Indholdsfortegnelse for January 1987 i MotorTrend

Some people have difficulty believing that a Formula One car, with its sophisticated dual overhead cam and turbocharged, high-horsepower high-revving ultra-small engine, could have anything at all to do with the engine that eventually makes it into our more docile, streetbound automobiles. They’d better believe it, though, because we’re seeing direct links between these exotic engines and our cars today. For example, the fuel management systems we have on our cars are directly related to those on the F1 and CART Championship race cars. These microchip wonders are, in effect, giving our engines a constant electrical tuneup as we drive—changing the timing and the air/fuel ratio in milliseconds for optimum power and economy. I resisted these “black boxes” at first; after all, there were no ignition points to set and…

Ford’s New AC Sportster Beautifully handmade in record time, the new AC Ace made its international debut at the British Motor Show in October. Depending on public reaction (likely to be favorable), AC’s new managing director, Brian Angliss, expects to have the aluminum-bodied 2+2 in production by the end of 1987. Like the AC Cobra MkIV, it may be retailed through selected Ford dealerships. If demand for the new AC runs below 200 cars per annum, each will be handmade. But if demand is higher, Angliss will invest $4-5 million in tooling for mass production. The price is expected to fall into the Corvette and Porsche 944 league, at about $30,000. The AC’s steel-platform chassis was designed by Len Bailey, leading designer on the Ford GT40 project. It relies almost…

We rolled into the parking lot of the L&K coffee shop, Bellefontaine, Ohio. It was nearly midnight, Friday night. In Bellefontaine, Ohio, the L&K is the hot spot, any time, any night. Our cars—Ferrai Testarossa, Lamborghini Countach, Lotus Esprit Turbo, and Porsche 928S 4. All bright red, except the canary yellow Lotus. We drew a crowd quicker than Boy George at Sunday School, and, of course, we had to play the part; you know, be extra coll. We sauntered into the coffee shop for dinner, appearing totally unconcerned about the $300,00 worth of sheetmetal we’d left in the, and ignored all the excitement the cars had stirred up. After dibber, the crowd of people had grown even bigger, with lots of hiked-up Chevy Novas and Mustangs in evidence. Slipping on…

Cars from France have always had an image problem. While being French is perfectly wonderful for fashions, perfume, and kisses, the word “French” applied to an automobile leads, at best, to confusion. It’s not that emanating from France has a negative connotation to car buyers; it’s simply that it has no connotation at all. One might think of “German engineering” or “Japanese quality,” but what do you think of when you hear the word “French”? If you answered “postcards” rather than motor cars, you’re not alone. Peugeot, to its credit, is quite aware that French cars, generally, and its cars, specifically, have no real image in the United States, and the executives at Peugeot frankly admit that the company’s newest offering, the 505 STX, is an attempt to address that…

Since its debut in 1985, the Pontiac Fiero GT has received mixed reviews from the automotive press. Most are quick to point out what the Fiero GT isn’t, but they have lost sight of what this little sports GT is, and that’s a shame. The blame for this misconception probably rests more with the Fiero itself than an uninformed media. Frankly, its body lines tend to make promises its engine and suspension package can’t keep, but, overall, the Fiero GT is a well-packaged value. Previous reviews of the Fiero GT have included complaints about gas tank size, lack of a 5th gear, poorly balanced suspension package, heavy and slow steering, notchy shift linkage, and poor overall performance. Well, we have just finished spending 20,000 miles with an ’85 Fiero GT…

Iran into an old friend named Neil the other day. Neil was always a ’60s type, protesting against whatever there was to protest against, while sporting the de rigueur shoulder-length hair and bell-bottom jeans. Neil wouldn’t have owned a car if he didn’t have to for all the trendy reasons (pollution, depletion of natural resources, etc.), but since he was a sometime student at a commuter university, he knew that he had to have wheels. So, of course, he drove a Saab. What other car was so unusual, so idiosyncratic, so unlike anything else automotive that it could pass muster with those who really didn’t want to have a car at all? Of course, that was years ago. More than a decade later, when I saw Neil again in a…

A vehicle suspension has many taskmasters. It must isolate the passenger environment from the road surface. It must deal with the inertial forces generated by the sprung mass (body, passengers, luggage, etc.) by trying to maintain some degree of balanced tire contact with the road, and deal with any changes in the total vehicle weight, such as passenger, fuel, and luggage variations. In the past, this has meant a lot of compromise. A suspension that was good at insulating the passengers from road harshness was not so good at handling because of its compliance and need to accommodate large wheel displacements (to absorb the bigger bumps). This compliancy allowed the car to roll and pitch excessively, making it difficult to keep the tires in optimum contact with the surface and…

