I missed what point your anecdote was making. I think the adjective 'new' would have made it a lot clearer. And there was no verb in your original "sentence". I

I missed what point your anecdote was making. I think the adjective 'new' would have made it a lot clearer. And there was no verb in your original "sentence". I guess your point was that the US was like a developing country in 1981 because new cars were sold with 50s technology? Do you still fell like that is the situation today? I thought you were trying to say the US is/was like a developed nation because of the age of the cars on the road. I don't have a feel for what the worldwide car technology situation was in 1981, I was a few years from being born.