HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The term Malaise era refers to a period in the U.S. automotive industry from roughly the early 1970s through the early to mid 1980s, characterized by ''malaise:'' poor products and a generalized industry unease — an era of profound adjustment as the U.S. automotive industry adapted to meet wholly new demands for more fuel-efficient, safe and environmentally responsible products.


Background

Following the 1950s and 1960s — the unregulated decades when the U.S. automotive industry could prioritize unrestrained horsepower, size and styling — the Malaise Era arose after the
Clean Air Act of 1963 The Clean Air Act (CAA) is the United States' primary federal air quality law, intended to reduce and control Air pollution in the United States, air pollution nationwide. Initially enacted in 1963 and amended many times since, it is one of th ...
began to codify a legislative response to serious national car-generated air quality concerns, and
Ralph Nader Ralph Nader (; born February 27, 1934) is an American lawyer and political activist involved in consumer protection, environmentalism, and government reform causes. He is a Perennial candidate, perennial presidential candidate. His 1965 book '' ...
's 1965
Unsafe at Any Speed ''Unsafe at Any Speed: The Designed-In Dangers of the American Automobile'' is a non-fiction book by consumer advocate Ralph Nader, first published in 1965. Its central theme is that car manufacturers resisted the introduction of safety features ...
galvanized attention on U.S. automotive safety issues — calling for a range of safety features from critical occupant protection to car bumpers that could enable low-speed impact without damage to safety systems. With an average fuel economy across passenger cars from 1969-1974 of , the period coincided with the industry's dependence on inexpensive foreign oil and spiking international fuel prices, culminating with the
1973 oil crisis In October 1973, the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) announced that it was implementing a total oil embargo against countries that had supported Israel at any point during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, which began after Eg ...
. In response, the U.S. federal government introduced successively more comprehensive emissions, fuel efficiency and safety standards — which for the first time required huge automotive engineering investments in effectively new disciplines — testing the industry's ability to adapt. As a hallmark of the era, with automotive design budgets dominated by huge pragmatic investments in fuel efficiency, emissions controls and safety programs, the engine power of prominent sports and muscle cars of 1960s was decimated — and manufacturers often relied heavily on egregious
badge engineering In the automotive industry, rebadging (also known as badge engineering, an intentionally ironic misnomer in that little or no actual engineering takes place) is a form of market segmentation used by automobile manufacturers around the world. T ...
, and expedient styling tropes — all in stark contrast to prior decades of unbound automotive power and styling. The era also highlighted the U.S. automotive industry's vulnerability to penetration by foreign manufacturers versed in the design of more space and fuel efficient designs — and more quick to adapt. When Ford introduced the
Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...
in 1975, it emphasized the padded vinyl roofing, opera windows, tufted velour interiors with imitation wood accents and stand up hood ornaments of its ostensible luxury — but used a platform dating to the austere 1961
Falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Some small species of falcons with long, narrow wings are called hobbies, and some that hover while hunting are called kestrels. Falcons are widely distrib ...
and offered a power-to weight ratio 48.46 lbs per hp, and a breathtakingly slow 0-60 time of 23.15 seconds.


The term ''Malaise Era''

