Eras?

When you say "the Malaise Era" in reference to cars most people know what you're talking about: that period of time when cars were slow and awful. It came after the "Muscle Car Era", but when did it end? And what was the period before the "Muscle Car Era" called?

This is the sort of thing I'm pondering at the moment. I have some ideas, maybe a pretty good post's worth.

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