Word: thunk
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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This midnight ride of American Motors engineers was a regular test in their effort to develop doors that slam with what automen call a solid "thunk." One result showed up last week as American Motors introduced the Hornet, its new small car, with an advertisement that urged: "Open a door and listen for the reassuring thunk you get when you close it." In auto showrooms, the sound of a car door slamming touches some responsive chord in the frazzled psyche of the American buyer-and all the automakers know it. "There is very little to go on when...
Angry Wife. Every year U.S. automakers invest millions of dollars and countless man-hours to produce the thunk that sells. G.M. employs 250 technicians-including graduates of Purdue...
Stanford and Michigan State-to work exclusively on doors. Ford, Chrysler and G.M. test and refine their thunks in soundproof chambers that are sealed like bank vaults. Stereo tapes are used to record the effects that subtle design changes have on the sound. High-speed movies are made to study vibrations, and oscilloscopes gauge the thunk's duration. The automakers also employ automatic slamming machines, which create sounds ranging from what G.M.'s Hedeen calls the "angry-wife slam" to the "husband-coming-home-late-at-night slam." The former is 50 foot-pounds, and the latter three...
...atmosphere at S.D.S. headquarters on the top floor of Emerson Hall was a little like that at one of Fidel Castro's Committees for the Defense of the Revolution in Havana. Emerson buzzed with frenetic activity, the intense conversations punctuated by the thunk, thunk, thunk of two hard-working-mimeograph machines. On the wall hung a great poster portrait of Lenin, and stairways were decorated with slogans and placards. One sign read: "A revolution without joy is hardly worth the trouble." Members of "political brigades" churned frantically up and down the stairs, hurrying to and from endless "rap sessions...
Next to styling, power and the solid thunk of quality as the door is closed, auto dealers like to spiel about the warranties behind their cars. By the time the happy customer drives off, he has every reason to believe that that handsome document from the manufacturer promises an absence of problems with his new car, fast, expert service when problems do occur and, in fact, just about everything short of Medicare...