Those prices might make sense sometime in the future if u move the decumal a couple o places

My first gallon of 'regular' was 63 cents. That was just before OPEC stepped in and wrecked everything!

Do I spy a big ass dent? I perceive a "time tested" quality to these cars

Don't let those numbers fool you.
They come from a time when the American median income was still less than $10K a year.
I found an ad for a full-trick Cadillac Coupe' DeVille from like 1974. Full price, around $6800.

It all works out to the same in the end, most of the time. I recall sizing up a Volkswagen when I got my first job. $1750. Didn't buy it. Didn't keep the job, either.

'61 Ford Galaxy convertible? I have a 1/18 die-cast. Pretty car, in powder blue and white interior.

The other appears to be a '62 Chevy Impala wagon. The nearest I have to that is a bubble-top 2-door.

I remember gasoline being a lot cheaper than that in the 60's. More like 19 cents a gallon, rising slowly to the lower twenties. A Coke cost a dime, and a large bag of chips or pretzals were 19 cents. Comic books only ten cents. A carton of my Mother's cigarettes cost under $5, and nobody cared that I bought them for her at the smoke shop.

If you don't mind my saying so, you sound very well seasoned, like me!
I think i was in kindergarden at the time, but the cheapest gasoline i can remember was 41 cents. Mom would send me to the corner ARCO station with a roll of pennies for a pack of smokes.
A bottle of orange pop was a dime from their pop machine. Memories!

I want to fill up there.