How expensive trucks are getting has been a common topic on the forum for a while, but I hadn't seen anything that breaks down the trend in this detail yet. There are a few more infographics on the HP, in case you wanted to verify you're actually not crazy, ha ha.

 

Yes, but compare the options and capabilities of the old trucks versus the new ones and it's night and day difference. If you bought a basic truck equiped like the older ones the comparison would be more fair. The fuel savings over the life of the truck should be a consideration in the comparison. Those old 351 engine 4x4s got about 9 mpg all around.

 

I'll take a 1982 style truck with the same options just a a crew cab to it and I would be fine!

 

The old trucks front tires cupped out due to the dual i-beam suspension. There was a lot of wind noise on the highway. They had less power, drank much more gas, and were less comfortable. No comparison to the newer trucks.

 

Agreed. My 1980 was a beast in city traffic. They are world's different today...

 

Don't forget that if you got 100k miles out of one of those old trucks, you were doing good! Today, 200k is pretty common. So, expect twice the lifetime of a vehicle, which makes it worth twice as much, no?

That's not taking into account all the goodies today's trucks have that those didn't. Safety, convenience, luxuries, etc.

 

When I started working temporary contracts, most of them seemed to be in the frozen north so I bought a used 94 SWB F150 4x4 5.0 XLT with 35k miles on it. It was a very good truck and I had to replace a u-joint at about 90k miles which was the only problem I had with it by 92k miles. I traded it for a new 2000 F150Scab5.4 4x4 XLT. The new truck was more powerful, much quieter, no front tire cupping, more comfortable, and got better gas mileage, a win in all categories.

 

Back in the old days, trucks were not status symbols like they are today so most were not optioned out.
Truck payments were not even close to $800 back then.

 

It's all the electronics bull**** they put on the trucks... makes them so expensive.

The trucks up through the 1997 refresh had very little electronics, even on the top trim levels. They had Electronic Fuel Injection starting in 1987 (was optional in '85 and '86 for the 302 only), and other than the electronic distributor and "brain box" in the 70's there was very little technology in the trucks.

Hell, air conditioning was not even an option until the late 60's, and it was not a standard feature until the 2004 refresh. Power steering and power brakes were not standard until the '87 refresh.

Also, look at the interiors of the trucks, metal interior roofs (standard until the '80 refresh), steel floor, rubber mats in the 70's.

Now they all have backup cameras, and creature comforts.

Also, the ride quality of a 50's truck? LoL!!! Try driving 55 mph in one of those

 

In 1992 my dad bought a '92 F-150 4x4 Custom reg cab, manual everything with a 300 I-6 for $17,500. In today's $$ that is $31,000.

A few months ago, I bought a 2016 F-150 4x4 XL extended cab, power windows, doors, mirrors, auto-start, max tow, max payload, etc with a 2.7 EcoBoost for $32,500.

Doesn't sound like much more to me.

 

First, I'm going to disagree with the chart posted. I have a 1974 F100, 360 automatic, all power, D Model Explorer, at least, that's what it was when I bought it. The list price on it, and I'm looking at the window sticker, is $3754.00 plus freight & TTL. I paid $3200.00 drive out for it. You couldn't buy any F100 in 1974 for $2800 and you couldn't buy one in 73 either for that money.
Second, there are a lot of pluses and minuses here. The new trucks are fragile at best. The skin is so thin that you can't hardly lean on one without body damage. I can sit on the hood of my 74- no damage. I can stand on the hood- no damage. Can you do that with a new one? I can't. My 74 has metal inner fenders. The new ones don't have rear inner fenders at all. You say they won't go as far. Don't tell that to my 278,000 mile F100. The current power system is at 162,000 miles and will blow the doors off of most anything on the road that's new. Obviously, it's not stock. I get 15 mpg town driving. I can load the truck with 2500lb of material and while it is a heavy load, it does it day in and day out. I can put 700lb in the back of the new one and it balks. If I pull a trailer, the 74 walks off with anything I can put on the hitch, no issues. The new one strains at 3500lbs by comparison and drinks gas like a drunken sailor. I've had as much as 14,000 lbs on the trailer behind the 74. The new one I doubt will even move it. The absolute worst gas mileage pulling a heavy trailer from the 74 was 11 mpgs. The new ones are nice, no doubt, but they're not a truck anymore. They are an open air trunk car. Gone is everything we knew as a truck. Yeah, I know all about the Super Duty but I don't need a behemoth that I can't reach anything in bed because it sits so dam high it makes it worthless as a work truck. The F150 is already too high to be of much value as a truck.
I own 3 1974 F Series trucks. I only have 1 F100 and I bought it new. They'll probably bury me in it. The other two are F350's. All three are trucks. Then I own a 2014 F150 Supercrew that's a dandy driver but it's no TRUCK.

 

If I remember correctly, the rest of that story is that the 2014 has a base 3.7L V6 engine, 225 cu in.

 

Yeah, the Supercrew has the 3.7 V6 that makes 300HP. Conversely, my brother has a 1936 International 1/2 ton with the D-1 ****** made engine. The engine makes a whopping 78HP at an unheard of 3400 RPMs. You'd think that comparing it to my 300HP V6 would be a no brainer. Not so. The International will work my Supercrew into the dirt. We commonly put enough green firewood on the International that it's stacked as tall as the cab. You won't do that with the Supercrew. Frankly, you won't get up to the top of the pickup bed before it's sitting on the frame. The old International also pulls the farm trailer, the kind that the front wheels steer so there's no tongue weight. We put 6-8 chords of green oak and mesquite on it and the International walks off with it. I doubt the Supercrew could move it on asphalt let alone in the sand country down home.
The International engine has no oil pump. It uses the old time splash system like your 4 cycle lawn mower. The truck has just over 50,000 original miles on it. Brother is the second owner. It's pretty pristine and a real eye catcher. But it's a truck. The Supercrew, while nice, isn't. It's a dandy sedan with an open trunk. I guess you have to be older than dirt to know what a "truck" is these days. We certainly aren't driving any of them.

 

My 2014 is by far the best truck I've ever owned

 

I'm 73 and I wouldn't accept an old truck if it was free. I know what it's like to drive one and live with one.
In my opinion, the new trucks are better in every way. The new trucks have ratings and if you don't exceed those ratings they do great and get much better fuel economy in the process while providing seating comfort and temp control. If you need a heavy duty truck they are available.

This reminds me of the last two times I drove out on the beach. A tow company has bought military surplus 5 ton trucks to go out on the sand and tow stuck vehicles. Now those are heavy duty trucks. I drove a 2 1/2 ton truck (deuce and a half) when in the Army and that was a beast that would go anywhere.