now onto topic.
every decade is different so direct comparisons can be difficult.

when i was in high school, graduated in 1980, i had it made. you could easily buy cars for $50. most still had points so all they needed was a basic tune up, carb clean, to get to run right. buy a car $50, put $25 in it sell it the next weekend for $3-500. i had a friend his dad owned a service station so we had access to a tow truck. i think we bought and sold over 100 cars a year. we even sold cars to teachers in school. things were great until i made a killing on Chrysler stock after the bail out. i used my profits to buy a brand new 82 Chrysler imperial. my friends dad saw it and it pissed him off so we lost cheap access to a tow truck. it slowed us down a bit so we switched over to rebuilding car wrecks. we had a dealers license and specialized in buying and selling fox body mustangs.
honestly i think i made more $$$ in the 80's then i do now. things were great until i crashed my motorcycle at speed. it took me a long time to heal. others moved on. my friend has had multiple used cars lots over the years, and still does the same thing today. i work in a bodyshop so i really haven't changed much. just my focus on how make my $$.