Word: auto
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...Most auto-rental customers want brand-new models with few miles on them. But National Car Rental is assembling a fleet for motorists who prefer cars with tail fins, gleaming chrome and wide whitewalls. At several of National's major outlets in Florida and California, the agency has begun offering dozens of carefully restored 1950s and '60s autos. Among them: Thunderbirds, Buick Roadmasters and even Studebakers...
...stationed itself carefully between those twin towers of late night, Carson and David Letterman. Like Letterman, Sajak has a touch of self-mocking irony and presides over irreverent comedy bits, which range from funny (Sajak goes to the doctor) to lame (audience members are enlisted to play Dunk an Auto Mechanic). But the show's physical look (band on the right, desk and couch on the left) and format (opening monologue followed by brief chat with easygoing sidekick), along with the host's witty but nonthreatening style, are all unmistakably Carson...
...Three rivals, since Chrysler's fleet of mostly midsize-and- smaller cars gets an average of 27.5 m.p.g., vs. 27.2 for General Motors and 26.6 for Ford. GM Chairman Roger Smith has denounced a higher gas tax as "cruel" and "unfair" and argued that it would dampen auto sales. Ford has straddled the fence. Vice Chairman Harold Poling said his company would support a phased increase of 15 cents per gal. over three years, but only as a last resort for cutting the deficit...
When Toyota unveiled its sleek new line of luxury cars last week at auto shows in Detroit and Los Angeles, nervous company officials stood by with rolls of tape. Their task: to cover up the new product's name, Lexus, if a three-judge appellate panel in New York City barred Toyota from using it. Not until the judges permitted the name to be used, at least through Jan. 30, did the Toyota employees return to wholehearted sales pitches for the stylish car, which will compete in the $20,000-to-$40,000 price range...
Attempts to stiffen requirements for older drivers can collide with other concerns. Many auto-insurance companies offer discount rates to drivers over 65 because they tend to drive less frequently and to avoid hazardous situations like rush-hour traffic and bad weather. Another issue is compassion: depriving many senior citizens of their licenses would amount to robbing them of their independence. "The use of a car is particularly important to older citizens," says Florida Congressman Claude Pepper, 88. "It's a vital link to the outside world...