Recalling President
Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...
's 1979 Malaise Speech, in which he discussed the oil crisis and a wider "crisis of confidence" within the United States, the term was coined by Murilee Martin writing for the website
Jalopnik Static Media Inc., the business name of 7Hops.com Inc., is an American internet company established in 2012, incorporated in Delaware, and based in Indianapolis. It operates ZergNet, a content recommendation business that promotes paid content ...
in 2007, has been in regular use since at least around 2012, and has been widely cited by news agencies and automotive sites, including
Car and Driver ''Car and Driver'' (''CD'' or ''C/D'') is an American automotive enthusiast magazine first published in 1955. In 2006 its total circulation was 1.23 million. It is owned by Hearst Magazines, who purchased it from its prior owner Hachette Fi ...
, Consumer Guide,
Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
,
Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...
, Hagerty,
Hemmings Motor News ''Hemmings Motor News'' is a monthly magazine catering to traders and collectors of antique, classic, and exotic sports cars. It is the largest and oldest publication of its type in the United States, with sales of 215,000 copies per month, and ...
,
Motor Trend ''Motor Trend'' is an American automobile magazine. It first appeared in September 1949, and designated the first Car of the Year, also in 1949. Petersen Publishing Company in Los Angeles published ''Motor Trend'' until 1998, when it was sold ...
,
Popular Mechanics ''Popular Mechanics'' (often abbreviated as ''PM'' or ''PopMech'') is a magazine of popular science and technology, featuring automotive, home, outdoor, electronics, science, do it yourself, and technology topics. Military topics, aviation an ...
,
Road & Track ''Road & Track'' (stylized as ''R&T'') is an American automotive enthusiast magazine first published 1947. It is owned by Hearst Magazines and is published six times per year. The editorial offices are located in New York City. History ''Road ...
, Vanity Fair, and the
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
. Though emissions and safety requirements had been first introduced in 1967, Phil Greden, a writer for
Jalopnik Static Media Inc., the business name of 7Hops.com Inc., is an American internet company established in 2012, incorporated in Delaware, and based in Indianapolis. It operates ZergNet, a content recommendation business that promotes paid content ...
, contends the era spanned specifically from 1975 with U.S. government bumper regulations; to 1983, when the
Ford Mustang The Ford Mustang is a series of American Car, automobiles manufactured by Ford Motor Company, Ford. In continuous production since 1964, the Mustang is currently the longest-produced Ford car nameplate. Currently in its Ford Mustang (seventh ...
saw a significant performance increase after almost a decade of low performance.


