Innehållsförteckning för July 1987 från MotorTrend

Entry-level cars have hurt the market for used cars. The idea of buying a new car with a warranty for about the cost of a good used car has a certain appeal, especially to a person who feels unsure about his ability to judge the condition of a used car. We are often asked if entry-level cars represent a good value. In most cases, they do. As you move into the mainstream prices between $7000 and $8000, you’ll find the cars very well equipped, especially the Japanese and Korean cars, and come with such standard features as carpeting, full instrumentation, 5-speed transmission, and so on. Usually, the only major options are air conditioning and a sunroof. So far, service records are good—not as good as the higher-line Japanese cars, which…

’88 GRAND PRIX You’ve gotta hand it to Jim Dunne—when the man clicks, he clicks. Can you get any closer to the ’88 GM-10 Grand Prix without driving the car? Photo analysis shows very clearly the “Grand Prix” badge on the door, followed by a letter appellation that, consistent with this car’s up-level, monochromatic treatment, is probably SE. This cleanly aero coupe shows mild ground FX treatment all around, indicating a base-level car may not have those add-ons. As with the Chevy Beretta, this new Grand Prix has vertical “tapper” door handles. Postscript: A reliable source at GM, familiar with the chagrin Jim Dunne caused these unsuspecting drivers, identified the brown 6000 STE in the background also as an ’88 model—with 4-wheel drive. STE sales went well off after the…

Honda has become the first manufacturer in the world to introduce 4-wheel steering on a production car, making it a feature of the new Prelude sedan. True to recent trends, the Prelude moves up a notch, becoming an even more refined, higher-quality image car. It looks like a low-rider, maintaining the 50.9-in. height of its predecessor, but has otherwise grown, being 3.3 in. longer overall, 0.2 in. wider, with a 4.5-in. wheelbase extension, 0.4-in.-greater front track, and 0.2-in.-wider rear track. Only 2.0-liter engines are offered this time around: A 107-hp SOHC version with computer-run dual carburetors, and the top-of-the-line version, a DOHC with electronic fuel injection and a new variable dual-port intake manifold, good for 145 hp. The engine’s exterior dimensions have been reduced, and it has been canted back…

There are few more torturous tests of a 4x4 than the rugged harshness of Baja California, Mexico—or “Baja” as the world knows it. From sun-bleached deserts and long-dried lake beds, to boulder-strewn hills and chisel-peaked mountaintops, a trip into the heart of Baja can be as mean and nasty on a 4x4 as anything on earth. Baja’s warning is clear: This is a harsh place. You enter this barren land at your own risk. When you enter with the new Mazda Cab Plus 4x4, however, you have what it takes to tackle the mean and nasty Baja. Under the aerodynamically sloped hood is a 2.6-litre SOHC engine with the mid-range muscle for tough workouts. Down below is an advanced, long-travel suspension that gives a smooth ride on the rough stuff,…

By now, it should be apparent that we at Motor Trend are impressed by Acura automobiles from Honda. We recently named the Acura Legend Coupe our 1987 “Import Car of the Year,” and we have just passed the 15,000-mile mark on our long-term test of the Acura Legend 4-door. The Legend continues to deliver the kind of service that won Honda the No. 1 position on the J.D. Power Customer Satisfaction Index. Even Dave Power says too much emphasis is placed on these types of surveys, but who can complain about dealer service when you don’t need any? Routine maintenance has been refreshingly inexpensive. Our two-tone silver and black Legend continues to be a staff favorite and acrues test miles quickly. It’s an ’86 model, fully equipped, as all Legends…

The Shelby name is one most people recognize immediately. Carroll Shelby is remembered by most contemporary car buyers as a man who builds and sells performance-tweaked Dodge products. As the Baby Boomer population bulge advances in age and buying power, fewer potential customers are aware that Shelby’s serious performance track record is precisely that, going back to 24 Heures du Mans wins for Ford, a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Today, a serious performance track record is more difficult to come by, and made about 500 units at a time. The Dodge Daytona Shelby Z is one of the recent installments in a performance-car pact between Dodge and Carroll Shelby. Though Dodge documents say it was officially introduced in September 1986, precious few of the cars…

