The Scat Pack is 40 and I have said that is a good deal. A very bland styled Big Malibu with a sticker of 50 is not a good deal. If you can get that for 40 it is better, but still not that nice looking for that kind of money. The Camaro with any options is quickly more with any options easily gets to 45-47K.inflation calculator says the $26k this 96 SS cost is equivalent to $40,698.76 in 2017. This car was considered a good value in the mid 90s. Suddenly it is unacceptable for a V8 fullsize car to cost more than $35k. When a Camaro V8 already costs more than that. I guess I still don't understand the logic or expectation.
Salaries haven't risen much since this time, and inflation/costs of other things besides cars have so yeah, it is getting unaffordable. It isn't hard to understand that if a car was 26 and is now 40 and you have more expenses, and those expenses are also higher than in 1996, many people are being priced out of these cars. I am not blaming the car companies per se, but the economy is driving costs up, and companies can't keep up with salaries and stay profitable.
I mean you could definitely argue that the cars last longer now so they should be a better value, but if 20 more years from now a car is 100K and even more reliable, does it matter if nobody can afford it?