Indholdsfortegnelse for May 1988 i MotorTrend

Do you realize that if you installed all the devices on the market that promise 10-40% fuel savings, your car could eventually end up owing you money? Think about it; just three 40% fuel economy devices add up to a 120% fuel economy increase. You could drive anywhere you wanted, and your car would be so efficient, according to these fuel-saving device advertisements, that it might end up manufacturing gasoline. Then, of course, this excess gas would spill out of the fuel tank and you’d be cited by the local EPA do-gooder. Lately, the number of these outrageous ads has diminished somewhat because gasoline is flowing again and it’s reasonably priced. But just wait until the next fuel scare, real or imagined, and these gimmicks hawked by various former aluminum…

NEW FERRARI SEEN-DESPITE DENIALS Although officials at Modena still deny it, this photographic evidence confirms that Ferrari is planning to replace the 308/328, most popular model in the Italian company’s 40-year history. Seen pounding around the test track at Fiorano, this new mid-engined 2-seater—expected to be called the 348—is remarkably similar to the illustrations published before in these pages: With gaping air intakes (and side strakes seen on other prototypes), exterior mirrors mounted at the ends of long arms, a lower and flatter nose than its predecessor, and, on some examples, strakes over the (disguised but no longer circular) taillights, in parts, the new car does indeed resemble the Testarossa. To ease entry and exit, and to provide slightly more cockpit room, the new car has longer doors than the…

At times, it seems as if anybody with the wherewithal to mix some epoxy and fiberglass is busily whipping up fleets of future-think dream cars. These pretty shapes are all quite wonderful, but too many are safely rooted in a sort of designer’s fantasy world—a magical place where passengers are four feet tall and 400-hp engines come in tidy packages the size of a breadbox. These cars are the stuff of dreams, not of reality. Somehow, the closer these shapes come to production, the less seductive they become; the compromises required in fitting a real chassis and people inside that glorious skin have a tendency to distort the shape almost beyond recognition. And once that happens, one has to question why the original shape was dreamed up in the first…

The Cutlass Calais Inter-national Series Coupe and Sedan are proven performance cars. To cite just one accomplishment: In only its third outing in the IMSA Firestone Firehawk race series, a Quad 4-powered Cutlass Calais beat all the Porsche 944s and Ford Mus-tang GTs in qualifying. Advanced technology makes this kind of performance possible. And with its Oldsmobile developed, 2.3-liter, dual overhead cam Quad 4 engine, the Cutlass Calais is at the cutting edge of today’s engineering. The Quad 4’s free-breathing port and manifold design, pent roof combustion chamber and four-valve layout combine with port fuel injection and a direct ignition system to produce a thumping 150 horsepower at 5200 rpm. Yet the Cutlass Calais can still cruise the highway while delivering 36 highway miles to the gallon.* The Quad 4‘s…

So there we were on the road to Pavia, looking for photo locations, when we came to the front yard of the Family Borsini. Brown and I had deviated from the assigned 80-mile loop on the autostrada, figuring it would be a good thing to take the car on the farmland roads and through the little towns lacing the area. We pulled into Abbiategrasso and found the Borsini drive. After a few minutes shooting (no, photographing) the car, Signora Borsini and her two sons came out to investigate our activities. We were in Italy, with 600 journalists from 50 countries, summoned to Alfa Romeo’s formal presentation of the all-new 164. Alfa-Lancia Chairman Vittorio Ghidella introduced the new luxury performance sedan during a press conference at Milano Mirafiore, a high-tech exhibition…

Sure, in their first eight years, the makers of TVR sports cars declared bankruptcy three times. Sure, as recently as February 1987, TVR’s directors and majority shareholders have played a lively game of musical chairs. And, sure, the producers of TVRs have at one time or another worn the names Trevcar Motors, TVR Engineering, Layton Sports Cars Ltd., TVR Cars Ltd., Grantura Engineering Ltd., and TVR Engineering Ltd. But that last name has stuck since 1965. For all its troubles past, TVR is a rare survivor among English sports car constructors. Austin-Healey, Jensen, MG, and Triumph are no longer with us. TVR is. The miracle is not so much that TVR has endured since 1947, but that it ever opened shop. The marque’s founder, 23-year-old Trevor Wilkinson, was notable in…

Mille Miglia We all know what’s doing in May, right? Right! May is Mille Miglia month, and if you’ve read “Having Fun While Getting Even” (pages 144-45, April ‘87), you’re all set to leave in time for the hand-pushed registration parade in the Piazza della Vittoria, in Brescia, on May 5. But look: Even though this section of Motor Trend is supposed to deal with things vintage, it would be mean not to remind you of the Grand Prix of San Marino, five days prior to the Mille Miglia, on May Day at Imola, an automobile racing theme park 30 km south of Bologna. Reserved seats at Start-Finish will run you about $150, but there won’t be any left when you arrive. Instead, wander through the welter of wailing bambini,…

