The price tag WAS well above $25,000 in 1981. My sticker was $27,650. Keep in mind that a 911, one if the finest cars of all time and far along the development path was considerably less than that. A Ferrari 308 was not that much more thatn the D's base either. Most of us bought them new for the uniqueness of the stainless and the gullwings - not because they were the best at anything as there was not and is not a single area that the DMC-12 was superior to other cars in that price range. Fred 6894 (in Houston for restoration with 9,000 miles)