MotorTrend October 1978

They were three and a half minutes late starting his funeral services, and Bill Harrah wouldn’t have liked that. He was a perfectionist in his gaming operations, in his hotels, in his restaurants—most of all in his car collection. “He did things right,” he answered an impertinent interviewer one day when asked what he would want carved on his headstone. So long as he was alive, things were right and never so much as in the 1100-car assemblage in Sparks. Nevada. What was so right about that collection was not the sparkling restoration shops nor the FAA-licensed airframe assembly; not even the incredible cleanliness of the buildings or the courtesy and competence of the staff. It was the idea, the philosophy, of the place that fit so magnificently into the…

Auto Makers Mount New Attack on Regulations Detroit sharpened its attack on Washington rulemakers in recent months as auto makers took turns hurling bricks at federal regulations they consider unnecessary, inflationary and anti-competitive. This tougher stand by the “Big Three” reflects their growing apprehension that they may be headed down the road to ruin by being forced to invest enormous sums to meet future safety, emissions and fuel economy standards. The industry estimates it will take an unprecedented $78 billion to meet these standards through 1985—this, at a time when the companies see their profits and growth rates shrinking. (Ford says that since the early 1960s their average net return on sales has declined from 7% to 4%.) The fear is that any further deterioration in their already flat earnings…

HEARTACHES BY THE NUMBERS You loonies better stick to Motor City mush and forget statistics, because you obviously can’t handle them. Your Super Coupe test (June) indicates that the staff rating for the Honda Accord LX is 7.76, placing it first. My own arithmetic says it should have got a 7.4, which would have placed it second behind the Scirocco. Come on, guys. Michael LukzaSuisun, Calif. I must take exception to your MT Staff Ratings in the Super Coupe article. If your individual ratings are correct, the overall ratings should be: Scirocco Sidewinder II, 7.5; Honda Accord LX, 7.4; and the Fairmont ESO, 7.2. Your mathematics were erroneous, giving the Accord the highest rating (7.76), and in this league the difference in being number one or number two in the…

THE FAT CAR AS AN INFLATION HEDGE Sure, some people will buy anything on speculation and some people will always be ahead of the game and some people this year will buy the biggest and fullest-size cars in the world. And in this case, the world means the Lincoln Continental and Mark V. The grapevine would have many speculators eager to buy, so Ford is ready to crank another 5000 Continental units into its August-December production schedule. The big hit, however, will come from Cadillac mavens, because ‘78 is the last year for the outsized Eldo—and the Biarritz in particular. It’ll be a limited model (only about 1900 to be built), and the touts are saying that its 15G sticker could easily triple before it’s all over. Now we have…

TALK OF CONVERTIBLE STRICTLY RAGTIME That relic we know as the Beetle convertible will soon be replaced by an up-to-date ragtop built by Karmann for the Golf/Rabbit chassis. Despite the popularity of the old aircooled suncruiser, VW feels the time has come for it to retire gracefully and make way for the new generation. While the new front-wheel drive chassis will provide superior performance and handling, the Golf/Rabbit convertible should retain much of that unique character that has made the older Karmann soft-top a lasting success. The top itself will be a thickly padded fabric/vinyl combination which is raised and lowered as rapidly as your muscles will allow. A steel bar in the center of the car will provide both support for the roof and protection, in the event of…

FIRST RX-7 STREET FREAK? Chuck Stetler of Garden Grove, California, created this radical RX-7 as a promotional vehicle for Spec 1 tennis shoes (that’s their bird-in-flight logo on the lower door) and has been turning heads on L.A. streets with his rotary hot rod for weeks now. The car’s front air dam, fender flares and whaletail spoiler were all done in steel by Kolor Me Kustom black accents. Side glass was replaced with smoke tinted panels and the stock window opening was reshaped at the rear to “look like a Lear jet,” according to Stetler. The Mazda has been fitted with wide wheels and tires, and the interior features jump seats and mohair upholstery. The facelift took less than three weeks to accomplish at a total cost of $13,000, car…