Car manufacturers were dealt some serious challenges in the 1970s. Federal regulations were starting to take over style and power design meeting rooms and many of the cars style took a major hit.
While some were making great iconic new designs (see the 1973 Lamborghini Countach or the BMW 5 Series), many others were pumping out cars like the Pacer and the Pinto. Most of these compact cars were disposable, dangerous, unreliable — but had much better gas mileage.
Muscle cars in the early 1970s, like the Challenger, Cuda and Corvette were unbelievably great. But sports cars were overtaken in the mainstream by the compact car because automakers were having an impossible time keeping the power and getting rid of the smog.
By 1972, compact cars had won the sales race. The GM Vega, Ford Pinto, and AMC Gremlin battled the imports – most notably Volkswagen, Toyota, and Datsun.
In 1974, BMW introduced the first 3 series. One of my favorite cars ever, the old school Jaguar XJS was also released that year. Hatchbacks were extremely popular as well.