Indholdsfortegnelse for November 1953 i MotorTrend

WHEN A CAR like the Austin Healey “I00” comes along, when its maker publicizes it as a car “for the enthusiast who wants quality,” and when an enthusiastic press lauds it in glowing terms, you begin to wonder, “Is it really that good?” We (MOTOR TREND Research) were doubly curious: We wondered not only if it could be that good, but, if so, why was it so comparatively reasonable? (Austin Motor Company Ltd., England, quotes a price of $2985 FOB port of entry.) To let us get the answer to these questions, the Southern California Austin representative turned over to us his personal car (then the only Austin Healey 100 on the Coast). “A word of caution,” Bob Botwinick noted. “This car’s a pilot model, one of the two assembled…

IT HAS BEEN SAID that good things come in small packages, but here’s a good thing that measures 211 by 76¾ by 62½ inches—hardly a small package, but genuinely good in terms of materials, workmanship, and mechanics. For those who aren’t up on their statistics, those measurements add up to the overall length, width, and height of the ’53 Chrysler New A’orker Deluxe four-door sedan. MT’s test Chrysler was one car that we couldn’t appraise easily from its general appearance, for the Chrysler hides its merits within a well-built, utilitarian body. It’s a body that sticks to functional lines to achieve spaciousness. Is there anything new and different about the ’53 Chrysler New Yorker? Although the New Yorker boasts an entirely new body, the major change is the car’s handier…

Long on ideas but short of money? If you can handle simple tools, you can dechrome your car, french the headlights or install an automatic deck latch. WHAT KIND OF CAR are you driving? Whether it’s showroom-new or a clean postwar job, chances are you’ve thought of great improvements that some well executed customizing could bring about. Customizing can be expensive, so perhaps you let the dream fade away; but did you ever think of doing die job in your own garage? Customizing has to be fun. It involves a lot of really hard work, and at the end of the project your muscles are going to ache—but if it doesn’t seem like fun, chances are it won’t turn out right. Each step needs real attention; that means taking lots…

QUESTION—I have seen a great many advertisements for automobile tachometers and vacuum gauges and I wonder how much closer to more efficient driving their use can bring the average driver. I’m interested in economy of operation and any information you can give will be appreciated. Al Brown, Glen Cove, N. Y. ANSWER—Improvements in economy can be shown by using a vacuum gauge. However, your driving habits must be changed to conform to directions supplied with the instrument. An accessory trial by MT Research appeared in our June ’51 issue. At that time we were able to show a gain of 2½ miles per gallon when driving according to directions. QUESTION—I have a 1941 Buick Special with the stock dual carburetor manifold. I have tried running both carburetors together, using two…

ARIZONA Nov. 6-15—Phoenix, State Fair CALIFORNIA Oct. 26-Nov. 1—Los Angeles, Fourth Annual International Motorama Oct. 30-Nov. 8—San Francisco, Grand National Livestock Exposition and Rodeo Nov. 8—Riverside (March AFB), SCCA Races Nov. 21-29—San Francisco, Motor Sports Show Nov. 28-29—San Diego Bay, Lightning Regatta COLORADO Nov. 15—Statewide Ski Season opens Dec. 29—Lamar, Cowboys Ball Dec. 31—Pikes Peak, AdAmAn New Year’s Eve Fireworks FLORIDA Oct. 9-Nov. 28—Orange Park, Greyhound Races Nov.-Mar.—Tampa Dog Track, Greyhound Races KENTUCKY Nov. 21—Louisville, Barbershop Quartettes Dec. 21-22—Lexington, U.K. Invitational Basketball Tournament LOUISIANA Oct. 24-Nov. 1—Shreveport, State Fair Nov. 20-29—New Orleans, Shrine Circus MASSACHUSETTS Oct. 20-Nov. 1—University of Massachusetts Flower Show Nov. 5-8—Boston, Autumn Flower Show MICHIGAN Nov. (1st week)—Ionia, Apple Festival Nov. 13—Gaylord, “Round the Clock” Hunters’ Welcome Dec. 25-Jan. 1—Otsego County, Ski Week MISSISSIPPI Nov. 1—Biloxi, Speckled…

