I learned to drive in an '81, so they always have had a special place for me.

It's funny, for the longest time I couldn't think of anything from the late '70s and up as being an old car, even when they were past the age of others that I thought were old cars when I was younger.  It's only been in the past 10-ish years that I've accepted that these are now old cars... it's time that I did as that '81 would now be 42 years old if it were still around. 

I've seen the value of these jump a little since covid madness, but not to the crazy levels that the older stuff has.  I still see nice examples for sale under $10K, while other stuff has gone upwards of $40K... $50K... $100K???) etc.  That said, I haven't followed the market much lately because of the crazy pricing.