Quote from: NARSES2 on February 26, 2024, 07:04:48 AMOnly car I've bought in my life (it's the eyesight you see, or not as the case may be  ) was a Triumph Spitfire Mk III (might have been IV) convertable for my then wife's  21st birthday present and it cost £450. How times change 

Yes, but what was your annual income back then?

The Triumph Spitfire Mk III goes for 30x-40x that, now!

Quote from: Old Wombat on February 26, 2024, 09:05:39 AM

Quote from: NARSES2 on February 26, 2024, 07:04:48 AMOnly car I've bought in my life (it's the eyesight you see, or not as the case may be  ) was a Triumph Spitfire Mk III (might have been IV) convertable for my then wife's  21st birthday present and it cost £450. How times change 

Yes, but what was your annual income back then?

If memory serves somewhere around £4,000 (Our first house cost £12k and my max mortgage was 3 x my salary, so £4k's about right) and yes I fully understand inflation over the intervening years, it's just the size of the numbers now never cease to shock me.

Quote from: frank2056 on February 26, 2024, 09:39:32 AMThe Triumph Spitfire Mk III goes for 30x-40x that, now!

Out of interest I just had a look. £16,000 here in the UK for one in good condition. So yes 35 times as much

I bought a Hillman Husky, the Imp Estate, in 1977 and it cost me £350 then. Nowadays there are only about a dozen left on the DVLA register and only 6 on the road.

One of them is for sake at £21000........................ 

Quote from: NARSES2 on February 27, 2024, 05:23:31 AM

Quote from: frank2056 on February 26, 2024, 09:39:32 AMThe Triumph Spitfire Mk III goes for 30x-40x that, now!

Out of interest I just had a look. £16,000 here in the UK for one in good condition. So yes 35 times as much

You should really consider inflation in that. What did you pay for a cinema ticket back then, and what's such a ticket today, for comparison?

Quote from: Pellson on February 27, 2024, 06:28:30 AM

Quote from: NARSES2 on February 27, 2024, 05:23:31 AM

Quote from: frank2056 on February 26, 2024, 09:39:32 AMThe Triumph Spitfire Mk III goes for 30x-40x that, now!

Out of interest I just had a look. £16,000 here in the UK for one in good condition. So yes 35 times as much

You should really consider inflation in that. What did you pay for a cinema ticket back then, and what's such a ticket today, for comparison?

Oh very much so. The problem is that inflation in the UK went up to ridiculous levels in the early 70's (at one point we were getting 2/3 pay rises a week. Kit will probably remember) and it's very, very difficult to find any solid, official data. We also decimalised which screwed things    The comparison I remember is that a pint of bitter was 1/11 a pint (approx. 10p) and now it's anywhere between £3.40 and £7 in London, excluding Wetherspoons. So take a reasonable figure of £5 a pint and you get an increase of 50 times. 

Complete change of subject!  Today in Leominster, I saw a chap wearing a green sweatshirt with a picture of an old Land Rover  LWB, with the slogan  "Never, ever, underestimate the determination of a man with a Land Rover".   If I see him again, I'll ask where he got it ;  I think it would suit you nicely!

And yes, Chris, I too can remember pints of bitter at two shillings.........except in Carlisle at the time it was Government beer, and very palatable too..  Full story here:- https://historicengland.org.uk/research/current/discover-and-understand/military/first-world-war-home-front/land/state-control-of-pubs/

I can remember feeling seriously worried how we'd afford to live when petrol went up to 5/- per gallon, maybe in 1967 or so?

That's Imperial gallons of course............

Quote from: Rheged on February 28, 2024, 02:57:20 PMAnd yes, Chris, I too can remember pints of bitter at two shillings.........except in Carlisle at the time it was Government beer, and very palatable too..  Full story here:- https://historicengland.org.uk/research/current/discover-and-understand/military/first-world-war-home-front/land/state-control-of-pubs/

I do have a memory of that brewery, beer wasn't bad, difficult to get drunk on, but not bad.   

ISTR the price of Mars Bars was a reliable inflation marker.

Quote from: zenrat on February 29, 2024, 02:45:52 AMISTR the price of Mars Bars was a reliable inflation marker.

And the diminishing size of Wagon Wheels too.....................

Quote from: PR19_Kit on February 29, 2024, 03:52:23 AM

Quote from: zenrat on February 29, 2024, 02:45:52 AMISTR the price of Mars Bars was a reliable inflation marker.

And the diminishing size of Wagon Wheels too.....................

Most everything is diminishing, except price.

It's termed "shrinkflation". The price goes up-&-up-&-up. Then the price drops to "last years price", while the product reduces in size unannounced, & then the price goes up-&-up-&-up. Etc. Etc.

Somehow I feel more comfortable with shrinkflatiin that the combined discussion of beer and imperial gallons.. 

Life in general seems a bit underdimensioned, leaving no time for anything relaxing at all. Well - it's just to lean forward, I guess, and plod on. End of next week might see some air in the scheme, so it should be survivable. Onwards!