Indholdsfortegnelse for January 1966 i MotorTrend

The Exciting New “In” Accessory—RCA Victor Stereo 8 Cartridge Tapes. Step up to stereophonic sound… a thrill you’ve never experienced in cars before. Get with cartridge tape’s ease of handling that fills your car with a sound that lifts it right off the road. The big talk now is about the “in ”-terior shift to stereo sound…the high-geared enjoyment of uninterrupted entertainment on the road. Classy as bucket seats, the easy-to-use cartridge is completely automatic. Push it in to start…pull it out to stop. No threading or rewinding and with a touch of a button, you can change to any of four programs on the tape… up to 80 minutes of uninterrupted music, even when you’re going through tunnels, storms, or under bridges. Choose the music you like best from…

NOT WIRED IN You sure have a sense of humor. In “Week-End Mechanic” on wiring, you said. “If there is any doubt about a secondary wire, replace it.” So I replaced the secondary wiring. I had to take the car to a garage to replace the sparkplug leads. Numbers 1, 3, 2, and 4 weren’t so simple; the car had to be placed on a race. I bought one of those “Do It Yourself” 4-way flashers and am still trying to find what leads to where under the dash. One thing you said is true gospel; you’re going to be “under something!” I think I did learn, however, and can’t repeat here, that I will never worry about amateur car thieves. Your art led the way to a theft-proof car.…

The results are in … and they prove conclusively that racing engines equipped with Perfect Circle Valve Seals have a way of crossing the finish line first. Racing drivers know that PC Valve Seals prevent performance-cutting oil loss through valve guides, stop valve sticking, control harmful carbon build-up in the ports. And PC seals will do the same job in your engine. Two basic designs … Teflon*-and-Rubber, and All-Teflon… handle all engine requirements. For plusperformance install PC Valve Seals next time you re-ring. *Registered trademark for Du Pont fluorocarbon resin finishes. PERFECT CIRCLE DANA PARTS DANA DANA CORPORATION COMPANY…

ALL OVER THE WORLD except until lately in the U.S., most anyone with a few hundred thousand dollars, or a source to borrow from, can put his name on a “hybrid” car and sell a comfortable living’s worth. “Hybrid” is an uncomplimentary but technically correct term used in the industry to describe a machine made up of mechanical components purchased from outside sources. In the strictest definition, even such a well-known make as Mercury is a hybrid because most everything in it comes from Ford. But the economic camouflage practiced by the Big Three is not our subject here; instead, we speak of cars ranging from the rescued Studebaker to the defunct $10,000 Gaylord. In the early days, the great majority of U.S. makes were hybrids. Engines were purchased from…

MEXICO’S CONTRIBUTION to the hybrid car ranks is a version of the Swiss Renault Alpine called the Dinalpin. Manufacturer is Diesel Nacional (DINA) at a rate of one a day. It uses a Mexican-built 956cc Renault engine and R-8 running gear, but the fiberglass body weighs 408 pounds less than the standard metal sedan. With a top speed of 93 mph, the Dinalpin beat Mustangs and Valiants for second place in its only road race appearance south of the border. DINA plans export to the U S. if it can find a way to reduce the price from the present $3920 to around $3300. The car already exported to Peru, and still another version is manufactured in Brazil. Three body styles are available. There are the Berlinette, a two-passenger sports…

LONG A STANDARD with taxi companies: who need long-lasting, sturdy vehicles with lots of interior room is the Checker Marathon. In business since 1921, Checker recently switched from Continental, in-line 6-cylinder and 318-inch Chrysler V-8s to Chevrolet engines supplied by Chevrolet’s Industrial Division. Standard is a 230-inch, in-line 6, but either a 283 or 327 V-8 is optional. Transmissions are supplied by Borg-Warner, offering a choice of 3-speed manual, with or without overdrive, and 3-speed automatic. Checker still sells most of their production to taxi companies and we have reports of cars going over 400,000 miles inside four years of cab use. Several years ago Checker branched out to offer models for the average citizen tired of “planned obsolescence” via yearly model changes. A 4-door sedan and 4-door station wagon…

