===================================================================== AutoNotes #4, 08/26/92 copr. 1992, Dave Williams --------------------------------------------------------------------- BIX: 'dave2' RIME at ->CHAOS [email protected] CIS: 72571,3542 The Courts of Chaos BBS, (501)985-0059 =====================================================================Looking for something different? Corvette too common? NSX too Japanese? Viper too ugly? How about an Iso Rivolta? Yep, Iso is back in business, with a new Grifo coupe. Small block Chevy power just like the original - your choice of Callaway twin-turbo LT-1 or the LT-5 four-cammer. ZF six speed manual, Brembo ABS, tubular steel chassis by Dallara, aluminum body. 3500 pounds, 186 MPH. Iso claims delivery in '93, estimated price $225,000.
Maybe you want something a little more unusual? Wait 'til '94 for a Yamaha. The OX99-11 uses a 3500cc 60-valve V12 (that's 5 valves per cylinder), aluminum body, and will be built in (are you ready?) England. Estimated price: $798,000. Don't plan on taking any friends with you - the PR photo shows a single seater.
Chevrolet recently built the 1,000,000th Corvette. It went to GM's Corvette museum.
Most people have kicked themselves for getting rid of a particular car. "Yep, son, I shoulda kept that Golden Hawk, but Studebakers weren't worth nothin' back in 1963 when I sold it... ain't nobody ever gonna collect no Mustang, they made too many of 'em..."
I was digging through some old car magazines the other day. In the May 1969 issue of Car Life there's a classified ad with photo:
"1965 Cobra 289, flared fenders, new Monterey Green
paint. Chrome roll bar, hard and soft tops, seven
chrome wires, two 10-in. width, five 6-in. width.
24,000 miles. Perfect throughout. $4800. Bob Moore,
xxxxxxxxxxxx, Pueblo, Colo. 81005. (303)nnn-nnnn."
Cut to 1992. The lounge in a public sanitarium. "I used to own a
Shelby Cobra once. I was askin' $4800 for it, but I let it go for
a used four door Cutlass and $3200..." "Sure, Bob, it's time for
your shot..."
That May '69 issue also tested a 396 Camaro and a 390 Rambler Scrambler. The Rambler handled better and blew the Camaro away. No surprise there, except to Camaro and Mustang owners who were too smart to pick on an AMX.
Ever wonder what happened to the editors of those old magazines? Of the ones I recognize from that '69 Car Life, Allan Girdler went on to become the editor of a motorcycle magazine, Joe Scalzo still writes for Circle Track, Michael Lamm has dropped from sight, Roger Huntingon still freelances, and the rest I've never heard of before or since. Ah, fame...
An interesting photo: Automotive Engineering, Nov 1988. Six frames taken from the left rear of a Dodge pickup, showing a smoky burnout about forty yards long. Caption: "Another Dakota receives a Shelby modified 318 CID V8 capable of exceeding its static coefficient of friction." You could say that. I bet the development crew tested it several times, just to make sure, eh?
Ferrari says the next Ferrari Testarossa will have active suspension. The supplier: Not Marzocchi. Not Ceriani. Not even European. TRW.
Roush Industries is working on a new plastic valvespring retainer. Makes sense, since Roush - as Zakspeed Roush - was in charge of racing Ford's plastic motor efforts a few years ago. Of course, most hot rod people probably think of Roush Industries or Gapp Engineering by their old name - Gapp & Roush, Pro Stock drag racers par excellence.
What's new on the '93 Toyota Corolla? How about a composite firewall? Of course, "composite" doesn't necessarily mean Kevlar or carbon fiber. In this case, it's two pieces of galvanized iron with an internal layer of (get this) asphalt.
Ilmor is to Chevrolet as Cosworth is to Ford. Now Ilmor wants to design production car engines. Nobody seems to be interested at the moment. Lotus and Porsche seem to have a lock on the market.
Rumor has it Honda may withdraw from Formula One and devote their attention to Indy car racing.
Oddity: Crane Cams won't take a check for their catalog. Cashier's check or money order only.
Earlier this month I became aware I was in a crisis situation. I had several piles of magazines stacked waist-high around my desk, and no shelf space. Alas, all available wall space in my two-room study had already been fitted with shelves and stuffed to overflowing.
Clearly, Something Had To Be Done. Moving wasn't economically feasible. Slowly, I accepted the sad fact that something had to go. For the most part the magazines were boxed and indexed, but really, only a few of them had information I really wanted.
Twenty years' worth of Motor Trend, Road and Track, and Car and Driver went to a friend, along with Classic Sixties, Automobile, Car Life, Sports and Import Car, Exotic Car Quarterly, and assorted others. I kept all the Circle Track magazines, and all the Hot Rods from the 1960s. Then, with no more effort than extracting my own wisdom teeth, I carefully sliced out the useful pages from twenty years' worth of Hot Rod, Car Craft, High Performance Cars, and Popular Hot Rodding, plus some odd short-lived magazines. My brother and some friends ran off with the remains, cackling wildly. Ten years' worth of Automotive Engineering, Ward's Auto Report, and Chilton's Auto World got inspected, sliced, and the remains discarded. Same with the back issues of Byte and PC Magazine. The PC Tech Journals, Dr. Dobb's, and others didn't take much space, so I kept them.
The empty shelves look downright eerie.
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