MotorTrend March 1982

Aerodynamics isn’t just for the birds. It affects everything that moves through the atmosphere. The better the shape, the better the performance. And, the better the efficiency. Especially true for the 1982 Scirocco. Using a wind tunnel, VW fine-tuned their sportscar’s outline to slice through the most formidable headwinds with greater ease. Its 1.7-1 iter fuel-injected engine rips from 0 to 50 in 8.5 fleet seconds. In the process, VW reduced front-end lift by 30%. And increased rear-end road huggability (with VW’s patented spoiler) a whopping 60%. So the front-wheel drive Scirocco now has greater stability on open roads and surer handling to weave through tight curves. Forward visibility has been improved with a lower nose and a more sharply raked windshield. And you can see more of what you…

Throughout the course of automotive history the racetrack has been the midwife of automotive legends. There are, of course, a few notable exceptions, the most significant of which pertains to the world’s most revered marque—Rolls-Royce. This grandest of automotive endeavors ascribes its reputation not to feats of performance, but to its founders’ passion for supreme quality. The original goal was to simply build the best car in the world, and this effort struck with such resounding success that mere ownership of a Rolls confers an air of unmitigated quality upon the person behind the wheel (or behind the chauffeur, as the case may be). Considering the personalities and backgrounds of the Honorable Charles Stewart Rolls and Frederick Henry Royce, the company might more appropriately have been called Rogue-Rough. Rolls, the…

Goodbyes are never easy For four years now I have tugged at the helm of this magazine. During that time my publisher, Robert E. Brown, has allowed—even encouraged—me to steer this ship into deeper international waters. His influence on my perspective of the automobile market began immediately. Even before my Hot Rod T-shirt was packed away and my tools neatly stacked in the corner of the garage, I was whisked off to Europe to meet the European auto industry. I spent the next two weeks touring manufacturing facilities, styling studios, engineering labs, and test tracks. We sat in meetings with corporate vice presidents and general managers, and discussed marketing philosophies with managing directors. We shared our views with them as well, but above all we mapped out our editorial concept…

J Flak As the former owner of a Pontiac J2000, I have found your road test results of GM’s Js to be in complete harmony with my past experience. Underpowered and overrated are the key phrases in describing them, and how Steve Baldi (Readers’ Report, January ’82) has been achieving 32-35 mpg is beyond my imagination. While the Js are indeed a step ahead in quality control, and perform well in other areas, their anemic drivetrain is, as Kevin Smith so aptly put it, their “No. 1 albatross” (Cavalier Wagon, January ’81). Until the GM hierarchy properly responds to the J-cars’ deficiencies, they will no doubt continue to see J sales moving at a snail’s pace. Here’s hoping they get it together soon and offer the TBI Iron Duke in…

LINCOLN MARK VII Contributing artist Duane Kuchar risked life and limb recently to sneak into Ford’s Dearborn design studios, and returned to L.A. with this sketch of the 1984 Lincoln Mark VII. Designed to be a sister car to the new Thunderbird (which debuts a year sooner), the Mark VII is actually slightly larger than the ‘Bird and uses its own specific L-car platform with MacPherson strut front suspension and 4-link rear suspension with electronic level control. This sportiest Mark yet will be the first car to use the German import Steyr-BMW diesel engine in injected and turbocharged form. A 3.5-liter inline six and two other powerplants are possible. The Mark may use the current 302-cu.-in. V-8 with electronic fuel injection for its introductory year, but the 3.8-liter Essex V-6,…

Beneath the sleek, highly distinctive styling of GM’s newest family of front-drive cars is a world of automotive technology that was practically nonexistent only a lew yeais ago. It is the General Motors world of robotics, where computer-controlled automatons with laser eyes measure door, window and other body openings to help provide precise fit. It is a world where gamma rays have been harnessed to inspect parts concealed behind solid body steel. And it is a world where the latest generation of robots weld body components into strong unitized structures that meet precision tolerances. Now while all this sounds a bit like science fiction, the purpose in using this technology is much more down to earth. It is to help us continually improve the quality and value of your General…