The Once and Future American Car

How long is the collective American memory? About ten years. As evidence, I offer the example of what happened after the Arab oil embargo of 1973. America reacted with a swiftness and force that included a national 55 mph speed limit along with tough and tightening standards for vehicle fuel economy. We were so close to a national system of fuel rationing, that the first ration tickets had already been printed.

And the shocker is, it worked astoundingly well. A nation of muscle-car lovin’, land yacht drivin’ auto maniacs started buying smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles. Between 1975 when the CAFE standards were put into effect and 1984, the average fuel economy rose from just over 12 mpg to 22 mpg. That’s an amazing 60% increase in less than a decade. Had that rate of increase continued, the average mpg would have passed 35 before 1995, and would be at almost 60 mpg today
But what happened instead was that in 1984, America lost its mind. I blame it on too much exposure to A Flock of Seagulls.

From that year forward, instead of increasing fuel economy, what began to increase was both weight and horsepower. In 1984, the average light vehicle sold in America had less than 100 horsepower. By 1995, the average vehicle weight had gone up by a third and the average horsepower had gone up more than 50%. And the speed limit Congress had reduced to 55 in 1974 was rolled back to 65 in 1987. If that rate had continued, by now we’d be driving around in bloated vehicles that average more then 200 horsepower on highways where the speed limit is 70 or more. Oh, wait a second