Government mandates

At the close of 1970, President
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...
signed a series of amendments to the Clean Air Act into law. The amendments established the
National Ambient Air Quality Standards The U.S. National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS, pronounced ) are limits on atmospheric concentration of six pollutants that cause smog, acid rain, and other health hazards. Established by the United States Environmental Protection Agency ...
(NAAQS),
New Source Performance Standard New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) are pollution control standards issued by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The term is used in the Clean Air Act Extension of 1970 (CAA) to refer to air pollution emission standards, ...
s (NSPS); and
National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants The National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) are air pollution standards issued by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The standards, authorized by the Clean Air Act, are for pollutants not covered by ...
(NESHAPs), and overall significantly strengthened federal enforcement authority, all toward achieving aggressive air pollution reduction goals. The amendments mandated a 90% reduction in
hydrocarbon In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons are examples of group 14 hydrides. Hydrocarbons are generally colourless and Hydrophobe, hydrophobic; their odor is usually fain ...
s,
carbon monoxide Carbon monoxide (chemical formula CO) is a poisonous, flammable gas that is colorless, odorless, tasteless, and slightly less dense than air. Carbon monoxide consists of one carbon atom and one oxygen atom connected by a triple bond. It is the si ...
, and
nitrogen oxides In atmospheric chemistry, is shorthand for nitric oxide () and nitrogen dioxide (), the nitrogen oxides that are most relevant for air pollution. These gases contribute to the formation of smog and acid rain, as well as affecting tr ...
by 1975, relative to the 1970 standards, and instructed the
Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Protection Agency may refer to the following government organizations: * Environmental Protection Agency (Queensland), Australia * Environmental Protection Agency (Ghana) * Environmental Protection Agency (Ireland) * Environmenta ...
—formally founded just that month—to implement these standards. The technology did not exist to meet these requirements in a fashion that would also allow practical engines to continue making the same horsepower. The simplest way for manufacturers to meet these highly ambitious emissions cuts was to reduce power outputs in their vehicles – so, starting in 1971, horsepower ratings for many American automobiles began to markedly drop. It is important to note that a substantial part of these drops were merely on paper, caused by a concurrent legal change in the manner in which engine power was measured – shifting from gross to net horsepower (aligning the U.S. to the rest of the world in this respect) – which resulted in lower values although no change was made to the vehicle. For example, the 350 cu in (5.7 L) L48 engine of a 1971
Chevrolet Corvette The Chevrolet Corvette is a line of American two-door, two-seater sports cars manufactured and marketed by General Motors under the Chevrolet marque since 1953. Throughout eight generations, indicated sequentially as C1 to C8, the Corvette is not ...
was rated at 270 (gross) horsepower, but the identical engine was rated at 200 (net) horsepower in 1972. However, emission-driven detuning resulted in notable real power cuts, starting from the 1971
model year The model year (sometimes abbreviated as MY) is a method of describing the version of a product which has been produced over multiple years. The model year may or may not be the same as the calendar year in which the product was manufactured. ...
. These changes were initially due to a reduction in
compression ratio The compression ratio is the ratio between the maximum and minimum volume during the compression stage of the power cycle in a piston or Wankel engine. A fundamental specification for such engines, it can be measured in two different ways. Th ...
s to allow engines to run on lower
octane Octane is a hydrocarbon and also an alkane with the chemical formula C8H18, and the condensed structural formula CH3(CH2)6CH3. Octane has many structural isomers that differ by the location of branching in the carbon chain. One of these isomers ...
unleaded
gasoline Gasoline ( North American English) or petrol ( Commonwealth English) is a petrochemical product characterized as a transparent, yellowish, and flammable liquid normally used as a fuel for spark-ignited internal combustion engines. When for ...
rather than fuel using dangerous and polluting lead additives (a move taken initially by
General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...
, but which all other major American automotive manufacturers adopted). Many automotive manufacturers dropped horsepower ratings from their advertising, using cubic inch engine size instead. More significant power reduction effects were caused by the adoption or increased use of emissions control procedures such as secondary air injectors (often called "smog pumps"),
exhaust gas recirculation In internal combustion engines, exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) is a nitrogen oxide () emissions reduction technique used in petrol engine, petrol/gasoline, diesel engines and some hydrogen internal combustion engine vehicle, hydrogen engines. ...
, retarded ignition, and thermal reactors. For example, Pontiac's 455 cu. in. V8 peaked at 310 net horsepower in 1973, but was down to 200 net hp in its last year of use, in 1976. As these changes were legislative in nature rather than the result of voluntary developments by American car companies, as well as aggressive in scope and with a rapid deadline, the emission control technologies used were hastily implemented and initially resulted in reliability issues, creating stalls and reducing fuel economy over and above power drops. The new emission standards also spurred the deployment of the
catalytic converter A catalytic converter part is an vehicle emissions control, exhaust emission control device which converts toxic gases and pollutants in exhaust gas from an internal combustion engine into less-toxic pollutants by catalysis, catalyzing a redox ...
, added to almost all new vehicles from the 1975 model year onward, which in turn resulted in the increasing adoption of unleaded gasoline, as the converters could not function if leaded gasoline was used. In addition to new environmental standards, new design standards had a significant effect as well. Starting in 1971, the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA ) is an agency of the U.S. federal government, part of the Department of Transportation, focused on automobile safety regulations. NHTSA is charged with writing and enforcing Feder ...
(NHTSA) promulgated bumper regulations requiring specific bumper performance requirements in collisions from passenger vehicles (but not light duty trucks and motorcycles) at certain low speeds and angles. Specifically, this mandated the vehicle sustain no damage at , at an exact bumper height. Except for Canada, no other nation adopted this mandate. In 1982, the U.S. relaxed this rule to collision, where it remains. This increased bumper size and weight beginning with the 1973 model year, and these standards were further tightened for the 1974 model year. The regulations specified bumper performance; they did not prescribe any particular bumper design. Nevertheless, similar to how emissions standards were tackled, automotive manufacturers often at first took the simplest path. Cars were equipped with bulky, unsightly, protruding bumpers to be compliant. This meant additional vehicle length and greater weight. Bumpers today are designed very differently from those during the ''5-mph bumper'' era, in that they are made of foam to avoid the weight of rigid steel bars at vehicle extremities, prioritizing occupant ''
crumple zone Crumple zones, crush zones or crash zones are a structural safety feature used in vehicles, mainly in automobiles, to increase the time over which a change in velocity (and consequently momentum) occurs from the impact during a collision by a ...
'' protection over insurance claims.


