Weedsport, New York. July 1972.




Wayland, New York. July 15, 1976.




One more. July 1, 1973. Grand Rapids, Michigan.

 

would somebody please build a time machine!!!

 

Taking inflation into account, gas in 1976 was $2.58 per gallon in today's dollars.

 

 

Yeah, $2.59 is about what regular gas is running here today. We don't seem to realize just how spoiled we got from the late '80s until the early '00s when gas prices were so artificially low.

 

Keep in mind there is more tax on gasoline today than there was in 1976. If you adjusted it on a before tax basis it may not even keep up with inflation. We are fortunate to be paying +/- $2.50 a gallon.

 

In the UK in 1973 Gas was around 90c per gallon at the contemporary exchange rates......

Roger.

 

Flame on:
I do understand that a portion of the federal gas tax goes for transportation infrastructure improvements, including roads. What bugs me are the electric and hybrid people, "saving the environment" while driving on roads that I paid for. Somehow, there has to be a tax or a fee for the glutton free, hummus eating Prius drivers. Have you noticed that they won't put their foot on the pedal, because it will start the engine?

I apologize.
Flame off.

 

Two comments:

1. Have you actually ever driven a Prius? I got one as a rental car once, and after about 5 minutes figuring out how to use it, I fell in love with it over the week we had it. It really is a tremendous piece of technology and engineering. It's too bad they've developed such a bad reputation based on the type of people who typically buy one.

2. I agree completely about the gas tax problem. The fairest way to fix this would be to impose some kind of "mileage tax" where you pay a road tax based on how many miles you drive each month or year or whatever. Nothing could be fairer in terms of "those who use the roads pay for the roads" reasoning. But no one wants to have their driving habits monitored to that extent. The thing about a gas tax, which was also a good measure of actual road use until non-gas-using vehicles came along, is that it is paid anonymously.

 

Some states do exactly what you're saying. North Carolina charges a $100 per year fee for fully electric vehicles that don't drink 'dinosaur juice' to offset the gas tax they aren't paying. Hybrids like the Prius or my mom's Buick LaCrosse hybrid are exempt from the fee since they do use some gasoline. I personally have mixed feelings about that $100 fee because part of me thinks drivers of battery electrics should be rewarded for not adding to atmospheric pollution. Like it or not, 'electrified' cars (hybrids and battery electrics) are the future. It's going to happen in Europe faster than here, but it is inevitable.

 

Just out of curiosity, where does the electricity to recharge the batteries in these all-electric cars come from? Unless it's from solar, wind, geothermal, or nuclear, it's from burning fossil fuels (coal or natural gas).

I also never liked this all or nothing concept that if a car isn't zero emission, it's not helping the environment at all. A high mpg gas-engine car is still helping the environment over a less fuel-efficient car. There are many ways to help the environment. Driving an all-electric car is just one of them. It's not the only one.

What if I sold my car and used only public transportation to get around? Surely that's helping. Should I get a tax credit for that?

 

I graduated high school in 1972 and I can remember when we had those gas wars the regular gasoline was 17 cents. They would pump the gas, check the oil, check the air and wipe your windows. I had a 66 mustang that my big brother had given me when I got to the 11th grade. But one thing I do remember during those years was very seldom would I see a car get 75k without having either a head job or ring job. Looking back I think the leaded gas was causing the valves to burnout.

 

Is that a Buick? The green one?

 

It sure looks like one. More specifically, a '62 Invicta or LeSabre? The taillights I'm not sure because the green car appears to have red lenses all the way across while the two '62s have a white inboard lens, but certainly the front fender has sculpting that looks like a Buick. Weren't backup lights still an option on some cars back then? Perhaps the green car didn't have that option while the two cars in the brochure images would be more likely to show available options.

The wrap-around of the front bumper, the rear-wheel cutout, and the roofline all look right, too.

 

Electric cars have remote exhaust pipes.

 

You could be right on the optional equipment or being that the photo was taken in New York, it could be a Canadian car. I had a Canadian spec. '68 VW Beetle when I was in high school that didn't have backup lights or various other pieces of safety equipment like high-backed front seats, three-point seat belts, and padded dashboard that were standard on the American spec. '68 Bugs.