NASCAR’s Inch of Prevention Welcome to my nightmare, NASCAR style: It’s the Daytona 500, millions are tuned into CBS, tens of thousands pack the stands. The race is 150 laps old and a tight cluster of cars roars into the fat part of the trioval, right in front of the high-roller suites and chicken-eatin’ beer drinkers in the bleachers. Suddenly, in the middle of the pack, a car gets just a tiny bit sideways, for an instant, a microsecond. The guy behind corrects by sheer instinct, but it’s too late. He brushes the car in front and 3500 pounds of steel leaves the ground. In what seems like dreamy slow-motion, the car rises, slowly, twisting in the wind, and, nicking the top of the cable fence, vaults into a screaming,…

FORD REVEALS NEW CAPRI, ESCORT The extraordinary Mercury Capri 2+2 convertible roadster was shown to the press for the first time at the Chicago Auto Show. Also introduced was the mid-year freshening for the Ford Escort. The Ford Probe, which we tested in the March issue, was also exhibited publicly for the first time at the Chicago show. The Australian-built Capri is fresh Ford sheetmetal over front-drive Mazda 323 mechanicals. The entry-level roadster will be powered by Mazda’s OHC 1.6-liter engine, a multi-port fuel-injected 4-cylinder unit in normally aspirated mode making 82 hp at 5000 rpm and 92 Ib-ft of torque at a low 2500 rpm. The distinctive little car is terrific-looking but, more important, could sell for under $10,000 base. Standard equipment includes power steering, power windows, power 4-wheel…

Where would you go if you wanted to test all seven of the Japanese sporty cars in their own element? If you said, “Japan,” go to the head of the class. But unfortunately the expense and the time involved in toting the entire Motor Trend staff to the Land of the Rising Sun would have had the accountants in our midst reaching for their nitroglycerine capsules. Let it never be said, however, that we Trendies aren’t resourceful. We quickly came up with a sort of substitute Japan in the form of a lovely island in the Pacific Ocean. Of course, this particular atoll happens to be just a proverbial 26 miles from mainland USA. You know it as Santa Catalina Island. With the blessings of the powers-that-be on Santa Catalina…

Oldsmobile has been setting the pace in auto performance since Ransom Eli Olds built the legendary Curved Dash Runabout in 1902. To show its stuff, Olds sent young Roy Chapin off from Detroit to the New York auto show. Reaching speeds as high as 35 miles per hour, he covered the 820 miles of rutted dirt road in record time. An impressed New York distributor bought 1000 Runabouts and Oldsmobile’s future was secured. Not much has changed since then: Oldsmobiles are still proving their performance, but now it’s on NHRA drag strips and NASCAR and I MSA tracks. As for records, there’s the new world’s mark for a closed course, 257.123 miles per hour, recently set by A.J. Foyt in Oldsmobile’s Aerotech research vehicle, which is powered by a specially…

Grand Touring is a European concept that transcends mere driving. It calls for a car with power, exquisite handling and luxurious comfort. A thoroughbred car with style, class and exclusivity. That is exactly how one would describe the Cutlass Ciera International Series coupe or sedan. Its power is provided by a 3.8-liter V6, which has sequential port fuel injection and is coupled to an automatic 4-speed overdrive transaxle for smooth power delivery over a broad operating range. And its world-dass performance is possible because of Oldsmobile’s sophisticated Level III FE3 suspension system. Cutlass Ciera’s look is restrained, yet striking, with an economy of line and balanced proportion Your eye is drawn by its International Series black grille, front air dam, foglights and rear aero extensions. IPs distinctive, aggressive, yet not…

30% less sensitive to crosswinds. The BMW engineers are justifiably proud of the increased static and dynamic rigidity (both flexural and torsional modes) of the new body, over 30% better than its predecessor. The added stiffness of the new body shell not only contributes to better vehicle performance, it dramatically increases occupant safety. BMW has barrier-crashed (mighty expensive crunch) the new car at 35 mph, 5 mph over the mandated speed, and it met all safety standards, an impressive demonstration, since the additional 5 mph represents 35% more energy at impact. The engineers have also included bumper systems that survive impacts up to 2.5 mph undamaged and up to 9 mph with damage confined to “impact boxes.” These boxes are designed to collapse progressively, absorbing impact energy, thereby isolating it…

At the gigantic press conference, we saw a fleet of around 200 cars awaiting test drives. There were so many of us, these test drives were carefully scheduled over the period of a week, and, while we waited our turn, the folks at Alfa had plans for us. So, next day it was off to Como for a tour boat excursion up the lake and a lunch that lasted maybe four hours. Departing Como around 10:30 a.m., our vessel leisurely motored north. Going up this lake, which seems more like a river, each of us chose his fantasy villa from the magnificent palazzi lining the lakeside hills. We passed Villa d’Este, famous for lavish con-cours and Jet Set parties, and stopped at the tip of the Y for a short…

A great deal of attention has been given to the continuing ^problem of unintended acceleration. Reports in the general media tell us that at least a dozen different makes of cars have been blamed for unintended acceleration problems. Drivers of these cars have claimed that their vehicles suddenly surged ahead, despite the fact that their feet were planted firmly on the brake pedals. How the laws of physics, mechanical engineering, and just plain common sense were suspended in each of these cars has never been explained. Also unexplained is the fact that these incidents occurred in models built by several major manufacturers, models that use vastly different mechanical linkages to connect accelerators to vastly different fuel-delivery systems. Clearly, something sinister is going on here, something much more serious than a…

