Drivers followed the exuberance of the 1950s by demanding trimmer, leaner cars. The Chevrolet Corvair, GM’s first compact, satisfied people looking for a sturdy, practical car. (The Corvair’s sports car cousin, the Corvair Monza, was the basis of a series of exalted prototypes).

Other buyers found their appetites whetted for muscle cars like the Chevrolet Camaro and the Pontiac GTO. Combining lightweight bodies with powerful engines, muscle cars made speed and power available for a modest price. The Camaro –brought out in 1967- was partly computer designed.

The 1963 Buick Riviera, the first personal luxury car, was a styling inspiration to the entire industry throughout the 1960s. Opel, Holden and Vauxhall experimented with sports cars and luxury sports cars. GM built its 100 millionth automobile in 1967. Meanwhile, GM was developing guidance and navigation systems that would take the Apollo II astronauts to the moon and back in 1969, the year the company celebrated its 50^th anniversary.

Midsize cars with big engines gathered momentum until, in 1970, every GM division but Cadillac offered them. But by 1971, public and government concern about exhaust emissions cast a shadow over the demand for high performance. New regulations, which required cars to run on unleaded gasoline, flattened compression ratios. Horsepower began to drop. The number of foreign imports began to rise, reaching 2 million in 1977. (In 1950 imports had barely 21,000) The 1970s also saw a new concern over safety features. GM pioneered advances in crash testing, and it was the first auto maker to offer factory-installed airbags.

The oils embargo of 1974 accelerated the demand for fuel efficiency, and the results at GM spanned everything from the new, fuel-efficient Chevrolet Chevette to Cadillac’s first “small” car, the 1975 Seville. Carefree cars like the 1976 Cadillac Eldorado –the last convertible for a decade –didn’t seem to have a place anymore in a market with its mind set on practicality.