Why didn’t the American automakers think about smaller, lighter, and more fuel efficient cars with smaller engines as opposed to giants with big engines and guzzled more gas? Just why? Had they thought about it in the first place, then the downturn of the automotive industry from the 70s with the oil crisis could not have occurred.
There were many attempts by American automakers to sell small, economical cars in the 1950s and 1960s but that is not what the bulk of the market wanted. Given the popularity of SUVs, it is still not what the market wants.
Did you know that even in 1949 you could buy an American-made subcompact with 4-wheel disc brakes and a 4-cylinder overhead-cam engine (Crosley)? Aside from Metropolitan, Rambler, and Lark which have already been shown, what about Kaiser's Henry J, the Hudson Jet, the Willys Aero? All were American-made economical compacts sold in the 1950s. By 1960 the Big 3 all had economy compacts on the market but over time they grew larger, heavier, and thirstier because that is what buyers wanted.
People sure have short memories!
Some did. Don't you recall the ad campaign against "gas guzzling dinosaurs" and "trundling tanks" in the 1950s?
I'll take the red one
that 1960 Rambler costed $16k if you adjust for inflation. Not bad.
Those cars were actually quite a good buy for the time and for a while Rambler outsold Plymouth. (A late 1950s recession that had people thinking about economy helped.) The Nash Metropolitan was pretty cool if you didn't need a back seat and could easily top 30 miles per gallon. I had one for a while.
There was no need. Gas was plentiful and cheap. You could see similar with the GM crash where they sold the heck out of SUVs sometime back in the 2000s or so, then had to backpedal because suddenly gas got high. Honestly they deserved the hit but they were only supplying what the public wanted.
I'm no greenie but I do wish that more folks would buy more of what they need instead of what they think is safe because it is big. When I was a kid our family of 5 made out just fine in a 2 door car with a big back seat.
because a gallon of gas costed 29c
Hindsight is 20/20.
