Indholdsfortegnelse for March 1995 i MotorTrend

VOLKSWAGEN WILL BUILD BRAVE, NEW BEETLE Ending months of speculation, top management at Volkswagen AG has confirmed plans to produce a new-generation Beetle based on the Concept 1 show car, first seen at the Detroit auto show in January 1994. Unlike the original air-cooled rear-engine/rear-drive legend, this new VW will have a front-engine/front-drive configuration and likely be based on the next-2eneration Polo platform. Aimed at entry-level buyers in North and South America, it could well offer both diesel and electric or hybrid power in addition to conventional gasoline engines when it goes on sale sometime between 1998 and the year 2000. Although specific details remain fairly sketchy, VW brass has stated the as-yet-unnamed car would be built at the firm’s plant in Puebla, Mexico. Prices are expected to start under…

EVS: FROM CONCEPT TO REALITY Automakers normally debut concept cars at major international auto shows in cities like Detroit, Los Angeles, New York, Paris, and Geneva. So when Ford unveiled its EVent electric concept car at the recent 12th International Electric Vehicle Symposium (EVS-12) in Anaheim, California, immediate legitimacy was bestowed upon the bi-annual EV event. There was good reason. Last held in Florence, Italy, under the auspices of the World Electric Vehicle Association, the International Electric Vehicle Symposium has become the premier venue for announcing and demonstrating breakthroughs in EV technology. It’s no wonder: WEVA members include a wide array of companies and agencies that also belong to such organizations as the European Electric Road Vehicle Association, Electric Vehicle Association of Asia Pacific, and the Electric Vehicle Association of…

As charter members of the Heavy Right Foot car club, we bemoan the loss to American shores those great Euro performance sedans of recent yore: the BMW M5 and the Mercedes-Benz E500. Bestowed with fastrevving powerplants, suspensions taut enough for hot laps on the old Nurburgring circuit, and enough supple inner lining to pamper top listees on the Forbes 400, these two German super-sedans were veritable Porsche-skinners in disguise. Cars to trade a V-8 Ferrari for. No lie. Today, BMW’s 540i and Mercedes’ AMG-tweaked C36 strive to fill the steel-belted shoes of their legendary progenitors. And, just when you thought nothing more exciting than a rich burled wood-encrusted Jaguar Vanden Plas would ever emerge from Coventry, England, a real surprise comes along; a fire-snorting, supercharged supercat dubbed the XJR. The…

CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO Z34 VERSUS… Choosing a new car was once so simple. If you had a family to shuttle, you purchased a frumpy four-door sedan. The naturally nerdy owned station wagons. If you were cool, you bought a coupe. Driving around with too many doors was a fashion faux pas worse than facial warts. Then the car world was besieged with alternatives. The minivan was invented. Sport/utilities and sport sedans became chic. Import brands jammed every nook and cranny with neat cars and trucks. Will that be turbocharged, supercharged, all-wheel drive, or extra crispy? Selecting a transportation device these days can be tougher than slogging through 1040 forms. Sexy coupes still exist, but that segment has been so sliced and diced that you need a tour guide to avoid…

There’s a brand-new name in Toyota’s truck lineup. Considered a ’95½, this fresh replacement for the highly regarded Toyota compact pickup is called Tacoma, as in Tacoma, Washington. Why? Because it sounded good, that’s why. As the sixth generation of Toyota’s popular mini workhorse (and playhorse), it pushes refinement and quality to new heights. Toyota’s pickup has led the import segment in sales for the last 14 years. The U.S.-built Tacoma, still technically classified as an import, includes a variety of substantial upgrades that will ensure that its leadership continues. The most important advances center around the powertrain. Two-wheel-drive models get a standard 2.4-liter, 142-horsepower inline-four. This betters the old base engine by 20 horses. On the 4x4s, a 2.7-liter, 150-horse-power inline-four, with a pair of balance shafts to smooth…

The word “testarossa” is still carved out of the bright-red cam covers, as it has been for more than a decade, and the big, thumping heart of this car is still a 5.0-liter flat-12, whose ancestry dates back a further 13 years. But the most senior member of the Ferrari family is so determined not to fade in appeal that she recently lost weight, toned those big muscles, and had a facelift. She’s reinvented herself, in the shape you see here, with the name F512 M. Officially, the M denotes modificato, or modified. Unofficially, the F could stand for farewell: This latest incarnation of the inimitable Testarossa will also be the last. When, in 1991, the Testarossa was rebadged 512TR, she was already beginning to look dated. The bold horizontal…

