Wow, is that ever a great piece of the car's history. Makes me laugh that they charge extra money for a powerglide. It would have likely cost GM more to build that car with a 4spd.
According to an online inflation calculator $4680 in 1966 dollars is $31903 in today's dollars. That's about right for an average new car.
That is interesting Todd. I don't think that translation works in terms of purchasing power. I used to go with my old man every time he bought a car and he rarely cracked $3,000. He had a new 65 Laurentian that he paid just under $3,000. As someone old enough to remember living back then $4,600 was an aweful lot of money. For 25 cents we could get a bottle of Coke, bag of chips and a bag full of penny candy, which in many cases was sold two for a penny.
A quick on line search shows the following for 1966.
Average Cost of new house $14,200.00 Average Income per year $6,900.00 Gas per Gallon 32 cents Average Cost of a new car $2,650.00
I think the thing is the relativity of what that $4,680 represented. The Grande Parisienne was not an average car, it was Top of the Line and according to what I found it was almost twice as expensive as the average car. My first real job in 1975 paid $90 per week.
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Ray White, Toronto ON
Formerly - The one and only 1973 LeMans 454 "Astro-Jet"
