
1973 Plymouth Road Runner
If you were even partially hip on current events in 1973, you likely recall the OPEC Oil Crisis.
I was just a wee lad at the time, but I well remember waiting in line for gas. I also remember that regular gas at our suburban Chicago neighborhood fueling station had been running around 35 cents a gallon in ’73, but quickly shot up to 60 cents when the madness began.
While I was blissfully unaware of the political nuance of the situation—and had no idea what the Yom Kippur War was—I was keenly aware of how ticked off my father was about the whole thing.
Here we’ve collected ten print ads from 1973, and one TV spot. It’s worth noting that none of them make much mention of fuel economy–a sure indication that they were created prior to the crisis. We went exclusively with coupes this time, just because we found so many cool ads featuring 2-door models.
If you remember spending time with any of these rides, or if you remember the days of the Oil Crisis, tell us about it. The place for comments is below the last car.
AMC

1973 AMC Hornet Ad
BMW

1973 BMW 3.0 CS Ad
Buick

1973 Buick Century Ad
Chevrolet

1973 Chevrolet Monte Carlo Ad
Dodge

1973 Dodge Dart Sport Rallye Ad
Ford

1973 Ford Mustang Ad
Model-Year Madness! 10 Classic Ads From 1972
Lincoln

1973 Lincoln Continental Mark IV Ad
Mercury

1973 Mercury Capri Ad
Plymouth

1973 Plymouth Roadrunner Ad
Pontiac

1973 Pontiac Grand Prix Ad
Rocket Madness! 10 Classic Oldsmobile Ads
Featured
Auto Shows
Steve & Johnnie’s Road Tests
Topics
- 30+ mpg
- Australia
- AWD/4WD
- Best Buys
- Big & Tall Friendly
- Brands and Marketing
- Brazil
- Canada
- Car Care
- Car Spotter Challenge
- China
- Classic Car Ads
- Classic Cars
- Color
- Commercial Vehicles
- Concept Cars
- Connectivity
- Convertibles
- Cool Things
- Corvette
- Crossovers/SUVs
- Design
- Diesel
- Dogs
- Electric Vehicles
- Engines
- Favorite Car Ads
- First Look
- First Spin
- Forgotten Concept
- Fuel Economy
- Future Cars
- Future Collectibles
- Gasoline/Fuel
- Green Technology
- Guest Drive
- Humor
- Hybrids
- Industry News
- Luxury Vehicles
- Manual Transmission
- Mexico
- Models and Toys
- Money Matters
- Motorsports
- Muscle Cars
- Music
- Mustang
- Off-Road
- Pickup Trucks
- Plug-in Hybrids
- Police/Law Enforcement
- Quick Look
- Quizzes
- Review Flashback!
- Russia
- Safety
- Shopping
- Sporty/Performance Cars
- Station Wagons
- Stellantis
- Steve & Johnnie's Road Tests
- Sustainability
- Technology
- Test Drive
- TV and Movie Cars
- Vehicles That Nearly Were
- Winter Driving
Vehicle Makes
- Acura
- Afeela
- Alfa Romeo
- AMC
- Aston Martin
- Audi
- Bentley
- BMW
- Buick
- Cadillac
- Chevrolet
- Chrysler
- Daewoo
- Daihatsu
- Datsun
- DeSoto
- Dodge
- Edsel
- Ferrari
- Fiat
- Fisker
- Ford
- Genesis
- GMC
- Honda
- Hummer
- Hyundai
- Infiniti
- Isuzu
- Jaguar
- Jeep
- Karma
- Kia
- Lamborghini
- Land Rover
- Lexus
- Lincoln
- Lotus
- Lucid
- Maserati
- Mazda
- Mercedes-Benz
- Mercury
- Mini
- Mitsubishi
- Nissan
- Oldsmobile
- Packard
- Peugeot
- Plymouth
- Pontiac
- Porsche
- Ram
- Renault
- Rivian
- Rolls-Royce
- Saab
- Saturn
- Scion
- Scout
- Shelby
- Simca
- Smart
- SRT
- Studebaker
- Subaru
- Suzuki
- Tesla
- Toyota
- VinFast
- Volkswagen
- Volvo