LEXUS' ALL-NEW
GS SERIES:
TIRE-SMOKIN' FUN
W ithout question, this machine is fast and fu­
rious. T he 32-valve V8 has a “kick-in-the-pants”
feeling that will cause envy among its competitors.
Stom p on the gas pedal and the forward m otion
plasters you against the front seat.
This is the car for congested traffic areas; with
its catlike reflexes and ample power, it propels you
past the slow pokes when that break in traffic oc­
curs.
T he ride? Sports car firm, but with just enough
plushness that Lexus customers have come to ex­
pect. Comfortable leather-covered bucket seats give
the necessary support for aggressive driving. D e­
ive miles down the road in the new
spite shrinking in exterior dimensions, head, leg
Lexus GS400 and 1 m just pinching my­ and hip room have expanded in the front and
self. W hile I've never met a Lexus I rear. W hile five occupants can ride inside the car,
didn't like, this is different. Never has a four seems to be the best fit.
T he dashboard differs radically from other
luxury sedan done so m uch for my
Lexus gauge packages, em ploying a newly devel­
psyche. 1 w h ip p ed th e GS aro u n d
curves with aplom b and blast straightaway, oped
like a lighting system, called “O p titro n ,” which
NASCAR driver. Ilre-smokin fun in a Lexus? You silhouettes the meter pointers and markings. The
interior fit and finish is nearly flawless, another
betcha.
Lexus trademark.
I he 1998 GS series now comes in two scrump­
Included in the long list o f standard equip­
tious flavors — the spicy six-cylinder powered
G S300 and the four-alarm, fire-breathing V8
m ent on the G S400 is Vehicle Skid C ontrol, a
powered GS400.
blessing in bad weather. W hen slippery driving
conditions cause the car to skid or spin out of con­
Most GS aficionados have come to love this
model for its refinement. But Lexus has added a trol, com puter electronics activate the anti-lock
brakes and adjust
the engine output to
correct over- or un­
der-steer.
G e a r se le c to r
buttons located on
the steering wheel
allow the driver the
option o f manually
sh iftin g th e five-
sp e ed a u to m a tic
tra n s m is s io n a l­
though, 1 confess, I
was en jo y in g th e
automatic too much
to try.
T h e car looks as
good as it drives.
O th e r
th a n
a
vaguely fa m ilia r­
shaped body, little is
carried over from last
year’s GS. Shorter by
six inches, it looks
more rugged on an
new twist with the G S400 V8: variable valve tim ­ all-new platform which isn’t shared with any other
ing, the first ever used on a V8, according to Lexus,
Lexus product.
Toyota’s luxury car division. You get a 300-horse-
W ith a base price of $36,800 for the G S300
power boost in return and acceleration o f zero to
and $44,800 for the G S400, either version is a
60 in a mere six seconds. 1 he G S400 has a top
good deal. In fact, the G S400 with a V8 is less
speed of 149 mph.
than last year’s six-cylinder GS300.
Calvin Ferguson
F
H
\1RII AN A m e r ic a n s o n w n m s
(eynari racer's pit crew at work.
R
’' ■ a
i UkW'
i
j l - a * S e w c o o r d ! Z »or B«Wy * Scot» Racing
ju n io u s Matthews is p-» crew c
w orking in the field say they
aren't even sure o f how many
there are, but agree that the num ­
ber is small. Several reasons are
cited for the tiny representation,
including lack o f exposure to the
sport, lack o f experience and,
quite frankly, having access to the
decision-makers, like the team
managers or the sponsors. Some­
times, racism also is a factor.
However, despite these prob­
lems, a tew African Americans
are breaking new ground in the
industry. Today, as the industry
is experiencing rapid growth,
th e re are blacks overseein g
motorsports marketing programs
on the racing circuit and for cor­
porate sponsors, transporting
racing crews across the U.S., re­
porting on races and servicing cars
in the pits.
Racing is big business, the
fastest growing sport in the U.S.
According to Goodyear Tire
and Rubber's racing division,
auto races held in 12 racing se­
ries in 1997 attracted 16.8 m il­
lion spectators, up from 15.4
million in 1996. T he rapid ex­
p an sio n of m o to rsp o rts has
m e a n t th e d e v e lo p m e n t o f
m ore team s and m ore racing
v en u e s in places like W alt
Disney W orld and Las Vegas.
C o rp o rate A m erica last year
pum ped a record $1.09 billion
into motorsports marketing, far
exceeding the sponsorship d ol­
lars o f any other sport.
“Like it or not, this is a lot o f
the direction of m ajor sports
m ark etin g efforts o f th e fu ­
ture,” says Larry Haney, a 41-
year-old A frican A m erican
w ho is R J. Reynolds' sports
m arketing manager. His com ­
pany lent the W inston brand
nam e to the coveted NASCAR
W inston C up racing series.
“T h e n u m b ers aren't just
c o m p a ra b le to b a s k e tb a ll.
NASCAR draws 180,000 per
race weekend,” Haney explains.
“For the next 10 vears, every
NASCAR track is sold out. You
can t walk up to a w indow and
buy a ticket.”
Similar trends are occurring
in th e Indy R acing League
(IRL). C arm en Wheatley, the
first and only African American
to land a m anagem ent position
w ith the Indianapolis M otor
Speedway, estimates attendance
for the one-dav Brickvard 400
at 300,000 and the Indy 500
race at 400,000.
W heatley is the hospitality
manager for the Indv M otor
Speedway, overseeing infield
AFRICAN AMERICANS ON WHEELS
23