Recent decades have witnessed increased public concern about vehicle emissions and growing frustrationwith political inaction and business preferences for the status quo. This article provides historical perspectiveon such regulatory dynamics by analyzing the Swiss and the Swedish cases of vehicle emission governance inthe1970s-1980s. Relying on archival documents detailing the policy process in both countries as well as oninternational regulatory arenas, the analysis focuses on political solutions for reducing the toxicity of vehicleemissions. It uncovers the influence of national as well as international business groups and the existence ofthe tension between various national ministries, arising from conflicting environmental and trade-relatedgoals. Is also highlights the importance of different institutional settings in creating the expertise to explainthe political outcomes. While the Swiss corporatist system gave a great deal of power to a variety of interestgroups at each stage of the political process, the Swedish government invested significant resources in thecreation of independent expertise and enjoyed a relative autonomy, despite the importance of the Swedishcar industry. The analysis also assesses the importance of the Swiss–Swedish collaboration in overcomingcertain obstacles and their contribution to the implementation of stricter regulations in Europe thatultimately occurred at the margins of the European Economic Community.