Rumors out of Team Viper suggest that the imminent Dodge Viper GTS coupe is on a specific mission: to be the first American production car with a top speed of 200 mph. Prototypes are supposedly already flying around Chrysler’s Chelsea test track at speeds over 190 mph. To accomplish its mission and improve handling by the ’96 model year, the coupe gets a new suspension and extra power from the 8.0-liter V-10. FACTORY NEWS: THE V-B BRAVADA THAT NEARLY WAS Rumors have been floating around about a V-8-powered Oldsmobile Bravada soort/utilitv appearing for ’95. Unfortunately, it ain’t gonna happen, but it came close. Oldsmobile was so excited about putting a powerful V-8 in their compact SUV that it built prototypes and even released one to Motor Trend. Based on a…

Natural Born Feedback “Natural Born Killers” (Dec. ’94) was a great section, but during the description of the Hennessey Motorsports RS330 Camaro, it’s stated that “Hennessey’s Camaro isn’t a Z28, but a ‘B4C’ police-package car, complete with six-speed gearbox, air conditioning, CD player, and power windows/locks/mirrors.” With all this for $19,800. it has to be the best value today. Is the B4C package available to the public? Bob West Wixom, Mich. Not generally. The B4C policepackage is essentially a Z28 with a base interior. It can be ordered through local dealerships, but according to Chevy’s official line, only by a police agency. A friendly and sympathetic dealer, however, never hurts.—Ed. I was salivating over your delicious “Natural Born Killers” article and admiring the aftermarket tuners’ stunning improvements to the already…

VETTE TO LEAD 79TH INDY SOO The Chevrolet Corvette convertible has been named the Official Pace Car for the 79th running of the Indianapolis 500. This is the 10th time a Chevy has performed in the role, and the third time for a Vette. The ’78 and ’86 Corvettes also were Indy 500 pace cars. Camaros have paced the thundering 33 four times, with the ’48 Chevy, the ’55 BelAir, and the ’90 Beretta serving duty once each. The latest Vette pacer will sport a two-tone paint scheme of dark metallic purple over Arctic white. Its soft top will be white. Other than the modifications required for occupant safety (such as a rollbar, 360-degree strobe lighting, five-point harnesses for driver and passenger, and on-board fire suppression), the car is mechanically…

Some people don’t go willingly into the ranks of minivan drivers. Sure, their family-oriented lifestyles may require the extra capacity of a minivan, but emotionally, they’re not quite ready to make the jump. Many don’t want to give up their nimble sedan for a “clumsy” vehicle. Never mind that hundreds of thousands of drivers have comfortably transitioned into vans, some peoplecall ’em minivan resisters—are put off by the perception of bulk. Never mind that even the biggest minivans are only about the length of a Dodge Intrepid sedan, from the driver’s seat, they simply feel bigger. Honda’s first minivan, the Japanese-built Odvssey. is specifically engineered to appeal to minivan resisters. Less than a half-inch wider than an Accord, and only 2.7 inches longer, the Odyssey is smaller than all other…

For the domestic auto industry, 1986 marked a year of rebirth. Ford introduced the Taurus, an aerodynamic sedan created using the successful team philosophy learned from the import manufacturers. In 1989, Ford added something special to the Taurus: a super-high output (hence: SHO) Yamaha-built 3.0-liter DOHC V-6 that made performance enthusiasts around the world salivate uncontrollably. As we were among the drooling, we ordered a revised ’93 version for our long-term fleet. We started out with a dark blue exterior and the five-speed manual transmission. For those readers who remember seeing a red model in the Update columns, you’re not colorblind. A talented car thief relieved us of the blue SHO during our 1993 Car of the Year testing in San Diego. This turned out to be a mixed blessing;…

F130: Fastest Ferrari Ever Code-named F130 and due to make its first public appearance at the Geneva auto show in March, this is Ferrari’s F40 replacement—and its most powerful road car ever. With a Formula One-derived engine and an open-top, carbon-fiber chassis, the F130 promises to be the closest thing yet to a street-legal Grand Prix racer. It also will be exclusive and expensive, although the predicted $450,000 sticker is but a small fortune compared to its closest rival, the million-dollar McLaren Fl. The F130 completes the recent and rapid rejuvenation of Ferrari’s model line, following the launch of the 456 GT (a pretty 2+2), F355 (a howling 348 replacement), and F512 M (a 512TR update). Like all those cars, the F130 continues Ferrari’s allegiance to the design studio Pininfarina.…

