The 1970's, Death of the Muscle Car, Strict Emission Controls, The Arab Oil Embargo, Sad decade for the Automobile.

As a new decade was about to greet us, I really do not believe that the average automotive enthusiast realized what was about to happen to the American automotive industry. I figure the big boys in Detroit might have had a good idea. It's not that one big situation was about to take place, it was a series of small things that destroyed the beloved Muscle Car movement.

Early on in the '70's, the big four, GM, Ford, Chrysler & AMC were still producing legitimate muscle cars. in 1970, the year I consider to be the best year of the '70's for muscle cars, GM had the '70 Buick GSX, the '70 Chevy Corvette 427 & the '70 Chevy Corvette 454, the '70 Chevy Camaro Z/28, the '70 Chevy Camaro SS, the '70 Chevy Chevelle SS, the '70 Oldsmobile 442, the '70 Pontiac GTO & '70 Trans Am. Ford had the '70 Shelby Mustang GT 350 & GT 500, the '70  BOSS 302 & BOSS 429 Mustangs & the '70 Mustang Mach 1.

Chrysler had the '70 Dodge Charger, the '70 Dodge Challenger, the '70 Plymouth 'Cuda,  the '70 Plymouth GTX, the '70 Plymouth Road Runner & the '70 Plymouth Superbird. American Motors had the '70 AMC AMX, the '70 AMC Javelin & the '70 AMC Rebel.

If I counted correctly, I named twenty-three Muscle Cars from the "Big Four" American car companies for 1970 alone. I center on the year 1970 because from 1971 forward, the Federal Gov't started mandating strict emission laws, which put a heavy damper on horsepower. Insurance companies were also going after the auto manufacturers, because of the extreme horsepower the cars were producing. there were cars that had emission systems installed on them from about 1968, but they were fairly minor in hurting horsepower.

As the '70's moved forward, the government mandated that in 1975, that all cars would be equipped with catalytic converters, and would have to use unleaded gasoline. And that was the death blow to the original muscle car era.

The mid-'70's also ushered in the Arab Oil Embargo, which led to a chain reaction of severe gasoline shortages and long lines at the gas pumps. American car companies had to concentrate on fuel efficiency and build cars to meet those needs. Sadly , the Japanese car companies beat us to the punch in this race. It was a race we never could win. Horsepower in muscle cars was all but gone. A '75 Corvette with a 350 cubic inch engine was pushing about 190 horsepower +/- . That is really sad.