Indholdsfortegnelse for August 1999 i MotorTrend

Frankly, I’m befuddled. We’re in the midst of an automotive styling trend that makes me wonder aloud about the sense of the American public. In a nutshell: What’s this absurd fascination with spoilers? Walk through any parking lot and count the number of cars with decklid spoilers. And I’m not just talking sports cars. Late-model family sedans seem to be the most frequent victim of the stick-a-curved-piece-of-plastic-on-your-trunklid craze. And for the life of me, I can’t figure out why. Spoilers have apparently become to the ’90s what tailfins were to the ’50s. Each manufacturer has been not only trying to outdo the rest in flamboyance (remember the ’94 Supra Turbo?) but in every-model-needs-them proliferation. Originally, spoilers were functional. Little flaps of metal were attached to race cars to trim airflow…

“I want you to know, Mr. Stone,” comments Giordano Casarini, “that you are seeing this car in my least favorite color.” Casarini is speaking of the achingly red DeTomaso Mangusta proto type pictured here. We’re on a cell phone; he, while visiting my home state of California, I, while visiting the DeTomaso assembly facility in Modena, Italy. “It makes the car look all out of proportion,” opines the articulate, well-spoken managing director of DeTomaso Automobiles Ltd. Proportions are just one issue. The other reason rosso is not his favorite? Perhaps because it’s the hue all-too-often sprayed on the products of two of the region’s other carmakers: Ferrari and Maserati. You remember DeTomaso, don’t you? Well, it’s been 25 years since Ford last imported the DeTomaso Pantera and marketed that sexy…

Anvils are tough, simple devices intended to make a piece of metal conform to the blacksmith’s will through repeated beatings with a hammer. High-tech in comparison, weed whackers are intended to render all-but-dead unwanted flora in one’s yard through a piece of fishing line spun at high rpm on the end of a wand wielded by the weekend warrior. You could, of course, use an anvil to mash a tuft of weeds and, likewise, use a weed whacker to attempt to bend a piece of metal, but neither would be an intelligent use of the device. What’s this to do with a ’99 Jeep Cherokee Sport and a brand-new 2000 Nissan Xterra XE? In its basic form, the Jeep has been produced for 15 years, its 4.0-liter straight-six engine for…

WHAT IF? GMC DENALI EX IS THE ROCKINGEST It’s a common question: “What if GMC had built its upscale Yukon Denali on the full-size Suburban platform, instead of the shorter wheelbase, standard Yukon?” GMC has dealt up an answer, and it makes a splendid-looking rig. Bob Kern, GMC’s director of new product technology and specialty vehicles, tells the story: “Denny O’Donnell, brand manager for the Yukon line, came to me and said, ‘Build me a bad-ass truck.’ So we did!” The basis for this one-off Denali EX was a Sony Suburban, in itself a special limited-edition project between Pontiac-GMC, Neiman-Marcus, and Sony. It’s chock full of video gear and other electronic entertainment hardware, and could be ordered right out of the Neiman-Marcus catalog. Grafting on the Denali front sheetmetal was…

HOW GOOD ARE PEP BOYS TIRES? PERFORMANCE TEST Drive like a Motor Trend road test editor, and your car will need new tires almost as frequently as oil changes. Drive like we do when a photographer’s aiming a camera at us, and it’ll need new rubber before it needs gas. Even if you don’t drive like we do, you’ll sooner or later need to buy tires. But replacing your car’s original-equipment skins can be a pricey proposition, which prompts the question: Just how good are lower-cost “private-label” tires? For this test, we decided on a back-to-back comparison 245/45ZR17 Goodyear Eagle ZRs with like-sized Pep Boys Futura Ultra Z radials. Our friends at Ford loaned us a Mustang GT, which came with original-equipment Goodyear Eagle ZRs. (With friends like us, Ford…

Wailing down Fiorano’s front straight at over 8000 rpm in third gear, you can sense them: the living, ethereal presence of great Ferrari piloti who have tested here: Villenueve, Prost, Berger, Lauda, so many others, Fiorano is Ferraris very private test track, located next to the factory, in the tiny village of Maranello, Italy. Ferrari’s current Fl hotshoes, Michael Schumacher and Eddie Irvine, work out here constantly, looking for the edge they hope will take one of them to the Prancing Horse’s first World Driving Championship in two decades. Enzo Ferrari’s house is just a few hundred yards from this front straight. Sacred ground, this is. Its here we relish our first taste of the all-new 360 Modena. Fiorano is a technically challenging road course that packs amazing variety into…

Back in the ’50s, you knew a luxury car when you saw one. It was easy, because there were only a few to pick from: Cadillac, Lincoln, or perhaps a Chrysler Imperial. Pretty much the same was true during the ’60s, except for the occasional Jag or Rolls-Royce. But over the next two decades, Mercedes-Benz and BMW rose to the top of the luxury-car mountain. Traditional American makes, and even lusty Jaguar struggled. Then, in 1990, Lexus and Infiniti appeared and put the luxury market squarely on its ear. What do you mean, Japanese luxury cars that have big V-8 engines and cost 40 Grand? Today, you can order nearly every luxury sedan trapping (leather seats, megawatt stereos, and power everything) on just about any pickup truck. Talk about blurring…

