rabbit64cs wrote:

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just read an article were the Federal Highway Adminstration predicted that registration of autos would soar by 1990 to 158.6 million.

1970 - 104.7 mill.

1980 - 134.3 mill.

1990 - 158.6 mill.

they were a little shy ,, but pretty close....interesting...

Year	Population	Drivers	Motor vehicles	Increase in vehicles	% Growth
1960	180	87	74	N/A	N/A
1961	183	89	76	2	+2.72
1962	186	91	79	2	+2.63
1963	188	94	83	3	+3.79
1964	191	95	86	3	+3.61
1965	194	99	90	4	+4.65
1966	196	101	94	4	+4.44
1967	197	103	97	3	+3.19
1968	199	105	101	4	+4.12
1969	201	108	105	4	+3.96
1970	204	112	108	3	+2.85
1971	207	114	113	5	+4.62
1972	209	118	119	6	+5.30
1973	211	122	126	7	+5.88
1974	213	125	130	4	+3.17
1975	215	130	133	3	+2.30
1976	218	134	139	6	+4.51
1977	220	138	142	3	+2.15
1978	222	141	148	6	+4.22
1979	225	143	152	4	+2.70
1980	227	145	156	4	+2.63
1981	230	147	158	2	+1.28
1982	232	150	160	2	+1.26
1983	234	154	164	4	+2.50
1984	236	155	166	2	+1.21
1985	239	157	172	6	+3.61
1986	241	159	176	4	+2.32
1987	243	161	179	3	+1.70
1988	246	163	184	5	+2.79
1989	248	166	187	3	+1.63
1990	248	167	189	2	+1.01
1991	252	169	188	-1	-0.52
1992	255	173	190	2	+1.06
1993	258	173	194	4	+2.10
1994	260	175	198	4	+2.06
1995	263	177	202	4	+2.02
1996	265	180	206	4	+1.98
1997	268	183	208	4	+1.94
1998	270	185	208	0	+/-0
1999	273	187	216	8	+3.84
2000	281	191	218	2	+0.92
2001	281	191	226	8	+3.66
2002	288	195	230	4	+1.76
2003	291	196	231	1	+0.43
All numbers in millions; SOURCE: US Department of Transportation

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Thx for posting.  I love reading these older articles.  A '66 mag I was reading was trashing the '67 cars stating that 66 was a high point in design much like 56 was before it went downhill.  Turns out that 57 and 67 were both considered pretty good years in retrospect...