Business as Usual.

American car manufacturers in the early 1970s continued to produce the large sedans and the popular hot rod muscle cars that they had been perfecting since the 1950s and 1960s. The muscle cars — Pontiac's GTO, Ford's Mustang, and Oldsmobile's 442 — were small, modestly priced automobiles with souped-up engines that gave the driver a feeling of power and speed. The gas-guzzling muscle cars were fun but dangerous unless equipped with fully functional high-speed brakes. Detroit's large sedans — the Lincoln Continental, Cadillac, and Buick — also paid little heed to fuel efficiency. Comfortable as the traditional force in the United States automobile market, American manufacturers entered the 1970s with a sense of business — and profits — as usual.

Energy Crisis.

Detroit's peace of mind was shattered, along with its business strategy, when on 16 October 1973 the...