MotorTrend July 1953

THIS ISSUE IS PACKED with many interesting features, one of which is a study in styling by capable artist Strother MacMinn, associated with Art Center School in Los Angeles. We are particularly anxious to get a reaction from our readers on his piece (page 80). What do you think of his thoughts and his approach to “Trends in Design”? Drop us a line, will you? WITH ALL THE EMPHASIS on V-8 engines, you’d think they were way out in front of inline sixes in production. But, according to Iron Age magazine, V-8s have 37 per cent, inline sixes 50.3 per cent. Straight eights follow at 11.9 and fours trail at less than one. IN THE 1953 MILLE MIGLIA, that famous automobile sports event in Italy, a Chrysler piloted by Paul…

THOSE CAR RATINGS Gentlemen: I have been a subscriber to your magazine for three years and am not much taken with writing to the editor about every item with which I might or might not agree. Some of the criticism you received on your ratings of the 1952 cars was of the most destructive and unwarranted type. I say this not because I agree with the ratings (I am in 100 per cent agreement with your first choice, the second I violently oppose, and so on down the list), but because I recognize your ratings to be a sincere, unbiased attempt to rate all cars on a common ground. Because the choice of so complex an article as an automobile is based on personal test, special requirements, and, unfortunately, financial…

HARRY CUSHING - DETROIT EDITOR - REPORTS DETROIT, MICHIGAN—The battle of the gas turbine engine is well under way in the Motor City! It is an extremely secretive skirmish at the present time, but at least two major companies are understood to be developing experimental units for early announcement. Both General Motors and Ford are reputed to have such engines well beyond the blueprint stage. There is reason to believe each company will make public its version next year, and these GT units are expected to be installed in special one-of-a-kind Fi-berglas sports cars. In the new Ford Motor Company Research Laboratory, previewed by the press this spring as a highlight of the firm’s 50th anniversary celebration, there is a department carrying the legend on its door—“Gas Turbine Section.” Several…

IN DISCUSSIONS with various people we encounter in a normal everyday life, the subject of our readers constantly arises. One statement recurs most frequently: “If there is one thing our readers are, they are responsive.” This is a wonderful thing. We not only like it; we are very appreciative. It is the best guide an editorial staff can have in continuing to put together a good package that will appeal to car owners. If you have been picking up MT off the newsstands for very long, or if you are a subscriber, you know that in the span of a year we have asked for your opinion four times on as many subjects. Each time the response was terrific. This is what we call “reader participation.” Roughly it means that…

ALMOST TWO YEARS AGO, one of the leading steering gear manufacturers hit the nail on the head in an advertising brochure on power steering. The opening statement wound up like this: “This report is timely because steering promises to be a major subject of discussion among car owners and prospects for the next several years.” How true! Power steering—the big news in this “major subject of discussion”—is evidently headed toward increasing acceptance because it has real advantages. Any reasons for the public’s rejecting power steering seem to be principally psychological and involve breaking old established habits, techniques, and impressions gained from driving with ordinary steering. We have become accustomed to using considerable muscle power on the steering wheel when driving and parking. In doing so, we have developed some deep-seated…

An MT Research Road Test Report WOULD YOU DARE to drive the Willys cross-country? You certainly wouldn’t get a ride as comfortable as our car would give. You’d be worn out by the time you got to Los Angeles.” As you might suspect (if you’re a steady reader of MOTOR TREND) these comments were tossed at us after we came out with our annual Engineering Achievement Award (Feb. ’53 MT), in which Willys was second in overall standings. Although we said nothing about ride at that time, we had previously said (May ’52 MT) that the then-new Aero Willys “…rides like any good American car—softly, gently, never bottoming its springs. The passengers are cradled gently between the axles and enjoy top comfort as a result.” And we were prepared to…