At a time when the number of insurance claims for auto damage is declining, the number of claims for hard-to-verify sprains and strains are skyrocketing, according to a report released by the Insurance Research Council. Claim costs for injured parties are about four times higher, on average, than they were 15 years ago. The cost of medical treatment paid by auto insurance has increased dramatically in the past five years, even though the injuries reported were less serious, involved fewer hospital stays, and resulted in fewer disabilities. The IRC called the patterns of auto insurance claims “very curious” and laid the blame on lawyers and health care professionals. Based on 62,000 claims settled during a two-week period in 1992, the study showed a strong correlation between higher costs and attorney…

Power makes a musclecar, and the greater the power, the greater the musclecar. By that standard, the Pontiac 300 GPX lays claim to the division’s musclecar heritage more rightfully than any Pontiac since the ’70 GTO Judge. Three hundred horsepower from a supercharged version of GM’s supple Series II 3800 V-6 lets this sneak-preview of what will likely be the next Grand Prix claim just about anything it wants—and lay waste to many preconceived notions of what a great musclecar is or can be. Although Pontiac is showing the 300 GPX as a “concept car,” it’s much more “car” than “concept.” Rumors from Pontiac indicate that, except for the exaggerated wheel arch flares, this is very close to what the 1997 Grand Prix will be—including the powerful V-6. And we…

To determine a winner between the Dodge Neon Sport Coupe and Nissan 200SX SE-R, you could, as we did, grind their tires into the skidpad and slalom courses, repeatedly whip their engines to the redline down the dragstrip, flog the suspensions up and down mountain roads, slog through several hundred miles of freeway traffic, pack friends and soon-to-be-enemies into back seats, and compile long lists of objective and subjective evaluations. Or you could flip a coin. It’s that close. (But don’t stop reading now, or you’ll miss the best part.) These two are as identical as a pair of black Lab puppies from the same litter—and nearly as cute. Both are two-door versions of popular sedans. While both make sport-flavored styling statements, neither is going to turn heads like a…

Hyundai’s first foray into the American market almost a decade ago was a smashing success; over a half million Excels sold in the first year, setting an import new-model introduction sales record that still stands today. Unfortunately, the Korean manufacturer couldn’t maintain this momentum. Practically overnight, low-cost subcompacts from import and domestic manufacturers swamped the marketplace, and Hyundai found itself battling to maintain a heartbeat in this crowded segment. Slowly and steadily, though, Hyundai’s market share once again started to climb, and 1994 saw an 18-percent jump in sales thanks to the manufacturer’s redesigned Elantra and Sonata models. Now the Accent has arrived, replacing the aging Excel hatchback and sedan. A highlight of the Accent is its new 1.5-liter SOHC 12-valve inline four-cylinder, Hyundai’s first engine developed entirely in-house. The…

As far as General Motors was concerned, the ’64 Chevelle was merely Chevrolet’s obligatory variation on the “A-car” intermediate-size platform. Like its brother A’s (Oldsmobile Cutlass, Buick Skylark, and Pontiac Tempest), the Chevelle was a conventional front-engine, reardrive, body-on-frame, midsize car—11 inches longer than a Chevy II, 16 inches shorter than an Impala. Also like its brothers, power came from a passel of existing inline-six and small V-8 engines. Nothing was more ordinary than the ‘64 Chevelle. Extraordinary things can happen to ordinary cars. During 1964, Pontiac created the prototype musclecar when it decided its A-car deserved a bigger, 389-cubic-inch engine and a presumptuous name—GTO. The GTO was much faster than the best 283-cubic-inch V-8-powered ’64 Chevelle, and, to the Chevrolet hierarchy—megahoncho Pete Estes included—Pontiac was just as much a…

’95 CHEVROLET BLAZER LT Say hello to our 1995 Truck of the Year and the newest addition to our long-term fleet, the Chevrolet Blazer. We knew our Blazer would be visiting plenty of ski lodges, so we ordered it in four-door form and with four-wheel drive. Our $27,000 as-tested price includes over $5000 of options. We also decided we couldn’t live without a tilt steering wheel, roof luggage carrier, remote keyless entry, leather-trimmed power seats, tachometer, cruise control, power windows/locks/mirrors, and the touring suspension. There was even a $1200 credit for ordering this 1SFX package. One editor took his daughter to an Indian Princess campout in the Blazer, and all the Ford Explorer owners bombarded him with questions. Another writer sent the cherry-red sport/ute to the snow and reported that…