alternatehistory.com

After World War II, the North American market was huge for European marques such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Ferrari, and Porsche. It even got to the point that American distributors were playing a major role in determine what the European marques were going to develop and build. Why were sports cars seemingly the one manufactured good the United States was actually importing in the 1950s and 1960s? Why didn't the United States develop its own sports cars, and could it have not only produced more of them domestically, but have been successful in exporting them to Europe as well?

Note that I'm distinguishing between sports cars, which are designed with track use in mind, and the muscle cars that the United States did dominate in the 1950s and 1960s, which were designed to go as fast as possible in a straight line. That's not intended to disrespect the American cars, it's just that the type of racing popular in the United States made maneuverability less of a priority. Drag racing was actually a popular pastime for Americans in the 1950s and 1960s, they would take their car to the local strip.
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