A test for young people

Googlegroups is bad enough without that site.

Wes

$0.189 1969, Tucson, AZ during a gas war. I also had a MG Midget, a '62 Roadster, with the same tank capacity and I filled it up for under a buck! The little 948cc engine in that peanut chassis gave me over 30mpg. I probably could have gotten much better if I didn't drive it like it had a 1 bit digital (on & off) gas pedal. Art

About $0.229 in Las Vegas in the early sixties.

Steve

I had a 1275cc (1967) and got better mileage than that. The main reason was that I swapped out the standard 4.22 rear end for the optional 3.727. Then I had another one for hillclimbs -- maybe 5.11? I forget.

Anyway, I could do 75 on the highway without overrevving, with the 3.727, and I got about 34 mpg at 65.

I don't know what rear end was in mine. Did you have the deluxe model with a gas gauge, roll up windows, and an outside door handle? Mine was pretty much the base ragtop with no extras. I still have the old title and it shows a list price of $1395. I bought it used in Jun '67 for $250. Art

Yeah, I had the Mk III, same as the Mk IV AH Sprite, and which was the last one with an MG engine (they switched to the 1300cc Triumph Spitfire engine after that). It had roll-up windows, a real folding top, and a door handle. I also had the knock-off wheels. The price I paid new, which was a lot lower than list, was $2365 in '67.

I raced it in low-key SCCA club racing and hillclimbed it at Traverse City, MI, and Giant's Despair, PA. I also raced it on the ice at Rose Lake, MI. And I drove it back and forth between NJ and MI for a few years when I was in college.

I think I had more fun with it than any other car I've owned. And it was very reliable. One morning when it was 15 below, near Boyne Highlands, MI, it was the only car in the lot that would start (I had a Sears DieHard battery in it that was wider, and almost as long, as the engine. ) It was funny to jump-start Cadillacs and pickup trucks all morning. d8-)

I have paid 1 cent - or $.01 per gallon in a gas war back in 57. I was young and was buying gas in a gallon can for the mix oil & gas 2-cycle mower! OTH that 4 cycles came out! I handed the guy at the Chevron station a dollar bill and got back a bunch of change. Mom, who sent me, was surprised and we notified Dad to buy a tank asap.

Mart> >>> 7. What is the cheapest price you can remember for gas?

On Fri, 29 Jan 2010 13:19:28 -0800, the infamous Winston scrawled the following:

My first home away from home was Phoenix in '71. I filled up my '68 Ford Ranch Wagon there at $0.213 per gallon. The wagon worked well with my suitcoat for the, get this, drive-thru liquor stores.

-- It is in his pleasure that a man really lives; it is from his leisure that he constructs the true fabric of self. -- Agnes Repplier

There was a war like that in the late '80s northwest of Toronto. The lowest I ever paid was $0.299 at the Anglo station on Hwy.#28 just north of Peterbrough in 1958. Those were the days when we could cash in the pop bottles in the back seat and get enough gas to cruise on Saturday night. Gerry :-)} London, Canada

I could buy a gallon of gas *today* for only 56c if I could just find one of those 1971 dollars.

--Winston

Fortunatley gas is not included when calculating inflation so your 1971 dollar is still worth a dollar according to the government.

Best Regards Tom.

It got so bad in Kokomo with the gas wars, that one station owner saw that his competitor was selling way below his cost. The gent borrowed a tanker truck and drove over for a fill up.

Needless to say, the competitor didn't want to sell but once the police showed up, he did.

Wes

18.9 cents per gallon for premium in 1973 in Daleville Alabama. It was 12.9 cents per gallon on base without the federal & state taxes.

competitor

up, he did.

Stations are not allowed to sell below cost in Florida.

And, what business is it, of government, to set prices for the market? Yes, they do it all the time. But, I don't belive I've seen it in the Constitution where they are given the authority.

They aren't setting prices, they're saying you can't let your large operation run at a loss until the competing small operations go out of business.

David

Neither of those statements is correct, Tom. Actually, gas *is* included in the basic measure of inflation (CPI-U). The figures Iggy posted last night include gas -- which inflated by 53% last year.

Without fuel or food, inflation last year was 1.7%. With fuel and food, it was 2.7%. But food prices actually *declined* by 2.4%. All of the difference between the 1.7% and 2.7% was gasoline prices, which is a function of politics and the economies of foreign governments as much as ours. That's why some measures don't include it. It's misleading for some kinds of policy analysis.

Which country's constitution are you reading, Chris?

What Michael is talking about is a function of Florida's constitution, not the US Constitution. But the federal government can set intrastate prices, and, in some cases, in-state prices. See the commerce clause (Article 1, Section 8, clause 3).

Intra, inter -- sorry about that. I should have said "interstate" prices. In other words, Congress can set prices between states. In some cases, they can set prices *within* states.