If you follow autumn’s gridiron proceedings, you may have noticed the offending two paragraphs in this fall’s Sports Illustrated special football issue. One of the main features was a story on Brian Bosworth, the colorful and immensely physically gifted University of Oklahoma linebacker who, last year, as a sophomore, won the Dick Butkus Award as the best college linebacker in the country. But you didn’t pick up our magazine to read about football. Don’t worry; this is about cars. In fact, maybe it’s about a car you own. How so? The SI story mentions a summer job Bosworth (who goes by “The Boz,” as on the personalized license plate of his white Corvette) had in 1985. Here are the two paragraphs from SI: When Boz worked in the summer of…

Meet the 1988 Continental Shown here in surveillance photographs are the best views yet of the ’88 Continental, a sedan codenamed FN-9. The FN-10, or coupe version, was scuttled to re-examine that project’s direction. Set tentatively to debut to the enthusiast press about September, the FN-9 takes full advantage of technological ground just broken by the ’87 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe. A reliable Ford source reports the front-drive Connie will probably be powered by Ford’s 3.0-liter transverse V-6, with consideration being given to possible use of the 3.8-liter engine. The FN-9 will have automatic ride control (the “smart suspension”) and ABS. At present, there are said to be no plans to modify Ford’s 5.0-liter V-8 powerhouse for transverse installation, but photo analysts note: left and right exhaust tubes and … hood…

If the concept of an automobile fitting in size and price between the Chevrolet Cavalier and Celebrity doesn’t strike you as an essential piece of the cosmic puzzle, then you’re in good company. The new L-body Beretta GT carries the same engine, much of the same underpinning componentry, and some interior cues of the J-body Cavalier, though certainly all the exterior panels are spanking new. The Cavalier’s wheelbase is 101.2 in., Beretta’s is 103.4 in., and Celebrity goes to 104.9 in. So precisely why does this car exist? Maybe because there can never be too many fun cars in this world. The sound and the fury that erupts from the Beretta GT under combat conditions is a study in alchemy’s dark arts. We’ve driven and enjoy the Cavalier Z24, but…

We know more about plastic composite construction than any other manufacturer in the world … and that includes Lotus.” A strong statement, especially since it comes from the world’s smallest automobile manufacturer, but Harold Dermott is nothing if not confident in his technology. His company, Midas Cars, makes two cars per week in Corby, a short distance from Cosworth’s base in Northampton, England. The company has a dozen full-time employees, and its top model, the Midas Gold, has recently passed the European standard frontal crash test by a considerable safety margin (the steering wheel displaced 15 mm, well within the 127 mm permitted maximum). A former Jaguar development engineer, Dermott is now 39 years of age and is not in the least surprised that some of the world’s leading automobile…

Growing up in a successful family is by no means an easy feat. At Motor Trend’s Import Car of the Year cotillion in 1984, the 4-seat box-back Civic S was somewhat overshadowed by the 2-seat fastback CRX. Finishing 3rd (behind the CRX and Prelude) in the ICOY competition is quite an accomplishment in itself, but, still, the Civic Si seemed lost in the celebration of the CRX. As often happens in good families, however, the gap appears to be narrowing with time. Honda is obviously content with sending the CRX ahead to blaze new trails in areas of performance, but is wise enough to pass on its lessons to the Civic Si. One case in point: Honda’s programmed fuel-injection system (PGM-FI). The multi-port electronic system that monitors load and engine…

Okay, we admit it: Attending any long lead in Germany is almost always guaranteed to be a first-rate experience. The odds are even better when the vehicle being introduced is capable of taking maximum advantage of the unlimited high-speed cruising possibilities afforded by the legendary autobahn. But, when you’re lucky enough to find yourself behind the wheel of something like BMW’s all-new 735i, it’s an absolute certainty that auto-nirvana is at hand. Our most recent Teutonic trek provided an advance look at a car BMW rightfully expects will give Mercedes-Benz major competition at the top end of the luxury cruiser market. Scheduled to debut here as a very early 1988 model, the latest super-sedan from Munich’s most prominent automotive citizen will be appearing in dealer showrooms on this side of…

