Indholdsfortegnelse for March 1988 i MotorTrend

Remember the car you always wanted? It depends on where you grew up, but we all have a favorite, lusted-after car. For some it’s a ’55-57 Chevrolet or a ’55-57 Thunderbird, a Pontiac GTO, a Shelby Mustang, or even a Plymouth Road Runner. For the East-Coasters, it might be an MG-T series, an Austin-Healey, or even a Morris Minor. For those of us raised on the Left Coast, it has to be a ’40 Ford Woody or an early '60s muscle car. No matter what the car, now’s the time to make your move. These are called collectible cars, not antique or vintage, but semi-valuable, nostalgic, drive ’em-every-day cars. Sure, they may have a few years on them, but don’t we all? With the cost of new cars rocketing into…

A BUNCH OF FIVES This, for the first time in 15 years, is an all-new replacement for BMW’s 5-series sedan. Longer by 4 in. and wider by 2 in. than its predecessor, it closely resembles the new 7-series and offers nearly as much interior space. According to its makers, “the new car follows BMW policy of moving further upmarket,” a goal likely to be reflected by a 10-15% ascent in prices. As the successor to a design introduced in 1973 and facelifted in 1982, the new mid-size sedan will continue to offer the 520i, 525i, 530i, and 535 models with 6-cylinder engines ranging from 125 to 210 hp. The 4-cylinder 528i, previously available in Europe, has been discontinued. A replacement for the plain-Jane M5 supercar, with an all-new 3.7-liter 24-valve…

Landmark high-performance road cars, those that, if not setting the style for future clones, at least make the automobile enthusiast willing to kill for one, don’t come along all that often. And when they do, it affects the entire automotive market—from manufacturer to buyer. Looking back a few years, we can recall the Mercer Raceabout, Stutz Bearcat, Models J and SJ Duesenbergs, Mercedes-Benz SS, SSK, SSKL, 500K, 540K, and 300SL Gullwing, Bugatti Atlantique, "Blue Train” Bentley, Jaguar XK-SS, Porsche 930 Turbo, and more Ferraris than we can count. The last 20 years, though, have seen such fantastic technical progress that those earlier cars almost pale into oblivion by comparison—maybe not when judged in the context of their own era, but certainly by ’80s technical criteria. All lists of this type…

In the first place, the world can always use more turbocharged cars. The turbocharger is a wonderful mechanical device, proving without question that Man was intended by Divine Providence to be faster than certain of his peers. In the specific case of the Buick turbocharged 3.8-liter V-6, a cult-like following is growing up that, at some age brackets, barely knows the performance history of Chevrolet smallblocks. These neophytes think a 6-cylinder engine with turbocharger is the flame lighting a shadowy high-performance path through a street jungle of competing power cars. And the name emblazoned on these engines is Buick. The Buick “concept car” shown here is one of those creations of shadowy parentage that result from a group of talented engineers sitting around drinking morning cups of coffee. The ideas…

It is my job,” insists chief instructor Danny McKeever, “to teach everyone at his own pace, his own level.” That’s evident right from the start. One student asks innocently, “What is a tachometer?” Danny explains with patience. Another class member spews out nonsensical alternative theories about high-performance driving. Danny listens with patience. After 18 years in this business, McKeever has seen it all, from the young guys who just know they’re future Indy 500 champions to the young gals sent here by Daddy against their wishes. He teaches them all with equanimity and grace. Students first receive an explanation of basics: Seat position (“none of your rigid, straight-arm stuff here”); holding and handling of the steering wheel; getting in and out of the safety harness (a frighteningly slow procedure in…

The Import Car of the Year (ICOY) selection procedure is underway. Though we do the physical testing and balloting over the course of a single grueling week, the candidate selection and class comparison process is one that goes on continually. All year we drive the new imported cars introduced and sold in the United States and accumulate the familiarity against which an Import Car of the Year candidate is judged. The singular nominee cars are not compared against the others in the group, as you probably know, but against the cars we define in the ICOY nominee’s market segment or class. It’s an exclusive group. In fact, the parking lot at our new Phoenix test site will be filled with delights. We’re looking at seven Japanese cars that range from…