ONCE UPON A TIME, there was a man who had a dream. He was in a family sedan, wafting southward along Ogden Avenue out of Chicago. The sun was bright, the sky was blue and smogless (he knew then he was dreaming), birds chirped, and the car made iron music in the peaceful morning. What an engine! Clay Smith, augmented by Bill Stroppe, Henry Ford, and the entire mechanical staff of Mercedes-Benz (I0,000 strong), had worked 24 hours a day for six months. The mammoth pistons glided in their polished cylinders like silk ribbons through a baby’s hands. The delicate rustle of the valves was like the lap of little waves in a Tahitian lagoon. The languid air wafting back from the mighty fan carried the scent of gardenias. Beside…

TO PEOPLE WHO WORK in body shops, moments of quiet are few and far between. The crash of hammer on metal has become the background music to the American custom car scene. Therefore, to walk into the shop of Jack Sutton and Dennis Power and find it both quiet and in full production is an experience that may shake up the hardiest of individuals. The secret of the silence is, strangely enough, a machine. In most American shops where large panels are hand formed, the air hammer is the only thing available to do the job. This is not only a noisy process, but the constant hammering fatigues the metal and makes it brittle. The machine, or more properly, tool, that Sutton and Power use is not only quiet, but…

THIS ROAD TEST wraps up the 1953 series for MOTOR TREND, but it’s certainly not the least important. The Buick Special, otherwise known as “Series 40,” is one of the good reasons Buicks are the fourth most popular make in the U.S. according to national sales figures. Our Research Staff was interested to discover why so many Americans shell out a few extra dollars above the cost of the lowest-priced cars for the Buick Special, and we believe we’ve found the answer. Does Buick sell on name alone? No. Name is probably an aid to Buick sales, but it’s not a positive factor in making up the prospect’s mind. Although the car is well established in “name.” its quality and dependability, coupled with an extensive maintenance and service organization, gives…

THE LITTLE BAVARIAN VILLAGE of Ravensburg pays no attention to radically designed automobiles. Cars may have nine wheels, two hoods, or a choir of eight headlights, but the local citizens give them only a cursory glance. For over 30 years they have been the audience at a nearly continuous preview of the fantastic auto bodies that periodically spring to life at Spohn and Company. Formed originally in the early Twenties, the company captured the imagination of European automobile circles with its bodies for such makes as Bugatti, Mercedes-Benz, Steyr, and Maybach. The Maybach people were so impressed with Spohn’s work that, as the Thirties dawned, they designated the small works as the official Karosseriebauer for their zeppe-lin-engined goliaths. (That was no inspired advertising talk, either. In its Freidrichshafen plant, Maybach…

WHEN THE HIDE-AWAY TRAILER hitch is not in use, it is completely hidden under the bumper. Constructed of steel plate and angle iron, the Hide-Away is said to accommodate large house trailers. It can be installed with a drill and wrench; no welding necessary. A spring is used to make the unit rattle-free. Price, $25.00 postpaid. MT-II8. DOK ENGINE CONDITIONER is especially recommended for high-performance engines by the manufacturer, who says his product improves engine performance, gives more power, better acceleration, stops carbon knock, keeps carburetors clean, and removes gum and carbon from upper cylinder areas. Regular use is said to keep heads carbon-free. Price (eight-ounce can), $1.25. MT-I20. USING AN INTERESTING diffusion principle to reduce back-glare to the driver, the new Guide-Lite is claimed to provide safer driving in…

DETROIT, MICHIGAN—As this issue of MOTOR TREND goes to press, the parade of new cars starts. Actually, it began with introduction of the ’54 Hudsons at the Michigan State Fair here September 4-13. Nationwide public announcement did not come until days later. Hudsons have also been seen on haulaway trucks throughout this area, so locally, anyway, the public knows that … THE NEW HUDSONS (as reported in last month’s “Spotlight”) have been restyled. Using the same body shell, a modified look has been achieved by lifting the front fenders, squaring off the hood, adopting the Jet-style grille (horizontal bars), heightening and extending the rear fenders to square them off so they (with the new extended taillight assembly) actually give a fin appearance, lifting and squaring off the rear deck, adding…