The Mitsubishi Galant is not an acquired taste. One takes to it immediately. This car will appeal to the driver who has reached that state of maturity and affluence where there is greater interest in detail refinement than in conspicuous attempts at statement making. The car begins to endear itself to you from the first: One key unlocks every thing! The fuel-filler door and trunklid can be opened with levers alongside the driver’s seat as well. There is adequate luggage space for comfortable touring, even for four people, if they’re not overdressing—a pretension entirely wasted in the Wine Country. With a multitude of adjustments, the driver’s seat is able to accommodate a wide variety of bodies, although the fact that all the controls are manual, rather than servo-assisted, seems odd…

Chevrolet Wins First Indy Car Race. It has a nice, sensational ring to it, but, unfortunately, it isn’t a fair statement. Just as it isn’t fair to say Mario Andretti won the race, or Lola won the race, or Carl Haas, or chief engineer Adrian Newey. In fact, the old saying that the best team, or the best combination, will win has never been more true. Even the most impressive statistic—that the Ilmor-Chevrolet engine snapped Cos-worth’s six-year Indy Car win streak—is dampened somewhat by the fact that the engine was actually designed and built in England by a former Cosworth engineer named Mario lllien (a Swiss). But you can expect commercial interests to amplify credit wherever possible. At first glance, you might even say, what’s the difference between the two…

The Grand Am has been very successful for Pontiac, and, apparently, the GM division isn’t planning to tamper much with that record. This vehicle has been positively identified by GM sources as Pontiac’s ’89 Grand Am. As the GM20/N-car design evolves, we can readily discern the trademark Pontiac twin-loop grille has been shortened. Correspondingly, the hoodline slopes slightly lower to meet the front-end, which is canted further rearward for better aero efficiency next to the current car. In 1989, GM sources tell us, the Grand Am is requested for its own 4wd similar to that rolling under the 6000 STE. Torque split is variable, and can be easily adjusted at the factory.…

One of the industry’s most prestigious tire contracts, to equip the 190-mph Porsche 959, has been awarded to Bridgestone, and not to Dunlop as everyone expected. Deliveries of the $233,000 Zuffenhausen supercar have now commenced at the rate of one a day, each riding on Bridgestone’s unidirectional RE71 tires. Dunlop, now owned by Sumitomo, has been associated with the 959 since it first appeared at the Frankfurt Show in September 1983, and the Denloc D40 high-performance safety tire has played a large part in subsequent publicity. Dunlop, too, supplied special tires for the Porsche’s two Paris to Dakar Rally victories, in ’84 and ’86, and for the 961 evolution car that ran to 7th place at LeMans last year. “We haven’t yet homologated the Den-loc D40,” admits Arthur Jackson, product…

If you have to read this report to understand the idea behind Nissan’s 200SX SE, it’s clear you don’t know very much about cars. We may be telling you something about the SE you don’t know, but it’s doubtful we have anything to say that you won’t understand. That’s because this car’s obvious message is as well-known a line as the yellow stripes down the middle of a highway. You take the biggest engine the corporation makes—or close to it—and bolt it into a medium-size car with a sporty shape. What you end up with looks neat and goes fast. And that’s the 200SX SE, the familiar 200SE with the 3-liter 300ZX V-6 bolted under the hood. Nissan planners figured the 200SX fastback a basically sassy enough shape, but in…

Niche marketing has become the buzz-term of the ’80s. But if you happen to be the Chevrolet motor division, and a major part of your business involves the production and sale of affordable compact sedans, the niche you’re expected to carve out tends to be considerably wider. Enter the new Chevy Corsica. Milder-mannered 4-door stablemate to the equally new Beretta sport coupe, the Corsica is being positioned as a family car for Everyman. Slightly upscale and decidedly domestic in character, this stylish newcomer slots right in between the successful Cavalier and Celebrity models in the Chevy lineup. Current estimates project Corsica sales to run at just under 300,000 units by the end of model year 1988. If all goes according to the General’s master plan, the Corsica will shortly become…

