From the Mailbag: The $10,500 Truck

Last week I wrote about Slate Auto and asked whether the future is minimalistic. Then a reader sent me something better than an answer. He sent me a receipt.

"In 1993, Ford launched its 2nd generation redesigned Ranger pickup. A kid I worked with, fresh out of college, bought a base model: single cab, 5-speed manual, RWD, 100 horsepower 4-cylinder, crank windows. Not sure if it had A/C. His truck was kind of an electric blue, purple color. He paid $10.5K out the door. He loved that truck. Simple, stylish, affordable. Ranger sales jumped about 40 percent between '92 and '93. So a lot of other young people loved it too."

Picture it. Fresh out of college, making some coin, ready to buy your first car. Ten and a half grand for the truck. Everything he needed, TBD on the AC.

Here's the part that got me. Run $10,500 through thirty years of inflation and you land right around $23,000. You know what starts at $24,950 today? A Blank Slate. The kid in that letter and the kid clicking through the Slate configurator are the same kid, thirty years apart.

That was the car buying experience for a young adult in the 90s. Nowadays I need my parents to co-sign when I order lunch.

And there's something else in that letter that has nothing to do with the sticker. Pride. I saved up my money, and I can afford this car. I can afford the gas. I can afford the maintenance. Pride of ownership instills goals and values that matter, especially for a generation with a mindset of never being able to buy a house, or going into debt to cover a $600 a month car payment. For a lease!

One more thing. Yes, that was the 90s. But even in the early 2000s, when some of us were little kids hearing about new cars, not once did we ask what tech would be in them. We wanted to know the engine. The horsepower. 0 to 60 in how fast?

Now the new car comes out and the pitch is: did you hear about all the new tech? And has two screens for the driver? It's so different now.

I wrote last week that somebody finally listened. Turns out somebody listened in 1993, too.

Got a story like this one? The contact form is on the Find Me page. I read every message.

Windows down.