Back In The Days Of Cheap Gasoline

[68 Ford Stepside]

The price in this photo seems cheap now, but people back then probably thought it was too high.

[kf7mjf]

Assuming a year of 1940 for that pic we get $3.16 adjusted for inflation

[Calfdemon]

I don't feel like I am that old (don't we all say that?) and I remember buying gas when it was under $1. What I don't get is I started driving in 1986 and gas was under a dollar until around 1988-1989. It took THAT many years of motor vehicles and gasoline to reach the $1 mark.. Here we are only 24 years later and gas is anywhere from $4 to $5 a gallon... Does that mean in another 24 years, gas will be $16-$20 a gallon? Enjoy your old cars and trucks now, because they wont be on the road much longer at this rate.. No one will be able to afford to even start them up!

(My price/year reference is from So. California)

[Kurt Combs]

I remember 28 cents a gallon, I believe it was 1970, but it might have been 1969. That was the best price at a gas station in Santa Rosa, Calif. (that was the abbreviation then). At that gas station you bought tokens and put them in the pump to buy your gasoline. I don't remember what happened when you put in too many, they probably kept the change.

[68 Ford Stepside]

Here is what I will never understand. I can drive fifteen miles south & gas will be $3.27. Seven miles west $3.09. Seventeen miles northwest $2.98. Twenty miles North $3.47. Also I can drive toward Augusta through Beech Island. Beech Island will be $3.02 & five miles away in Augusta it will be $3.47. Seems like there should be a standard price across the state, no matter where you are. It will take someone a whole lot smarter than me to figure out how it all works.

[Calfdemon]

I would LOVE to find gas in the $3 range.. Thanks to all the taxes in California, the cheapest you can find gas (at least in LA County) is over $4 for the cheap stuff.

[ScottT80]

Until the Thanksgiving price increase yesterday, 87 octane was $2.96 at some places here in Spartanburg and $2.91 at Sams and Costco. Gas is the only thing that fluctuates so much daily or from one side of town to the other.

I distinctly remember gas here being in the .85-.95 a gallon in the late 80's prior to the first Gulf war. Then it stayed around $1.00 to $1.25 for years.

[68 Ford Stepside]

I've always assumed gasoline taxes were used to repair or repave our roads. Considering how sorry many of our roads are today, the gas taxes must be going to some other project.

[1972hiboy]

I would LOVE to find gas in the $3 range.. Thanks to all the taxes in California, the cheapest you can find gas (at least in LA County) is over $4 for the cheap stuff.

Agreed. it just dipped below 4 bucks a few days ago.

[kf7mjf]

I can get it around 3.20 with a little shopping

[wildcard]

Regular gas is $3.12 here in East Texas. Diesel is $3.79.

[68 Ford Stepside]

Regular gas is $3.12 here in East Texas. Diesel is $3.79.

Considering how much oil is pumped out of the ground in Texas, gas should cost Texans about 12 cents a gallon.

[SoCalExile]

I'd be happy with them getting rid of the ethanol.

[flyboy2610]

I remember the big kerfuffle that went on when gas first topped $1.00/gallon and everyone still had analog pumps. Some places taped a 1 in front of the numbers!
Doesn't seem like it was 32 years ago. But gas first hit $1 in 1980.

[ScottT80]

I too would love it if they got rid of the ethanol.