Unbelievable! That was my overriding thought, as I circled Northern California’s Thunderhill Raceway again and again. Whether accelerating down straights, carving through sweepers, threading hairpins, or hauling it down under hard braking just before slicing in toward a new apex, this car was working surprisingly well. It felt unexpectedly taut, predictable, and controllable as it tackled the ins and outs of the track with the same finesse and fine-timed control as a world-class European sport sedan. Yet, most amazing of all, I was driving a Lincoln. This is no mushy, wallowing Town Car; it’s Lincoln’s brand-new entry-level sport luxury model, the LS. And it is, quite simply, a revelation. The LS is a new vehicle from the ground up, and innovation rather than tradition has guided its development. It’s a…

’99 AUDI A6 AVANT QUATTRO Our resident sport wagon has provided a tempting alternative to driving a truck-based sport/utility, delivering a better ride, more comfort, and equal cargo capacity to several popular SUVs. Editors have been critical of its relatively lackluster stoplight, acceleration, though its road manners have been universally lauded. The Tiptronic auto/manual transmission adds an extra level of driving pleasure, though a few staff members noted the A6 handles shifts smartly on its own. Interior versatility has been appreciated, with a split-fold rear seat that moves with mechanical precision. Front passengers are treated to nicely supportive leather buckets that can provide day-long comfort while gazing at the red-lit instruments and well-placed controls. Rear passengers appreciate the accommodations and vent outlet, but they pine for cupholders. A couple editors…

The MOTOR TREND Electronic Reprint Service The MT Electronic Reprint Service gives you anytime access to many of our most popular reviews through an automated, 24-hour computerized system. With a touch-tone phone and a Visa or Mastercard, you can order up to five reviews, for delivery by mail or fax. Single reviews cost $4.95 each, and comparison reviews (marked by a “c” next to the issue date) cost $9.95 each. (Body copy and tech data are included. Photos do not appear.) It’s easy: 1. Note the four-digit ID numbers of one or more of the reviews you’d like to order from the ROAD TEST REVIEW list on the following pages. Have your Visa or Mastercard handy. 2. Using a touch-tone phone, dial 1-800-549-0682. Follow the instructions of the friendly automated…

FIRST DRIVE: There’s a new kid on the Saturn block, and he’s arrived not a moment too soon. Hamstrung by an aging, compact-only model lineup—and no sport/utility model, at all—the Spring Hill contingent has endured five years of steadily slipping sales. For 2000, an all-new, midsize L-Series will give it access to the single largest segment of the passenger-car market. And Saturn brass promise its price will be “very competitive” with primary rivals, the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry. We recently ventured to Phoenix, Arizona, to drive preproduction versions of both the sedan and station wagon models. Saturn styling cues permeate this new front-drive offering, inside and out. While sharing some structural basics with the Opel Vectra, comprehensive modifications to the longer, wider L-Series significantly enhance both its safety and…

We’ve already told you that Maserati is engineering its return to the North American market, after an absence of more than a decade (Dec. ’98). In the intervening years, much has happened. And most of it is for the better. Even though Maserati has enjoyed racing successes (memorably victorious models like the 250F and the Type 60 “Bird cage”), its strong point has always been luxurious, front-engine gran turismos. The original 3500 GT. Sebrings and Mexicos, Handbuilt 5000 GIs. And, of course, the makes-me-cry-it’s-so-beautiful Ghibli. In spite of these greats, Maserati always teetered financially and changed hands all too often. About five years ago, Fiat bought the company from Alejandro DeTomaso (who bought it from Citroёn, who bought it from…), vowing to invest whatever it took to return the marque…

Boy racers (some of them on the MT staff) will be disappointed to learn the new Eclipse is no longer the turbocharged, all-wheel-drive, performance-at-all-costs car it once was, but then again, they didn’t buy many of those cars, anyway—almost nobody did. In fact, only about 15 percent of all Eclipses sold were turbocharged models, and less than a third of those were all-wheel-drive GSX derivatives—do the math and you find that GSX Eclipses accounted for only 5 percent of all those sold. With those limited sales numbers attached to a pricetag approaching the size of some more well-mannered imports, the fate of the “ultra” Eclipse, as we knew it, was sealed. Enter the current era of platform sharing, and the Eclipse could again make financial sense. By sharing the new-for-’99…

Naval aviators call carrier landings “controlled crashes.” For me, driving a Pennzoil World of Outlaws (WoO) sprint car was a single, long wreck that didn’t intersect the guardrail. Kevin Gobrecht, regular driver for Amoco Team 93, says the same is true for him, with the small exception that he’s going a whole lot faster while almost crashing with 15 other guys almost crashing. “Drive” is the wrong word for what I did with Hylton-Blaney Motorsports’ sprinter. More accurate: I hung on and tried not to irritate the 800-horse-power beast. Unfortunately, everything I did seemed to piss it off royally. If it wasn’t trying to nose into the outside wall, it was trying to spin to the inside or back into the outside fence. I almost wrecked at least a half-dozen…

Those of us old enough to remember the ’60s tend to look back on them as exciting times that often produced bellwether exercises in automotive styling. As this one-off from the Chrysler Corporation design studios clearly shows, that wasn’t always the case. According to the press release, an otherwise perfectly good ’68 Charger 440 R/T underwent a major roof removal program to see “what it might look like without a top,” and bedecked with a ’62 T-Bird Sport Roadster-look tonneau. No details were provided as to what twisted logic prompted the fitment of a steering wheel with a wire-mesh rim, or what earthly purpose the Canadian and British accent badges on the doors might serve. Although some early prototypes reportedly were tested, Chrysler ultimately cancelled plans to offer the perky…