See You in Court I’m thinking of suing Motor Trend. For the past week, I’ve been waking up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat from my worst nightmare, all to blame on the picture in your Supercar article on page 51 in the Dec. ’87 issue. It starts out a beautiful dream as I cruise in my Ferrari GTO. Then, all of a sudden, the sky turns black; in the road dead in front of me is an Aston Zagato (just like the picture). Nothing can save me now, 4-wheel steering, 4wd, anti-lock brakes. None of this will help; the crash is unavoidable, my last thought being more concerned with these two works of art than my own safety. The next thing I know, I’m sitting…

BERETTA VARIANTS CONFIRMED GM sources confirm that at least two more Chevrolet performance cars will be based on the Beretta 2-door coupe. Coming up in 1989 is the visually interesting Beretta convertible, a C & C Inc. (formerly Cars & Concepts) design that uses a “roll hoop” to retain the tapper door handles, reducing cost. The car will be powered by a 3.1-liter V-6 engine making approximately 135 hp. The engine was introduced this year as the only available powerplant for the Pontiac 6000 STE AWD (all-wheel-drive) sedan. GM’s Muncie/Getrag 5-speed manual box and a 3-speed automatic transaxle will change the gears. Tires and wheels reportedly will be 15-inchers, and the probable suspension will be a detuned Z51, sources say, because the harsh Z51 ride could be too hard on…

Going through the BMW model line these days is the adult equivalent of a kid going through a well-stocked toy chest. There are just so many goodies inside, it’s hard to decide which one to play with first. M3? M5? M6? 750iL? 325i Convertible? Gee, the hits just keep on cornin’. We decided to solve our dilemma by picking the latest of the BMW line, the 325iX. It’s the first BMW to offer 4-wheel motivation, and it proved an interesting study in how the wagenmeisters from Munich approach the all-wheel-drive question. But before we get to that, let’s saunter through many of the other terior trim and standard features virtually identical to those in the 325is. This means the well-shaped leather seats, three-spoke sport steering wheel, and intelligently designed instrument…

Picture it: four little pistons, each measuring just under two inches across and flailing up and and down 11,000 times per minute. This frantic little motor displaces a bit more than a half liter, but it makes a good 60 hp even from the worst gas you can find in America. To machinery buffs, this sort of busy hardware is heaven. To the rest of us, it’s a 600R Ninja, Kawasaki’s entry in the middleweight sporting street motorcycle market. A street bike in the 600 class is probably the most sensible choice for someone looking for a little motorcycling fun at reasonable cost. For $3899, you can have a machine that, in the right hands, could lap a closed course within 10% of a front-line GP roadracer but is as…

We liked the brand-new fullsize Chevrolet pickup when we first told you about driving it at the press introduction (April ’87). Here was a vehicle that had been freshened outside, updated inside, and had new capabilities under the skin. That also describes the perfect candidate for a long-term test. It was all the more interesting an opportunity because of the type of vehicle it is. The pickup truck as personal transportation is a segment of the sales chart enjoying important growth. The reason is essentially threefold: “Passenger trucks” are closer than ever to the comfort, performance, and ride quality we expect in a passenger car; they are large, go anywhere vehicles with cargo space to spare; and personal trucks are still uncommon enough on the drive to work to attract…

IMSA’s Ultimate Survivor My grandad had a hammer that lasted him about forty years. Course, he had to replace the head twice. And he probably put four, maybe five new handles on it. But that old hammer lasted for 40 years, maybe more. Typically, race cars last about as long as Italian governments. With luck, an IMSA GTP car might be fairly competitive for two or three years, but then I MSA GTP fields are a little thin. Almost always, an Indy Car is obsolete after one season. In Formula One, a chassis might live for five or six races before it’s fatigued and thrown away. This goes to ridiculous extremes, you understand, like the lifespan of a Fuel Dragster engine being measured in seconds. Then we have Clayton Cunningham’s…

BMW TESTING NEW FLAGSHIP BMW’s new 7-series luxury performance sedan, already acclaimed as one of the best cars in the world, is to be usurped as the Munich company’s flagship: The handsome sport coupe seen here will be introduced, two years from now, at the top of the BMW range. Although conceived as a replacement for the 6-series, BMW’s new 2-door coupe has been hoisted so much farther upmarket, is so much bigger and faster than its predecessor, that it’ll be given the fresh 8-series tag. An indication of the new series’ intent can be gathered from the models it’s being compared with in prototype tests: Mercedes’ 580SEC and Porsche’s 928S 4. Naturally bearing a strong resemblance to the recently released Seven, the Eight features a long, sloping hood, steeply…

