My first new car was a 1979 Ford Fairmont, stripped down. $3688.00.
Looked up what that translates to today:
$3,688 in 1979 is worth $16,457.62 today.
Interestingly, my new 1986 Ford Thunderbird Elan (loaded out) was just about $16,500.00 at the time. Looked that up, too.
$16,500 in 1986 is worth $48,773.76 today
“My first new car was a 1979 Ford Fairmont”
My sympathies. There wasn’t much available in 1979.