THE MOST COLORFUL GALAXY of automobiles ever assembled in the United States? That’s the Fourth Annual International Motorama. What kind of cars send chills up your spine? Detroit’s lavish limited production cars? They’ll be there, including Hudson’s new Italia. What else do you like? America’s own beautiful customs? The newest and finest creations in the sports car field? Wondrous foreign imports? Record-holding competition machines? You’ll see them all, with Bonneville entries and the nation’s greatest collection of hot rods! There’ll be antiques, classics, and vintage cars galore. The entire Fiberglas construction process will be demonstrated. A Fiberglas car will be assembled on the show floor. A new Woodill Wildfire (MOTOR TREND, August I952) will go to the show’s luckiest visitor as a door prize. The car is a replica of…

OWNING A PRIVATE AUTOMOBILE is a privilege limited to a favored few among the 200 million people in the Soviet Union. And for those fortunate enough to buy a car. maintenance is a major, if not insurmountable, problem. This picture is not one drawn by anti-Soviet propagandists; rather, it is a situation pointed up frequently in the official Russian press. When many workers buy private cars, the story rates the front page of the Communist Party newspaper Pravda, the government newspaper Izvestia, or the trade union publication Trud. Correspondents freely discuss the difficulties of keeping a car. Take, for example, a recent news item in Izvestia. Date-lined Voroshilovgrad (an important manufacturing center of about 250.000 population) the story said: “About I500 working people in Voroshilovgrad Province have acquired their own…

MEXICO IS MANY THINGS to many people. Some love it beyond all reason, others dislike it as thoroughly. But whatever it may be, Mexico is not dull. And of the ways of getting to and around the country, the automobile is by all odds the most satisfactory. You are not going to get any guff from me featuring the words “quaint,” “picturesque,” or “exotic.” Let’s remember were talking about a country, not a tearoom. The Mexican people have had it tough; most still do. A lot of what pleases the traveler as quaint is evidence to the Mexican of poverty and backwardness. We’ve forgotten all about our war with Mexico, when we annexed about a third of Mexico’s territory. We forget that Mexicans are still humiliated in parts of our…

THE FORD MOTOR COMPANY recently announced a pet project of its advanced styling department—a true hardtop convertible (MOTOR TREND, July 1953). Called the Syrtis, the car features an all-steel top which can vanish electrically beneath the rear deck lid. The press release states, “The new car design would be the first to give full sedan seatroom in a two-door convertible. Large simulated exhaust ports extend rearward beneath the convertible’s doors, with actual exhaust stacks emerging through chromed jet tubes faired into the outward edges of the rear bumper.” The automobile has developed largely through just such unusual advancements. Unique experiments have led engineers to improve—as well as to discard—various features, resulting in constant improvement. A superior experimental body or mechanical design can enter the realm of classicism; but for each…

NOTE—Here’s the first installment of a new feature. Every month we’ll tell you at the time or shortly after announcement dates whenever possible—just what it’s like to sit behind the wheel of Detroit’s latest, plus other interesting cars. Of course, we’ll continue our road tests, but they take plenty of time, and we thought you’d like first impressions as soon as we could get them to you.—Editor. IN THE NEW ’54 DODGE, you get a fast, smooth shift from low ratio in D range (where you keep it all the time, except for steep hills and backing up). For top acceleration, you can floorboard the throttle and automatic shift comes around 65 mph. There’s no advantage to using L and shifting to D, the reason being that the starting gear…

Suits made of DuPont’s Dacron polyester fiber are said to be a blessing to the modern motorist. Now being introduced in limited quantity, the suits are made by various manufacturers in full Dacron and in combinations with wool or rayon. Outstanding wrinkle-resistance (especially when wet) and long-lasting freshness are but a few of its claims. If you’re an ex-Air Force pilot, you’ll be certain to recognize the chukka boots on the left. Once again available, these top comfort items are by French. Shriner. and Urner. as are the fleece-lined leather slippers (in many colors) and the long-wearing, smart-looking loafers. Look for the French, Shriner. and Urner sign at better shoe stores all over the U.S. You’ll see few Maxwells along Fifth Avenue these days, but Brook’s new short-collared. lightweight broadcloth…