Indholdsfortegnelse for January 1954 i MotorTrend

HERB SHRIER’S Third Annual International Motor Sports Show will soon be underway. The place: Seventh Regiment Armory. The date: February 6-14. Over 200 foreign and domestic cars will be on view at the Park Avenue and 66th Street location. Among the cars to be seen will be this Alfa Romeo, plus an R-4 Jupiter (see page 36) and an Aston Martin sports model (page 35) while a REAC (page 38) may also be shown. RUSSIA is offering its most modern luxury automobile, the ZIM, for sale to the general public. Introduced in 1949, the six-cylinder, 90-hp car until now has been reserved for official use only. Domestic price tag is around $10,000; export price $2500! THE AUTO MANIACS of America recently held their annual convention in Detroit. Members from many…

Save Up to $50.00 This Year If you pride yourself on the care of your car, chances are you watch your engine oil pretty carefully. When the dipstick shows oil dark or discolored, you probably have it changed as a normal precaution. Weighed against the possibility of engine damage, the few bucks for the service seem small. Over the period of your car’s life, however, the dollars laid out for all those oil changes mount to a husky total, and most of us don’t realize that this expense is almost entirely unnecessary. “Dirty Oil” Means “Clean Engine” You see, modern compounded oils contain many important additives, among them are solvents to keep precision engine parts free of carbon, gums and resins. These “Heavy Duty” oils normally darken with use, but…

WHEN ENZO FERRARI first announced his withdrawal from racing activities it was as if Italy had had another national catastrophe like the disastrous Po Valley floods. Cafe sitters on Rome’s via Veneto discussed the news with as much animation as did garage mechanics in Italy’s mountain villages. Newspapers front-paged the news as in a murder mystery. It was said that Ferrari’s reason for withdrawing from participation in the coming season’s races was that a trusted employe had sold secret plans for the new Formula I car to a competitor. It was hotly debated in bars all over the Peninsula what rival could have done this dastardly deed. Then came another statement from Ferrari: “There are other reasons—extremely personal reasons.” No, money was not involved. Then people interested in the sport…

WHAT’S NEW? That’s the question of motorists everywhere when a new car is shown to the public each year. It’s the question asked by the person buying a new car (whether or not he’s driving an older model of the same make); as a rule, it’s asked by anyone who has even the slightest interest in cars—whether a car owner or not. It’s also the question asked by Motor Trend Research when the 1954 Plymouth made its debut. What are the major changes in the ‘54 Plymouth? Plymouth claims 64 styling and mechanical improvements in this year’s car. The average owner will see some of these changes in the exterior, some in the interior, and generally accept the remainder in the ‘54 Plymouth as those to be expected in a…

ODDLY ENOUGH, the world’s best-known Simplex is the property of the United States Government! For the last 25 years, Simplex No. 778, a 50-horsepower (rated) machine of 1912, has been on exhibition in the Smithsonian Institution at Washington, D.C. About 40 million people have seen the car, so its title would seem to be safe. Selling for about $6000, the car was owned by the late Dunbar B. Adams of Bay Shore, Long Island. It was capable of 80 miles an hour or more. It is an excellent example of the sports car of the early ’Teens. Many identical cars, stripped of unnecessary weight, were successfully driven in the races of the time, and Simplex won several of the annual Brighton Beach 24-hour races, as well as many famous hillclimbs…

AT THE FIRST of each year, Motor Trend devotes several pages to the European car picture. For 1954, perhaps more strikingly than ever before, the automobile industries on opposite sides of the Atlantic present quite different products. In the U.S., our cars have become ever more alike. In design of mechanical components and of their appealing exterior and interior treatments, in size and in handling ease, Detroit’s products have slowly but surely approached a customer-indicated norm. In contrast, Europe’s passenger cars come in a bewildering variety of shapes, sizes, types of powerplants, and prices. Some are streamlined to a surprising degree, apparently making no compromise with the human bodies that must fit inside; others can be walked into virtually without bending. Some engines are flat, some narrow Vs; they may…

REGARDLESS of personal tastes, custom owners every-where have one thing in common—the desire for something different. But that’s where common ground gives way to individuality. I knew what 1 wanted, and when 1 took my car to rhe Johnny Kuryla Custom Body Shop in Detroit, I found out how to apply it. I wanted a Continental tire on the back, but wanted a ‘set in’ appearance to the spare; 1 also wanted the car to look longer, without extensive body work. The result is a car with minimum alterations to make it stand out from its stock counterparts. My ’53 Ford Victoria is stock (except for dual exhausts), until the rear fenders come into view. By cutting the fenders just forward of the taillights and adding a 14-inch piece of…