PROVING ONCE AGAIN that miracles are occasionally real, a former school teacher named Glen Pray has revived the Cord in 8/10 scale. The scale is not because he could not afford the extra 2/10th of Royalex plastic from which the body is made, but because Pray liked the phaeton rear of Gordon Buehrig’s 1936 original applied to a 2-passenger, short wheelbase configuration. This hybrid has many major parts engineered by Pray and his staff, but it depends upon the horizontally-opposed, six-cylinder, air-cooled, 140-hp Corvair engine to power its front wheels. Supercharging, complete with nostalgic chromed hood pipes, is optional for $550. Air-conditioning, a removable hardtop and leather interior can bring the total bill to $5810. Pray’s embryo Cord Automobile Company, located in Tulsa, benefits much from the engineering and promotion…

IT’S USUALLY necessary to look through a whole line to find family, personal, and performance cars, but Chrysler’s neatly done the trick in just one series. This, the Chrysler 300, comes in three basic body styles, two- and four-door hardtops and a convertible coupe. Among many options available, there are some that vastly alter the character of the car, and by proper choosing, you “build” whatever kind of car you want. Our test car, besides being equipped with about every gim-crack Chrysler has to offer, had some really boss options that made it safer, a better performer, and more fun to drive. These things are handily grouped together in the TNT performance package, which includes disc brakes with 15-inch wheels and wheel covers (the big discs won’t fit inside standard…

THE 1966 AMBASSADOR DPL, besides heading up American Motors’ line, has the additional role of heralding a new epoch in that company’s automotive philosophy — one of luxury and youthfulness. While gathering general impressions of the DPL, we also wanted to see just how much of this new approach, if any, we could detect in driving the car. After we’d waded through the deep pile carpeting and stopped settling in the ultra-plush slim bucket seat, evidence of a turning point at AMC wasn’t long in coming. From driving previous cars of this make, we’d developed a habit of ringing down to the engine room for plenty of steam just to get under way in a normal manner. This time there was healthy wheelspin from both rear wheels (Twin-grip limited slip).…

ROLLS-ROYCE AND BENTLEY effectively scotched rumors that they were leaving the automobile business by announcing their first major model change in 10 years. As usual, the two differ only in radiator design: Rolls calls its car the Silver Shadow and Bentley, with nary a thought of snide Trans-Atlantic connotations, carries its letter series into Model “T”. With an overall length of only 203.5 ins., they came close to fitting George Romney’s classic definition of a compact except for pricing, which runs very close to $100 an inch delivered in New York. The “monocoque” sedan bodies use aluminum panels for doors, hood and trunk, and you can obtain limousines, two- and four-door hardtops and convertible bodies from coachbuilders. The price includes air-conditioning as standard for the first time. Engineering newness embraces…

One of LeBaron’s top designers recalls his own experience with the finest European luxury cars of the classic era and selects the ten he considers greatest of all. Hispano-Suiza and Rolls-Royce top his list, followed by Isotta-Fraschini, Minerva, Mercedes-Benz, Renault, Panhard, Voisin, Lancia and Farman. Some are still a familiar part of the motoring scene while others have dropped by the wayside. But in their day, all were great. All were legends in the great continuing romance that is the history of the automobile. They were products of fertile and inventive minds that dared to dream—and act. Hugo Pfau was only 15 when, in 1923, he presented a portfolio of original styling sketches to LeBaron, the famed coachbuilding firm. Despite his youth, he was hired and given an opportunity to…

