New cars are crammed full of the kind of performance, convenience and safety technology that buyers could have only dreamed about at the turn of the millennium, let alone back in the 1970s and ‘80s. But has that extra gadgetry made our new cars more expensive?
Clearly the physical numbers on those prices are bigger in 2021, but what happens when you adjust the prices of the old timers for inflation to level the playing field? We’ve used the US Inflation Calculator to compare the prices of 10 new cars with their ancestors to see if our own ancestors got a better deal.
1990 Mazda Miata Vs 2021 Mazda MX-5 Miata
Mazda’s reboot of the classic British sports car concept went down a storm when it hit the market in 1989. The sweet chassis balance and revvy naturally aspirated 1.6-liter motor got plenty of praise, and it was considered a bargain at $13,800.
But the $13,800 a bare-bones Miata cost back in 1990 equates to $28,423 in 2021, meaning the new car is in even better value in real terms. And that’s without factoring in the new version’s extra 65 hp, or the alloy wheels, air conditioning, stereo and leather-wrapped steering wheel, which cost nearly $2000 extra in ’90, but are standard on the newbie.
1990 Mazda Miata price when new: $13,800
1990 price converted to 2021 cash: $28,423
2021 Mazda MX-5 Miata new price: $26,830
1969 Lamborghini Miura S Vs 2020 Lamborghini Aventador S
The model that that invented the modern supercar could touch 170 mph (273 km/h) and looked like a millions bucks. Which it might as well have cost given that it came with a £19,250 sticker at a time when the average U.S. house cost $17,000 and the median household income was $8,734.
Fast forward to 2021 and the Aventador S’s $421,321 price means most of us are no nearer to owning a new V12 Lamborghini. In fact, when you run the numbers, we’re actually much further away, because that $19,250 corrects to $133,560 today, making the Aventador almost $300,000 more expensive than its great, great granddad.
1970 Lamborghini Miura S price when new: $19,250
1969 price converted to 2020 cash: $133,568
2020 Lamborghini Aventador S new price: $421,321
1987 BMW M5 Vs 2021 BMW M5
There had been fast four-doors before the M5, but the mix of M1 supercar motor and sober sedan styling made this one a real benchmark. U.S. versions came exclusively in black and fitted with a slightly detuned 256 hp straight-six (verses 282 hp for the Euro cars) that took them to 60 mph (96 km/h) in 6.7 seconds. That was solid performance for 1987, and you’d hope so for $43,500.
With almost 2.5 times the power of the original and selectable four-wheel drive to key it into the pavement, the latest 617 hp M5 rips to 60 mph in less than half the time its ancestor needed. But incredibly, it costs almost exactly the same: $103,500 for the new car against $103,081 for the inflation-corrected original. There was no M5 CS option in the greed-is-good era, but if you’re feeling greedy today, the 627 hp 2022 M5 CS is going to cost $142,995.
1987 BMW M5 price when new: $38,500
1987 BMW M5 price converted to 2021 cash: $103,081
2021 BMW M5 new price: $103,500
1999 Chevrolet Corvette C5 Vs 2021 Chevrolet Corvette C8
Chevy’s new-for-1998 fifth-gen Corvette introduced a new transaxle layout, just like on Porsche’s 944 and 928, to improve handling, and the legendary LS1 V8 whose 345 hp would hurl you to 60 mph in 4.8 seconds, according to Road & Track’s test numbers. The number your Chevy dealer wanted to see you write on your check was $38,500.
Plenty has changed for the Corvette since 1999, most of it in the last couple of years. The Corvette is mid-engined these days, and its base 490 hp V8 is connected to an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission. But there’s been little movement in the price. Corrected for inflation the old car cost $2,588 more than the new one.
1998 Chevrolet Corvette C5 price when new: $38,500
1998 Chevrolet Corvette C5 price converted to 2021 cash: $63,583
2021 Chevrolet Corvette C8 new price: $60,995
1982 Ford Mustang GT 302 Vs 2021 Ford Mustang GT
It sounds laughable now, but pony car fans were so starved of performance at the dawn of the 1980s that they were foaming at the mouth when Ford dropped a 160 hp 302-cube (5.0-liter) into the Fox body Mustang to create the 1982 GT. Zero to 60 mph in 7 seconds was worth shouting about in the smog era, and the $8,308 price was a small one to pay.
Particularly small when you crunch the numbers and discover that $8,308 equates to just $23,175 in 2021 cash. Suddenly, the current Mustang GT at over $37k in its most basic form doesn’t look so appealing, although we like the idea of the additional 300 ponies in its stable.
1982 Ford Mustang GT 302 price when new: $8308
1982 Ford Mustang GT 302 price converted to 2021 cash: $23,175
2021 Ford Mustang GT new price: $37,480
Comparing these five cars with their ancestors we were amazed to see such huge differences in their inflation-corrected prices. While the Mazda Miata, BMW M5 and C5 Corvette cost the same today in relative terms as they did when first introduced, the modern Mustang appears surprisingly expensive, and the Lamborghini has more than tripled in price.
Let us know if you enjoyed this post and we’ll crunch some more numbers to uncover some more car-price heroes and villains.