1954 LINCOLN YOU MAY BE interested to know that when I (or any of us) drive one of the new cars, we make it a point not to read what we said about the previous year’s model until after the driving impression is complete. There’s a good reason for this. We don’t want to be swayed by any opinion we may have had previously. In the case of the ’54 Lincoln you’ll have to take my word for it, because this year’s impression sounds like last year’s road test. Here’s the exact quote from a form I fill out when driving one of the cars; this comes under Overall Impression of Car. “Once you are used to its width, it doesn’t feel bulky to drive. Would like to emphasize the…

OH WELL, IT WASN’T SQUARE Gentlemen: In re “999,” October MT, page 31: “The integrally cast engine was undoubtedly the largest four-cylinder powerplant ever to be put in a car.” If memory serves me right, Fiat had several larger engines in race cars. The largest I can recall—nine inches-plus bore and 12 inches-plus stroke, four cylinders—was used by Arthur Duray at Ostend, Belgium, on a straightaway run at almost 143 mph, in 1914. C. M. SaylorColumbus, Ohio We’ll make a guess that 999’s was the largest square engine, anyway. Or does some sharpeyed reader know of one with more than a seven-inch bore and stroke and 1080 cubic inches displacement? TO EACH HIS OWN Gentlemen: My husband has a Cord 812, a Chrysler Custom Imperial Airflow, and a Cadillac V-16.…

EVER SINCE NASH MOTORS introduced their Rambler line in 1950 there has been conjecture in our mind (and in others, we’re sure) as to what market the car was planned for. It seems that it was a light car, yet it was too luxurious to be known as an “economy car.” After completing the test of the 1954 Rambler and after discussing it with three Trend employes who own three different earlier models, we think we may understand Nash’s intentions. It seems to us that the Rambler has a separate category: that of a “specialty car.” In other words, it’s in a class by itself on the American market in what it offers the purchaser. It’s a small, yet fairly roomy and definitely luxurious, car with good performance and comfort.…

VARIETY IS THE spice of life, so they say, and the same applies to Motor Trend’s “Do You Know Your Cars?” contest! We’ll picture features of antiques, classics, familiar foreign cars, and present-day American stock cars. Long-time readers of Motor Trend should have no trouble identifying the old-timers and the foreign cars, and if you keep an eye open, you’ll spot lots of these just by looking along the street. This is the second series of the three necessary to complete the contest. (You’ll find series Number One on page 32 of the December issue.) There is no entry fee for any part of the contest, but you must have each entry in by deadline time. Series Number Two entries must be postmarked not later than February 1, 1954. Mail…

“…Young again and sound; I’ll have a run once more before they put me underground…” IT IS DOUBTFUL whether George Walter Thornbury had in mind “The Universal Car” when he wrote the touching lines at the left, but they describe with extraordinary fitness the nationwide renaissance of that adaptable vehicle. Not only the renowned Model Ts, but also the As and lesser known models have come in for attention in the way of full and partial restorations. Museums are not alone in their interest; many an individual driver has found that the cars are highly practical, and the Model T Club has done its bit.…

CARBURETOR ICING, long a bugaboo to airplane and marine engine operators, has not until recently been of much concern to the average motorist. But now current newspaper ads by Standard Oil Co. are drawing attention to the fact that “… when your engine quits in traffic at this time of year [with temperatures between 58° and 28° above zero], chances are that ice does it.” Also, that they have solved “… a major cause of engine stalling with [a] remarkable deicer additive.” This may tend to cause concern to the motorist where no concern was evident before. Just what is carburetor icing? And how can a de-icer additive prevent it? Since we felt it was a timely subject and one in which most motorists would be interested, we looked into…

THE BIGGEST and toughest year of the biggest and toughest race in the world has just gone down the storm drain of history. How many light years ago it seems since we started out from steaming Tuxtla Gutierrez! The calendar says five days, but in the Pan Am, time is measured in emotion and fatigue. Cars pushing along the roads at night past torches and campfires of blanketed Indian militia mounting roadblocks. Desperately trying to be in a dozen places at once and taking your wife along so you can at least be in two places; and still the feeling always nibbling inside that you are missing so much … so much. Fighting off sleep, when you do see a bed, out of a stupor that is almost death—this is…

Requirements are: copy limit of 25 words (not including name and address), first come, first served; we reserve the right to edit where necessary; we are not responsible for accuracy of descriptions, although we will reject any misleading statements. This service is not open to commercial advertisers. No ads will be accepted if payment is not made in advance and such communications will not be acknowledged. Only one CAR may be listed in any single Sell ‘N’ Swap insertion. This limitation will not apply to parts, catalogs, etc. The charcje is four dollars per insertion. SELL ’40 DARRIN PACKARD 180 four-door conv. sedan, one in existence, new lacquer, top, well cared for, pix on page 54 Sept. MT, $1880 or best offer. Lt. Col. A. Tisdelle, Orange Park, Fla. ’51…

