Car and Driver Jul-15

“Car and Driver: That’s what we call it, because that’s what it’s about.” —David E. Davis Jr. IN ONE SENSE, the automobile has been a remarkably stable concept since the Patent-Motorwagen huffed out from Karl Benz’s workshop back in 1886. It is still the largely explosion-powered horse-replacer that gave modern society its unprecedented level of mobility. In another sense, though, the automobile’s progress has been staggering and unrelenting. We’ve gone from open wheels to integrated fenders to active aerodynamics; from hand-cranking to ignition keys to remote start; from powered nothing to adaptive suspensions to today’s electronics suites, perched on the precipice of autonomy. our society has been reflected in and propelled by that progress. In 1946, management thinker Peter Drucker called carmaking “the industry of industries,” and there is hardly another product…

Before Ed. In the years B.E. (Before Ed.), the letters section was a very different and disturbingly inofensive place. Then Ed. arrived and everything changed—Ed. SEPTEMBER 1955 • My warmest congratulations on Sports Cars Illustrated! Your first issue is excellent and I am looking forward to its successors. I am particularly glad to see a sports car magazine published in the East and I hope you will give Eastern events the same type of notice that Western events have been getting. My best wishes for a long, successful career for Sports Cars Illustrated. WELLES A. GRAY WASHINGTON, D.C. DECEMBER 1961 • I have been avidly reading your magazine for some time, but there is one subject I have never seen discussed, and that is the Corvette vs. Jaguar. I have seen more sports car fans lose their…

MARCH 1969 • The British auto industry hasn’t a prayer and will surely sink unless it realizes that to succeed in the export field; it needs a steady work force, a car that is reliable, and the support of good dealers. D. J. HAYCOCK LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA JANUARY 1977 • I finally broke down the other night and saw Gumball Rally. couldn’t imagine where they got the ideas for the movie: the van with the 250-gallon gas tank, the guy who entered the car he was taking to la for a rich old man, the team composed of a famous race-car driver and some unknown bozo piloting a Ferrari. you guys ought to go to hollywood. DOUG BLANK BOWLING GREEN, OHIO Okay, can we borrow your car?—Ed. FEBRUARY 1983 • Sherman’s article is only one small instance of all the…

APRIL 1981 • How about a nice crotch shot of csaba csere sitting in a renault le car? okay? JOAN CLAYBROOK WASHINGTON, D.C., DETROIT, AND FANTASY ISLAND SEPTEMBER 1983 • I can no longer remain silent. mr. ceppos’s insinuation that k mart shoppers belong to the lower end of the socioeconomic spectrum is misleading and not in the public interest. we have found that shopping at k mart offers substantial benefits to the public at large. for example, our research shows that k mart shoppers live on the average of 1.7 years longer than those who shop at sears. we have yet to determine exactly why this is so, but the evidence points to improved cardiovascular fitness as a result of activity related to the “Blue-light specials.” You would do well to inform your readers that k mart’s…

WITH OVER 100 YEARS OF INNOVATION, MICHELIN CONTINUES TO SHAPE THE FUTURE OF THE TIRE INDUSTRY. LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR LATEST BREAKTHROUGH AT WWW.MICHELINMAN.COM/PILOT NO STATUES. NO PLAQUES. NO BRONZE BUSTS IN ITS HONOR. BUT IT IS THE RADIAL TIRE TO THANK FOR ALLOWING CARS TO UNLEASH THEIR FULL PERFORMANCE POTENTIAL. AND MICHELIN IS THE ONE THAT PAVED THE WAY. There would be no hairpin turns without the radial. No smooth, quiet rides at highway speeds, no supercars, no fun. Before radial tires, there were cross-ply tires, but they were less than optimized. They tended to run hotter wearing down quickly and ultimately impeded the performance of the vehicle. Michelin saw an opportunity for improving the cross-ply. They made it happen by building the fabric plies in a radial direction into the tire rather…

When Mercury died, so did our annual lament in the new-car issue that the de Sade package was not yet available on the Grand Marquis. It pains us to joke about the death of Mercury, but we’re not stopping until we hear the safe word—Ed. “Grand Marquis— Our fond hopes for a de Sade package have been dashed for yet another year.” (october 1989) JANUARY 1988 • In “charting the changes,” you said about the mercury Grand marquis, “there is still no de Sade option!” now, i’ve heard that phrase before, but if don’t understand it. enclosed you’ll find an addressed, stamped envelope for your reply. CHET DENNIS WILLIAMSVILLE, NEW YORK Thanks for the free stamp, slave boy—Ed. JANUARY 1990 • What is the “de Sade package” you mentioned in the Grand marquis review in charting…