… A machine you can order out just the way you like it, anywhere from sweet street to hard-rock stock, with a will to work and the wherewithal to do it that takes a back seat to no half-ton pickup going? Pick your power from two sixes and five V8’s ranging from 120 to 360 horses. Back it with standard or overdrive 3-speed, 4-speed full-Synchro or Powerglide, and season with Positraction axle, extra-firm suspensions, quick ratio power steering, etc., to taste. Inside, decide between the lean and the lush side of luxurious by asking for things like air conditioning, Comfortilt steering wheel, power windows — or bucket seats, floor shift console, tachometer and the like, if you like. You like? Tell your Chevrolet dealer and he’ll do the rest…. Chevrolet…

That farm boy outfit and the big black hat cropped up everywhere from Le Mans to Riverside. On tortuous racing circuits around the world, Carroll Shelby learned what a car should be…power when you need it, handling when you need it. And he proceeded to build America’s first true sports car…the 289 Cobra. Laurels are not for resting on. Now, here are the new ones…the sensational 427 Cobra and the road hungry G.T. 350 from Shelby-American. The Shelby G.T. 350 starts with a Mustang Fastback and there the similarity ends. The high performance Ford 289 has been reworked with an aluminum high rise manifold, four barrel carburetion and tuned exhaust headers. The result? 306 horses. Completely new front suspension geometry, torque controlled rear axle, the close-ratio Borg Warner gear box…

WHEN MT FIRST HEARD that Dodge would introduce a fast-back based on the Coronet, we were understandably apprehensive of seeing another hastily styled car, cobbled together just for a free ride on Detroit’s current stylewagon. Our fears were allayed a full year ago by the Charger II, a one-of-a-kind show car obviously built to measure public opinion. Enthusiastic reaction at four major shows as well as private samplings from, of all people, 400 mainline Philadelphians clearly indicated that all Dodge had to do was put on some practical bumpers and start production. • We road-tested the first production Charger and in eyeing it from every angle, nowhere could we find evidence of that compromise so evident in some of the other recently introduced fastbacks. The interior is fully as esthetically…

BROOKS STEVENS IS probably alone among automotive stylists in that he is privileged to order his own designs into production. No member of management can force him to change a line, much less order reduction of an esthetically promising clay to raw material. He is the only stylist in the U.S. to own an auto company. The Excalibur SS, an almost exact replica of the Mercedes SSK, reflects Stevens’ nostalgic appreciation of the sports classic era, as well as his conviction that his feelings are shared by others. To be exact, 65 such persons have already taken delivery and 30 more are waiting. At a base price of $7250 including tax, these people got something more than a toy for their money. For far less than the cost of restoring…

THE REVIVED DUESENBERG Corporation, with $2,500,000 in its kitty and the first new Model “D” in hand, is on its way toward collecting its first $19,500 check from some lucky Texan. It will take 74 more such checks each year for five years before the company can recover its investment. Soon to follow the first sedan will be a two-door convertible Model “C” and a clutch of “DS” sedans, the initials standing for one-of-a-kind interiors. The car’s designers had to swallow their brags; they thought they offered everything as standard, but 40% of the 75-odd people who have mailed in deposit checks demanded a bar and television console in the rear seat for $1800 extra. Others demanded rear-seat instrumentation at $300. Another option will be Motorola’s stereo tape unit. Standard…

STUDEBAKER RANKS AS a true hybrid. Not only is it made up of parts manufactured by other companies, but it’s assembled in Canada, where all these parts are brought together. Engines are supplies by Chevrolet: 194- or 230-inch sixes, and a 283-inch V-8, Borg-Warner transmissions transmit power through Canadian-built Dana rear ends and stopping is via D nlop-Bendix brakes, with front discs optional. Electrics are by Prestolite, battery is by Willard-Exide and spark plugs are supplied by AC. Other smaller components, from American and Canadian suppliers, all go together in sheet metal supplied by the Budd Company in Philadelphia, and the result is a Studebaker. Originally a manufacturer of wagons and buggies, when horsepower had four legs, Studebaker has been around for a long time. Their recent move to Hamilton,…