DETROIT, MICHIGAN—We understand that four out of every io consumers will start the new year without any debts at all. Only ii per cent owe more than they own. The lucky rest of us that aren’t in hock up to our collar buttons should be interested in… THE NEW RAMBLER FOUR-DOOR, which squeezes a lot of car on a wheelbase only eight inches longer than other Ramblers. Actually, the longer chassis allows this newcomer to wear the virtually unchanged Nash styling well, perhaps better than its big brothers, the Statesman and Ambassador. These have recently seemed a little stout for their length. The continental spare, standard on all but the station wagon for ’54, rounds out your first impression of a trim and agile (see “Driving Around,” page 54) car.…

YOU’LL LIKE THE 1954 Mercury, particularly if you like power that’ll make you sit back in your seat when you stomp the throttle. The ‘54 Merc is quite outstanding in this respect. When I drove the ‘54 Mercury at the Ford Proving Grounds, prior to announcement time, I pitted it against a ‘53 Mercury (both equipped with Merc-O-Matic). It was a cinch to jump way out ahead of the ‘53 and stay there. At 60 mph I was a good 10 car lengths ahead, and at 80 was extending the lead. With this new engine you can trim down the acceleration time up to 60 mph by around five seconds. More important is the good jump it has at cruising speeds. If there is no other reason for the increase…

A GHOST ON FOUR WHEELS may soon glide down a Paris street. Sophisticated strollers will smile as the little auto floats past in dead silence—another inventor has dug up that old electric dream from the automotive boneyard. Every year someone conjures up a new scheme to make the electric the ideal auto it once promised to become. Soon the inventor comes up against cold reality, and the electric idea will-o’-the-wisps back to the burying ground. But this time the strange, MG-sized two-seater may turn out to be an apparition of the future, not a mechanical zombie. Powering this car will be a revolutionary new battery, the Yardney Silvèrcel, that has already proved its amazing performance in secret military devices. Professor Henri G. André, a French scientist and inventor, is at…

CHROMIUM PLATE by itself and in the thicknesses used until recently on automotive trim is one of the poorest protective coverings for metal. That statement is probably heresy for Americans, who undoubtedly use more chromium than the rest of the entire world. Nevertheless it is the truth. Automotive Americans—at least those whose cars were built during the “hot” Korean war—spend untold hours of useless and misapplied drudgery maintaining or restoring chrome. Metallic blue-white might be called America’s national color. It can only end, some say, in a fully plated car. Yet there are more popular misconceptions about chrome plate than about any other material Americans use. Did you know that there are enormous differences in the quality of chrome plate? That the thinner the chrome over the base plate the…

QUESTION—I am the owner of a ’53 Ford. Between 3000 and 4000 miles it developed a chatter in reverse gear. I took it to my dealer who said it was my driving and that it would soon go away. I now have 8200 miles on the car and the chatter has not left. I took the car back and was told that the new Fords have the same thing. I asked to drive another new Ford which had 1800 miles on the speedometer; there was no chatter in this car. I was then told it was because this car was still tight. Is it true that after 5000 miles the ’53 Ford will chatter in reverse? Please set me straight.—Frank J. Reed, Philadelphia, Pa. ANSWER—Clutch chatter is a condition which…

INSTEAD OF BUYING a trouble light, I made one from scrap electrical equipment. I installed a 110-volt socket in my glove compartment and connected it to a hot lead and to ground. I put a plug on one end of a long wire, and on the other, a socket holding a pre-focused headlight bulb. Taped and finished, the unit gives ample light at little or no cost. Raymond L. Anderson Jr., New York, N.Y. SOMETIMES it’s hard to tell whether pushbutton door locks are up or down. Rather than check each button by hand, I find that by painting a white stripe around the base of the button a visual check can be made from inside or outside the car. When the white stripe does not show, you know the…

JUST THE THING for those who want to do minute customizing detail work on metal or plastic trim, this “palm-sized” 25,000-rpm power tool is said to be stronger than most, because of its special motor design. For polishing, drilling, cutting, sanding, or turning designs on any material. In plastic case with 40 accessories, $29.95 postpaid from Neale Co., P.O. Box 1260, Dept. M.T. 52, Wichita, Kan. STEADI-DRIVE is said to reduce fatigue, and save gas, because the accelerator remains steady after it’s set to a desired speed. Removing the left foot from the sensitive button returns the gas pedal to idle speed. Pressure on the pedal does not affect the setting, which can be changed at any time. $7-95 postpaid (add $1.00 for 12-volt system). Walter B. Schnur, 557 Timpson…