Automobiles: Detroit plans a comeback: Billions of dollars are at stake in U.S. auto makers' catch-up battle with small, fuel-efficient imports

“Never in its history has Detroit been faced with so many problems.” Spectrum said that in November 1977 in a special issue on the automobile. Now, just three years later, U.S. automobile manufacturers look back to 1977 with fond memories of the good old days. As James McDonald, president to be of General Motors, put it at a recent meeting in Michigan: “Until Spring of '79, we couldn't build enough large cars. After Spring of '79, we couldn't build enough small cars.”