1973 oil crisis

The
1973 oil crisis In October 1973, the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) announced that it was implementing a total oil embargo against countries that had supported Israel at any point during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, which began after Eg ...
caused a sudden and marked increase in the cost of oil and, by extension, gasoline. By the end of the crisis, in March 1974, the
price of oil The price of oil, or the oil price, generally refers to the spot price of a barrel () of benchmark crude oil—a reference price for buyers and sellers of crude oil such as West Texas Intermediate (WTI), Brent Crude, Dubai Crude, OPEC ...
had nearly quadrupled, from U.S. $3 per barrel ($ in dollars) to nearly $12 globally ($ in dollars); U.S. prices were significantly higher. The result was a sudden switch in consumer taste from traditional domestic automobiles with high gas-consumption rates to more efficient compact cars. The shift towards smaller, more efficient vehicles benefitted foreign manufacturers, who produced more of such vehicles. By 1975, 18.3% of U.S. sales were imported cars. American brands had their slowest year since 1962, selling just 7,050,120 cars in 1975. By comparison, they sold 9.6 million cars in 1973. The success of Japanese brands can be traced to the greater selection of compact cars and the development of technologies to improve fuel efficiency. For example, Honda's
CVCC CVCC, or , is an internal combustion engine technology developed and trademarked by the Honda Motor Company. The technology's name refers to its primary features: Compound refers to the use of two combustion chambers; Vortex refers to the vo ...
technology allowed its cars to pass emission standards without a catalytic converter. Sales of larger domestic cars would rebound, but the
1979 oil crisis A drop in oil production in the wake of the Iranian revolution led to an energy crisis in 1979. Although the global oil supply only decreased by approximately four percent, the oil markets' reaction raised the price of crude oil drastically ...
caused oil and gas prices to again increase significantly, doubling over 12 months, and there was a further shift in customer preference to smaller, more efficient vehicles. The EPA began regulating for
fuel efficiency Fuel efficiency (or fuel economy) is a form of thermal efficiency, meaning the ratio of effort to result of a process that converts chemical energy, chemical potential energy contained in a carrier (fuel) into kinetic energy or Mechanical work, w ...
in this period. The Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standard was passed into law in 1975, requiring that the fuel economy of a manufacturer's entire output of passenger car and light truck models be averaged into a miles-per-gallon fuel economy standard, which was then in turn used as the basis for further legislation. For example, in 1978
Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
mandated that manufacturers achieve a fleet average of 18 mpg by 1978, 19 mpg by 1979, and 20 mpg by 1980, rising to 27.5 mpg by 1985. Similarly, the 1978
Energy Tax Act The Energy Tax Act (, , enacted November 9, 1978) is a law passed by the U.S. Congress as part of the National Energy Act. The objective of this law, passed during the 1970s energy crisis, was to reduce demand for oil and gas supply by promoting f ...
levied a "gas-guzzler" tax to the sale of new vehicles that failed to meet CAFE standards, as an attempt to discourage the creation and purchase of inefficient vehicles. By the approximate close of the malaise era in 1983, average fuel efficiency for passenger cars had not met these targets, but had risen to .


