Gas crisis 1979 video

This popped up on my recommended list on YouTube. I kinda skimmed thru it, didn't see any 'muscle cars' but still found it neat to see all the different cars. Hard to believe this was over 40 yrs ago........

Note: no gunfire, no fighting, no obnoxiously loud music.........

A couple of screen grabs, the Magnum was probably new, the truck a few years old.

I was lucky to be working Swing Shift during that time. It was much easier to go hunting for shorter lines at 10:30 in the morning. We had the odd/even rationing in my area.

To be honest I didn't know there was a shortage in '79. I know there was an embargo in the early 70's that caused problems and long lines.

That was a pretty cool video. Saw lots of Malibus, Centurys, Cutlasses a Granada, Dart, Duster and a lot of other models long gone. That Magnum looked so nice and shiny. That civic shows just how much they've changed.

I was only 12 in '79 and don't remember anything about it either. If anything, I would have remembered it from my Father cussing about it, but never heard anything.

This is what Gaggle says: in 1979. American consumers were told that the cause of the crisis was a decline in Iranian oil production from 5.8 million barrels a day (mmbd) in July 1978 to 445,000 barrels a day (mbd) in January 1979.

And John good point on how society has changed. I have no doubt if that were today there'd be obnoxious music blaring, fights, and overall mayhem.

I was 17, but I drove a Datsun so everything was cool.

Well, except you drove a Datsun Just kidding.

That was the start of my freshman year.

I'd say more, but wrong forum.

1979 was a cakewalk next to '73 and '74. Mostly it was price increases. Dad would rail, I'll walk before I pay $1.00 / gallon. Of course he didn't.

That's about the time all the stations had to buy new pumps so they could show 3 digit unit prices. I'm guessing if things go any further south, we'll need 4 digit unit prices?

i had buddies that worked in stations and it was common to park cars by the pumps and turn the outside lights out when there supposedly was no gas.

I worked at a gas station from 1972 through about 1980. The 73/74 gas crisis was a much bigger issue then the 79 version was.
The station I worked at was one of the highest volume stations in town during those years. During 73/74 our station did indeed run out of gas a few times, but it was usually later in the day, and usually we had a truck dropping 8,000 gallons the next morning. We were suppose to follow that odd/even day thing where you were only suppose to be able to buy gas on the day that matched the last number or you license plate, or something like that. My boss didn't follow that program at all, if we had gas to pump, anyone with money to but it was welcome to come in and get it. It didn't take long for the customers to understand that and most would just stop in earlier in the day if they could. The only lines we usually saw was on holiday weekends, and I don't ever remember us running out of gas during those times. Our station was on US 20, and about the mid point between Chicago Il and Galena Il. A lot of people from Chicago spent their weekends in the Galena area, our weekend traffic was very high. During the 73/74 "gas shortage" the price of gas went from about $.30 a gallon up to $.65 a gallon.

Between 74 and 78, gas bumped up around $.10 a gallon about every couple of weeks. People complained, but still bought gas. It was a great time to buy those gas guzzling high performance cars though. People were spending more money then they would ever save by buying those "fuel efficient new cars".

The biggest problem in the 78/79 gas squeeze was the issue with the gas pumps. Most would only register a gallon price up to $.99.9 a gallon and most the signs that stated the gas prices were also limited to the under a dollar price per gallon. When the price topped that $1 a gallon, we had to change our price sign to show a 1/2 gallon price, and we had to do the same thing with the pump. A lot of people thought they had the right to but a gallon of gas at the posted 1/2 gallon price. Sometimes it was a battle to convince them how it was. With our station even being one of the high volume stations in town, we still had to deal with the 1/2 gallon price for a couple months. We had gas lines then because we had to double the pump price with every gas purchase. Having gas to sell was never a problem. The media was already making up lies to cover the real issue, the pumps and the signs didn't go over the dollar a gallon price. We were told when the new pumps were installed that they would be able to handle the price per gallon up to $10 per gallon. Most stations have changed the pumps since then because the self service thing changed the way gas was sold. That too was an all new learning experience for both the station employees and the customers. In IL that was becoming the new thing around 19880.

At least that was the way it was in our little corner of the world.

I remember 73 - 4 vividly ,I was working as a driver for a heavy equipment dealer and every morning I would come in early to line up the mechanics service trucks at the gas station down the street to be there for when they opened so they would be full to could go out and service customers machines. Hurricane Sandy was rough here in N.J. many stations were closed because they had no power and lines for gas were forming , my wife works in a hospital and was given a card saying she was a health care worker and she could get gas before others , she never used it though. I remember I was driving the company box truck ( for where I was working at the time ) and was on a delivery to the Scranton Pa. area I should have filled the truck up in Pa. where there were no problems instead I waited until I got into N.J. the lines at the truck stop were unreal as were other stations , I didn't have enough fuel to make it back to the plant so I came home ( 30 miles closer ) and ended up driving my car to the plant , finding an open station for diesel and filling cans to bring home to get the truck back to the plant .

I remember it as more of a 74-75 thing because I had just got married and traded my two Baracudas for a Hemi Road runner just before the fake crisis at least in our area. My brother was still in the Phoenix area going through the even odd gas rationing but up in Cheyenne where I had moved to prices went up but we were awash in gas. If there was an old unused gas station the tanks were filled and full tankers parked around town and the refinery in town was shut down because there was no place to hide it.

I don`t really remember much about a 79 gas shortage. I do remember sitting in line for the earlier one though.

I was in the Navy from 77 to 81 and missed the whole thing.

In 1980 a Coors Executive in Spokane Wa did a makeover on his 1962 Polara 500 I suspect to directly counter the 79 gas crisis. He removed the OEM 361 4bbl/727 Auto and replaced it with a mild cam 273 4 bbl w/4 sp. I bought the car as an oddity and added some new stuff to further the concept, like headers, lots of alum stuff, like 8.75, DS, Discs, Alum 4sp etc It's pretty zippy, It's likely I will add EFI, and leave it alone, waiting for the next gas crisis. LOL

https://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/1554264/Searchpage/1/Main/137322/Words/%2Bpolara/Search/true/62-polara-500-cruiser.html#Post1554264

I was in the Silicon valley during both. I had a good friend that worked at the SP pipeline where all of the fuel came in to the area. During BOTH periods their tanks which normally were under 1/2 capacity were filled to the brim. He also said they were directed to starve the independently owned stations forcing more than one to close permanently

I recall going to the 1979 Street Machine Nationals in my buddy's 71 Cutlass and having to coast when we could to get back to Ohio. The picture is from that event, the banner hanging above the Trans Am sedan delivery(!) says it all.