MotorTrend October 1975

THE LIMIT OF ENDURANCE In your editorial (as I see it) in the July 1975 issue, you mention a dentist, LeRoy Carson. You describe him as young, tall, bright, competitive and successful. I will have to disagree with one point: Instead of the adjective “bright,” you should have described him as a very self-centered egotist. Some time ago I read a statement by a renowned medical man. He said that there are very few people who are really capable of driving cars safely at 60 mph, not to mention 70-to-75 mph. Drivers have driven into road machinery even after several warning signs, many times killing themselves and others. Therefore, point one is that man is not a safe driver—even at 55 mph. Now we come to simple physics. When you…

It wasn’t so long ago that virtually any scheme for making cars safer was sure to be translated into research funds, safety standards or regulations of one sort or another. Not much thought was given to cost or whether it was justified (a moment of silence here for the departed interlock). But, with the economy limping downhill, and the cost of cars marching double time in the opposite direction, the phrase “cost/benefit” is popping up more and more often when auto safety is discussed. In fact, cost/benefit was a major topic at the recent Fourth International Congress on Automotive Safety. Sponsored by the Department of Transportation’s National Motor Vehicle Safety Advisory Council, the annual meeting is held every July in San Francisco. Forty-four papers were presented by researchers from industry,…

THE PERPETUAL CAR Chrysler is not making a lot of money these days, which also holds true in Europe. At least, Chrysler-France engineers and marketing men are among the best when it comes to lengthening model cycles. Their Simca 1000 has been around for more years than anyone can remember (it actually existed when Chrysler took control of Simca in 1963), but it is still very much alive thanks to smart marketing. The trick was to launch a sporty version of the little Simca as the cheapest rally car around. They did it again with their Simca 1000 Rallye 2. The latest version gets a spoiler in the rear, a new paint job and a slight power increase from 82 to 86 horsepower (DIN), at 6000 rpm. With its 1.3-liter…

STEP-SIDE LUV TRUCK Okay, so in fact it cuts down on load capacity, but it looks neat! Who ever heard of a step-side mini truck? This conversion is available for Datsun, Toyota, Ford Courier and Chevrolet LUV trucks. The bed is heavy gauge cold roll steel, while the fenders and tailgate are fiberglass. All necessary hardware and instructions are included for $395. There is even a list of accessories from a tonneau cover to spare tire mount. Get the rest of the information from California Step-Side Manufacturing, 36033 Sandalwood St., Newark, CA 94560. ADDITIVE OIL FILTER From the shock absorber people at Monroe, comes this oil filter with a difference. This is in the form of a timed-release chemical disc at the top of the filter, which replaces oil additives…

This month we’re going to talk about big used cars versus little used cars—which size makes the better buy? First, I’d like to say that if you’re looking for a real bargain in big cars, take a serious glance at 1971-73 Ambassadors, Chryslers, Imperials, Buicks, Mercurys, and some Dodges. These full-sized American cars are running as much as $1000 behind book nowadays, and even their book values are low. Am I saying, then, that big U.S. cars are your best buy? Yes, in certain cases they are. If you drive 10,000 miles a year or less, if you can keep the car a long time (seven years or more), and if you can use the extra space, the big Detroiters make awfully good bargains. You’re shaking your head, though, about…

It happened just before Christmas of 1973,” said Paul King, Chevrolet’s chief passenger-car engineer, “and we didn’t even have any blueprints we could read. Everything from Opel was in German and everything from Brazil was in Portuguese. We spent some time over the holidays getting things sorted out.” And when a young engineer named John Mowrey came into Paul King’s office at 8:30 a.m. on his first day back at work, January 4, 1974, he was told, “You’ve got a new job.” That marked the beginning of an intense 19-month program that culminated in the production of the first American Chevrolet Chevette on August 18, 1975, the first of hundreds of thousands of little three-door autos that are the smallest made in large volume in the United States since the…