Inflation has caused many household items, food, travel, homes and vehicles to sky rocket. This graphic from titlemax.com breaks down the price of popular vehicles over the years and how much they would cost with adjusted inflation.
Starting in 1914 with the Ford Model T, people got their first taste of a consumer vehicle they could actually afford. Once more and more Americans were able to afford vehicles, a numbered highway system was introduced. In 1908 the Model T would have cost you $825. Adjusted for inflation, that would be around $24,835 today. Looking back through history, this chart takes the most popular cars from 1950 to 2020 along with their price in 2020 dollars.
The Dodge Coronet was an inexpensive and popular choice for families in the 1950’s costing just over $10,000 with inflation. Just two years later in 1952 the Buick Roadmaster would be the most popular choice but came with a much higher price tag, costing $33,124.00 today.
The Jeep Dispatcher would take over in 1956 costing only just over 13 thousand dollars. It wasn’t until 1961 that the first popular sports car, the Jaguar E-Type would hit the streets with an eye watering price tag of over $52,000 dollars today. The 60’s were also a popular time for the Volkswagen Beetle which was the most popular car in 1966 costing buyers only $12,660 in today’s dollars. One of the most popular cars of the 70’s was the Chevy Monte Carlo which had a price tag of just under 20 thousand dollars (with inflation).
The most expensive car on this list is the 2006 Audi R8, which if it was purchased with today’s dollar would cost close to $150k. In 2020, one of the most popular cars was the Lexus IS which had a price tag of $39,050.
