with the car.

marte, Jan 1, 4:56pm
I could have got a '72 Roadrunner (or Superbee?)
For $10,000 at the Pawn shop in Chch in '87
Bright yellow.

Still wish I had. Beautiful car.

glang, Jan 1, 6:01pm
Back in the 1980 I bought a house in Wainuiomata, Wellington for $25,000. At the same time the car yard at the end of the street had a beautiful '67 Pontiac Firebird convertible for sale at 8 grand. The house is worth at least 10x that now, not sure if the Firebird is.

buyit59, Jan 1, 9:55pm
Sold a nice tidy 66 Buick Electra in mid 80's for $6,000 and have just bought an ugly but tidy 69 Electra ( yea mid life crisis ! ) for 3 times that . can't understand why I did it but I love it . But the house I bought in mid 80s for $28,000 has increased by much more than 3 times. sold 6 years ago for $310,000 .

tgray, Jan 2, 1:28am
In 1991, I bought a 1971 cherry red Ford Mustang Fastback from Arizona for $1250. Absolutely mint condition.
Shipped it to NZ and sold it a year later for $10,500 to a young lady.
3 weeks after I sold it, I saw it in a car yard in Takapuna with $9,995 on the window. The salesman said the lady couldn't handle it and traded it in for a Toyota. I offered him $8500 for it on the spot and he said it's mine if he doesn't sell it by the end of the week. Went back then and it was sold - For $9995.
Would be worth around $40,000 now.

marte, Apr 1, 5:06pm
en and it was sold - For $9995.
Would be worth around $40,000 now.[/quote]

I honestlybthink it would have cost near $25,000 to rstore it for that amount of time.

It a house pays for itself over that time.