Indholdsfortegnelse for May 1985 i MotorTrend

The Replicant Cougar, Merc’s 1986 Skin Job Even though there is an all-new Cougar/Thunderbird in the wings, sources deep within Ford claim the current version of the personal coupe will be in for a reskin next year. The Mercury Cougar will sport a new Mercedesoid restyled nose piece and a revised bumper. The bumper fascia will incorporate a stylized version of Mercury’s traditional vertical motif radiator opening, not too unlike the division’s soon-to-be-introduced Sable sedan (Motor Trend, March ‘85). Front fenders are said to be basically the same as those of the current Cougar but will be stamped on a new final die that smooths out some of the fender lip contour. An all-new rear quarter panel with a semi-enclosed wheel opening will be used on the ‘86 Cougar. Along…

Lancia’s new mini, the Y10, unveiled at the Geneva Auto Show, is slated to give that firm a good shot at the mini-car market. Built by the Autobianchi division of Fiat, the base Y10 is fitted with a 45-hp 1.0-liter FIRE engine, the lightest and most efficient smalldisplacement engine in the world. Upmarket versions will be equipped with a 55-hp 1050cc four or a turbocharged unit making 85 hp. The turbo propels the Y10 to a 110-mph top speed. Controversy has already sprung up over the name. The Y10 designation was only the internal code name, but Lancia kept it for the showrooms. Some European importers plan to use the name Piccola.…

When you were a kid, did you ever play a game called “Telephone”? As a communications-based pastime it doesn’t quite rank up there with “Post Office,” but it does teach a valuable lesson that applies to later life. In “Telephone” one person tells another a message, and then it’s passed along from person to person. Usually, by the time the message reaches the end of the line, it’s so garbled that it’s nearly unintelligible. Which brings us to the automobile industry. Not long ago some nameless demon who labors in the field of demographic and psychographic testing coined the term “Yuppy” to describe a group of consumers known as young upwardly mobile professionals. Such a group seemed a natural market for cars, since it was reasoned to have everything a…

Used cars under the palms His mama she laugh—She say, “Go, boy, go! Your daddy ain’t your daddy, But your daddy don’t know.” This musical advice from a Caribbean mother to her eager-to-become-a-bridegroom son was, of course, imported to the island of Grand Bahama from Trinidad. But then, almost everything on Grand Bahama is imported from somewhere, for, among other deprivations, Grand Bahama suffers from a shortage of dirt. More about that in a moment. One of the more conspicuous recent imports was the Vintage Speed Week ’84 automotive road races, run with great enthusias—by both wary drivers and agile spectators—right on the public roads of Freeport. It was a howling success (both figuratively and literally) and—with a little luck and a smile from whichever of the voodoo deities is…

The sealed-beam headlight was considered a major technological breakthrough in 1939. No more problems of internal seepage. No more detraction and diffusion from foreign impurities. No more rusted-out reflectors. No more hassling with multi-piece housings, brackets, and elements. Suddenly, the headlight was a single, self-contained, vacuum-sealed 7-in.-round unit with a universal mount, a silver-alloy-over-glass reflector, and a wide-diffusion transverse-mount hi-lo bulb. It was remove and replace, low maintenance, and slightly more expensive than its primitive predecessors. It was the best lighting system you could lay your hands on for the next 30 or so years. It was also the only legal system approved for use on U.S. highways. Although American auto makers are often accused of having to be dragged kicking and screaming into accepting and adopting new technology, it…

Ford GTP Take Two: The Mustang Probe Ford’s entry into the IMSA Camel GT wars with a factory-backed GTP effort has yielded bittersweet results to date. Under the care of Michael Krane-fuss and the company’s SVO performance division, the Mustang GTP coupe burst on the scene with a spectacular and most unexpected win in its mid-1983 debut at Road America. Originally drawn to IMSA GTX specs by designer Bob Riley, the front-engine/rear-drive prototype used a large, central venturi tunnel to produce extensive downforce. The car proved eminently quick when running properly, but it had a nasty tendency to self-destruct in the most creative ways. Despite an ability to claim pole positions and lead races, the ill-fated prototype never again tasted victory. Looking to bring about a major change in its…

Until now, all we had to drool over were photos of clay models of the new Porsche Group B racer, the 959. Powered by a 450-hp 2.9-liter flat six, the 959 sports 4wd and radical front and rear styling to go along with the traditional 911 roofline. Should you decide this car is necessary for you to fulfill a lifetime goal, plan on shelling out about $130,000-plus—and get your order in early. Below is the rally version 959. Porsche hopes to challenge the heavyweights from Audi, Peugeot, and the new Ford RS 200.…

