On the very first Earth Day 50 years ago today, the world was, indeed, a far filthier place. The Environmental Protection Agency hadn’t been formed yet, cars were almost all carbureted and ungainly land yachts with sweaty velour seats and largely useless opera windows ruled the road. While there were regulations governing the car industry, it was nowhere near the byzantine maze of standards automakers must negotiate now.
While there were notable muscle car exceptions, your average commuter heap in the late ’60s was making 227 hp. That all changed as the decade rolled over. Then the Clean Air Act of 1970 came, along with the 1973 oil embargo. Gas prices quadrupled, and at the same time insurance companies raised premiums on performance cars. Average horsepower in 1980 was 110. It took almost four decades for the average horsepower to get back to what it was in the ’60s. But when it came back, the cars making it were cleaner than ever.
Catalytic converters, fuel injection and unleaded gas were just a few factors that made the automobile greener.
According to the EPA, since the agency’s founding in December 1970, both passenger vehicles and heavy duty trucks and buses are now 99% cleaner at the tailpipe. Gas—now devoid of lead and with reduced sulfate—is much cleaner. The air in major U.S. cities is much cleaner, too, you can see—and breathe—so much better than you could 50 years ago. Kids playing outside no longer say it hurts to inhale. Electric cars are becoming commonplace—the number of EVs on U.S. streets passed the 1 million mark in 2018. All that despite huge increases in population, miles driven and energy consumed. And yet modern cars make much higher power than they did a half-century ago.
Muscle cars of the late ’60s and early ’70s made power through displacement. The 1970 426 Hemi ‘Cuda made 425 hp and LS6 SS454 Chevelle made 450 hp from its 454-cubic-inch V8. They were kings of the street, turning quarter-mile times in the 14s and even 13s at well over 100 mph (you just couldn’t corner or brake).
Today, many cars use direct injection in combustion, spraying the gas right into the cylinder at 6,500 psi instead of just spritzing it into the intake runner and hoping it explodes in the cylinder downstream. Computer processing of the combustion cycle means very little wasted fuel. And widespread use of turbocharging allows for higher horsepower in smaller displacement engines across the board.
And at the top of the heap, we have cars now making more than 1,500 hp! A figure like that was reserved for ship engines 50 years ago. But you can march right down to your Bugatti dealer and order a Chiron Super Sport 300+ that makes 1,578 hp.
So raise a toast to Mother Earth on this, her special day. And while you’re at it, take a deep breath and notice it no longer hurts. Happy Earth Day, Mother.
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