Indholdsfortegnelse for September 1968 i MotorTrend

Japan in Europe: the War Is On The Japanese manufacturers’ association has decided to open its first foreign office in Paris with the aim of “collecting information on the European automotive industry.” The move is more than symbolic. After launching their attacks on the American, Australian, Asian and African markets, the Japanese are now aiming at their last and toughest objective: Europe. Last year, 96.7% of the 4,248,000 cars sold in the Common Market were produced within the European Economic Community. Japan sold 28% of all its export cars in North America, 26.7% in Asia, 14.5% in Australia, 10.8% in Africa and only 8.7% in Europe. On paper, it seemed most improbable that Japan could crack the European market easily. Technically, Japanese manufacturers have nothing very original to offer: Japanese…

“We’re willing to gamble—to try something new and different,” says John Z. DeLorean, Pontiac general manager, and this attitude has won Pontiac the reputation as an innovator. One area where this is evident is in the use of materials — mainly plastics. And 1969 will be no exception. Pontiac has cooked up several new uses for plastic on the new models. And this from the division that pioneered the rubber-like Endura bumper on the 68? GTO (winner of last year’s Motor Trend Magazine Car of the Year Award) and ABS plastic grilles on all its cars a few years ago. Next year, all of the standard-size Pontiacs will sport a rubber-plastic nose. There will also be a rear bumper applique of Endura on the Bonneville. The piece — about five…

Back in 1950, when the first stock car race was run on a superspeedway, Darlington Raceway, in a cotton field that was bigger than the town of Darlington, S.C., which is still a cotton field, tires were a problem. It was Labor Day, the inaugural stagging of the Southern 500-miler. It sounded more like the Fourth of July, the fireworks being blown tires on the near strictly stock automobiles which made the first major race on the nation’s first superspeedway for stockers. “Tires blew out all over the place,” recalls veteran Buck Baker, 3-time Southern 500 champion from Charlotte, N.C. “But it was because none of us knew anything about tires. And more important, there were no tire companies making tires designed for our machines.” Times have changed. Stock car…

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Apples & Oranges. I own a 1962 Rambler Ambassador with a 327 cubic inch engine. I would like to put some modified equipment in it. I was wondering if any 327 Chevy part would fit? T.C., Jacksonville, N.C. If the 327 cubic inch engine is a Chevy engine, you have no problem. But you cannot interchange parts of different engines even when the cubic inch capacity is the same. Milky Mess. At the plant where I work, I notice that different vehicles have engines with oil that looks like it has milk mixed in it. What causes this? W.R.P., Lolita, Texas This milky appearance is probably due to water in the oil. If not that, it’s the presence of an abnormal amount of lead compounds from fuel blow-by. Both problems…

”Imagine,” I told m? friend, “that it’s nighttime. Suddenly, out of the dark comes a car. You know it’s a car because you see three headlights.” “Three?” he asked. “Sure.” “Oh, one of the high-beam lights burned out?” “No. There are two low beams plus ‘Super-Lite’.” “Super what?” I could see I had some explaining to do. “Super-Lite” is a new auxiliary light that will be introduced by the Dodge Div. on its 1969 model cars. And, quite seriously, it sounds like a long-needed development. Some say it may be the biggest thing in car lighting since the sealed beam. “Super-Lite” is a third beam which is designed to bridge the gap between conventional high- and low-beam lights used on all standard American cars. A joint development of Dodge and…

Something’s wrong. The moment you find yourself and four other virile, red-blooded males of unquestionable romantic heritage sitting innocently in the Corkscrew Saloon 187 feet below sea level at midnight in Death Valley discussing epistemology, theoretical physics and the insidious road to Beatty, Nev., with two swell blondes — one who sings Madame Butterfly like Bob Cousy played basketball, and the other who has a provocative speech “deflect” and supports herself in one manner with college term papers that she free-lances on the sly, and in another manner with a 34 double-D — you know, just know, that this neat little progressive civilization of ours screwed up somewhere along the way. Off-the-road? Remote? Bull. There we were, cursed with a 4-wheel-drive Jeep Wagoneer, a rugged Ford Ran-chero GT with a…

You can always spot a classic car nut — tweeds, moustache, bald, big bills … lots of big bills … oozing out of every pocket, and a Gernrich-frocked teenage daughter who prances along behind him tugging at his mochaolive Enfield coat and begging him to please buy the nice pretty new Jaguar/Piranha car for only $16,000 … and getting her wish. So he buys it and has the only one in the world, complete with the inimitable sculpturing of Nuccio Bertone, air conditioning and a new leather finish. So all those other humble, considerate participants in the Brookline, Mass., classic car auction are impressed by the nice car. They’re impressed by its fastback. They’re impressed by its zoomy similarity to the Ghibli. But they’re not impressed by its cost, so…

“Have a nice weekend, she says?” Gary Knutson runs his fingers through his shock of shaggy brown hair anc slowly shakes his head. A faint smile grows at the corners of his mouth and you see a boyish twinkle in his eyes “Yes, sir, I’ll have a great weekend, right here in the dyno-room.” It’s 5:30 p.m. and Al Bartz’ secretary, Anne-maria, has slipped out the office door, trailing back the standard Friday afternoon farewell for the nine to fivers of the world. Everybody’s earned his two days of rest, right? Wrong. Double-A, extra-thick, premium-grade, wrong. You’re not entitled to win five out of six Can-Armraces in ’67 by having nice weekends except at the track. You sweat for those blitzkreig, back-to-back victories — nights, mornings, 4th of Julys —…

