Indholdsfortegnelse for June 1950 i MotorTrend

FROM the tone of many letters received from our readers, it is evident that road testing of cars is almost a requirement of such a magazine as MOTOR TREND. Many readers, however, suggest that these road tests should become more and more searching, so as to provide a comparison and an equitable basis to help a prospective car buyer make his decision. Since first inaugurating this feature in the October 1949 issue of MOTOR TREND, we have tested several cars—the MG Midget, 1950 Studebaker Champion, 1950 Buick Special, 1950 Ford V-8, 1950 Hudson Pacemaker, 1950 Plymouth, 1950 Mercury and the Nash Rambler (in this issue)—and after testing them, we feel that each test has been more successful than the previous one. This has been made possible by several things: the…

A SPORTS car is a sports car is a sports car is a sports car—that’s the way I feel about the whole thing. With all the yammer-yammer and yuk-yuk that’s been going on lately, things have come to a pretty pass. Some poor hack writer like myself sits down at the typewriter with orders to write an article about trends in sports car design—and what happens? What’s a “trend,” I ask myself, twitching nervously. What’s a “sports car”? Who said so? What’s “design” mean, I ask my dog, who twitches nervously. Placing a gun to my forehead, I type a note of resignation. I repeat, things have come to a pretty pass … Let’s compromise. If you’re the type of character with enough money to own a car in which…

WITH the introduction of the 1951 Kaiser “No-Name-Car,” Henry Kaiser has made the statement that production will start at 400 cars per day in June of this year. If the car meets with public approval, plants on the West Coast will also be used for production of this new low-priced car, the price of which has not yet been set. ACCORDING to preliminary tabulations of a small percentage of questionnaires sent out on Nash Motor’s N.X.I., the motoring public likes the car but wants modifications in it. Among the thousands of suggestions, blueprints and drawings sent to the company along with the questionnaires, greatest emphasis was laid on the following: Instead of the divided front seat, motorists ask for a single front seat, providing seating for three passengers instead of…

MORE THAN one hundred different models of British-made cars, representing 23 different British manufacturers, served as a real eye-opener to the thousands of motor-conscious Americans who jammed the automotive show at New York City’s Grand Central Palace, April 15 through April 23. Sir William Welsh, British representative for the British Motor Industry, stated that Great Britain’s goal is 50,000 cars a year, roughly a tenth of Britain’s present production, to be sold to the United States market. That this goal can be reached in 1950 is highly dubious as it would mean quadrupling the British 1949 sales record. But, with the presentation of such large or sleek awe-creators as the Jaguar, Aston Martin, Frazer-Nash, Bentley, Bristol and Rolls Royce, to mention a few, or the lesser-priced sports-styled jobs, such as…

SINCE the arrival of the first Allard K-2 sports two-seater model at San Pedro harbor on March 12th of this year, we at MOTOR TREND had been waiting with ill-concealed impatience for the opportunity to analyze the performance characteristics of the car. Our wishes were granted just recently when we were allowed the use of the car for a full day. The Allard, which is notable for its use of Ford engine and chassis parts, was delivered to Moss Motors Ltd., 3200 W. Olympic Blvd., Los Angeles, equipped with a stock 85 hp Ford V-8 engine. To increase the performance of the car, this engine was replaced with an Edelbrock converted 1950 Mercury. The block is relieved and the ports polished. Compression ratio was increased to 8.5:1 and a dual…

STERLING EDWARDS piloted his custom-built S-E sports car to victory in the Palm Springs Grand Prix on April 16th. The Beverly Hills sportsman and his sleek grey Ford V8-60-powered machine covered forty laps of the grueling 1.6-mile road circuit in 1 hr., 26 min., 41.89 secs. Second place was captured by the Australian, E. Forbes-Robinson, who drove a very consistent race in his new MG-TD. Third place went to heavy-footed William M. Pollack in his Shorrock-blown MG-TC, and who drew spontaneous applause from the spectators on several occasions during the long grind for his plucky efforts. Jim Van Trees (MG) ran a hard-earned fourth after covering the last half of the distance with no brakes, and John Paanaker put his fleet grey MG in fifth spot. The race was marked…

FRANCE: This item should be boxed in black. The CTA Arsenal, the very promising gov’t-sponsored racing car, has died of money malnutrition. The design seems to have been sound, if not superior, but the car’s two public appearances indicated that much remained to be done before rear axles and suspension would be really roadworthy. At any rate, the beautiful remains (one car, tons of spares) are for sale, yours for 10,000,000 francs.… One of the more exciting developments in post-war autos is the M.A.P. experiment. Primarily manufacturers of diesel engines for farm machinery, last year they mounted one of their flat-four, moderately winding diesels on a Delahaye frame and running gear and took it to the races. Result: It broke 15 world records for its class, topping 120 mph. Being…

Letters published in this department are the opinions of the writers and are not to be construed as those of the editors. Address correspondence to: Letters From Our Readers, Motor Trenp, 1015 So. La Cienega Boulevard, Los Angeles 35, California. A PRODUCTION SPORTS CAR? Gentlemen: Your article in the April issue, “A Production Sports Car?” had a familiar ring. I felt as though I had read it somewhere before. It was back in the thirties that we heard the same story over and over again in the motorcycle field. They said American riders won’t buy those small foreign machines; they don’t like small motors; they want a lot of iron for their money; and on our roads we need big machines. Well, look at them now. What are all these…

NASH’S newest venture in the automotive field should find a definite market: the persons who are looking for a reasonable convertible; those who want an economy car with good performance; and those who just prefer a smaller sized car or second car for getting around in traffic. Although the Rambler, a revival of the famous Rambler of 1902, is a small car in appearance, it definitely is not a small car in performance and comfort. Several days in advance of the road test, we arranged to pick up the car from Peter de Paolo Nash in Glendale. In the meanwhile, we conditioned our thinking to that of a prospective buyer in search of a car of this type. We studied the specifications of the Rambler and laid our plans for…

NOTE—In the March 1950 issue of MOTOR TREND, an article was published that asked the question, “How to Restyle?” You, the readers, were asked to voice your opinion. Since that time we have been deluged with letters rushing to the defense of both schools of thought. On this page are some of the photographs and comments of various car owners.—Editor…

THE B.R.M. is the hottest news in racing since Germany dominated the speed scene in the Thirties. As a machine it is in a class by itself, some of its more interesting specifications being: 16 cylinders, two overhead cams per block, bore and stroke about an inch and a quarter each, 400 bhp at 12,000 rpm, bhp to weight ratio of about 1:4. And just as unique as its design is the way it has been produced. Raymond Mays gets credit for most of the B.R.M. achievement. Mays is the holder of many English track, road racing, and hill records, and who, with Peter Berthon, conceived and built E.R.A. racing engines before the last war. Germany proved that enough money, combined with good engineering talent, could produce world-beaters. Mays came…