Then maybe Ford shouldn't get all the blame.
That was a very dark time that, thankfully, was relatively short lived. Due to government b.s., the Asians really started making a name for themselves.
Due to Big Three lethargy. It took them about a decade to start maker much safer cars, and then sequential electronic fuel injection let them start making good power again. Can you imagine 250 net horsepower out of 2 liters in the 1970s?
I don't know about that, they were making some very impressive power figures on engines in the late 60's then it seemed until the first decade of this century, engines in general were not making impressive power overall. I still remember in the 90's V8's making under 250 HP was considered impressive, granted torque figures were better than that. Sub 200 HP V6 engines...
Advertising gross horsepower ratings as opposed to net horsepower ratings makes for very impressive power figures.
Fair enough but the government regulations that kicked in during 1973 really set back performance for a long time.
Insurance companies put more of a hurt on performance than the government did. Without insurance surcharges, they could've just kept using big blocks. But of course the price of gas went up, too. Believe it or not, the majority of car buyers didn't prioritize ultimate power over fuel economy.
I was around then, and we owned a gas station. I think once Merkuh is done selling off our crude as fast as possible like we're currently doing, and we have to rely on foreign oil, we're going to see a similar situation, and everyone will be clamoring for more fuel efficient cars instead of having incel dreams about HP. But also, there will likely be a few different fueled vehicles available (hydrogen, EV, etc) so it won't be as big of an emergency. We had a mandated law of 10gal limit, and you could only get gas every other day (even/odd number plates, even/odd number days). Idiots would sit in line idling their car for an hour+ to get their 10 gallons.
Because it was the cheapest option of course.
I remember that. My mom’s car had an odd tag number and my dad’s was an even number.
The beginning of the end of the malaise era was about '84 ish give or take. Performance (not just hp numbers) saw a resurgence from the days when a calendar was needed to measure 0-60. The 70's were a very dark time.
I always love pointing out that a 130hp '99 Camry 4-door outperforms a 300hp L76 '63 Corvette on the track. Modern CAD/CAM engineering has taken cars a long way. And you can also now drive a car more than 100k miles without needing major repair, or ANY repair if you're a sane driver.
I had a 1978 Monte Carlo with a small V-8,
