World War II set off a fuel shortage that produced the Austin Bantam and Crosley, but soon America returned to normal and most makes grew in size and weight. There were exceptions like the Henry J and Metropolitan, but it was not until about 1960 that Detroit launched an assault on the European invasion.

Initially Volkswagen and the Renault Dauphine began to show up on our shores in the 1950s, but now the Japanese were showing signs of producing cars for America, too. The "Big Three" counter attack began with the Corvair, Valiant, Falcon and Lark. That was followed by a variety of additional makes and models some sporty and even luxurious. Notice how the models grew in size with time.

It was the oil embargo in the Fall of 1973 that set in motion a panic at Detroit. All makes and models needed to be drastically modified to produce better mileage or the cars would not sell. The price of oil continued to rise until the early 1980s, making cars of mid- and late-1970s a period of poor quality (inflation was rampant) and poor performance. Brochures for these cars avoiding mentioning horsepower and concentrated on emphasizing mileage.