THE APOLLO, a limited-production sports car that’s been around about three years, uses a hand-formed steel body and basic Buick running gear with a 250-hp, 300-inch Buick V-8 engine. Two body styles are offered at present. A hardtop coupe or open roadster, in either 2- or 4-passenger configuration. Owners get a choice of either a Borg-Warner 4-speed floor shift or Buick’s “400” series, 3-speed automatic Super Turbine transmission. Big 11½-inch Dunlop disc brakes up front and 11x2-inch drums at the rear give the Apollo plenty of stopping power to match its go-power. Chrome-plated Borrani wire wheels, Pirelli Cinturato tires, and a full leather interior are standard features on the Apollos which run from $7965 for the coupe to $8865 for the convertible. Both use a 3.55 rear axle with limited-slip…

REMEMBER THE PLAYBOY? Or the Powell? How about the Muntz Jet? Or the Gaylord? If you’re a long-time reader of Motor Trend, some of these names are sure going to ring a bell. They’re all makes of cars that have come and gone since the end of World War II. The Playboy, the Powell, the Muntz and the Gaylord and dozens more like them were all hybrids, attempts to create new designs with existing mechanical components, to build original, specialized vehicles using standard engines, transmissions and other ready-made items of running gear. These efforts have fallen into two broad categories, small economy cars and exotic sports or luxury vehicles. In the economy bracket, $1,000 has been a magic figure. Virtually every design for a smaller car has been aimed near…

3,000 MILES OF ELEGANCE, LUXURY, AND ADJUSTABILITY IS ENOUGH TO CONVERT ALMOST ANYBODY GO EAST, young man,” our editor instructed, “and head back West with a 1966 Cadillac.” That’s how it all started. Some 3,000 miles later, we returned with this top luxury machine, very much impressed with the car and with the way it’s put together. Our personal tour of Cadillac’s vastly expanded facilities (they’ve increased working space by 50% and have added tons of new testing equipment) impressed on us the fact that this is a thoroughly tested automobile, probably far more refined than certain other top luxury cars from across the pond whose makers couldn’t begin to afford the facilities Cadillac has. Take for instance their one-of-a-kind Road Simulator. It holds a car on four hydraulic pistons…

THIS WAS THE HARDEST race I ever drove … and my best win. This is the guy I’ve always wanted to beat. I’m tired, real tired. He’s a racer. He took everything out of me. My arms ache, my shoulders and my back hurt. But I’m happy, real happy.” Freddie Lorenzen, the famous Ford driver, had just whipped an equally famed Ford pilot, A. J. Foyt, in a stirring, wheel-to-wheel duel in the $60,000 National 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Now, speaking in post-mortem, Lorenzen analyzed the triumph: “I left A. J. plenty of room to pass. My car was handling good and I could run ‘way down low through the third and fourth turns while Foyt’s would seem to drift high each time. I was trying to set him…

Darkness chased the sun over the first-turn guard rail, through stands of jack pine, down U.S. Highway No. 1 which was in a state of thrombosis with bumper-to-bumper traffic for a dozen miles and closed on the little town of Rockingham. Inside North Carolina Motor Speedway, a million dollar mile of brand new four-lane superhighway, it was quiet except for an occasional blast from horns of cars still stranded in the infield. The last remnants of a crowd of 40,000 were unusually patient. The Autumn air was cool and full of goose pimples. Curtis Turner, standing beside a tire tent, zipped up his jacket. The glow from a cigarette lit his grimy face as he chatted with old and new friends. His bearish arms and hands trembled as he sipped…

