Transport TL: The Chevrolet Corvair succeeds

Dude, what happened to the Challengers and Chargers? Those were fairly big successes back in the 70's. But Chrysler will still go downhill after the oil embargo, yes.

Holy shit though, an automotive TL, you are a God amongst men (even though I much cared for the Corvair).
 
Good stuff, but what of GM's own Wankel rotary engine. They had plans to a Pininfarina styled mid-engined Corvette around the powerplant and AMC planned to put a variant of it in the Pacer.

That ol' rig would've been a fine piece of transportation if not for it's overwieght six.

The GM wankel was a fuel pig on a massive scale. Here, fuel injection and more advanced technology means the Wankel stays at Mazda.

The ME Corvette concept of the 70s never happens either. The Corvette stays front-engined, but a variant of it goes mid-engined in the late 80s.

The Pacer never happens, either. AMC survives, though.

The Challenger and Charger go pretty much as OTL. Chrysler, through its management by bankers, falls way behind the 8 ball.
 
1974-1977

The chaos of the embargo times and the immediate aftermath were stunning. The beleagured Nixon Administration, already smarting from Watergate, got hammered harder. America fell into a recession for the first time since WWII, and by the mid-70s it was being felt everywhere.

Car sales fell off again, and this time however new models from Honda, Toyota, Datsun and Volkswagen continued to eat away at the sales of the American makers. The decision to re-do the Camaro, Nova and Corvair in 1974 had served GM well, but they had other problems. Quality was comparable to the imports, but Detroit still had a few areas to fix.

All of the American automakers went on a crash course to drop the size and weight of their big car offerings, figuring - correctly as history would show - that new cars needed to be smaller, more space and fuel efficient than their predecessors.

GM, drawing onts past knowledge, began researching fuel injection for new models, and they also began working on the usage of aluminum and fiberglass in mass production car bodies, which had been done on a small scale in the 1960s. GM's first front wheel drive small cars, the X-bodies, went to production in 1977. Impressive cars from the start, the X-bodies would soon overshadow the old-school Nova, which would be retired in 1980. The Corvair, still a sporty coupe, still sold strong, largely to younger couples who wanted a car with style in the days of efficiency.

But even as the X-bodies went out to market, GM prepared to roll out the big guns. They in 1976 began planning a car to be launched in 1982, which they figured would put the imports on the back foot.....

GM also went to work on re-doing its massive plant infrastructure. Long put off, the reworks of dozens of GM plants would consume billions of dollars, but would ultimately put GM in good stead for the future.

Ford also went to work on its smaller cars. The steady Falcon, which had served since 1960, was redesigned in 1976, going to front wheel drive and taking much of its platform from its European siblings. The European Ford Escort took much of its chassis to the new Falcon. Ford also planned with a second shot, planning a worldwide car for 1978, the supermini to be called the Fiesta.

Brought back to life by the small car revolution, AMC also moved fast. The Gremlin and Hornet soon found the decent Offenhauser engine inadequate, particularly because of its 3.0-liter displacement and its costs. The engine's technology however began to hsow up in other models, as AMC began to focus efforts on new cylinder heads and other designs.

The safety hysteria brought on by Ralph Nader in 1966 had abated, but it also had raised that eyebrow for all of Washington to see. Insurance rises, new and over the top safety legislation, the removal of lead from gasoline and other aspects dropped the performance of vehicles across the board.
 
The Pacer never happens, either. AMC survives, though.

I do like your style good sir.:cool:

AMC did have several opprotunities save itself in the '70's and not developing the Pacer is one of the biggest imo. All that saved cash can go towards improving existing models beyond just the occasional facelift; as you are having done.

The Challenger and Charger go pretty much as OTL. Chrysler, through its management by bankers, falls way behind the 8 ball.

Hmm. It seems even in TTL Chrysler's not gonna be able to avoid Lee "Buy and Sell" Iacocca.
 
1968-1973
But Edsel II and Iacocca got their way, and the Maverick headed to the market in 1973. A two-seat coupe and roadster with a mid-engine 283 cubic inch V8 with those overhead cam engines, it was immediately compared with the Corvette, which it really was aimed at.
283 Ford?!?!:eek::confused:

Speaking of which, where's the first 283 SB 'vair?:cool: And when did they get rid of the ugly shoebox styling?
 
Pretty fitting that this thread gets unearthed just as the Detroit automakers are smarting from the most recent oil shock. It's interesting to see how they could have averted it back in the '60s. Please continue!
 
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