Comparing apples to oranges is easy. Even comparing pippins to red delicious is quite simple. But bring together three apples from the same tree, and give it a go. Sure, there might be visual differences, but describing their essential dissimilarities can be a problem. And, should you be asked to pass qualitative judgement on those three apples, you might be tempted to say, “apples is apples,” and leave it at that. That’s the sort of difficulty we faced during our testing of the three almost identical Japanese mini-vans now sold in America. We scrutinized them to the smallest detail to expose each vehicle’s true character. However, because of their commonalities, our extended test drive was fraught with mistaken identity and confusion. Obviously designed within similar parameters, these three vans—from Toyota,…

The sport/utility market is hotter than popcorn, and there’s no relief in sight. From the $6000 Suzuki Samurai to the $40,000 Range Rover, almost anything is fair game. And now that these multi-purpose vehicles have firmly established themselves as serious modes of day-to-day transportation, the trend seems to be toward style and creature comforts and away from straight utility functions. In fact, luxury sport/utility models are now the norm. AMC, which knows what it takes to make a successful sport/utility vehicle, has taken careful aim at this market segment, and the resulting shot is the best example for the money we’ve seen to date—the new Jeep Cherokee Limited. The Cherokee Limited is an excellent study in taste and detail. Even though the exterior shape remains the same, the Limited appears…

What began in 1909 as ALFA (Anonima Lombarda Fabbri-ca Automobili) became Alfa Romeo in 1918 when engineer Nicola Romeo took control of the company. Although the marque had enjoyed considerable racing success, it wasn’t until the late ’20s that the firm hit full stride as a builder of truly great sports cars. It had built an outstanding pure race car, the P2 Grand Prix machine of 1924, but its sports cars had been merely super-tuned versions of its bread-and-butter touring cars. In 1927, Alfa Romeo’s racing-car engineer, Vittorio Jano, started designing cars from scratch as sports cars, a course that would bring recognition of his genius and usher in a Golden Age for Alfa Romeo. Initially, the engines were 6-cylinder 1500cc versions of the hemispherical com-bustion-chambered straight-eight 2-liter P2 Grand…

You’ve removed your keys, set the alarm, activated the ignition cutoff switch, installed the pedal lock, flipped your hidden power shutoff lever, and locked the doors. And, yet, you catch yourself looking over your shoulder as you walk away. The truth is, despite all the effort and expense, if thieves want it, they’re likely to take it, anyway. According to the Annual Crime and Delinquency Report from the State Department, over one million cars are stolen in the U.S. yearly. That works out to nearly 120 cars an hour. The net exceeds $4.8 billion, and that, folks, is a major contributor to rising insurance costs. No price can be put on the heartbreak and disappointment of someone stealing your pride and joy. With auto theft so rapidly on the rise,…

EXCLUSIVE: PORSCHE’S SECRET NEW PRICE FIGHTER These exclusive spy shots reveal the prototype Porsche 995, a possible successor to the 924/944 series. Based on a truncated 944 floorpan, the front-engined 2-seater is potentially the most affordable Porsche in years, and for good reason: Since 1985, the purchasing power of the U.S. dollar has weakened by 55% against the Deutsche Mark, and this year alone, U.S. Porsche prices are expected to rise by at least 27%. The cheaper, more price-sensitive 924/944 models are crucial to Porsche’s welfare. Last year, these two models accounted for 60% of the marque’s 54,000 worldwide sales, in spite of increasing competition from the likes of Mazda RX-7 Turbo, Toyota Supra/Supra Turbo, and Nissan 300ZX/300ZX Turbo, and in spite of the fact that Audi builds all 924/944s…

Caught here is the ’88 GM10/W-car Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera. We don’t think the monochrome treatment represents any particularly sporty model candidate, but is only an inexpensive way to clothe a test mule. The Olds completes a GM-10 trilogy this month, and demonstrates the divisional difference among the GM-10s. The Oldsmobile look of the aero front end is unmistakable. It’s going to be of maximum benefit to the teams who will end up using the bodywork on high-speed NASCAR ovals. In fact, it’s rumored around GM that NASCAR may permit some GM-10s to race before this cal-endar year is out.…

