$2.50/gal for gasoline is still a ripoff.
In 1966, gasoline cost $0.32 a gallon, and gold was $35 an ounce. This morning in AZ, gasoline costs $2.19 a gallon, or just under 7 times more, while gold is $1268 an ounce, or just over 36 times more. In terms of what the dollar is worth, we should be paying about $13/gal--I'm not advocating this by any means, just pointing out how much more it cost 50 years ago to buy gas than it does today.
P.S. I lived in Japan in the late 60s: on base, the gas price was $0.15, while the Japanese paid, IIRC, the exorbitant price of about $0.50/gal.