The 7 Cheapest American Cars of 1972 (With AM and Auto)

A buddy of mine and I used to play a game called “Full Retail Fun.” The game was simple enough, we grabbed a recent copy of  Consumer Guide^® and tried to build to most expensive cars possible by tallying the prices of every available option.

Given that we were young and given to being amused by things sensational, it never crossed our minds to build the cheapest car possible. I am making amends for that now.

Here please find the seven cheapest American cars you could buy in 1972. To keep things Spartan, the only options we looked at were an AM radio and automatic transmission.

All prices come from the 1972 Consumer Guide^® Auto Test ’72, which includes an awesome note before the pricing section regarding Richard Nixon relaxing his price controls.

Why 1972? Most because car prices were about to start rising at a pretty fast pace, leaving ’72 as a sort of “good old days” price reference point. Note: All of the images below depict the vehicles with optional equipment. Your sub-$2500 special would not have looked so spiffy.

Cost of a 2013 Pinto: $17,375

Ford Pinto

Base engine: 122-inch 4-cylinder (86 horsepower)

AMC Gremlin

Base engine: 232-inch 6-cylinder (100 horsepower)

The Cheapest American Cars of 1989

Chevrolet Vega

Base engine: 140-inch 4-cylinder (90 horsepower)

Ford Maverick

Base engine: 170-inch 6-cylinder (82 horsepower)

The Most-Expensive American Cars of 1977

Mercury Comet

Base engine: 170-inch 6-cylinder (82 horsepower)

AMC Hornet SST

Base engine: 232-inch 6-cylinder (100 horsepower)

Plymouth Valiant Duster “Six”

Base engine: 225-inch 6-cylinder (110 horsepower)

The Most-Expensive American Cars of 1972

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