Indholdsfortegnelse for August 1965 i MotorTrend

FORD’S COMPACTS WON’T BE SO COMPACT IN 1966. A new unit body shell will be shared by Falcon, Comet, and Fairlane. It’ll be about the size of the current Fairlane. This means the new Falcons and Comets, which have shared a smaller body for five years, will be considerably bigger and heavier in ’66. Word is that the Comet will grow eight inches in length, with wheelbase lengthened to 116 inches. It’ll be about the same size as the Fairlane. The new Falcon will use a shortened version of the same basic shell, about three inches greater in length and wheelbase than now. Weight will be up 400 to 500 pounds. LOOK FOR MAJOR CHANGES IN THE 1966 LINCOLN. Basic body shell will be the same, but there’ll be deep…

HELPFUL SUGGESTIONS I’d like to congratulate you on your fine Used Car section (June issue). After having bought two used cars, I can certainly see the need for planning ahead. I was especially pleased with the articles on warranties and financing—two very important factors to consider when buying. I’ll certainly remember your suggestions if I ever buy another used car. DUKE WIGGINS Hutchinson, Kan. BANK-AGENT PLAN I wish you’d researched a little further into The Not So Tender Trap of car financing in your June issue. The best plan for financing new or used cars and small trucks is through the Bank-Agent plan. I’ve been servicing my customers with this plan for 20 years. Your article states that the normal financing rate for new cars is 8% per annum. Our…

AFTER LONG-WINDED RUMORS and months of waiting, we’ve finally gotten firm news on Oldsmobile’s 1966 front-drive Toronado. It’ll definitely be worth waiting for. □ This car, as most readers know by now, will be aimed to compete with Ford’s Thunderbird and the Buick Riviera—luxury cars just a shade below the high-priced three. Olds’ new Toronado will share the ’66 Riviera’s body shell, but the styling’s so different that no one can possibly mistake one for the other. About the only similarities will be retractable headlights and the absence of front vent panes. The similarity ends right there. □ The Toronado will be radical in everybody’s book. From an engineering standpoint, its front drive will keep owners, prospective owners, mechanics, and general car bugs arguing for at least a year. The…

THE FIRST YEAR Honda kicked off their huge U.S. advertising campaign, they sold roughly 45,000 units. That was in 1962. The following year, sales climbed to 85,000, and 1964 saw figures register 140,000. Their four-cylinder, 250cc racing machines dominated European classes, and Honda is currently working on a formula racing car to challenge the best Europe has to offer. A pioneer of the electric starter for motorcycles, Honda offers a 14-model range of cycles from $215* to $720, with a horsepower range from five to 27. A new 444cc, 43-hp model is in the offing. King of the Honda lightweights is the S-90 Super Sport—and an exotic little jewel it is. Its sleek-as-a-gazelle looks, combined with either black-and-silver or red-and-silver paint, make it a winner in the eyeball department. It…

IF YOUR CAR had 20 different things wrong with its ignition and fuel systems, could you or your mechanic repair it in 31½ minutes? Probably not. But Gilbert Brechtfeld, 18, and Geary Hintlian, 17, seniors at Van Nuys (California) High School, took that short halfhour to diagnose, locate, and repair 20 malfunctions on a 1965 Plymouth. They were local winners in the Los Angeles Regional Plymouth Trouble-Shooting Contest. (The big national troubleshooting meet was still a month away—too late to make this issue.) These two young men, plus three other two-man teams and their instructors, flew to Detroit to compete in the finals. Finalists came from 1550 participating schools, who sent some 50,000 students from their manual and industrial arts classes to 53 regional contests held in 29 states. National…

The first 1966 car on the road comes, surprisingly, from Japan’s Toyota Motor Company, third largest manufacturer of commercial vehicles in the world. Every year for the last five years, Toyota has enjoyed more than 100% sales increases in the U.S. There’s good reason, too. □ In that short span, Toyotas have built up an enviable reputation for rugged dependability and utility at very attractive prices. Service and parts are readily available, with new dealers signing up rapidly. Toyota currently counts 315 dealers across the country. □ Newest offering is their Corona Sports Sedan, a real eye-catcher with its Italian-influenced design—also a real eye-opener in the performance department. It has a 90-hp four-banger that puts it miles ahead of its competition in performance. □ While other economy sedans are chugging…

DO HEADLIGHTS have to be round, uncovered Sealed Beams? Not according to the designers and engineers who create our cars. From private custom shops to top-secret Detroit studios, stylists have been experimenting with new shapes for headlights and, in the process, they’ve come up with some valuable ideas for better, safer night-time driving. Why, then, can’t we enjoy the benefits of these new ideas? The principal reason is the law. The motor vehicle codes of most of our 50 states require conventional Sealed Beams on all cars and trucks. No other type of headlight can be used (except certain original-equipment bulb lights in older cars). While these are well meant regulations to promote safety and uniformity, they’ve stifled real lighting progress. The law luckily doesn’t apply to cars built for…