Effects on automakers

The cumulative effect of these changes on the car lineups of American manufacturers was a series of redesigns and discontinuations of engine types and vehicle models and an overall lowering of performance. Ford, General Motors and Chrysler also called upon their European divisions who had the necessary expertise in designing smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles, and in some cases adapted their European designs for the US market. Ford for instance, imported the 1970
Mercury Capri Capri (later Mercury Capri) is a Nameplate (automotive), nameplate marketed by the Mercury (automobile), Lincoln-Mercury division of Ford Motor Company over three generations between 1970 and 1994. From 1970 to 1978, the Capri was a sport compact ...
and its first generation 1978 Fiesta, whilst GM leveraged its
Opel Opel Automobile GmbH (), usually shortened to Opel, is a German automobile manufacturer which has been a subsidiary of Stellantis since 16 January 2021. It was owned by the American automaker General Motors from 1929 until 2017 and the PSA Gr ...
division to design the sub-compact/compact T-body and J-body platforms. Chrysler opted to bring entire models drawn from its European subsidiaries Rootes and
Simca Simca (; Mechanical and Automotive Body Manufacturing Company) was a French automaker, founded in November 1934 by Fiat S.p.A. and directed from July 1935 to May 1963 by Italy, Italian Henri Pigozzi. Simca was affiliated with Fiat and, after Simc ...
, respectively the 1972 Plymouth Cricket and the jointly developed Dodge Omni/Plymouth Horizon. The first generation Mustang was cancelled after the 1973 model year, replaced with the
Ford Mustang II The second-generation Ford Mustang, marketed as the Ford Mustang II, is a two- or three-door, four-passenger, front-engine/rear-drive pony car manufactured and marketed by Ford from 1973 until 1978. Introduced in September 1973 for the 1974 ...
, a platform which in its first year was over a foot shorter in length and some 800 pounds lighter, but also peaked at 105 net horsepower compared to the previous years' (already emission-reduced) maximum of 266 net horsepower. Some cars were redesigned to fit in entirely different automotive categories: the
Mercury Cougar The Mercury Cougar is a series of automobiles that was sold by Mercury (automobile), Mercury from 1967 to 2002. The model line is a diverse series of vehicles; though the Cougar nameplate is most commonly associated with two-door coupes, at va ...
and the
Dodge Charger The Dodge Charger is a model of automobile marketed by Dodge in various forms over eight generations since 1966. The first Charger was a show car in 1964. A 1965 Charger II concept car resembled the 1966 production version. In the United Sta ...
were transformed from muscle cars to
personal luxury car Personal luxury car is a North American car classification describing somewhat sporty, sophisticated mass-market coupés that emphasized comfort over performance. The North American manufacturers most often combined engineering, design, and ma ...
s for the 1974 and 1975 model years, respectively, while the
Chevrolet Nova Chevrolet ( ) is an American automobile division of the manufacturer General Motors (GM). In North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Due to the promi ...
became a luxury-oriented
compact Compact as used in politics may refer broadly to a pact or treaty; in more specific cases it may refer to: * Interstate compact, a type of agreement used by U.S. states * Blood compact, an ancient ritual of the Philippines * Compact government, a t ...
. Chevrolet continued to offer its Chevelle, but discontinued its SS performance option after the 1973 model year, while the
AMC Javelin The AMC Javelin is an American front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, two-door hardtop automobile manufactured by American Motors Corporation (AMC) across two generations, 1968 through 1970 and 1971 through 1974 model years. The car was positioned an ...
,
Dodge Challenger The Dodge Challenger is the name of three generations of automobiles produced by the American automobile manufacturer Dodge. However, the first use of the Challenger name by Dodge dates back to 1959 for marketing a "value version" of the full- ...
,
Plymouth Barracuda The Plymouth Barracuda is a two-door pony car that was manufactured by Chrysler Corporation from 1964 through 1974 model years. The first-generation Barracuda was based on the Chrysler A platform, Chrysler A-body and was offered from 1964 unti ...
, and
Pontiac GTO The Pontiac GTO is a front-engine, rear-drive, two-door, and four-passenger automobile manufactured and marketed by the Pontiac (automobile), Pontiac division of General Motors over four generations from 1963 until 1974 in the United States &m ...
were all cancelled entirely after the 1974 model year. American automakers began introducing smaller, less powerful and more fuel efficient models to comply with new mileage requirements and compete against foreign manufacturers, particularly the Japanese offerings. Regardless, the sales of imports continued to climb. In 1978, GM sold over 5 million cars, but by 1982 they sold about 3.5 million, a decrease of 34.2%. Other American manufacturers saw similar losses; Ford sales fell 47% and Chrysler sales dropped 27% from 1978 to 1982. In the same years, Toyota sales increased from 441,800 cars to 527,128 cars, a 19.3% increase. Japanese automakers
Honda commonly known as just Honda, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate automotive manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in October 1946 by Soichiro Honda, Honda has bee ...
and
Datsun Datsun (, ) was a Japanese automobile manufacturer brand owned by Nissan. Datsun's original production run began in 1931. From 1958 to 1986, only vehicles exported by Nissan were identified as Datsun. Nissan phased out the Datsun brand in Marc ...
saw increases of 33.1% and 39.1% respectively. A year after the onset of the 1979 oil crisis, Japanese manufacturers surpassed Detroit's production totals, becoming first in the world. Indeed, the share of Japanese cars in U.S. auto purchases rose from 9% in 1976 to 21% in 1980.


