Editing Compact car (section)

=== 1970s ===
{{multiple image
| align     = right
| direction = vertical
| image1    = 1978 AMC Concord DL 4-door sedan beige.jpg
| caption1  = [[AMC Concord]] (1977–1983) luxury compact<ref>{{cite book |last1=Foster |first1=Patrick R. |title=American Motors Corporation: The Rise and Fall of America's Last Independent Automaker |date=2013 |publisher=Motorbooks |isbn=9780760344255 |page=163 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=CyBFAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA163 |access-date=12 January 2019}}</ref>
| image2    = Ford Fairmont sedan 2.jpg
| caption2  = [[Ford Fairmont]] (1977–1983)
}}
{{refimprove section|small=yes |date=January 2019}}

In the early 1970s, the domestic [[automaker]]s introduced even smaller [[subcompact car]]s that included the [[AMC Gremlin]], [[Chevrolet Vega]], and [[Ford Pinto]].<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.motortrend.com/vehicle-genres/amc-gremlin-terrible-cars-that-werent-terrible/ |title=Terrible Cars That Weren't Terrible: The AMC Gremlin |first=Aaron |last=Gold |date=1 June 2020 |work=Motor Trend |access-date=6 March 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.hemmings.com/stories/1970-amc-gremlin/ |title=We're Head Over Heels for this, Low-Mile 1970 AMC Gremlin! |first=Eric |last=English |date=4 March 2024 |work=Hemmings |access-date=6 March 2024}}</ref>

In 1973, the [[1973 oil crisis|Energy Crisis]] started, which made small fuel-efficient cars more desirable, and the North American driver began exchanging their large cars for the smaller, imported compacts that cost less to fill up and were inexpensive to maintain.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://driving.ca/auto-news/news/rearview-mirror-the-fuel-crisis-that-changed-the-industry |title=Rearview Mirror: The fuel crisis that changed the industry |first=Jil |last=McIntosh |date=1 February 2017 |website=driving.ca |access-date=6 March 2024}}</ref>

The 1977 model year marked the beginning of a [[Downsize (automobile)|downsizing]] of all vehicles so that cars such as the [[AMC Concord]] and the [[Ford Fairmont]] that replaced the compacts were re-classified as mid-size, while cars inheriting the size of the [[Ford Pinto]] and [[Chevrolet Vega]] (such as the [[Ford Escort (North America)|Ford Escort]] and [[Chevrolet Cavalier]]) became classified as compact cars. Even after the reclassification, mid-size American cars were still far larger than mid-size cars from other countries and were more similar in size to cars classified as "large cars" in Europe. It would not be until the 1980s that American cars were being downsized to truly international dimensions.