DYNO FIGURES don’t lie, but it’s hard to relate two horsepower curves to differences in actual on-the-road performance. That’s why we suggested to Sonny Balcaen that running some comparison tests with our fifth wheel and instruments might be the best way to evaluate his new AFB four-barrel, four-tube ram kit for Corvairs. He was game—he’d put lots of time on a chassis dyno and knew his kit produced substantial power increases over the standard 140-hp, four-carb setup. Sonny, who heads up IECO, the outfit that makes this kit and other Corvair goodies, showed up in his personal Corvair with the stock four-carb induction system. We loaded our test gear into a stock 180-hp supercharged Corsa and took both cars to Riverside International Raceway. First we ran some tests on his…

Then in November … it’s the big Buyer’s Guide issue! This is the issue that gives you actual driving reports, full engineering news, prices, specifications, options, and available accessories. December? Our annual Engine Issue analyzes and compares the ’66 powerplants—brings you fact-filled engineering and performance information plus complete data and specification tables. And remember: Throughout the year, MOTOR TREND test crews go over the new models from bumper to bumper, then turn out extensive road test reports to help you evaluate and select the car best suited to your needs. Compare performance, prices, equipment, and purpose before you buy! January through December … if it’s about cars, you’ll be first with all the facts when you read MOTOR TREND! It’s the magazine that keeps you up to date about everything…

Until recently, accessory wheels were built strictly for beauty and words like durability and safety were seldom if ever mentioned in the same breath. But, these days, people aren’t buying on looks alone. They still like the idea of a personalized car. But they’ve lost faith in wheels that can’t keep pace with the performance characteristics of their cars. George Hurst to the rescue. He saw the need: a custom wheel that would meet or exceed OEM specifications. He put his research and engineering specialists on it and now there’s a custom wheel that can roll with the wildest street machines going. What we have is a high-strength wheel with a forged, heat-treated aluminum center section. A wheel that has the deep offset look of a racing wheel, but doesn’t…

SUZUKI MOTOR Corporation was the last of the Japanese Big Three to take a running jump at the American sales market. In 1959, Suzuki exported only 600 motorcycles. This has increased to over 32,000 units currently. Building machinery since 1909, Suzuki got into automobile and motorcycle production in 1936. Some 3000 technicians (average age 26) handle the 373, 871-unit annual production. About two-thirds of Suzuki’s factory workers are licensed motor-cyclists. The “ladies’ model,” the 55cc Suzi Step-through, with a frame like a girl’s bicycle, offers a three-speed transmission, five horses, and an automatic clutch. The line climbs toward the top with the Suzi starting at $245 through 80cc, 125cc, 150cc, and 250cc models. There’s an electric-start 50, too. Our test bike, the K-ll, 80cc sports model, goes for $340—the lowest-priced…

PLYMOUTH’S PUSHING hard toward the coveted fifth slot in national sales. Last year, they were some 3056 units behind fifth-place Buick; at last report, there’s only a 426-car gap. How are they doing it? For one thing, Plymouth extended their line-up to give buyers more choice, more luxury. They’ve kept the 116-inch-wheelbase series, the Belvedere, but they’ve stretched the Furys three inches to come up with a new series for 1965 that’s longer, wider, heavier, and competes on an equal footing with full-sized Chevrolets and Fords. (Plymouth wagons use a 121-inch wheelbase.) They’ve softened the ride throughout the Plymouth line by reducing spring rates on the front torsion bars and by making the rear leaf springs longer and softer. Front shock absorbers are mounted almost vertically, and upper control arms…

NASCAR’s and the Deep South’s world of stock car racing was supposed to get its first taste of strong, competitive tea of the 1965 season during the $110,000 World 600 May 23 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina. Arid, thanks to the determination of famed car builder and Californian Bill Thomas, it almost did. “We came to win,” Thomas said quietly, smiling under a wide-brimmed white straw hat. He stood beside a 1965 Chevrolet, which was painted candy-apple and bore the number 41. This, in NASCAR nomenclature, means Jim Paschal. Paschal’s rugged face adorned the programs and tickets of the World 600, printed in bright colors, because he’d won the 1964 World 600 in a Petty-blue Plymouth. Petty ran a close second. But this wasn’t all that excited ticket-holders.…

