Detroit Had It All — Then One Decision Wrecked American Cars

In the 1950s, nobody on Earth built cars like America. Bel Airs in every driveway, Cadillacs on every main street, and whole towns that lived and breathed the assembly line. Then, in the early 1970s, Detroit made a choice that looked perfectly reasonable at the time. What followed was the Vega, the Pinto, the gas lines of 1973, badge-engineered look-alikes, the Chrysler rescue, the slow death of Flint and the bankruptcies of 2009. This is the story of how America's car industry traded quality for the next quarter's numbers, and what it cost all of us. What do you remember about American cars? Tell us in the comments. Chapters: 0:00 Intro 0:31 The Golden Age 2:45 The Fork in the Road 5:00 1973 7:41 Same Car, Four Names 9:33 The Bailout Years 11:14 Flint and the Motor City 13:26 What Could Have Been 15:22 2009