Remember those halcyon days of car-buying that occurred in 1980? Well, neither do we, but the folks at Comerica Bank, who track auto affordability, do, and they say cars are more affordable now than any time since then.

The purchase of an average-priced new vehicle during the second quarter of this year required 23.0 weeks of median family income, before taxes, according to the Auto Affordability Index compiled by the Detroit-based bank. This compares with 23.3 weeks of income required for purchase in the first quarter. During the second quarter a year earlier, a new vehicle purchase took 24.5 weeks of income, Comerica reported. After rebates and discounts, the average price consumers paid for a vehicle in the second quarter of this year was $21,792, some 2.1 percent below year-earlier prices.

"Currently we are seeing the most affordable combination of price and financing since the first quarter of 1980, when a new vehicle purchase required 22.9 weeks of work," said Comerica chief economist David L. Littmann. "Despite the nearly half-point increase in financing rates from a year ago, the key to auto affordability improvement in the latest quarter was the impressive 6.5 percent gain in median family income over the same period."

Comerica's Auto Affordability Index is compiled from Commerce Department and Federal Reserve data and should not be taken internally without advice of a doctor.