MotorTrend July 1985

Goodbye, Hello It has always seemed to me that the internal dynamics of a magazine staff are between what you’d expect of a good-sized family and what you might encounter in a professional sports franchise. You get the same sort of familial joys and sorrows, triumphs and defeats, fraternal self-sacrifice, and siblingesque rivalries. That’s the family part. Unlike a family situation, where resignations are rare, you get the comings and goings that are part of life in the real world. Like professional athlete—he good one—we give something more than sweat to our efforts, and we form bonds that go beyond the demands of teamwork. But when it’s time to move on to another franchise, the pro isn’t likely to spend a lot of time wringing his or her hands with…

Maya It Reach Production Here they go again. How many more nifty “Ford” 2-seaters will be shown, though the best FoMoCo can do for the buying public is the EXP. I’ll bet my money Lee lacocca will beat Ford to the punch. James PeychalWest Allis, Wis. Your article on the Ital Design Maya was excellent. If Ford doesn’t jump at the Maya it certainly has a few screws loose upstairs. Referring to the cover, why do you ask, “Has Ford Found A Corvette Challenger?” The Maya is faster, better looking, very original, and designed by Giugiaro. What more could you ask for? Ford hasn’t found a Corvette challenger; they’ve found a Corvette beater. Matt HarwardGlendale, Ariz. When I first picked up the May issue I was greeted by a new…

Is It What You Expect? It was downright inconsiderate of Piquet to go off the track and lose control of his Brabham so early in the race that opened this year’s Grand Prix season at Rio de Janeiro. He did it right in front of me, where I had a front-row seat nicely placed halfway through the left/right S-bend preceding the hairpin leading into the main straight. His outside rear wheel moved onto the grass verge at the exit from the left-hander, where the camber is adverse, and started to slide faster than he could catch it. The result was that his Brabham came tearing sideways along the Armco almost literally under my nose, and sent up such a cloud of dust that I could see nothing at all of…

SHOWROOM STOCK. As most enthusiastics know—and as many in the general public are learning—showroom stock race cars are quite close to ordinary cars in dealer showrooms. According to the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA), few modifications are permitted other than the installation of racing safety equipment. Likewise, the tires of showroom stock race cars may be regular production products available to the public at tire retailers. Special compound tires can be used, but it is not the practice of BFGoodrich to do so. The only modification to T/A Radials is the standard racing procedure of shaving them to about ½ normal tread depth for dry race tracks. This is of benefit to you, because the tires we race are the tires you buy. INCREASING POPULARITY. Showroom stock racing is…

At Large Save the Children Good news from the Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Association: The campaign for child restraints is paying off in dramatically reduced death and injury rates to child occupants. Reports from Tennessee, Oregon, Michigan, Colorado, North Carolina, and Florida all point to the fact that a child of four years or younger—if belted up or in a car seat—will survive almost all car crashes. Buckle up those little guys and gals! Radar Rights Your right to operate a radar detector is constantly under attack by the authorities, but thanks to clear-thinking state assemblies, nine anti-radar-detector pieces of legislation died in 1984. Drivers in Delaware, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin all escaped becoming victims of unfair laws restricting the use of what are…

Despite the belief from some automotive observers that the current recovery of the U.S. auto industry is coming to a close, the investment research firm of Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., Inc., asserts that the recovery is only at the halfway mark, with yet another 9-11 quarters of recovery still ahead. “This particular economic expansion has all the ingredients of durability,” senior analyst David Eisenberg says, including “low inflation, moderate interest rates, plentiful credit availability, and strong growth in consumer incomes.” Eisenberg offers the following research conclusions: Detroit’s numerous new product launches planned through 1990 should enable the current recovery’s momentum to be sustained while preventing Japanese inroads into the high-end market segments. Second, further unit-cost reductions and a greater reliance on foreign sources for automotive components are two important…