AND NOW-AS THEY APPROACH THE BRIDGE - THE DRIVER OF THE FORD COMES INTO THE CURVE AT FULL THROTTLE - SKILLFULLY DRIFTING THE CORNER - BUT NOW HE’S BEING CHALLANGED BY THE CHEVROLET DRIVER WHO IS GOING TO ATTEMPT TO PASS ON THE INSIDE OF THE CURVE - AND HERE COMES THE FERRARI MOVING VERY FAST IN THE OUTER LANE — AND BARELY AVOIDING A CRASH WITH THE JAG AND THE PORSCHE - WHO ARE NECK AND NECK AS THEY COME UP THE STEEP HILL — GEE, HERBY, CN I WATCH THE RACE, TOO? AND AS THEY MOVE OUT OF SIGHT UNDER THE BRIDGE — WE CAN SEE AN EXCITING BATTLE DEVELOPING FARTHER BACK AMONG A GROUP OF VERY FAST CARS— BUT WAIT- ONE OF THEM UST THREW A WHEEL…

Techna, Ford’s latest journey into the future, is an engineering prototype rather than a styling concept. Basic theme is more effective use of space — for occupants, luggage, even chassis and powertrain. Flowing primordially from collective perspicacious minds ensconced in “advanced engineering groups” at Ford, more than 75 technological innovations have been fused into another “Car of the Future” here today. Radical innovations are reflected in significant areas. A powertrain has been designed with engine and transmission moved forward, slanted downward and coupled to a driveline offset to the left. This unique concept results in a small tunnel with minimum transmission intrusion in the cab. The offset driveline allows deep seat cushions and full foot room for all passengers, as none sit on top of the tunnel. Engine accessories are…

The 3-speed manual transmission is getting to be almost as rare as a dodo bird. At the rate things are going, it, too, will be extinct in a few years. American car buyers just like those automatic transmissions. Last year, according to a survey by Automotive News, about 87% of all U.S. cars were sold with automatics. Another survey by Ward’s Automotive Reports covering the first part of the 1968 model run showed an installation rate of about 91%. With 4-speed transmissions taking about 4% of the market, this means only five of every 100 cars sold have a 3-speed stick shift. You can get an automatic or semi-automatic clutchless transmission on all the American cars and most of the leading imports. Thus, availability has had a lot to do…

“We’ve been at this 20 years and we’re not making it, so let’s give it one last college try.” This, in effect, was what Henry Ford II told Lee A. lacocca one day in January, 1965. He was referring to the Lincoln-Mercury Div. and its efforts to compete in the medium and upper reaches of the auto market. This part of the market has been dominated by General Motors for years. Even Chrysler has been ahead of Ford in the medium-price field. lacocca, who had just left the Ford Div. after bringing out the Mustang, was now a group vice president of the company and was told by Henry Ford to lay out a program for L-M. And now, 3½ years later, “We are at the climactic part of trying…

They’d be the last to admit it, but any country that can claim Kant, Wagner, Caracciola, beautiful blondes and Mercedes-Benz has a lot more going for it than Prussian pragmatism. As much as they might hate to admit it, they’ve got Posh … a quality they claim is incompatible with their pedestrian, monotonous, uninspired technology. Technology is only detailed specifics, and if that’s all they had, they wouldn’t have Wagner… they wouldn’t have beautiful blondes… they wouldn’t have Mercedes-Benz. Anybody else can stuff an underpowered engine into a sedan, and all they have is a sedan with an underpowered engine. Mercedes-Benz does it and they have a luxurious, comfortable, well-balanced, good-handling, solid, safe, nimble, sensible, harmonious car that exudes class from every quarter. No, that takes more than specifics. It…

If you enjoy the highway cruising qualities of a big, heavy sedan, but prefer to take your driving pleasures in a smaller car, Oldsmobile has an interesting package that’s a real grabber. Neatly assembled under the smooth, graceful lines of their Cutlass you can get a potent conglomeration of handling, power and performance called the “Police Interceptor Package.” We don’t suggest you dice with all the Highway Patrol cruisers out on the old turnpike, but this car has a “Sock-It-To-Me” come-on that’s hard to resist. Oldsmobile makes it easy for you, too. You can put together a car tailored to your own driving needs from a list of options that, if laid end to end, would probably cause a little old lady in Pasadena to trip on a tierod. Being…

Hard. But that’s the kind of driver you are. Whether you’re shaking it out on some back-country road or racing the clock at a local rally. You demand top performance. Constantly. And if you’re driving a 67? or ’68, carbonaceous ash deposits are building up faster than ever on your car’s valves. Because the harder you drive, the faster these messy deposits build up. The answer is new Texaco Sky Chief gasoline. It can drive down the cost of driving by minimizing deposit formation on new valves. And by arresting further deposit buildup on old valves. In fact, Sky Chief does it better than any other leading gasoline you can buy. And you know what this means in terms of compression pressure, idling, acceleration, mileage, and repairs. Driving down the…