Word: prix
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Also faring well, but not as well as expected, are Detroit's "scaled-down intermediates," mainly such mid-size GM cars as the Oldsmobile Cutlass, Pontiac Grand Prix, Buick Century and Chevrolet Monte Carlo. Lighter and more economical than their ancestors, the new middies' prices are causing some buyers to balk over what they see as getting less car for more money. That has put dealers on the spot. Says Detroit Ford Dealer Jim McDonald: "The customers feel that since a car is smaller, it's bound to have less in it. Our job is basically education...
...masse, instead of simply talking about it. The resulting products are leaner, tighter, more economical and technically sophisticated than any other crop of vehicles in the industry's history. Detroit's scale-down is already showing up in car-rental agencies. National calls a Pontiac Grand Prix a full-size car and charges accordingly, even though what the driver gets is a vehicle about as big as yesteryear's intermediate...
...Richard Petty and redneck stock car races on Southern oval tracks. Like actors and baseball players, racing enthusiasts are regarded as somewhat declasse. But the Harvard-dominated Medenica team defies all the stereotypes, both in racing style and in personnel. They compete in Formula Ford road racing, on Grand Prix-style courses with single-seat cars equipped with 1600cc. Ford Fiesta motors. While Formula Ford cars can't match the flat-out power of Indy types they still average 90 to 100 mph on twisting, graded courses...
Malibu Grand Prix is the name of the game, and it is not tame-though it may be less hazardous than roller-coaster riding. No mini-Mario has been killed or seriously injured in the 6 million Malibu laps to date (though one nervous driver sprained a finger on the steering wheel, and several speeders have crashed through a fence). After buying tickets ($1.25 a lap) and getting instructions on safety regulations and the operation of the car, drivers buckle into Bell helmets and safety belts to await the red, amber and green signal light at the starting line. There...
...appeal of mini-Grand Prix racing, says Malibu Vice President Dan Morris, is "total escape. It lets you get away from it all. When that green light goes on, you're not thinking about anything else." The formula appeals equally to love-troubled teen-agers and businessmen with the blahs. One Malibu regular is an 86-year-old retiree; another is a prominent psychiatrist who drives up in his own Shelby G.T. The holder of the Northridge speed record is Joe Granatelli, 23, nephew of the great Andy and son of ex-Driver Vince Granatelli. Says he: "My father...