JohnD

iTrader: (5)

We are all incensed about the price of fuel, and rightly so, but is it really much dearer than it used to be? I found some old diaries that I kept in the '60's and '70's (yes, I'm an old git!) Take a look at this:
Back in 1970 I worked as a toolmaker at Ford in Dagenham and my dayshift pay was around £32 per week. I drove a Rover 2000 TC and used 5 star (100 octane) petrol at 6s : 10d per gallon. 1 gallon of petrol was therefore 1.07% of my weekly wage.
I recently "semi" retired from my job as a lecturer in FE but would be on around £660 per week. V-Power is 108.9p per litre or £4.94 per gallon. 1 gallon of petrol is now 0.75% of my weekly wage!

OMG pro-rata for me - It's cheaper

Just to make you feel really bad, I found a diary from 1963!! I drove a Vauxhall VX 4/90 and would put 4 gallons in at £1 :0s : 2d that's the equivalent of, wait for it! 5.55p per litre!!

JohnD

Mikkel

Wow you're old mate

How many gold dabloons is in a s : d?

finnigan5823

iTrader: (4)

i kind of agree with the above,but how much was everything else back then,look at how much it is to buy a house these days with the average house price being
170k thats over £1000 a month mortgage,then theres council tax,utility bills, also back then you didnt pay for things like mobile phones,sky tv,broadband etc
in my mind why should we pay so much tax on petrol when the americans (and other countries) dont pay that much

JohnD

iTrader: (5)

Cheeky young ******! Contrary to popular belief, I do not drive a turbo'd Zimmer frame!

I'm not as old, or grumpy, as PSLewis

JohnD

Martin2005

It's a fact that escapes most people: motoring as a whole is cheaper today than it was 30 years ago!

Gear Head

iTrader: (2)

It's called the 'NHS'.

pslewis

Fuel is cheaper, food is cheaper, TVs are cheaper, Hi-FIs are cheaper, most things are cheaper ....... we are much more wealthy than in the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's.

I blame Labour myself!

JohnD

iTrader: (5)

170k - cardboard box city! You would have trouble finding a one bedroom flat for that around here let alone an "average" house! Believe me, Romford is not posh!

JohnD

JohnD

iTrader: (5)

But are we any happier? Thing is, Pete, it could be so much better?
JohnD

MikeyTang

iTrader: (4)

[QUOTE=JohnD;

Just to make you feel really bad, I found a diary from 1963!! I drove a Vauxhall VX 4/90 and would put 4 gallons in at £1 :0s : 2d that's the equivalent of, wait for it! 5.55p per litre!!

JohnD[/QUOTE]

It was 55.5p when i first started driving and i thought that was cheap but 5.55p. Guess the tax man wasnt as greedy back then.

Would be interesting to knw the cost of petrol before tax for then and now

XRS

I remember paying 6/8 per gallon - 3 gallons for £1!

Same as a 45rpm single

I also had to use 5 star in my Lotus Europa in 1975, but it was on its way out by then.

Ian

iTrader: (10)

£660 per week!!!!!

ill be lucky to get £240

lunar tick

iTrader: (2)

I'm not sure what the average UK wage is, but John's point is well made - per litre, petrol is probably not far off (pro-rata) what it used to be 30 or 40 years ago. However, a real difference is that our reliance on the car and average miles covered per year has grown hugely over the same time period, so the total spend on fuel is like to be significantly higher as a proportion of income (Premier footballers excluded!)

scotthldr

£660 A WEEK!!!!!, thats a bloody good wage unfortunately there is not that many people earning anywhere near that, so count yourself lucky mate.

As for the price of fuel it is a bloody rip off!!!!. I was on holiday in Kos, Greece earlier this year ,which for those of you that don't know is an island roughly 400 miles from the mainland. Everything and anything has to shipped in including fuel(a bit like our Shetland Islands but twice as far away) yet the price for a litre of Super unleaded(95Ron) was 1 euro 22 cents (approx 77pence) The current price for 95 Ron in Inverness is 103.9 p per litre so anyone that says it isn't a rip off either cycles a bike or earns £660 per week so have plenty of money to spend

pslewis

£660 a week is only £34,000 a year ...... it's a sensible amount to use in the context it is given. Wage 30 years ago versus wage now of poster.

barnettgs

If I am earning £250 a week then it's 2%! Then again, cars today have much better fuel consumption than 30 years ago....oh well, we can't complain!

scotthldr

The average weekly wage is currently £457 so £660 may only be £34000 to you but it's a damn lot to most.

JohnD

iTrader: (5)

Whoa! don't get me wrong here, I only gave my situation as an example of how wages and prices have changed over the years (quite a lot of years, actually!) My salary is better than many but not as good as quite a few! Certainly didn't quote it to make any kind of point other than for the comparisons I made, and I'm as incensed about fuel prices as any one of you. Anyway, I teach 3 days a week through an agency now, paid hourly, so no more "above average". Previously a lecturer in mech. engineering, for the last six years I've been (trying) to teach disaffected and disengaged year 11 kids. For my own sanity I decided to "blend out"
As a matter of interest, the Vauxhall VX4/90 I drove in '63 cost £838 on the road! 1508cc 81 bhp It was the first car I modded!
JohnD

stigaz

i was looking through a book with pictures from 100 and more years ago , of the town i live in, there is a bit about the cars ,and apparently between 1914 and 1922 petrol cost 2 shillings a gallon of whitch 33% was tax,

anyway, petrol is running out its only going to get dearer, at least with saddam out the picture we will have a good source of oil for a bit longer.

finnigan5823

iTrader: (4)

dint want to pee u off but i paid 140k for my house 18month ago of inlaws now worth about 210-260k,but it is a double fronted 1800s 4 bedroom with 2 bathrooms with massive loft room and a garage which is 16ft wide by 48ft long(fit 3 cars easy) (with 3phase power) and garden is 84ft long and 32ft wide,it is on a front street tho,main b road 42ft away from my front door,but apart from that have a chinese over the road,chemist next door,hair dressers 2 doors down,car parts shop 5 doors down,travel agents 7 doors down,newsagents 6 doors up,and very nice working mens club 4 doors up,a think i will be staying put for a while

r32

I remember being with my Dad and him complaining that five gallons were a pound .........

Leslie

Esso Golden was the best of the lot. 100 octane for 5 shillings a gallon!

Les

SiPie

Interesting first hand comparsion JohnD

Cheers

JohnD

iTrader: (5)

You've got to be as old as me to remember that!
My Rover 2000TC would pink on that! I used Shell Super Plus 101 octane

I don't think most people realise how much better petrol is, these days. I remember de-coking the Rover at only 20,000 miles and the inlet valves had clods of black deposits that had to be chipped away! The exhaust valves had hard, grey deposits, equally as difficult.

JohnD

Leslie

It is quite right of course that car engines do run very clean on unleaded compared to all the deposits from the additives to the old petrol and also the way the valves seats would burn out because of the soft metal used.

Most cars were in need of a decoke etc after 30K miles!

Les

R 14NS R

was in Milton Keynes yesterday and the petrol light came on (in my E320 diesel) so went into the BP, they had no normal diesel but their 'ultimate'.

114.9 oh my god!!!