Taking care of your car internally is vital to its operation, but how about the exterior? Borden, Inc. now makes that part easier with its RAIN DANCE RUBBING COMPOUND. This heavy-duty cleaner helps remove road film, badly weathered paint, paint oxidation, and deep scratches and stains from your car’s finish. This is a simple way to make your car look showroom new. Rain Dance is available at most auto supply stores or from Borden, Inc., Car Care Products Group, Dept. MT, 180 E. Broad St., Columbus, OH 43215. According to Bluepoint Industries, CARLOCK is a low-cost, sensible solution to auto theft. The Carlock simultaneously locks your car in gear and applies the parking brake. On many cars, with the shifter in gear, it’s almost impossible to remove the radio. The…

PONTIAC KILLS FIERO In a statement issued March 1, Pontiac division announced it would stop production of the Fiero this August. Falling sales and a recall of all ‘84 Fieros (125,000) to correct conditions that might result in engine fires contributed to the decision. But a continuing upward pricing spiral and a more crowded market segment were regarded as the major factors in the Fiero’s early retirement, which had been rumored for some time. The Fiero had a fall 1989 date to undergo the major revamp you see here. Fiero sales figures had been in a full-dress powerslide downward since the ‘84 introduction model year. A spare three years after the car debuted, annual sales had dropped from 99,705 in 1984 to 42,156 in 1987. And Pontiac indicated 1988 sales…

The Oldsmobile Aerotech and A.J. Foyt made automotive history on August 27, 1987. On an oval shaped, 7.712-mile test track near the little town of Ft. Stockton, Texas, the four-time Indy 500 winner drove a pair of these futuristic research vehicles, each with a different aerodynamic shape, to new world’s records. Foyt broke the old closed course mark, held by a Mercedes-Benz streamliner since 1979, with a speed of 257.123 miles per hour in a “short-tail” Aerotech. And, while he was at it, erased the 2-liter class world flying-mile record, set by Phil Hill in an MG streamliner in 1959, with a two-way average of 267.399 in a “long-tail” car; on one leg of the run, Foyt’s Aerotech was timed at 278.357 mph. PRIDE AND PROGRESS This record-setting performance was…

The road-going version of the Indy 500 Pace Car, the all-new Cutlass Supreme International Series coupe, is the latest and most spectacular of a long line of Oldsmobile performance cars. Its striking shape has a drag coefficient of just 0.297, making it one of the most aerodynamic cars in the world today. Its multiport fuel-injected 2.8-liter V6, 5-speed manual or optional 4-speed automatic overdrive transaxle, 4-wheel independent FE3 suspension and 4-wheel disc brakes make for outstanding all-around performance. Inside, there are ergonomically sculptured bucket seats for four. The front seats have adjustable lumbar support and reclining backs; in the rear, there’s a folding center arm console. For the driver, there’s complete instrumentation, including a tachometer and electronic analog display. The Cutlass Supreme’s design combines the inherent strength of steel and…

We had nowhere in particular to go that day, but we went anyway. We had no deadline to meet, but we hurried. We had a summer sun smiling upon us, and we cast back the convertible’s canvas roof. We let the wind cleave the open cockpit and caress our ruddy faces and tug our hair at the roots, the same wind that gathered up the deep rumble of our engine and the sharp bark of its exhaust note and carried it, as music, far across the moors. If only you had been with us. If only you had heard the V-8’s intoxicating melody, and had been flattered by its generous spread of torque and power. If only you had felt the little steering wheel wriggle and writhe, and had guided…

Jim Feuling is wheeling his ‘79 Ford pickup past a Ventura oil field on the way to a Mexican restaurant where you better wash down lunch with a fire extinguisher. His lady, Claire, sitting between us, allows as how “this is a fun truck to drive.” You bet it is; Detroit spends zillions trying to figure out fun-to-drive, and all the time it’s right here in this pickup. Under the hood is a 358-in. Chevy that is, in Feuling’s jacked-up sense of balance, pretty mild. A four-throat Holley, only 9.5:1 compression with flat-top pistons, and small-valve heads. Yeah, mild. About as mild as Mexican homebrew salsa: The internals have been given Feuling’s patented hydrophobic lyophilic coatings, the valves are actuated by Feuling’s patented two-lobe “Pulse Cam,” the exhaust goes through…

If you live in the Los Angeles basin, smog is an oft-discussed subject; for the folks in Helena, Montana, it probably comes up seldom, if at all. It is, however, of interest to the nation as a whole, since the Clean Air Act of 1963 mandated changes affecting the entire country. It’s been nearly 25 years since the first emissions controls were instituted, and it’s of interest to see how the war to control our breatheable air is progressing. The ‘63 CAA covered both stationary and mobile sources of air pollution and, since its inception, has been amended four times and has needed two sets of interim requirements added. In 1963, virtually nothing was known about the complex chemistry of air pollution, so the initial CAA was not much more…

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