American cars then were basically disposable cars - you drive them until about 80,000 miles at which point they are practically falling apart, effective a beater. Bob Lutz was the king of marketing low quality cars as "fun to drive".
We got Mustang, Camaro(Lutz had a hand in that), Jeep etc. They all don't compete with Toyota for quality partially because the culture drives the companies and that eventually drives car design and manufacturing. Tourists often rent these cars when visiting the US because they are one representation of the country's soul.