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The US government created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1970 to group its air pollution-related programmes. The EPA’s original mandate is still valid in 2019: It’s tasked with carrying out research, setting emissions regulations and making sure carmakers follow them. In the same year, regulators used data gathered since the Clean Air Act of 1963 to write the Clean Air Act of 1970. Lawmakers suddenly had the power to set and, significantly, enforce emissions regulations which they did starting with the 1975 Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) mandate.

Carmakers entered the 1970s under more governmental pressure than ever before. Complying with the regulations – while later juggling with the widespread consequences of the 1973 oil crisis – turned the industry on its head and spawned engines that were stunningly anaemic in spite of their mammoth displacement. In this story, we’re taking a look at some of the big-engined cars with paltry outputs.

Please note we’ve singled out the models in this story as examples; the engine referenced was often available in other cars. And, while horsepower ratings embarked on a free-fall, torque remained relatively high:

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