BMW 8=6? Here’s a first look at BMW’s 6-se-ries replacement, recently spied while testing in Germany. Designated the E31 and set for a 1989 European debut, BMW’s nascent supercoupe carries an 8-series codename, an indication of the firm’s intention to raise its quality image even further in an ongoing status battle with Mercedes-Benz. The lineup will reportedly consist of 830i and 835i models fitted with the 3.0/3.5-liter inline six used in the 7-series and the top-gun 850i powered by the firm’s new 5.0-liter V-12. An active suspension and 4wd are also rumored to be part of the package. IT’S STILL WAR Another shot is about to be fired in the “hot hatchback” war: Only months after launching the 123-hp 124-mph 16-valve Golf GTI, already the benchmark of its class, Volks-g…

Up until 1962, the Chevrolet Corvette was known on the streets and at the racetrack as the King of the Hill. That is, until the Cobra came along and stole its thunder. The Ford Cobra was a half-breed from England, while the Corvette was as American as apple pie and baseball. Immediately, Ford and Chevy fans squared off, and racetracks worldwide became the battlegrounds for the ultimate title. Among the contenders in the performance car wars that followed, who eventually were pushed aside, were Ferrari, Porsche, Jaguar, Aston Martin, and Maserati. The results went far beyond racing victories. The Corvette and the Cobra developed into world-class automobiles, and America gained newfound respect in international automotive circles. Like a hot flame, the rivalry burned and died quickly. By 1969, the competition…

If there was ever a textbook case of niche marketing, the practical Isuzu Trooper II is it. First introduced in 1984, the Trooper II was a boxy, no-frills, sport/utility vehicle with a tiny 1.9-liter gas engine, a 4-speed manual transmission, and a very truck-like interior. Following its mid-year introduction, only 7936 units were sold. Quickly, Isuzu began a steady upgrade of the Trooper II. It replaced the 1.9-liter engine with a 96-hp 2.3-liter and changed the 4-speed manual transmission to a 5-speed. The Trooper II image as a barebones, imported utility vehicle changed with the introduction of the LS model in 1985, the same year the Trooper II was named “4x4 of the Year” by Petersen’s 4 Wheel & Off-Road magazine. In 1985, Isuzu sold 25,844 units. A series of…

The new BMW 735i is so filled with thoughtful touches and clever features that it might be easy to overlook the driving experience. After all, this is a car with dual automatic climate systems (one for the driver, one for the passenger). This is a car that allows you to close the windows and sunroof from outside when you're locking it up. This is a car that has a passenger-side rearview mirror that automatically tilts down when you put the shift lever into reverse so you can see the curb as you park. We could go on and on, but you get the idea. One idea we don’t want you to get, though, is that the 735i is a luxury barge overburdened with mechanical gimcracks. That certainly is not so.…

There was a time when, if you wanted a small van, your one and only choice was the Volkswagen micro-bus. And, like all good ideas whose time had come, it quickly inspired copies. First, there were the American vans: Chevrolet Greenbriar, Ford Econoline, and Dodge Tradesman. Through the ’60s and ’70s, these vans grew ever larger, while the VW remained about the same size, despite a body change or two. Then, in the ’80s, came the Chrysler mini-vans: Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager. Soon, domestic manufacturers answered with shrunken vans of their own: Chevy Astro, GMC Safari, and Ford Aerostar. At about the same time, Toyota saw a place for an imported mini and started shipping in its van, soon to be followed by near clonelike offerings from Nissan and…

If truth be told, wine grapes are grown and crushed over much of California, and the world’s largest winery is actually in the huge San Joaquin Valley, but it is the climate and geology of the two small valleys due north of San Francisco, just across San Pablo Bay, that has caused them to become known as California “Wine Country.” It wasn’t just by accident, either, and even if one doesn’t sip a drop of the friendly liquid for which the area is famous, a tour through Napa and Sonoma counties is historically informative and aesthetically refreshing. While there are a number of ways to approach the Wine Country, the most likely for out-of-state visitors is by plane into San Francisco International, then by rental car through what’s known around…