End of the era

As the industry adapted to new emissions, efficiency and safety demands and the fuel crisis receded, vehicle performance began to increase again as technologies matured: onboard computers,
electronic fuel injection Fuel injection is the introduction of fuel in an internal combustion engine, most commonly automotive engines, by the means of a fuel injector. This article focuses on fuel injection in reciprocating piston and Wankel rotary engines. All co ...
, three-way
catalytic converter A catalytic converter part is an vehicle emissions control, exhaust emission control device which converts toxic gases and pollutants in exhaust gas from an internal combustion engine into less-toxic pollutants by catalysis, catalyzing a redox ...
and modern
oxygen sensor An oxygen sensor is an electronic component that detects the concentration of oxygen molecules in the air or a gas matrix such as in a combustion engine exhaust gas. For automotive applications, an oxygen sensor is referred to as a lambda senso ...
s enabled greater raw performance and less hobbling emission controls. Writing for Hagerty, Rob Sass argues that the era ended between 1985—when American commercial sports cars such as the
Ford Mustang The Ford Mustang is a series of American Car, automobiles manufactured by Ford Motor Company, Ford. In continuous production since 1964, the Mustang is currently the longest-produced Ford car nameplate. Currently in its Ford Mustang (seventh ...
and
Buick Regal The Buick Regal is a line of mid-size cars marketed by Buick since 1973. Serving as the premium mid-size/intermediate car of the Buick product range for nearly its entire production, the Regal initially served as the divisional counterpart of t ...
reached the 200 hp mark again—and 1987, when the U.S.
national speed limit A speed limit is the limit of speed allowed by law for road vehicles, usually the maximum speed allowed. Occasionally, there is a minimum speed limit. Advisory speed limits also exist, which are recommended but not mandatory speeds. Speed limi ...
was raised from (a fuel-saving measure enacted in 1974) to .


Legacy

Numerous journalists have reflected on the reduced performance and perceived aesthetic deficiencies of cars offered to Americans in this era. One journalist described this period of automotive history as the "worst era in car design". Another journalist wrote that cars of this era were "bloated, underpowered, and uninspired". Despite complaints against cars from this era and claims that they would never appreciate in value, select vehicles from the 1970s and 1980s started becoming more popular in the late 2010s. Their increase in popularity led to the creation of car shows dedicated only to cars from this era. According to the Hagerty Price Guide, these cars have recently seen the greatest increase in value when compared to other used cars: 82% of used cars saw no increase in price in 2018, but cars from the 1970s and 1980s increased in value by 24% and 38% respectively in the same year.


See also

* Corporate average fuel economy


References

{{Reflist 1970s in transport 1980s in transport 1970s in economic history 1980s in economic history 1970s in the United States 1980s in the United States Historical eras Automotive industry in the United States Cars by period Conservation and restoration of vehicles 1973 oil crisis