The first Corvettes sold for around $3700. My dear old Dad told me when he bought his 1959 Impala convertible with a 348, nicely loaded he paid around $3200. He joked that in those days anyone who spent more than 3k on a Chevy could be declared legally insane.
My dad’s first new car was a $1,600 1956 Chevy. He probably could have bought two of them for the $3,000 your dad mentioned. Your dad must have really wanted to waste his money. The ‘56 even had a heater and rubber floor mats, though no radio.