He can do this because my county is one of the few counties in the entire country that does not have zoning laws prohibiting such things.

Imagine that!

But the thing that struck me as I drove past his informal used car lot the other day wasn't that he was free to try to sell used cars without having to buy a zoned-commercial space to do it – but rather whether he'll be able to sell many cars.

Even beaters. Like the old Ford Taurus advertised for $3,500. There were several specimens like it, in similar condition. None looked too healthy.

How many people do you suppose have $3,500 – in cash – available to buy a used car with? I mean as opposed to financing one. This guy doesn't do that. He probably has a dealer's license – necessary in my state to buy used vehicles at wholesale auctions (the government won't permit just anyone to buy a used vehicle at an auction; that would impinge upon the special privileges government sells for a pretty penny) but he probably does not have an F&I guy living in his house to finagle a monthly payment for the people who might want to buy (finance) one of his front-lawn treasures.

Rock meets hard place.

You have probably heard that the average transaction price paid for a new vehicle is now more than $50,000. You may already know that it is difficult to find a new vehicle of any kind for less than about $28,000 – which has become the new floor for what is styled "entry level."

Economy cars have ceased to exist.

This has priced a lot of people out of the new or even the newish car market. How many people can afford the second-mortgage equivalent payment on a new or even newish vehicle? Some, of course. But more and more have tapped out.

That has created a market for the older stuff, such as the stuff on offer on the guy-down-the-road's front yard lot. The old beaters on offer are affordable, in a relative sense. But the reality sense is another thing.

I remember when it was possible to buy a beater car for $700 or so. I did exactly that back in the early '90s. Granted, that was 30-something years ago and – yes – inflation. But inflation does not account for all of it. I do not think I am dreaming when I remember that – back in the '90s – it wasn't a big stretch to save up $700 or so and buy an old beater car, like the '74 Beetle I drove around in back then. Supposedly – according to the government – that $700 back then is the equivalent, "adjusted" for "inflation" (which really means the diminished buying power of money) of about $1,700 today.