Meet the economy compact from England, winner of more than 300 firsts in 25 countries to date. It’s a lot of car for as little as $1,716.84*, a dramatically improved car. For instance, a totally new principle of air control, jet-stream ventilation. New front disc brakes for surer stops. A wide new grille. And a racy 1500 cc. engine in every model: the GT, 2- and 4-door sedan and station wagon. Cortina gives you rally-proved durability, five-passenger comfort, bucket seats, 4-speed synchromesh floor-mounted gearshift—and up to 32 mpg. Your English Ford Line dealer has one on ice for you. *Manufacturer’s suggested retail price, East Coast P.O.E. dealers, for the 2-door deluxe. Cortina GT shown, $2,072.93. Destination charges, heater, other optional equipment and state and local taxes and fees, if any,…

You like cars. You like working with interesting people doing interesting things. So what better place to be than right here — at a new car dealership. Here’s where a young man can become successful in one of the nation’s most important industries — the retail automobile industry. Here is where you’ll find the right kind of man to work for — a fine employer who’s also an important member of his community. If you’d like to get into the retail automobile picture, too, write for the free booklet, “Careers in the Retail Automobile Industry.” Send a card with your name and address to “Booklet,” N.A.D.A., 2000 “K” Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20006. The National Automobile Dealers Association Official Organization of America’s Franchised New-Car and Truck Dealers…

IF ANYONE DOUBTS that Ford is in racing to stay, he need only to study the complex, very permanent structure of what is called the Special Vehicles Dept, and its budget that insiders estimate to be at least $9 million annually. SVD was formed 6 years ago, and given the assignment to dominate the sport. The reason, as Leo Beebe who headed the department until recently succinctly puts it, was “Fords were running anyway, but it was the wrong hardware prepared badly. We couldn’t sit around and be taken to the cleaners by the others who were receiving indirect but very real factory support in violation of the AMA agreement. So we decided to be honest.” AT FIRST, dominance meant just that, whether it was an international rally or a…

AC SPARK PLUG DIVISION OF GENERAL MOTORS…

GIVE US A CAR halfway between the Barracuda and the T-Bird, and we’ll have a whole big chunk of market all to ourselves.” This was Dodge chief Byron N. Nichols crystal-balling the essential economic element in the Charger package to his product planning staff at a session held more than three years ago. Nichols knew at the time that Ford was moving ahead with its low-priced Mustang and that GM was going in the opposite direction with the Toronado. His own flank was protected by the Mustang-oriented Barracuda to which Plymouth was already committed, and he had no wish or reason to do battle with the T-Bird. Except for an optionladen Marlin, the lucrative $3500 price range lay wide open for a specialty fast-back. It was a pressure-type decision, for…

TWO OF THE winningest hybrids come from the Shelby-American “Snake Pit.” First off, in October of 1962 was the now-famous Cobra. It used a 260-inch Ford V-8 mated to the well-known AC roadster body. Next came a 289 Ford V-8 and now it uses the “blueprinted” 427 Ford Grand National powerplant, good for about 480 horses with one 4-barrel Holley. The “street” version uses two carbs, has only 425 horses with a ready-to-wiggle weight of 2550 pounds. Costing $7,495 for people and a lot more for racers, Cobras are strictly for the true sports car fan. willing to forego all else for raw horsepower, fantastic brakes and world-beating performance. Cobras sport a new, all-coil spring suspension system, many body modifications and 200 more horses than last year. The 350-GT, an…

MIDGET MOTORS, ATHENS, OHIO, has built about 5000 cars since 1951. Most sales come from word-of-mouth advertising and there’s no dealer setup as such. Some 16 employees can turn out about five cars per day. These sell for between $875 and $995, depending on options ordered. Power is by a Kohler, 1-cylinder, 4-cycle engine boasting 12 horses at 3600 rpm. It’ll do over 60 mph and squeeze up to 60 miles out of every gallon of gas, so King Midgets are a natural choice for that second or third car in the large family. A 2-speed automatic transmission, with reverse, transmits power to the rear wheels through three clutch assemblies. No oil pumps or gears are used. Drive is via chain to the rear wheels so ratios are easily changed;…

