In 1979 Smoking was everywhere, and had been for for over forty years, many people smoked and cancer caused 19.8% of all deaths.
In 2017 Smoking is not allowed in most public places, most people do not smoke, and cancer caused 21.7% of all deaths.

In 1979 you could buy a small pickup that got 27 mpg.
In 2019 you can buy a small pickup that gets 23 mpg.
Seriously, you can't make this shit up!
In 1979 the Ford courier and Mazda B2000 both were rated at 27 mpg.
The best available today are the Chevy and GMC diesels.
The best fuel injected gas 4 cylinder truck for mpg today is the GM/Chevy with the 2.5 that gets 22 mpg.
So a 1979 carbureted 4 cylinder truck with no computers gets better fuel economy than the equivilant modern fuel injected computer controlled engineering marvel.
1979 was not perfect though, as anything with a larger engine with California emission controls lost around 2 mpg, dropping typical dodges from 16 to 14 mpg.
This means 12+% increase in fuel consumed and carbon emitted for California style emission systems(3way catalyst).
This does not take into consideration the loss in mpg from having the smog pump, one way catalytic converter and standard smog tune.
[link to afdc.energy.gov (secure)]
[link to www.fueleconomy.gov (secure)]