Indholdsfortegnelse for June 1986 i MotorTrend

Hosertown Hot Picks If you thought last year's Canadian caché of coveted cars had gone the way of Marqaret Trudeau at a Rolling Stones concert, take heart or take cover: Those 20 irrepressible, tenacious hoseheads from the Auto Journalists Association of Canada are back in full force with their second annual, five-category listing of automotives best new hits. In the New Domestic Sedan department, the winners are the two wunderkind of the aerodynamic set, the Ford Taurus and the Mercury Sable. Top choices in the Best New Import Sedan cate9°.7 ar(r) Honda Accord EXi and the Audi Turbo Quattro. The Saab 9000 and Mercedes-Benz 190E-2.3-16 take first honors as Best New Sports Sedan, while Mazda s ever-winning RX-7 and Porsche 944 win kudos as Best New Sports Car. Last, in…

The true test of a convertible's value is its likeability with the top up. Virtually any ragtop offers tons o' fun with the sun overhead, the wind in your hair, and an attractive companion at your side. (In fact, given the right companion, you can skip the sun, the wind and, maybe, even the car.) Let's face it, the romance of top-down touring is undeniable. But what is the car like with the top buttoned, rain howling, and a mutual funds salesman parroting his pitch from the co-pilot's seat? That's the real litmus test. If a convertible can still be fun under those trying conditions, it must really have something on the ball. We're happy to report that the current Mustang convertible passes on all these counts. Not only is…

The country around Milano is, well, unexciting. Monotonous. Dull. The endless expanses refuse to give the eye the slightest hint of encouragement. The mundane scenery gives little stimulation as I watch the dreary February landscape of northern Italy's flat-lands blur past the windshield of the rented Ford Fiesta. It is the gloomy morning of the Aston Martin Vantage Zagato pre-preview—Z-Day. A swarm of journalists will converge on the Zagato works at noon. I cut through the outskirts of Arese with the silhouette of the huge Alfa factory filling the side window. Minutes later, I'm in Terrazano di Rho, the town where the Zagato works is located. The property borders on the Milano-Como autostrada. A gigantic Z-A-G-A-T-0 on the roof of the administration building broadcasts the fact that the old coach-builder…

You've seen the TV ads: ''A little company called TRW.” And you've probably gotten the impression TRW is one of those high-tech aerospace outfits busily building satellites and working on super-secret defense contracts. It is. But it also toils for the automobile industry. There's a TRW something on virtually every car built in the free world. Although TRW is heavy into fasteners, gears, and other seldom seen, little remarked oddments, it has its own Steering and Suspension Division that supplies 2.5 million of the 10 million rack-and-pinion power steering systems Detroit uses in a year. And that division has come up with one of those automotive Great Leaps Forward that appear from time to time to startle and amaze. TRW, in its best Detroitese, calls this particular Great Leap Powertronic,…

With Isuzu's I-Mark, what we're talking about is cold, hard consumerism. A lot ofpeople, we are told—often by those people who themselves claim to be of that particular persuasion—have said they want a car like this. They ask for, they say, high quality, low price, good fuel economy, reasonable room inside. Dependable, low-cost transportation, it's called. Price/value, it's also called. The Isuzu I-Mark offers members of that group the chance to follow up an opinion with cash. It offers high quality, low price, good fuel economy, more than just reasonable room inside, and decent enough ride. Price/value. One little problem facing the I-Mark is that the general notion of price/value changes. When gas was 35$ per gallon, price/value meant a 21/2-ton 7-liter barge. When OPEC was in control not only…

Big Al Rolls in IROC X Opener Al Unser Sr. struck a blow for the Indy Car contingent by winning ^^wthe opening round of the 1986 International Race of Champions, contested on the 2.5-mile tri-oval at Daytona International Speedway. The three-time Indy 500 winner and IROC V champion held off a last-lap challenge by two of NASCAR's best superspeedway drivers, Cale Yarborough and Bill Elliott, to take an early lead in the 10th-anniversary running of the all-star sprint series. For Unser, the triumph marked his first IROC appearance since 1978. That year, although he won the overall series title by claiming two victories, Al was involved in a spectacular mid-race crash on the back straight at Daytona that came perilously close to depositing him into Lake Lloyd, and precipitated his…

The Sports Car of the Future? Volkswagen has just redesigned the sports car, presenting it at Geneva almost as an aside to the serious business of transport for the masses. The Scooter, designed and produced by VW's Research and Development division at Wolfsburg, is a cross between a 2-seat sedan and a motorcycle with two driven wheels in front and a single trailing-arm-suspended wheel in back. The teardrop shape is the most aerodynamic yet devised for a practical road car, with a drag coefficient of 0.25, and high performance is allied to super economy. The 1050cc Polo-engined version develops 40 hp and has a top speed of 100 mph, but the 90 hp 1.4-liter version on show had a claimed maximum of 125 moh. An overall fuel consumption of 35.5…

