That was probably the last year of the Asian rust problem. My 1990 Pathfinder didn’t show signs of rust until well over 200k miles. When I sold it with over 300k miles there was rust, but nothing compared to my Datsun pickup after only 3 years.
My wifes 1981 Datsun 510 was rusting out after only 5 years. Her 87 Accord showed very little rust when we gave it away after 300k miles.
60 Minutes did a good article last weekend with the Fed chairman. He actually talked about how our economy has changed and how it’s been keeping hyperinflation in check.
Not surprising. That was the time frame that manufacturers were switching from lacquer paint. Manufacturers had some difficulty in those early years. So surface rust was a problem. By the Mid 80’s (86 or so) most had solved the problem…and most also drastically reduced their vehicles rusting from inside out.
My brother had the misfortune to own a brand-new '65 Datsun SPL-311, and all of the chrome had surface rust w/in one year! Most likely the body would have rotted out from rust w/in another few years, but because that car had so many “issues” he got rid of it before body rot added to its many problems.