De Chrysler, Chrymaso, or Chryserati? Take your pick or make up your own. The long-rumored sports car joint venture between Chrysler and De Tomaso has finally become official. The Italian firm has announced the execution of agreements between certain of its Italian subsidiaries, including Officine Al-fieri Maserati, and Chrysler Corporation for the development and manufacture of a new 2-seat sports car. Now we know why Gerry Greenwald, Hal Sperlich, Carroll Shelby, and Hank Carlini were spending all that time at the Hotel Canalgrande in Modena. The hotel is owned by and also happens to be the residence of Alessandro De Tomaso. Carlini, we understand, will be boning up on his conversational Italian since he’ll practically be living in Italy and acting as liaison between Highland Park and Modena. At Large…

The age of the great stunt would appear to be over, as more “trivial pursuits” barrage the world record books that sanction these banal attempts at immortality—immortal at least until some more dedicated nut eclipses the standard. Most modern-day stunts are pointless and provide only fleeting entertainment value, but more often we are seeing “stunts” performed at corporate cost/sponsorship in order to showcase a particular product. Case in point is a 4-wheel-drive Volkswagen Vanagon attempting to set a new world record for driving around the world, across five continents. The only two drivers, Austrians Rudi Lins and Gerhard Plattner, began their journey (aiming for the Guinness record book) in Innsbruck, Austria, January 7, and by January 30 had already covered nearly 14,000 miles through 16 countries. No greenhorns are these…

If Giorgetto Giugiaro has some reason for naming this mid-engine design study after an advanced Central American culture of the first millenium A.D., we hope he keeps quiet about it. Because we have an explanation that’s more telling than truth ever gets. You see, Maya is an Italian brand of margarine. And just as that low-fat product makes butter out to be “the high-priced spread,” so this car makes most production exotics and salon dream cars appear terribly expensive, impractical, and generally overdone. This sexy runner is lean, realistic, and mindful of its health. And of its future. The Maya is not a show car in the typical sense. It is not intended to dazzle car buffs with flights of metal fancy that everyone knows could never be produced for…

Perhaps by tremendous foresight, or maybe because of a big bag of luck, Volvo has somehow become the benchmark of high-buck, strato-prestige luxury station wagons. Sure, there are others in the segment like Mercedes-Benz, Peugeot, Audi, and Jeep, but somehow Sweden’s largest auto maker has the image target for a lot of larger companies. About 10 years ago, the Really Important People (aka Rippies, or preYuppies) of Westchester County, Darien, Beverly Hills, Encino, Mill Valley, Berkeley, Wayzata, Shaker Heights, discovered that the boxy, frumpy, utilitarian Volvo 245 wagon was the ideal second car for hauling the kids to school, the maid back home, or hay to the horses. But these same RIPs were looking for a bit of the posh in the family truckster. Back then, if you wanted a…

It’s not too difficult to understand why the auto manufacturers vie for the privilege of using their hottest and newest product as pace car at the annual “Greatest Spectacle in Sport.” The Indy 500 brings in hundreds of thousands of fans, millions watch on delayed-broadcast TV, and the print media covers it ad infinitu—before, during, and after. And, of course, the pace car often gets included in this publicity deluge in some way or another; for instance, when the boys bash themselves against the wall in their racing frenzy, and the yellow flag comes out, what do the assembled throngs see leading the pack around on the caution laps? The pace car. Marketing types get absolutely weak in the knees when they think of their little baby out there leading…

Once a buzzword or catchphrase enters the public consciousness, you can consider it as good as dead as a communicator of ideas. It’s like the boy who cried wolf. Take the case of “high tech.” When it first appeared as a description for industrial-looking or industrial-derived home furnishings, it was an apt and valid description. By the time discount department store fliers were using it to describe “wood-look cardboard stacking cubes” and $39 hi-fi systems, the word was history. Once the purveyors of schlock got hold of it, the word could no longer be trusted. The same fate has befallen a number of other words. Remember “solid state”? Who remembers anymore what it really means? How about “new and improved”? That phrase died through overuse and failure to deliver on…

The glory that was Rome A Ithough there are those fanatics who would argue, the first Jl Lancia worth talking about was the Lambda. By the very early ‘20s, the Lambda had a narrow-angle V-4, independent front suspension, 4-wheel brakes, and, most advanced for the time, a boat-hull-like monocoque that anticipated the common use of unit bodies by 15 years at least. Although not built as high-performance cars, their over-the-road performance was marvelous, with the emphasis on handling, nimbleness, and brakes, rather than the straightline performance of their huge-engined contemporaries. Lancia, with the Lambda, became a world leader, possibly the world leader, in high-quality moderate-displacement cars, about the way most enthusiasts view the BMW 3-series today. While the Great Unwashed probably think that Henry Ford invented the automobile—and certainly think…