This two-car comparo is really nothing more than an athletic contest; many automotive evaluations are not. But, when you're looking at two German sport coupes side by side, forget the mundane criteria by which less energetic cars can be judged. Throw out the utilitarian qualities beloved by certain consumer journals. Ignore the invariable moot squabbling about style, panache, or (wince) tradition. Let's concentrate on athletic skills. Let's talk performance. Look at it this way. Carl Lewis reigned over the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, but it wasn't because of his Grace Jones haircut. The only pertinent point was that he could run faster than the other guys on the track. Had Carl been more turtle than hare, he would have gone unnoticed—even if his hair resembled Pia Zadora's latest…

The heyday of the original muscle car is gone forever, swept away on a tidal wave of rising gasoline prices that washed across this country in the 1970s. But those who still recall with fondness the days of Hemi Belvederes, Rat-motored Chevelles, SOHC Comets, and their terrifyingly quick small-block counterparts can take some consolation, for all is not lost. Although the field of choice has narrowed considerably over time, there is an alternative to mounting an all-out search for a well-preserved vintage example of this nearly extinct species. It's the Regal Grand National, and it's lurking at Buick dealers coast to coast. The GN Regal is a living, breathing, production-built pavement pounder par excellence. Unabashedly trading on its blatant NASCAR stocker imagery, the curious combination of old-spec and new-tech produces…

Gather 'round, dear boys and girls, and I'll tell you the story of the little car that could.Once upon a time (two years ago to be exact), in a land far, far away (Japan), a little car was born. Conceived as an entry-level econocar, he was smaller than his brothers but had all the courage and spirit of his Honda ancestors. He knew he was special, and longed for an adventure to show the world what he could do. So he traveled halfway around the world to compete for Motor Trend's Import Car of the Year award. It was a long and arduous competition. There were games of acceleration, braking, cornering, and fuel economy, discussions of styling and value. He went nose to nose with that year's best imports. Nissan,…

It was the kind of offer we just couldn't refuse, a first-magnitude milk run. While most of the West Coast was being innundated by relentless torrential rains that threatened to wash a good portion of valuable California real estate right back into the Pacific Ocean, Mike Brockman and I, along with photographer/driver Mike Gaspar and spare wheelman Berry Landen—aka the Coast-busters—headed to sunny Florida. Our mission: to collect a pair of new Cadillacs, perform several days of closeup surveillance, and bring them back alive and kicking to what we hoped was a far drier Los Angeles. Our traveling companions for this particular transcontinental foray were Cadillac's top-of-the-line personal luxury models, the Seville Elegante and Eldorado Touring Coupe. Both are all-new for 1986, and part of our ocean-to-ocean sojourn also involved…

The Motor Trend offices are in a tower—not ivory, to be sure, but still a long way above the ruck of day-to-day traffic. Sunset Boulevard, being what—and where—it is, is a great place for car- and people-watching. And though a bit removed, looking down on it from the sixth floor is the preferred mode. Maybe it's that sixthfloor advantage, maybe it's a garage continually replenished with new cars, but, collectively, we do our share, and then some, of looking down. So when the latest version of a car like the Alfa Spider is presented, the attitude, in several senses, is one of looking down. Down, as in “that again,” or “I'd rather have a good '74,” to which the invariable response is “there hasn't been one since '74.” But down…

What is it that makes aficionados scoff, purists refuse to look, and buyers line up to buy? Samurai! In fact, Suzuki has been so overwhelmed with the success of its first-ever entry into the U.S. auto market, it has revamped its entire marketing scheme. Initially, Suzuki had planned to introduce the Samurai in California in November 1985, in Florida and Georgia in December, and then expand the dealer network in appropriate areas over the next three years. Well, sales have been so brisk that dealerships are being set up in eight additional western states already. The Samurai concept is by no means new. A smaller version has been selling in Third World countries for the last 15 years. In fact, the little Suzuki is a common sight in places like…

Just about the time you read this, several hundred significantly poorer fun-seekers will rumble out of Detroit in an annual rite of passage that has come to be known as the One Lap of America. The brainchild of automotive writer-turned-racecommentator Brock Yates, the event will pit these unsuspecting souls against such trials and tribulations as acid rain, waterlogged bladders, and self-induced insomnia before dumping them back in Detroit about 9000 miles later. When they pull into the Ren Cen parking lot at the conclusion of the event, the intrepid survivors will be assured that, yes, seven days without a decent meal, a good night's sleep, a hot shower, or a meaningful sexual encounter is, indeed, worth the price of admission. When the times are toted up and the protests sorted…

