For one reason or another, Germany never developed much of a road bike industry, at least by judging what made it over to the states. In the '80s, Italian bicycles were the bee's knees - Bianchi, Basso, Colnago, Pinarello, Masi, Ciocc, etc. Unfortunately most of those brands have most frames made in China now.

Japanese road bikes were widely available in the '70s and '80s, but a lot of them were lowend. If you go shopping for vintage Japanese roadies, make sure you get one made from nice tubing : Champion #1 or #2 , for instance.

If you want a vintage bike with an American frame, most Treks and Cannondales were American made well into the '90s.

If you want a new American made road bike, check out a Gunnar. $1200 for frame and fork.