mr peters takes us to a place many of you don't remember;

 

 Cue up 1979 (which came out in 1995) by the Smashing Pumpkins – and take a look at what car shopping was like in 1979. It is surreal to watch this, given the reality we live in, today. It was just another commercial, back then. One of countless many that came on while you were watching Star Trek or Rockford Files re-runs. As a kid, I must have watched hundreds of them. I didn’t think much, if anything, about them – because they were just commercials and this was just normal background stuff, back in ’79. 

Normalcy defined in this context as brand-new cars priced under $5,000. Not on the low-end. Not the “shitboxes,” as Brock Yates referred to cars such as the Chevy Chevette, the Ford Pinto and the various little Japanese cars that abounded back then. Five grand bought you a large sedan or personal luxury coupe, such as the Ford Thunderbird you see in this old commercial. How about a full-size station wagon? Three grand (or less) is what a shitbox cost. The Pinto? Two grand, when it first came out. Only a little more than the cost of set of new tires for the ’22 “rims” on a 2026 model year SUV...........more........