Quote:
Originally Posted by tooslow
Contrary to popular belief, the horsepower wars of the '60's/'70's did not end because the government mandated that they stop making high-horsepower vehicles, it ended because fuel prices went so high nobody was looking at buying them. Instead, people began looking for more fuel efficient options.
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Those who are old enough to remember recall that fuel prices did not dramatically increase in the United States until the Fall of 1973, after the start of the Arab Oil Embargo, and, after the 1974 model year vehicles had already been released. The original muscle car era was already essentially over by the Fall of 1973 before the dramatic increase of gasoline prices occurred in the United States.
The two most important factors that contributed to the end of the original muscle car era in the early 1970s were higher insurance premiums that were then being imposed by insurance companies for performance vehicles due to the associated liability and stricter government imposed emission standards. The typical muscle car buyer could no longer afford or was no longer willing to pay the associated insurance premiums, and the automobile manufacturers could no longer produce cost effective performance vehicles that could meet the newer emission standards given the technology of the era.