Volvo unveiled this new Bertone-designed coupe at the Geneva Auto Show in March. The joint project will sell here for something over $30,000 starting in January. Bertone retained little more than the firewall from the 760, on which the 780 is based. The U.S. powertrain will be a new 2.5-liter even-fire V-6 (making 163 hp with turbocharger and intercooler) with a 4-speed automatic transmission. Self-leveling rear suspension and ABS will be standard. Crisp Italian bodywork, a sumptuous 4-place leather and wood interior, and solid mechanicals make this a car for folks edging toward the 635/XJS market, but who still respond to the Volvo character: people who loved Earth Shoes but whose circumstances now call for Gucci loafers. Nuccio Bertone flatly calls the 780, “The best product we ever made.”…

Sir Clive Sinclair, the inventor of pocket-sized TVs and ultra-cheap personal computers, has just unveiled a $340 battery-powered scooter. Type classified as an “electric-aided tricycle,” the scooter, whose chassis was designed by Lotus, can be driven by 14-year-olds without benefit of license or crash helmet. Maximum speed is 15 mph. The C5, as Sinclair calls it, is built by Hoover (the vacuum cleaner people) and will be serviced by the same guys who fix your ruq sucker.…

His first car, the first project for which he had primary responsibility, was the Gordon GR Keeble. That was in 1960 when he was working for Bertone. Interestingly—in the present context—that oddly named showpiece used a Chevrolet V-8 for power. So the impulse to design lovely wrappers for Yankee hardware goes back a long way with Giugiaro. He turned out some striking work at Bertone (including a couple of Chevy-powered Iso models) until leaving to join Ghia in 1966. There he drew the De Tomaso Mangusta (Ford V-8) and Maserati Ghibli. But Giugiaro was.too talented, some said too audacious, to be a mere employee, and finally he left to create his own firm, Ital Design, in 1968. A parade of dream cars, concept studies, and production prototypes has rolled down…

This was a Daytona 24 Hours of Endurance with a difference. The race was undecided until the final hour. There was a legitimate challenge to Porsche’s IMSA GT dominance by American engine builders. There were positive signs of a long-awaited re-emergence of an honest-to-god manufacturers’ tire war. There was great weather for the first time in recent memory, and record-breaking crowds. The city fathers even extended the operating hours of the city’s watering holes. When you’re on a roll you can do no wrong, and Daytona—the city, the raceway, and the SunBank 24—was definitely tossing sevens and elevens in the opening event of the 1985 IMSA/Camel GT endurance series. Endurance, of course, is the operative word in any 24-hour racing event, and for nearly 23 hours the Al Holbert/Derek Bell/Al…

It took Oldsmobile almost four decades to get involved in its first Indy 500 pace car program. Since then, particularly during the 1970s, its rocket logo has become a fairly common sight around the Speedway during the month of May. Oldsmobile’s first official appearance at an Indianapolis 500 was in 1933, when it provided IMS President Captain Eddie Rickenbacker with an L-33 cabriolet as a VIP courtesy vehicle. But the division didn’t field a formal pace car until 1949, when an 88 convertible was used at the 38th running of the Memorial Day classic. Besides its basic race pacing duties, the 88 ragtop was intended to serve as a high-speed showcase touting the phase-in of Olds’ postwar “futuramic” styling, as well as the rise of the model line itself. The…

Anyone who has bought a new car in the last few years is probably already over the shock and chagrin of learning that advertised EPA certified fuel economy has nothing to do with what the beauty out in the garage has actually been delivering over the road. There are all kinds of reasons, many of them legit, resulting in those sneaky little disclaimers at the bottoms of the ads: “Actual mileage may vary depending upon weather conditions, driving style, trip length, number of runners on base in the third inning…” The EPA test method of “driving” the car on dynamometer rollers at least guarantees repeatability under laboratory conditions, but there are numerous other areas of the procedure that are decidedly open to creative tinkering in the ol’ scientific process. For…

What has three wheels and costs $12,000? That’s probably not the best riddle you’ll hear this year, but it is a riddle. And the answer to the question—the Trihawk 304—is a riddle in itself. Is it car or motorcycle? Folly or fantastic fun? Rich man’s toy or poor man’s transportation? To answer these and other questions, let’s take a look at the infancy of the automobile. Early in this century, when most cars bore huge pricetags, “cyclecars” were introduced. By design, they were small, lightweight vehicles that brought the cost of automotive transportation within the range of those of modest means. With rudimentary bodywork, small engines, and, most often, chain drive, cyclecars combined the twin virtues of economy and fun. Because they allowed their owners to escape automotive taxes they…