Detroit Beat Hitler, Then Came the Yips

If you were a child of the 1970s—especially if you were a car-obsessed child from Melbourne’s western suburbs—Detroit, Michigan, held a powerful allure.

That was the city where Ford, General Motors and Chrysler were born, and produced vehicles that seemed magically potent and advanced compared to anything on Australian roads. In truth, this was a triumph of marketing over reality. The first time I drove one of my hero cars, a 1968 Ford Mustang, I discovered that Detroit engineers of the era evidently measured steering play in yards rather than millimetres. Porridge was apparently a crucial component in those cars’ suspension design.

But no matter. Detroit was the place.

Note the past tense. Detroit’s automotive industry and Detroit itself have been in steep decline ever since the 1970s. Both the city and General Motors declared bankruptcy at various points. Before the 1970s even ended, Chrysler required government loan guarantees worth $1.5 billion just to keep…