[Paul Wright]

Al, Is this article your own work or someone else's? If you didn't write it, you need to cite the original author. Posting someone else's work as your own is copyright infringement.

 

[Paul Wright]

What did you guys do back in the day if you had a late 60's 10.5:1 big block Chevelle that needed higher octane fuel in the late 70's? Were there still stations around that sold higher octane? Sorry for the dumb question I was born in 79.

I was around then (born in '54). There were several big events that changed the fuel landscape for performance users.
In 1971 Low lead fuel was mandated by the EPA
In 1973 was the first Arab Oil Embargo. 55 mph speed limit and gas rationing. You couldn't buy gas on Sunday.

In 1975 Lead free fuel was introduced because of Catalytic converters.
The second oil embargo was in 1979, the year you were born.
New car horsepower hit new lows by 1981.
That was when people started making the switch and buying economical Japanese cars.

In the years between 1973 and 1979 you could buy high compression big block cars dirt cheap. People were worried about the gas availability and fuel economy. Some people were burning their cars and trucks to get the insurance money because they couldn't sell them for a good price.
A lot of the tech stories in Hot rod mags were about fuel economy and octane.
They were dark days for sure.

 

[Paul Wright]

according to Wikipedia, Leaded Sunoco 260 was 102 octane. That was before the R+M/2 method and lead free fuel mandates.