REQUIREMENTS: Copy limit of 25 words (not including name and address); first come first served. We reserve the right to edit where necessary. We’re not responsible for accuracy of descriptions, but we’ll reject any misleading statements. Only one car may be listed in any Sell ’n’ Swap ad; this limitation doesn’t apply to parts, catalogues, etc. The charge is $5 per insertion; no ad will be accepted unless payment is made in advance. Sell ’n’ Swap is NOT open to commercial advertisers. If your car is unusual and you have a photo of it suitable for publication, you may submit it with your ad. If we print it, there’s no extra charge—but we decide which photos to use. Sorry, no photos can be returned. SELL ’30 MODEL A 2-dr sed.…

PONTIAC GRAND PRIX TAKING UP where we left off last month, our new information on Detroit’s 1966 models makes it possible to give detailed drawings and lets us remove some of the speculation from our previous report (July MT). Rumors and leaks have turned largely into confirmed coverage, and this is what we’ll pass along here. Our drawings still reflect verbal and written reports from unofficial sources, but we’re confident that our sketches are as accurate as any we’ve published this early in the season—and more accurate than most. Without repeating too much of what we said last month, here’s the way 1966 looks from this vantage point. AMERICAN MOTORS. A general upgrading at AMC will put emphasis on more luxury and sportiness. Three new names will take the spotlight—the…

MOTORCYCLE SALES are skyrocketing in America, mainly because American Honda decided to spend some money on mass-media advertising a few years ago. They also spent lots of time and money setting up a workable dealer, parts, and service organization. Honda’s efforts have paid off handsomely, not only for themselves but for the entire motorcycle industry. Every manufacturer is being swept along on the wave created by aggressive Japanese-American advertising. What they’ve done: They’ve made motorcycles, or more accurately, Honda, household words and at the same time have removed any stigma previously associated with motorcycling. It’s now respectable. Riding the crest of the wave with Honda are two other Oriental companies, Yamaha International Corporation and the U.S. Suzuki Motor Corporation, who rank 2-3 respectively behind Honda. Americans are suddenly beginning to…

IN THE ROARING ’20s, between the end of World War I and the great stock market crash at the end of the decade, there existed a perfect climate for the creation of the finest automotive master-pieces of all time. The War to End War had been fought and won. The nightmare of 1914 to 1918 was being quickly forgotten in a return to Normalcy, undergirded by an unparalleled prosperity, especially for those who were rich and well born. In answer to the demand of an eager and discriminating clientele for truly superlative automobiles, custom body designers and builders found their special places in the sun of this golden age of motoring—the 1920s until the early ’30s. Standard factory creations of even the best makers weren’t considered exciting enough. Here and…

WHENEVER TROUBLE strikes an auto mobile engine, you can generally trace the cause to one of two systems—electrical or fuel. In past issues, we’ve covered the basic elements of the fuel system and some of the electrical. The ignition circuit includes the distributor, coil, resistor, ignition switch, spark plugs, and battery. Since we’ve discussed spark plugs and battery maintenance, our point of interest will be limited to the distributor and overhauling the same. In a typical distributor, the primary electrical circuit is opened and closed by the contact points operating off the breaker cam. The cam is rotated, through the advance mechanism, by the distributor shaft at one-half engine speed, usually by a gear on the cam-shaft. Generally, there are as many lobes on the breaker cam as there are…

THE STAGE, Charlotte Motor Speed-way’s steeply banked 1.5-mile tri-oval, was dressed for some unlikely dramatics. Down the straightaways, the track burned with 120° heat. In the turns, the thermometer registered 131°. Yet Ford’s Freddie Lorenzen, again with a complete change of race tactics, proved on that firecracker-hot Sabbath in North Carolina that he’s the undisputed king of the stock car roads. Once considered a carpetbagger in Confederate country—a designing Yankee who stroked his mount in the early going—Lorenzen rarely charged toward the checkers till the late laps; then through the easy traffic of a thinned-out field. But on Sunday, May 23, Lorenzen charged his flourwhite 1965 Ford out front on the first lap of the $110,000 World 600, beginning the sixth edition of America’s and the world’s longest test on…

A TIGER ON THE CORNERS I’m a former sports car owner who had to give up the habit because of family and finances. I recently bought a ’64 Tempest Le Mans with the “326-HO” engine before the GTO appeared. I’m satisfied with acceleration but am very unhappy over the handling. I’ve considered substituting heavy-duty Monromatics all around and Traction Masters to take care of that swaying end. But I’ve noticed that an anti-roll bar for rear axles is now being marketed. Would this be a better solution? I’m willing to go the whole route of springs and shocks, but I don’t think the GTO suspension is tight enough. How about the 4-4-2? jOHN GARRETT Santa Rosa, Tex. Most of your problems can be solved by the ’65 GTO equipped with…