Cars manufacturers really dropped the ball on....

I said in the previous post that Oldsmobile gave up on performance after 1971. They weren't the only ones. Musclecar buyers didn't magically disappear after 1972; the manufacturers stopped making cars that they wanted to buy!!  By 1975 the Road Runner was no more, the Charger was a re-badged Chrysler Cordoba ( yuk!) the 'Cuda and Challenger were no more, the Javelin AMX was no more, no more SS Chevelles, the Z/28 was no more, the Mustang was more Pinto than Mustang, and the largest engine you could get in a Corvette was a 350. And you couldn't get a 4-speed in California!! And you wonder why Pontiac Trans-Am sales doubled or tripled every year, even before "Smokey&the Bandit?" T/A sales jumped from 5,000 in 1973 to 10,000 in '74, to 23,000 in '75. to 46,000 in '76 and to 68,000 in '77. In 1978-the first year that "Smokey and the Bandit" ( it was released in May 1977 ) had an impact on-a record 93,000 were sold, and 117,000 in '79. If you wanted a Musclecar in the mid to late '70's you had one choice-a Trans-Am. If it weren't for Pontiac hanging in there, we'd have never had 5.0 Mustangs or Buick Grand Nationals in the '80's and we might not have SS Camaros or Hellcat Chargers now. Just like GM built Camaros and Firebirds basically unchanged from 1970-81 Chrysler could have done the same with the Challenger and Barracuda. It's a mystery to me why Chrysler dropped the big-blocks after 1971. The 400 ( a bored-out 383 ) and 440 engines were EPA certified in "big" cars like the Plymouth Sport Fury and Dodge Monaco until 1978. Think a 400 or 440 / 4-speed Challenger could have competed against the Trans-Am?  Does a bear crap in the woods?  In '79 after they dropped the big blocks, they could have used the E58 360 Police Interceptor Motor that was in the "300" and the Dodge Li'l Red Express truck. After a 2 1/2 year hiatus Chevrolet hastily resurrected the Z/28 Camaro in April 1977. It had T/A style graphics and spoilers, a 350 V8 backed by a 4-speed or a TH350 and a 3.73:1 or 3.42:1 posi rear end. 1978 was a record year for Camaro sales. If Chrysler hadn't hastily killed the E-bodies in 1974-doubtless they would have gotten a good piece of the performance car pie. AMC shot themselves in the foot twice. Once in 1975-when they killed the Javelin. They could have carried on as well. They really blew it in 1977. Everyone was looking for a Trans-Am fighter. AMC engineers came up with a performance package for the Compact Hornet. It had a great handling suspension, and since AMC engines are like Pontiacs-their all externally identical- the 304 was optional in the Hornet and the 401 was certified in big cars and Jeep Cherokees through '78-they wanted to stuff a 401 into the Hornet AMX. Since a Trans-Am weighed about 3,800 lbs and a Hornet weighs about 2,900-a 401 AMX would have blown the doors off a Trans-Am. The brass ok's the suspension and graphics but not the engine swap. The AMX was left with a 2bbl carbed 304 that wheezed out 120 hp. And they wondered why they didn't sell?!!  This went on through the '80's. Buick engineers wanted to make the swoopy Reatta coupe rear-wheel drive and stuff the Grand National engine in it. Chevrolet brass lost their mind, howling to the high heavens that this would kill Corvette sales. It would have. Thus the Reatta was made front drive with a normally aspirated 140 hp V6. And they wondered why they didn't sell?!  Mastermind