'86½ Restyled Chevy Spectrum This is a surveillance photograph of an Isuzu-built Chevy Spectrum, originally restyled by GM Design Staff to showcase the front end in auto shows. Now comes word that when the Spectrum is finally offered with the Japanese-inspired 2-liter turbocharged engine, this will be the car carrying it. This non-turbocharged Spectrum prototype was caught touring the GM Proving Grounds. New Engines, New Cars Pontiac reportedly will offer a “G2” second-generation 2-liter turbo four in a 1987 model tagged Grand Am SSE. The motor makes an estimated 150 hp and employs throttle-body fuel injection. Also being readied is a normally aspirated, port fuel-injected G2 version of the 2.8-liter V-6, for installation in the '87 Pontiac 6000 STE. The engine also reportedly will make 150 hp. Both G2 engines…

Comparisons are inevitable. It's human nature to want to know how yours stacks up against theirs. Sitting around waiting for ''Rocky V” the other day, we were speculating about the similarities between ultra-high-performance aircraft and cars. Someone suggested a comparison test between an outstanding example of both disciplines. The car half would be easy—sitting in our garage at the time was one of Chevrolet Engineering's twin-turbo Corvettes, inarguably an ultra performer in light of its tire-smoking acceleration and true 200-mph top-speed capability. Finding the equivalent airborne hot-rod—and someone to fly it—would be a little more difficult. It seemed quite natural to us; if you want a hot-rod airplane, call the Air Force. They have all those great jets and jet jocks, right? Wrong. After some lengthy correspondence, the USAF decided…

The good folks at Aston Martin have made some pretty bold promises lately. Their zesty confidence became apparent during the 1985 Geneva show. Displaying a rendering and a scale model, they let it be known that the first example of a limited-edition Aston Martin would make its debut on the same stage the following year. The new car would not be a complete product of the plant in Newport Pagnell, contrary to the arrangement that produces the standard Aston Martin, but would be built in collaboration with Zagato, the Italian coachbuilder, whose claim to fame was already established with the classic Alfas of the prewar era, and perpetuated by a number of exciting post-war Alfas and Lancias. Also made public was the claim that the new 2-seater would have a…

Commander Eric F. Willenbrock, USN, is public affairs officer at the New Orleans headquarters of the Naval Reserve Force. This is a guy with a feeling for technology; he was detached to Paramount Studios for four months last year as the Navy's representative on Tom Cruise's fighter-jock film “Top Gun.” He had been looking at Thunderbird Turbo Coupes with an eye toward buying one, so when I arrived for my annual Navy fortnight in support of Mardi Gras (hey! I'm keeping America free, okay?), his first question to me was, “What kind of car are you driving?” I was compelled to tell him there is almost nothing to dislike about the Ford Thunderbird Turbo Coupe. Joe Louis (another Detroit product) never punched a more beautiful hole in the air, and…

It's known as a rally-raid because it does not conform to the full gamut of FIA rules and regulations. But what it may lack in formality, the grueling Paris to Dakar Rally more than makes up for in challenges to the human spirit. The demanding event, which runs just over three weeks and covers some 15,000 km of the most unforgiving terrain in the world, is a contest designed to give amateurs and professionals alike the same slim shot at victory. In the words of organizer Thierry Sabine: “The Paris-Dakar is, and must remain, an adventure for men and not machines.'' The official starting lineup for the eighth running of the unique event certainly lived up to expectations. Among the 487 vehicles participating were factory-backed 2wd and 4wd entries, privateer…

Attention, Gray Mart shoppers. Today's blue light special is a A brand-new BMW 735i for just the regular price. Why pay list when this perfectly good car, modified to meet U.S. regulations, is yours for thousands less? Good question, and a seemingly obvious answer. But nothing is black-and-white in the Gray Market. It began as a trickle of mundane family cars, a few Mercedes-Benzes and the occasional bit of collector/enthusiast exotica. The cars came in under a provision in the EPA laws designed to let a returning soldier or diplomat or whoever bring back his European-purchased personal car when he returned to the States. In 1980, fewer than 1500 cars were brought in that way. But then some enterprising enthusiasts and used-car dealers realised (1) cars sold in Europe for…

"It's really a prototype of a new dream car called the Cabana Club."-Bin Din In another magazine, at another time, this story might have been titled “The Car That Could Have Saved Hudson.” That approach has been seen often enough in the past with one-offs and limited-production cars from other manufacturers, and there isn't the slightest doubt it will happen again. Not in this magazine, not now. Even the know-it-alls among us will have to admit that the Hudson Italia couldn't have saved any company, certainly not one so close to extinction as Hudson was in the early '50s. There were events and cars that had given Hudson reprieves from disaster in the past—World War Two and the “Step-Down” design of 1948 come to mind immediately—but the tents were already…