The shift to smaller cars was happening before the first oil embargo, which stretched from October 1973 through March 174 (Wikipedia, 2023). In an October 1972 column, Popular Science Automotive Editor Jan P. Norbye walked through the sales data — and how Detroit automakers were starting to respond.
“A clear trend toward smaller cars has existed for several years. This is a significant milestone: 1972 is the first year the intermediates are outselling the standards (21.3 percent to 19.8 percent). That 19.8 percent figure does not include all big cars, of course. There are also the medium-priced cars (Olds, Buick, etc.), which are taking 14.9 percent, and the luxury cars that take 3.3 percent of the market. You could even count the personal cars (T-bird, etc.), adding another 1.4 percent. Now we have a total of 39.4 percent for cars standard-size or bigger. Against that, 12.7 percent compacts and 3.9 percent sporty compacts, plus 8.3 percent subcompacts. Then there’s 14.4 percent imports, and hardly any of those come close to standard size. That gives us 46.2 percent of industry sales (without the imports) intermediate size or smaller. With the imports included, small cars total 60.6 percent.
I know the intermediates have got bigger and heavier in recent years. The 1973 Chevelle is as big as the 1957 Impala. So naturally the picture changes a bit if you move the barrier below the intermediates. But would you have believed three years ago that 39.3 of all cars now sold in the U.S. would be compacts or smaller? Traditionally, Detroit has equated value with size. Now this is changing, too. Oldsmobile’s Omega is the same size as Chevy’s Nova, but priced like an Olds. Ford will introduce expensive new luxury options for the Maverick, and Dodge is looking very hard at special high-grade interiors or the Dart. The idea is finally beginning to gain recognition in Detroit that people really want smaller cars, without giving up any comfort or luxury, and pay for what they want.”
— Jan P. Norbye (1972, p. 62)
RE:SOURCES
- Norbye, Jan P. 1972. “Continued trend to smaller cars.” Popular Science. October issue: p. 62.
- Wikipedia; 2023. “1973 oil crisis.” Page last modified Sept. 8.
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- oldcarbrochures.org: Oldsmobile Omega (1974)
There was, of course, no “1957 Impala” but it’s an example of “we’ve always done it this way” that Chevrolet still in 1972 and for almost 15 more years referred to their full-size line as “The Chevrolet” collectively and to each individual trim level – Biscayne, Bel Air, Impala, Caprice – as though it were a model in its’ own right (Ford, of course, was doing the same thing) while even a professional like Norbye was treating “Impala” as the model name for the entire full size line.
That’s funny about the 1957 “Impala.” I assume that was a silly error which creeps in when one is writing too quickly.
Jan Norbye was often quite incisive, looking under the surface to note trends like this. Adding up the total of cars which weren’t ‘standard size’ is quite revealing, and the figure breakdown he gives is quite interesting. 39.3% compact or smaller, and he says you wouldn’;t have believed it three years ago. That’s very rapid growth. There could be many reasons behind this, Steve.
In 1957 the move toward smaller cars was quite established, with some imports being household names (Volkswagen) and Rambler coming in several sizes. I wonder to what extent increasing urban congestion was guiding people to want smaller cars? Easier to manuever, easier to park.
Then there was the whole handling thing. Not that we were suddenly racing drivers, but you could corner faster and with less lean in most smaller cars, a byproduct of less weight and less overhang. And different design priorities.
Then there was the counterculture/hippie movement causing young people (like me at the time) to question all sorts of things – like “why would I want to drive such a big car?” I don’t care about impressing people, I don’t want my father’s car; I want something different, something distinctly me! Could there been an anti-American feeling due to the unpopularity of the war in Vietnam? There cerytainly was in Australia, sweeping through high schools at the time.
Then there was the difference in quality between domestics and Japanese imports, which in the early days came standard with many things you’d formerly thought of as luxuries — I remember how taken I was to find radios and heaters standard; often even whitewall tyres. And they didn’t wear out or break down as we were accustomed to. Once experienced, many wouldn’t come back, especially once the Japanese began sending you their larger cars.
It’s often thought that American cars got bigger and bigger through the sixties, but sizes of the Big Three remained reasonably constant aside from Mopar’s ill-considered 1962 debacle. The real upsizing occurred in the late fifties. So the continually-increasing popularity of smaller cars wasn’t just a reaction to size alone.
Doubtless there are more possible explanations behind the effect Norbye noticed.
Interesting.
Speaking of luxuries and options, I recall that power steering and power brakes were options back then. The big 3 had pretty much all upsized by then, and wrestling those monsters must have been a chore.
In 1973, my father helped me purchase my first new car, a 1973 Nova Custom with power everything except power windows (G.M. executive discount). The red two-door had a 350-V-8, A/C and Powerglide. Before ordering the car, we drove a new Nova at the dealer’s with the V-8, but no power steering or disc brakes. I am not really hugely athletic and the young lady I was engaged to was smaller than I. The Nova strippo was difficult for her to steer easily and the brakes were marginal with the power of the Chevy small-block. Even as a “compact”, the Nova with the V-8 needed the power assists. When it came to options, even with small cars, the ghost of Alfred P. Sloan was alive and well ! My wife made me trade it for a new red 1977 Chevy Monza 2+2 hatchback with a 350. Unfortunately, it puked its Turbo-Hydramatic 250 within three-months. The Nova had been safe, sure-footed and roomy, especially with up-graded shocks and radial tires. The Monza was an over-powered, nose-heavy glorified Vega. Oh, and the Monza definitely needed the power steering and power brakes !
What’s also interesting is the uneven decline within the big car marketplace, with lower-medium price Pontiac and Dodge taking the big hit after 1965, a fate Mercury managed to avoid by becoming a junior Lincoln.
Right — it was kind of a mixed bag. I’ve posted some production figures here, here and here. It would be good to do a follow-up data dive on the 1970s premium-priced field because it went through meaningful changes.