U.S. has complex views on cars, gas prices

Announced by the sharp crack of a backfiring engine, the caravan of old Pontiacs and Fords wended their way off the highway and into the gas station-restaurant, arriving, it seemed, from another time.

On a blustery May day, Carl and Frances Barrier’s 8-cylinder Pontiac Deluxe, vintage 1940, needed this stop in the Kansas plains to fill up on 87-octane, $2.75 a gallon. In its day, the Pontiac never saw such numbers.

“This was the car we dated in,” said Frances, 71, meaning the type of car not the actual vehicle.

The Barriers were on their way to Pioneer Village, an outdoor museum in Minden, Neb., housing early cars, tractors and airplanes. In its prime, their Pontiac traveled 15 miles on a gallon of gas, but now manages only 10.

AP