In 1979 General Motors introduced a radical concept across multiple brands intended to compete with the small imports: an American built, front wheel drive platform for the mainstream, mass-produced market. That attempt to right the ship of American auto manufacturing would almost sink it.
The Reconquista, or Christian reconquest of Iberia, took nearly 800 years. The fighting did not come without great attempts by Muslim powers across the strait trying to reestablish their presence in mainland Europe. The last gasp of that effort came in the 1330s, when the powerful Marinid sultanate of what is modern Morocco invaded in an attempt to reverse Christian gains and secure the perilous position of the Sultanate of Granada.