It was 1976, America’s bicentennial year, and the most popular new car in the United States was the Oldsmobile Cutlass — which you could snag locally for less than $6,000.

(READ MORE: Can you name this landmark downtown building under construction in 1975?)

Motor Trend’s magazine’s “Cars of the Year” for 1976 were the Dodge Aspen and Plymouth Volare, nearly identical compact-car cousins that, by 1980, were no longer being manufactured. You could purchase a new Volare in 1976 for the low, low price of $72 a month from Harrison’s Chrysler Plymouth on Rossville Boulevard.

Imported autos were available — Honda Civics were still a novelty — but hadn’t quite hit their stride, and most local dealerships were still family-owned businesses, not part of auto chains as many are today.