The 1950’s. The average price for a gallon of gas in 1950 was 18 cents with the price at the end of the decade being 25 cents so it was a bargain to buy gas for 24 cents ten years after 1959. Adjusted for inflation, the gallon of gasoline that costs $2.05 today would have cost 27 cents in 1950. Ironically, the average nationwide price for a gallon of regular gasoline in 1950 was 27 cents.
The average cost of a new car was $1,510 in 1950 and by the end of the decade was $2,200. Even a 1953 Chevrolet Corvette only cost around $3,500.00. A new 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air was about $2,380.00 and a Cadillac convertible sold for $5,400 in 1959 with a 325 horsepower engine.
The 1960’s. A gallon of leaded gas in the United States in 1960 cost only 31 cents! That sounds like an incredible bargain until you factor in inflation. 31 cents in 1960 is equivalent to $2.07 in the year 2007. The national average cost of a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline in 2007 was $2.78, or about a 34% increase over the average price in 1960.
Back in the 60’s, people pulled up to the gas pump and actually said to the attendant, "Gimme a bucks worth." When I graduated from high school in 1964, I purchased a used red 1960 Pontiac Bonneville 2 Door Hardtop with red interior and a 389 engine. My buddies and I would cruise the length of Lake Street in Minneapolis, MN from East Lake “Porky’s” drive-in to West Lake “Porky’s” all Saturday night on a couple of bucks worth of gas.
In 1960, the base price on my 1960 Pontiac Bonneville 2 Door Hardtop was $3,255. Even a new 1965 Ford Mustang 2 Door Convertible had a MSRP of $2,663. Regular gasoline was lead-free, but your higher octane “premium” fuel was called Ethyl because tetra ethyl lead was added.
The best news of all . . . you could get a six-pack of your average American beer for just 99 cents!
You must solve the puzzle below to obtain the actual cache coordinates.
Shown are many of the 50’s and 60’s cars from my era. All you need to do is match the taillight with it’s Make and Model and with some simple math enter the number into the missing coordinates.
EXAMPLE: In the top row under column 8 is 59 Chevrolet Impala and under 0 is 56 Chevrolet Belair therefore 8 MINUS 0 = 8
A = 55 Oldsmobile minus 59 Ford Ranchero plus 60 Buick LeSabre
B = 55 Chrysler Windsor times 50 Olds Rocket 88
C = 59 Chevy Corvette squared
D = 54 Buick Skylark plus 55 Ford Crown Victoria
E = 57 Mercury Monterey plus 60 Rambler Custom plus 57 Nash Rambler
F = 51 Mercury Monterey times 56 Mercury Monterey
G = 56 Dodge Custom Royal plus 59 Cadillac Eldorado
H = 58 DeSoto Firesweep minus 62 Pontiac Catalina
I = 58 Chevy Wagon minus 56 Mercury Monterey
J = 53 Chevrolet 210 times 58 Oldsmobile 98
N 33 AB.CDE W 111 FG.HIJ
You can check your answers for this puzzle on GeoChecker.com.