A lesser character might have lost all will to live. Niki Lauda had been hauled from his blazing Ferrari, lungs full of lethal gases, at the 1976 German Grand Prix; he had miraculously won his fight for survival after hearing the priest administer Last Rites at his hospital bedside; he had come to terms with the fact that his face was badly scarred, that he had lost half an ear in the fire, that his World Championship crown had slipped, by just one point, into the grasp of McLaren driver James Hunt. But now, after all this, as he returned to business at Ferrari, his problems just seemed to be beginning! In his compelling autobiography, “Meine Story,” Lauda recalls that Enzo Ferrari “never seemed to want to understand the anxiety…

An E-Type for the ’90s Jaguar has an E-Type for the 1990s on its drawing boards. The rendering shown here, shaped with the help of informed sources, is believed to be the first accurate portrayal of the car outside Jaguar’s own design studios. Sir John Egan, the chairman who since 1980 has sent Jaguar profits climbing like an Apollo rocket, recently confessed: “We do have a long-term project to create a successor to that type of car, yes. Although the XJ-S has proven itself to be a very good long-distance racing car and a very good sports car, it is possible that people are seeking a more overt sports car from us. We’re working on it.” A prototype of the sleek new sports car, thought to be labeled the S-Type…

When it comes time for original Nissan Pulsar owners to move up, they may find themselves looking to buy a new Pulsar. How’s that old song go … “What a difference a day makes”? It may have taken Nissan a tad longer than a day, but it’s transformed the Pulsar from ugly (entry level) duckling to belle of the (upscale) ball. And yet, even more important, it will have introduced a whole new marketing approach for the ’87 Pulsar by making it extremely versatile—a car for all seasons, all sports, all hobbies, and all people. It was Nissan’s goal to build a car for everybody, and, given that the Pulsar can be converted to an openair sportster, lumber-hauling mini-pickup, 4-place sedan, or liftback mini-van, it has made its goal. It’s…

In the beginning, the automobile and racing were synonymous. More often than not, the manufacturers were racers themselves, and, as soon as a new car was built, it was off to the races to test performance and durability. But then along came assembly lines and the lure of big bucks from mass production. The racer/builders traded cockpits for boardrooms, and the distance between racetrack and showroom grew ever greater. The phenomenon continued until technology and cost had catapulted racing out of the reach of all but the very rich. Ironically, this forced some innovative thinkers right back to the showroom, creating what has become the fiercely competitive class called Showroom Stock racing. To ensure lower cost and close competition, these cars must remain completely stock except for minor chassis adjustments…

In these days of specialization, the big guns in the auto industry are putting a lot of effort into multipurpose vehicles. Sound contradictory? Well, maybe, but it seems everybody’s doing it, and it’s a hot-bed of competition. One of the players in this shoot-out for supremacy in the sport/utility market is the Toyota 4Runner. Introduced in late 1984, the 4Runner is one of the best-looking of its class, and certainly a contender in the category. The concept is to combine truck, off-road runner, and touring sedan into one useable package. Admittedly, perfection in all categories is virtually impossible, but Toyota has made an admirable leap in that direction. There are four models from which to choose: Deluxe, SR5, SR5 Turbo, and Standard. The difference between the Deluxe and the SR5s…

It was late January 1983, Daytona Beach, Florida. Everybody who is anybody in American sports car racing was at Daytona Speedway for the annual 24-hour race classic. The Daytona 24 is IMSA’s first race each year, and most of the teams make it a point to show off their new cars for the upcoming season. Sitting there sparkling in this year’s Florida sun was a brand-new Pontiac Fiero race car, very professionally built, totally untried, and proudly wearing Dole Pineapple sponsorship identification. This car, in this place, was interesting because the Fiero was very new to American autodom, but of much more significance was the fact that the fellow in charge of the whole project, John Callies, was wearing a Pontiac Motorsports shirt. A division of General Motors blatantly involved…

During my recent pilgrimage to the outstanding automotive collection at the Imperial Palace Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, I made an eye-opening discovery. There, squeezed in between a Muntz Jet and, I think, a Hudson Hornet, stood a stunner of a car, the impact of its bizarre art deco face hitting me with the force of an earthquake—six-point-three on the Richter scale, it must have been. I ought to have known about this automobile, particularly since it is, as I now realize, a conspicuous part of the history of automotive styling. The Sharknose Graham. How did I miss it? With that dramatically forward-jutting nose and those mysteriously glowing headlights—their bezels made up from chrome strips so in-triguingly arranged it seemed the stylist had pasted them on in a happy…