Oil Embargo of 1973

[Bigblock]

I was the guy working the pumps at that time. The station was only open daylight hours if there was enough gas. Ohio had even odd also. I had several guys pull guns on me to fill it up instead of 5 gallons. The manager started wearing his WW2 45 after that. I put a 600 cfm Holley on my Cougar CJ and 50 lbs in the tires to get a few more mpgs.

[zray]

".........and 50 lbs in the tires to get a few more mpgs.

also, = poor mans power steering 

Z

[CSX 4133]

I used to supplement my regular premium fuel with some aviation fuel which every little airfield had back then. Sometimes it was in short supply, but we made it work, and it never affected cruising Friday and Saturday nights.

[Tom Honegger]

I'll never forget the year SAAC Convention was in Downingtown, PA. They had just started rationing gas in PA the evening we headed there from NW Ohio. Odd/even license plate numbers determined your "day" you could get gas! We carried 2 "Jerry" (sp?) cans of premium in the trunk of 0073, drove thru the night and then wondered if we'd be able to get gas to get home. As I remember, an announcement was made at the banquet that a Sunoco station down the road would sell all the gas we needed. I think the "Shelby American" had a picture of all the stripes and pipes lined up the next day!

[roddster]

  In 73' #0036 was all apart.  I do remember the long lines, gallon limits and such.  I recall bumping into a fellow with a 68 GT 500.  He was pissed at the dealer as he could only get $400 to trade in his Shelby for some small car.  Yep, not enough gas at 30 cents but plenty at 65 cents.

[s2ms]

I was working at a Naval Air base gas station. People, mostly active duty and retired, would start lining up at the gate long before we opened at 8am. We put cones behind the last cars in line at 5pm. Those cones never stayed put, saw some fist fights but never any guns, probably due to the MP presence. Funny thing is my friend worked at the unleaded pump on a different part of the base, he would only have 5-10 customers/day.

[papa scoops]

I remember it well. I had a cougar, Shelby, boss, f100. kept them all filled with chevron supreme. we were a ford dealer and had a contract with the local station. even got a discount. but had a hard time with that 60 cent a gallon gas. (ok, I never paid for my gas, it was a "dealer expense") but it still seamed like a lot, considering it used to be about 30 cents. phred

[Dizzy]

The more I thought about those years the more old memories came out....I worked as Ford tech in Chicago and was racing both drag ( US 30 Gary,In ) and Raceway Park ,Blue Island) and getting the fuel to race from the stock car sponsor ( Joe's Gulf ) . Even NASCAR was being questioned about the fuel being "wasted" to race. I bought a '71 Pinto to commute because my tow vehicle ( '70 Ford XL w/429 ) could use a lot of fuel! Biggest complaint from new car customers was "bad gas mileage". Our Ford dealer owner would sit with the techs during breaks and educate us about business. He stocked up on new Festivas and used Cadillacs,Buick 225,Olds Regencys that were going CHEAP at the auctions. We questioned his sanity about buying those "heavies" during the gas crunch. He bought a house to make a parking lot to store all those huge,gas guzzlers and told me "Americans will always want to drive the biggest vehicle and will find a way to own one. They love big cars. " For months he sold new little cars at a premium and bought LOTS of 2-3 year old gas guzzlers. Sure enough,he was right and began selling those big cars that were now in demand. He once told me he never was a gambling man,but a business man. Back then you could buy Holley 4 bl carbs and multi carb setups for scrap prices. I ran that little Pinto for years after gas became plentiful because it was a fun little car. Gas theft was a problem and locking caps became popular to keep that precious fuel. Siphoning gas was an art that a few friends could do while in the parking lot! Funny to think about it today...

[early67350]

"I'm so glad you posted this! I was going to share your story, but you did MUCH more justice than I could ever do second hand.

BTW - 0022 is living a great life. In fact, I took her out and stretched her legs last night 👍"

Ruben: Good to hear from you and I know that you will give "the old girl" a great home and some needed exercise.  I will always remember the day I got the message from you saying that the car was still in Green Bay (a yr. later) and that you would like to have me go and see it, take some pics and say goodbye.  You are a true class person!!  Thank You.

[corbins]

I was 22, my Dad sold Fords at a local dealer. People were trading in muscle cars so fast it was crazy. And a really nice BB car of any make might have gotten you a 600-800$ trade in value if you were lucky. They would throw them on the used car lot for a week or so and then bundle them up to wholesalers who exported many of them. This all actually started in 71' .26 gallon gas suddenly went to .42-.50 gal and people just freaked overnight.