JEEPS, ARMY AND CIVILIAN, have established an enviable reputation for years as extremely rugged, go-anywhere vehicles that would shake you up a bit but still get you there. One thing jeepers howled loud and long about was the modest output of the old reliable 4-banger that claims 74 hp. (Those who really wanted to charge shoehorned big V-8s into their back-country chariots for more power.) This year Kaiser mated their famous J-5 Jeep with an optional Buick V-6 that more than doubles usable horsepower. Called the “Dauntless” option, the V-6 is a neat installation and has 155 horses to call upon. With their new 2-speed transfer case, 4-wheel drive and the 225 cubic inch six, Jeep owners no longer need be the tail-end Charlies in any company. Available in either…

THE NEWS THAT TEMPEST would have a new six with a belt-driven overhead cam as standard equipment on all models except the GTO would have created enough excitement by itself. But what really made automotive buffs sit up and take notice was the simultaneous announcement that a high-performance version of the engine would be available. (Full details on the two engines are in the September, 1965 issue.) Our test car had the higher-powered, 207-hp engine as part of the Sprint option. The nice thing about the Sprint option is that you can get it on any Tempest, Tempest Custom, or Le Mans model without having to take a lot of “mandatory options” with it. Besides the 4-barrel-carbed engine, this option includes a stiffer suspension, identification emblems and stripes, and wheel…

CLASSIC SPORTS CAR features and attributes have made past Triumphs, and current ones as well, top sellers, and the latest TR4-A carries on the tradition. It’s still very much a sports car, but many improvements have made it a better, more comfortable one. The most important improvement, a semi-swing design independent rear suspension, sells for $147 as an option, and it completely changes the roadster’s character. Instead of wheel hop and tire-burning on fast starts, it squats and goes! On hard, fast bends, the rear end minds well, sticking right up to the point from where only the lucky return. As a travel car for two, the one who must pack will face her problems — mainly finding all the room required for the average female’s huge array of “necessary”…

RIVERSIDE INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY annually hosts two major events, the Times Grand Prix for sports cars at October’s end and the Motor Trend 500 road race for stock cars which kicks off the busy NASCAR-FIA season on January 23. Both are about as severe a test of cars and drivers as can be found anywhere west of LeMans. In the Times classic, even practice was sufficient to eliminate the factory Lola team of Andretti and Stewart, Jim Hall and his new Chaparral, and A. J. Foyt’s Lotus 40. Foyt’s car was wrecked by another driver, Jackie Stewart at least had the consolation of becoming a father the day before the race, Hall had rear suspension troubles and Andretti cracked up while qualifying. Winner Hap Sharp, Jim Hall’s team-mate driving the “old”…

THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS, presented by National Hot Rod Association at Tulsa, Oklahoma, marks the beginning of a new era in drag racing. It was the first event in the sport’s history where a car’s entry was contingent on season-long achievements: To qualify for this race a participant had to be a 1965 Eliminator points champion or runner-up in his home area. And to be a points champion, a driver proved his ability by consistently winning his Eliminator bracket throughout an entire year. Eight separate drag racing divisions from coast to coast were represented — six Eliminator winners from each and six runners-up — resulting in about 100 of the nation’s champions-of-the-year making up a stellar field of racers. The World Finals is thus acclaimed as drag racing’s annual showdown.…

There’s a sad, although pleasurable, game that vintage-car fanciers often play. It’s called: I Had A Chance To Buy That Car For Next To Nothing, And Now It’s Worth $20,000. An obvious, morbid variation is: I Sold That Car For $50, And Now … etc., etc. The winner of this lugubrious contest (any number can play) is, of course, the guy with the saddest story. Here, for a starter, is one of my stories (I have scores of them; you’ll get your chance next month). In 1940, a man I knew named Amidon Thompson decided he wanted a new Chevrolet instead of the Panhard tourer he’d owned since new in 1914. (It was, he thought, the very last car Panhard had sold during that black August of 1914.) The Panhard…