 

Another possibility is that the green car is a '62 Buick Electra 225. The Electra had red lights all the way across the back with the back-up lights between the red lights on each side.

The back end of this car, a '62 Electra, looks more like the back end of the green car.

 

And gorgeous as 62 Buicks are, at the time it was just a 10 year old out of style used car.

My high school guidance counselor was still driving her 1955 Roadmaster in 1974. She showed a bunch of us how to start it one afternoon. Mrs Lantor never knew how much influence that one little act had on five gearhead boys.

I'm a firm believer in a road use tax for electric/hybrid vehicles. They put wear and tear on the roads same as any other vehicle. I wish these towns who put in dedicated bicycle lanes would figure a way for bicyclists to contribute to road upkeep too, or at the very least teach them how to share the damn road. Bicyclists should know better than to travel three-wide in a traffic lane.

 

Regarding taxing vehicles for miles driven, I read many years ago that regular vehicles cause very, very little wear and tear to roads, whereas large trucks cause the most wear and tear. And guess what? Those large trucks pay the least taxes for roadway maintenance. Think about that before you petition for electric/hybrid vehicles to "pay their fair share".

 

Those are a lot cleaner now too, but power generation can never be "zero-emission". Whatever is used to produce it, you are going to have some byproduct. I shudder to think how end-of-life solar panels will be handled. Simply put, not every component of a solar panel can be recycled.

 

When I began driving in 1969 I paid 0.39/gal premium and my 67 4-4-2 drank gas like a sump pump.

 

It's the principle of the thing, Kenneth. They're getting upfront tax breaks for buying one and again by not paying fuel tax. My 17mpg F150 is paying its share. They should too, especially the smug, self-righteous, sanctimonious ones.

The rural mail carrier here is on her 2nd hybrid but the nature of her driving requires that gas engine to start frequently. So she's paying at least some fuel tax. Until winter anyway when she switches to a 4wd and she pays a lot!😄

States with annual safety and emissions inspections could easily calculate a miles-driven tax without getting into monitoring driving habits, but we know they'd want to use technology to do it. My issue is, living right on the state line as I do, I drive as much in NC as I do in Virginia. Am I to pay such a tax to both states? Or to pay it in any state I may travel to?

Since VA jacked up its gas tax July 1, gas prices are now about the same in both states. Before, VA gas was 20c cheaper per gallon so I wasn't paying my share to use NC roads. Lot of NC folks would come to VA for gas, so they weren't either, though they did contribute to VA road upkeep.

Can you see how this could become a logistical nightmare?

 

I've bought plenty of Sunoco 260 and Phillips 66 Flite-Fuel for 35c/gallon. Note I said "plenty". 66 442 had an appetite...

 

I've got an idea that may help everyone pay their "fair share". I would suggest that bicycles pay a one-time road tax on the purchase of a new bike. Once it's paid, it's done. $15-20-25, whatever. I wouldn't make bikes "register" with the state every year. This way, the bike riders that drive around on the streets help pay for the roads, the gas burners help pay for the roads (double whack around here as you pay a registration road maintenance fee as well as the road fees inserted into the gas taxes). If memory serves, everyone pays the road maintenance fee on the registration around here, so if it's got a plate, it's got a road maintenance fee paid.

When I was just getting out of high school, I got a job working as a pump jockey at the local Standard/Amoco station. It was in April, 1979, and had JUST purchased my Sienna 1971 442 from the 2nd owner. So when I got to work, I parked it away from everyone else. Then I took a picture of it with my old Polaroid.

Then in July 2007, on the way back home from visiting my Dad, I wasn't in any of the 442s, I stopped in to fill up my then-fairly-new 2006 GMC truck. On a whim, I recalled that old photo and I decided to "re-create" the photo years later- this time with a digital camera.

Here they are.




Of course, that was just before the huge gas crunch of 1979 took hold....then by summer it looked more like this all around the country: