Rifling through a rarely opened cupboard a few days ago I came across a 1966 copy of Road and Track, the 'old money' in American auto magazines. In the new cars section the Toyota 200GT gets three pages, the Mazda Luce less than a half but in an editorial by John R Bond I spotted the following
Wrinkles at Wankel
Inasmuch as I am well known for taking a dim view of the Wankel engine's future it may not be amiss to give a brief progress report.
According to an authoritative report in 'Automotive Industries' the early production examples had their problems. Oil consumption in the 500cc/50bhp NSU Spiders was 150 miles per quart. Revisions to the lobe seals brought this up to 600 miles per quart. Now NSU says the twin rotor 1000cc/110bhp version will be introduced soon. So 300miles per quart is satisfactory? They also admit that the expected life of the sealing rings is 50,000 miles. As I said five years ago, forget it.
Interestingly, after this indictment of the rotary engine, the piece went on to announce the work being done by Ford in England on their first electric car. They confidently predicted it would be five or ten years before before they would reach the 80-150 mile range they were working towards. Mr Bond was not impressed by that much either but was apparently not well disposed to any sort of change. He also lamented the rising prices of new cars, blaming the increased choice available to potential purchasers. He mentions that Ford's Model T policy of 'any colour as long as it's black' saved buyers money.
Naturally, I went window shopping in the advertisements...some of them even printed in colour. What about a 425bhp front wheel drive Oldsmobile Toronado? (Presumably a must-have for torque steer fans!) Not keen? Well, a new Alfa Sprint GTV would have cost you $4200, the newly announced Cadillac Eldorado $5875, a Bizzarini GT $11000 BUT for $3500 you could have a five year old Ferrari 250 GT and a '58 XK150 Jaguar would have cost you $995. Who says nostalgia's not the real thing?
Thanks for this, jinx! Good read! Six years later, despite Road Test's choice of the Rx-2 as "import car of the year" and C&D deciding to race one, R&T were still saying: "Mazda? Don't know yet." Perhaps R&T were just not the sharpest knives in the drawer, as we say over here. :))
As for those ads, I'd much prefer to wait a couple of years and get a brand new M10A at $2929 or even better: another year still for a factory fresh Rx2 coupé at $3095!
I don't know - think I might have been tempted by the five year old Ferrari! :D
Had a friend who lived in Rome in the late sixties. He frequently turned down the offer of Ferrari and Maserati icons as a straight swap for....wait for it....his Sunbeam Alpine. The icons weren't classics back then - just fiercely complicated old cars likely to go expensively wrong. The Alpine on the other hand was Carnaby Street cool. (So cool in fact somebody stole the steering wheel and while he waited for a replacement he steered it with a pair of mole grips clamped around the column. It was Italy....nobody cared.)
In retrospect I'm curious why I was buying Road and Track when my weekly income from the 'thriving' lawn cutting business would barely have covered the cost of the magazine. Those who can...do. Those who can't...probably just read about it? (Spoiler alert: Still happening!) :D