The US auto industry had its biggest year ever in 1965, with production, sales, employment and profits soaring to all-time highs.
Another all-time high was reached: traffic deaths. Style-conscious Detroit was forced by government action to pay more attention to the good health of the people.
Cars in California were equipped, for the first time, with a $45 device that reduced carbon monoxide gases. Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Clean Air Act authorizing the government to create standards to limit air pollution.