What’s up R&T 1984? Hindsight sucks!

What the heck - Nissan is advertising "Radials" as in Radial tires in 1984?

$19,000 for an Alfa?  I'll take the Rabbit for $8,350.

Should've bought a Shelby but finishing college and making $4.35/hour wasn't going to swing it.  
 

Adjusted for inflation, that makes the equivalent cost of those cars today...

Alfa - $57,000

Dodge - $26,000

VW - $25,000

Shelby GT - $48,000

For contrast, a new Alfa Romeo Giulia starts at $45,000. So you can now get a *nicer* car for less.

You'd be on your fourth set of rusty Cragars by now.

In reply to Beer Baron :

What's the new Gti at? $31,000?

Sort of kept close, I guess. 

My dad told me when he was younger he worked at a gas station and one day a GT500 on four different tires rolled in. It was for sale and it was really cheap. 
 

He didn't buy it. 

Datsun310Guy said:

In reply to Beer Baron :

What's the new Gti at? $31,000?

Sort of kept close, I guess. 

An '84 would probably fit inside a '23 with the hatch closed.

Whether this is good or bad is a matter of opinion, but it is inarguable that something has been lost along the way.

Radial tires on domestic vehicles were only a decade or so old at that point...  I didn't buy a radial tire for anything until my first set of Radial TA's in about 1980

In reply to Streetwiseguy :

You could still buy bias ply and bias belted tires from Sears, too.

I wonder what the last non special interest passenger car bias ply tires were in North America.  Meaning, no truck tires, no boggers, no drag slicks, no road race, etc, just generic tires for your old Fairlane.

I remember an R&T classified ad from around 1980, someone was selling a Lamborghini 350 GT for $6,000 or so.

Beer Baron said:

Adjusted for inflation, that makes the equivalent cost of those cars today...

Alfa - $57,000

Dodge - $26,000

VW - $25,000

Shelby GT - $48,000

For contrast, a new Alfa Romeo Giulia starts at $45,000. So you can now get a *nicer* car  

 Those Mustangs would be $47000 In today's dollar according to https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/1984?amount=16000

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

In reply to Streetwiseguy :

You could still buy bias ply and bias belted tires from Sears, too.

 

I wonder what the last non special interest passenger car bias ply tires were in North America.  Meaning, no truck tires, no boggers, no drag slicks, no road race, etc, just generic tires for your old Fairlane.

I was wondering about the last vehicle to come from the factory on bias ply tires.  Probably a 2500 series truck on 16.5's, late 70's?  

In reply to Streetwiseguy :

Apparently, Novas came with bias belted tires in 1979. 

My memory is fuzzy, weren't bias belted tires an attempt to make cheap radial-like carcasses by sticking a tread-only layer or two in a bias ply tire?  Knowing how bias ply tires work, that seems like either a bad idea that would actually increase losses, or I'm mistaken on how a bias belted worked.

I was running Hoosier Street T.D.'s on my 1974 ITC class Toyota Corolla in the early 90's.  It had Yokohama A008's when we bought it, and we switched the next year.  I had never driven a car on bias ply tires before.  Took a little getting used to the slip angle required.

spandak said:

My dad told me when he was younger he worked at a gas station and one day a GT500 on four different tires rolled in. It was for sale and it was really cheap. 
 

He didn't buy it. 

I know someone who traded his GT500 even for a new pinto 

Streetwiseguy said:

Radial tires on domestic vehicles were only a decade or so old at that point...  I didn't buy a radial tire for anything until my first set of Radial TA's in about 1980

 

I had Michelin XWX radials on my '65 Mustang in the 1970's but grandpa owned a tire store...

Streetwiseguy said:

I was wondering about the last vehicle to come from the factory on bias ply tires.  Probably a 2500 series truck on 16.5's, late 70's?  

My J20 came with 9.50x16.5 bias ply tires (probably Goodyear Custom Xtra-Grip) in 1985.

As far as passenger car tires go, I couldn't say, but I remember my dad making small talk with old-timers who would often ask whether our new '79 Accord had such novel features as radial tires, a five-speed, front wheel drive, etc.