Think black. Total absence of light. Down a white tunnel in this blackness, objects hurtle toward you at 80 mph. All the while, vintage Van Morrison floats from the stereo over the “crunch crunch” of tires and snow. The question? What’s going on here? We’re glad you asked. It’s your intrepid Motor Trend reporter braving the Northern Canadian/Alaskan wilds in the dead of winter to bring you the scoop. It’s also way before dawn, 20° below zero, and with this Pontiac 6000 STE AWD, it’s all too easy to drive past the headlights. Normally, 80 mph plus under these conditions would be totally berserko, But this Pontiac spins all its wheels. All the time. Sitting next to me in the darkness (and I’m sure he’s asking himself what in the…

All good things must come to an end, and so it went with our GTI long-termer. After 18 months of faithful service, we reluctantly returned our ice-blue stealth machine to the folks at Volkswagen of America. The low-profile GTI had logged in 14,807 remarkably painless miles the last time we reported on it in the June ’87 issue. As we proceeded to roll up the final 10,294 ticks on the odometer, a few wear-related problems did surface. But, overall, the GTI soldiered on nobly to the end, providing cost-effective and relatively trouble-free transport—its FTD quotient as high as ever. Best of all, no staffers collected any tickets—speeding, parking, or otherwise—throughout its year and a half in the MT long-term fleet. Our GTI closed out its tour of duty with a…

For the enthusiast who is even semi-serious about his driving, there is probably no more costeffective and satisfying change he can make to his car than to engage in some worthwhile chassis tuning. But it’s more than a simple question of bolting on different springs and shocks. The goal is to make the car better, not just different. Before we get to specifics, a little digression might help. The purpose of the suspension is to allow the tires and wheels to accommodate the road’s irregularities, and maintain contact with the road, while the car rides along at a nice, even keel. The springs, shock absorbers, and anti-roll bars allow this movement of the wheels relative to the car and at the same time control it. It shouldn’t take too much…

The very word “Bentley” conjures up for us a multitude of images. We think of riding to hounds in the English countryside, or a stately manse within which one breakfasts with kings. A Bentley image that escaped us, however, is one that depicts anyone but James, the chauffeur, at the wheel. Actually drive a Bentley? Doesn’t protocol at least suggest that one ride? These are the enlightened ’80s, but, my dear, one keeps standards. The new Bentley Eight will go rather far in retiring those patrician prejudices in a timely manner. As it is every bit a Bentley, all the extraordinary features the “entry-level Rolls-Royce” implies are present, of course. But with a fresh suspension philosophy and driven by a 6.75-liter light aluminum alloy V-8 of heightened awareness, the Bentley…

A New Growth Industry? Or Jast a Little Instant Traditicr? Did all those lovely, old crocks emerge from the barns and garages of America because Steven Earle made vintage racing popular? Or did vintage racing become popular because the old cars came out of hiding? Most likely, it was a third possibility: The guys who used to follow the exciting, new (to America) sport of road racing in the ’50s and ’60s have grown up, gotten a little rich, and are now carrying on in a way they just couldn’t manage back then. But wait! What about the young guys? Oddly enough, not every male youth in America wants to come up through the SCCA ranks, get a sponsor,’ and shoot for the moon. There are those who have achieved…

Automotive terminology can sometimes seem as mystifying and confusing as weird science. Here’s an explanation of some of the terms as applied to suspension technology. Perhaps it will add insight to our tech feature in this same issue. Anti-roll bar: A torsion bar spring, usually in the shape of a very broad U, with its long center section mounted transversely across the car and each end linking to the suspension at each wheel. The anti-roll bar resists roll of the car at that end. It does this because, as the car leans in a corner, the outside tire is forced upward relative to the inside tire. This twists the anti-roll bar, and transfers weight onto the outside tire. Anti-roll bars are somewhat optional. Some cars have two, some only one,…