Indholdsfortegnelse for September 1950 i MotorTrend

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 TREND; 1015 So. La Cienega Boulevard, Los Angeles 35, California. Not Sour Grapes Gentlemen: If ever I did a double-take it was with your June issue. First off your magazine is really tops, it’s what many automobile lovers want—but—this is U.S.A.—not dear old England—nor the beloved continent. What I mean to say is at least 40 per cent of your mag is about foreign cars—foreign car events, etc. What is wrong with owning a Ford, Buick or Chevy? What we need is something like the Mexican Road Race, right in dear old U.S.A. How about events for stock American cars,…

NOTE: In the following article, Mr. Bentley presents a persuasive and cogent argument. There are those who will disagree with certain of his assertions. MOTOR TREND will welcome any communications setting forth the other side of the controversy.—Editor RECENTLY I had the privilege of being interviewed on NBC by radio sports commentator Bill Stern. The subject: Sports Cars in the United States. Bill Stern and 1 faced each other across a table with a two-sided mike between us and J had to answer a battery of questions, some of them agreed upon, others spontaneous. Inevitably, Stern came to this one: “You guys who drive around in these sports cars, what do you see in them that our stock sedans haven’t got?” I wanted to answer: “If you have a couple…

TWO YEARS ago this month a prevailing west wind carried the tantalizing smell of ripe prospect to the operators of a famous California used-car row. For three hours that muggy afternoon a pudgy figure rapped on Lincoln fenders, ran Packard 12-cylinder engines, drove monolithic Cadillacs through swarming, angry traffic. Not till the sun glowed red did some subtle signal, meaningless to the lay ear, announce that blood had been let in a tiny lot high on the hill. My veins have been open and flowing more or less continually since then. The $375 I paid for my 1935 Packard 12-cylinder convertible sedan proved to be a small fraction of the total investment required. The only efficient moving part was the oil pump which filled the radiator with fresh oil twice…

YES, YOU can be a designer … for who knows better than you what type of car you would like to be driving? And here’s your chance not only to design a car, but to win as a prize the chassis for that car and $500 to defray the expenses of building it. How is this possible? Here’s how: Put your pen or pencil to work on sketching a body design (any type, from a sports car to a four door sedan) for the Ford Anglia chassis shown in the accompanying drawings and photos. (As a suggestion, trace the drawings on this page and make your design from that.) You don’t have to follow the original lines of this car, unless you want to. In your sketch, you can remove…

OF INTEREST TO KAISER, NASH, OLDSMOBILE and other new car owners is the line of accessories being stocked by Newhouse Automotive Industries: dual manifolds ($42.50) for Kaiser and Frazer; high compression head and dual manifold combination ($54.50) for Nash 600; dual manifold ($59.50) for Oldsmobile; and heads and dual manifolds for Hudson, DeSoto, Dodge, Chrysler, Plymouth, Studebaker, Lincoln, Cadillac and others. KLIP-KIT IS A HANDY NEW KIT that clips to the auto visor for the purpose of holding the registration slip in full view, dispensing cigarettes and holding book matches where they can be easily reached without fumbling. When not in use, it folds up out of the way. A pencil can be slipped behind the clips, and notes and memo pad may be kept in the pocket behind the…

WITH two distinctly different types of Chevrolets available at the buyer’s option, due consideration should be given to the merits of each before making a final selection. Naturally, the choice depends on the needs of the individual, but strictly on a performance basis, the 1950 Chevrolet with conventional transmission seems to have the advantage over the Powerglide. Ordinarily, MOTOR TREND tests only the standard model in the particular line of cars that is decided, on for that month, but because of the widespread interest in the Powerglide automatic transmission, we decided to test a car equipped with this unit. The car with Powerglide that we obtained from Uptown Chevrolet Company (245 W. Colorado, Pasadena, Calif.) was a Bel Air model, Chevrolet’s latest offering in the pseudo-convertible line. After giving the…

DETROIT, MICHIGAN—The official records are not all tabulated, but so far in 1950 the automotive industry is turning out cars and trucks at the fastest rate in history. During the first six months of the year more than 3,700,000 vehicles were manufactured and distributed throughout the country. It’s a sizzling pace that has veteran observers of Detroit’s motor car industry predicting a new all-time production mark for assembly lines. The Automobile Manufacturers Association, reporting on the first five months of the year, shows official factory sales running 500,000 units ahead of the same period in 1949. What astounds many automotive men is the fact that the nation currently seems to have an insatiable appetite for anything that can be built. Right now, for example, it takes two to four weeks…

AFTER showing his Allard’s stubby tail to the cream of Southern California’s sports car pilots, red-headed Roy Richter took the checkered flag and cheers of 14,000 spectators at Santa Ana on June 25th. The genial Bell, Calif., business man sped over the finish line 39:16.10 seconds after starting the 20-lap premier road race. Second man home was Phil Hill, and third was Jack McAfee (both drove Jaguar XK-120’s). Laid out to simulate as closely as possible actual road conditions, the tricky, two-mile asphalt circuit included every type of curve and corner, and required the highest order of driver skill and car stamina. Richter’s win underlined recent Allard successes elsewhere, and has made the name an important factor in west coast competition. Other cars of the same make were handled by…

IN RECENT years the automobile stylist, or designer as he prefers to be called, has been surrounded by a complex organization composed of men of many skills. The days when styling was accomplished by a handful of artists are as dead as the days of the early automotive freaks such as the De Dion three-wheeled car, the eight-wheeled Octo-Auto and the many rear engine cars. The reasons are manyfold. The attainment of mechanical reliability and a fair degree of comfort in even the lighter cars has turned the spotlight on appearance as a major factor in choosing a car. Consequently, every important manufacturer devotes a considerable part of his budget to styling. There are several ways of handling this operation. Some companies hire their complete staff and set up a…

OF ALL the unique cars ever built, none has been more successful, spectacular, or glamorous than the big, blown Mercedes sixes. In their day their fleet lines spelled ultimate speed for the motoring world. The shriek of the S-series supercharger was the symbol of motor sport in its most dashing form, and the delicate three-pointed Mercedes star came to mean elegant, yet ruggedly dependable, transportation at record velocities. Every car possessing any character at all has a feel and behavior of its own, an indefinable personality that must be experienced to be understood. You must at least ride in a Big Six Mercedes to appreciate what’s been described as “the frenzy of its going,” its sturdiness, its hair-raising dig and positively frightening roadability. Torque is phenomenal; the engine is very…

NOTE: This column appears as the sport season gets under way all over the country. From coast to coast big cars and midgets, stock and sport cars are unwinding another big chapter in the story of American speed. All this makes for a lot of racing news, and we want to devote the most space to the branches of the sport that interest you most. Let us know your preferences, and we’ll base our coverage on them.—Editor BIG CAR fans in the Portland, Ore., area had a frustrating day June 12. As though one Indianapolis class event isn’t enough, two rival promoting groups staged one each at Portland Meadows and the Portland Speedway. To make the situation neat and symmetrical, six-event cards and 17 cars were slated for each. Major…

NOTE: Every person who buys an automobile immediately comes into possession of the instrument of his own financial undoing—unless he is insurance-wise. And—strangely enough—a non-driver or a non-owner of a car may, under certain circumstances, find himself financially liable for an auto accident in which he neither owned the car involved in an accident nor was present at the time the personal or property damage occurred. Even if you are of the “to hell with insurance, I’ll take my chances”school of thinking—and you don’t live in a state with compulsory automobile insurance laws, there’s still a chance this article may change your views.—Editor THERE ARE two basic types of automobile insurance coverage. The first type protects the insured for claims made against him by members of the public for personal…