Word: hardtops
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From General Motors came pictorial evidence of how the sibling rivalries within the nation's biggest manufacturing company can spur its individual divisions. Two years ago, when Buick was given $50 million by G.M. to build the Riviera hardtop as G.M.'s official answer to Ford's Thunderbird, Pontiac and Chevrolet bosses went off and sulked, then decided to build T-Bird competitors of their...
Pontiac's entry is its classy GRAND PRIX, which comes in a special iridescent blue-black, is outfitted with bucket seats and will undersell the Riviera and T-Bird by several hundred dollars. Chevrolet's answer is its Corvette STING RAY fastback hardtop. Breaking sharply with its past, the new Corvette has plush carpets, power steering and optional air conditioning -all features that will alienate true sports-car buffs, but are likely to attract many more buyers...
Ever since Ford introduced its highly successful four-seater Thunderbird in 1958, Detroit has been speculating on when General Motors would bring out a competitor. Buick ended the speculation last week when it unwrapped its big-fendered Riviera hardtop, which is firmly dedicated to the G.M. principle that if you have to join 'em, beat 'em. The Riviera is 3 in. longer than the Thunderbird, sports a more powerful engine, and has a steering wheel that tilts to seven different vertical adjustments, while Thunderbird's wheel only bends to the side to ease entry and exit...
Fastback is a big word in Detroit this year. It denotes a car whose silhouette flows from windshield to rear bumper in a continuous, rounded, convex curve. Chevrolet's completely redesigned Corvette hardtop is a fastback. So is the Studebaker Avanti (TIME, April 13). Ford calls its '63 Comet and Falcon hard-tops fastbacks, but they are really only "semi-fastbacks" because their rear windows break the curve...
...snatch off some of the Thunderbird market with its all-new Buick Riviera, which looks like an outsized version of Volkswagen's Karmann Ghia with a big American grille. The Riviera will have a 117-in. wheelbase, 340-h.p. engine, and come in a four-passenger, two-door, hardtop model. Chevrolet, also hoping to cut in on the Thunderbird, plans to introduce a Corvette model with the "fastback look" (Detroitese for the convex rear lines popularized by Jaguar's hot XK-E). The big Chevrolet will have its rear doctored to resemble the pointed silhouette of this year...