I think a gallon of gasoline was 17 cents. A Pepsi was a nickel, and a bar of candy a nickel. A hot dog was a dime, and I believe fries were about 20 cents. That was a big order, too. These are what some everyday items cost when I started racing.
The monetary deal is the only thing we can't compare. We can compare with time, compare with the records of others, or compare with almost everything going on in the world, but we cannot compare money. I was reading just the other day where it takes five times as much money to get along today as it did in 1960.
When we first started racing, Daddy would go to Montgomery Ward and buy a set of tires for $19. Then he had to be careful so he didn't wear the tires too much. We had to run them three or four races. Finally, they'd get so slick it would be like driving on ice.
Johnny Mantz won the first Southern 500 at Darlington in 1950. He was using some Firestone tires from Indianapolis-type cars. Everybody else was using street tires.
The first racing tires for what is now Winston Cup cars came about in 1956. Goodyear had them first, and then Firestone followed. I remember that very well, because in the winter of 1956 we had a bunch of Dodges that we were converting over to Oldsmobiles. We took two or three of the Dodges and went to Florida and ran the very first tire test for Goodyear.
I'm sorry, but I haven't a clue what the first racing tires cost, but I doubt it was much. Daddy was taking care of bills at that time, except for gas and such. I was buying my own gas, and therefore I remember what it cost.
Seems like the highest-octane gas you could find, which is what we used in our race cars, was like 21 cents a gallon. Seems that motel rooms were $15 to $20 a night, and there were times when all of the crew would stay in the same room with us. It would get a little crowded, but we didn't know the difference.
I do remember the first race car that Daddy bought cost about $990. It was a 1949 Plymouth coupe. Tracks paid $1,500 to win a race back then, so it was a pretty good deal if you figured you would win a few races.
The cars were stock back then. You installed a seatbelt and took off the muffler. That was it. If you wrecked or bent up a fender or whatever, you repaired it. You didn't reach over on some shelf and get a brand new fender and put it on the car. Repairing race cars helped develop some very good mechanics back in those days.
In 1961 I bought as a personal car a Chrysler Crown Imperial for $6,100. I believe that was the most expensive car Chrysler made at the time. About that time, you could buy an Oldsmobile for about $2,500.
Sounds cheap, doesn't it? But what you must remember is that when I grew up in the '50s, people were not making but $3,500 a year.
I remember once when I was in high school I really wanted this pair of shoes. They were cordovan and to me the greatest thing since popcorn. They were $21, and I could not afford them. Just when I thought I would never be able to own them, the store cut the price to $14. I jumped on them like a hungry hound on a bone.
I remember another thing about one of those early years. Daddy won $30,000 and Mother, Daddy, Maurice, and I lived off that much money all year, plus Daddy did all his racing out of the same pot. In other words, we had the race car, all the travel, we lived at home, had clothing, plenty of food, and all we needed.
By 1971 I had won more than 100 races, won two or three championships, and finally, I won $1 million. That was a real big deal at the time, a Winston Cup driver winning a million dollars. The press played it real big.
Now some drivers win a million dollars a race. Of course, some will say their teams have more invested. Well, I don't know about that, because we had everything we owned invested.
Daddy used to tell Mother that if he ever got $10,000 ahead, he was going to retire. That wouldn't get you far today.