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Styled
for Ease:
The '63s
The new models are easy on
the eyes, the driver, and
the maintenance budget; and
one of the reasons is that
compact-car know-how has
made bigger cars better
By STANLEY H. BRAMS
FOR 1963, the new cars are bigger
but they also are easier to
drive and maintain.
One reason manufacturers were able
to achieve this is that they acquired new
know-how in the cevelopment of the
compact cars the last several years.
To bring out the compacts, car makers
had to perform feats of engineering
magic to build smaller engines and
bodies that would meet the standards
Americans were used to getting from
the larger automobiles.
Their success is apparent on any
highway. The American compacts keep
up in traffic, function simply, and pro
vide comfort for riders. What's more,
they are at least as easy to maintain as
the bigger cars.
The lessons learned in compacting cars
were filed away, but they didn't remain
there long. They were brought out again
and used effectively in designing the
new, bigger 1963 models. The result:
cars of full size and in-between sizes
that are far superior to their counter
parts of only a few years ago.
The comfort that engineers learned
to build into compacts becomes even
more luxurious in the larger models.
The efficiency of the smaller power
plants translates into even greater effi
ciency in larger sizes where there is
more room in which to work. And the
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reliability created with reduced-sized
' transmissions, engines, and engine ac
cessories is multiplied when their physi
cal dimensions increase.
Consequently, buyers of 1963 cars will
find the inconvenience and expense of
repairs and replacements greatly re
duced in the new models.
Chrysler Corp., for example, has leap
frogged past standards and put a guar
antee of 50,000 miles or five years on
the engines and transmissions of its
1963 models. The only stipulation is that
the vehicles must be inspected periodi
cally. We can expect extension all across
the industry of last year's 12,000-mile
guarantee.
But that's only the beginning when
it comes to dependability.
. Thunderbird's front suspension lubri
cation now comes sealed and set for
100,000 miles, and the 30,000-mile lubri
cation cycle on last year's Ford family
has been extended to 36,000 miles.
The alternator, an improved type of
generator introduced by Chrysler three
years ago, is now in industry-wide use
which, means no matter what car you
buy, you will find that the battery is un
likely to run down.
Car makers also have effectively
tackled the problem of how to re
duce rusting of rocker panels and other
parts of the body where the spray from
salt-laden winter roads can lodge and eat
at the metal. Chevrolet redesigned its
panels so that air will "wash" them as
the cars are driven, thus tending to
evaporate the spray. Rambler has ex
panded its process of giving cars an
anti-corrosion bath during manufacture,
and other makers have taken similar
approaches.
So, too, with mufflers. Ford's are alu
minized to withstand better the corro
sive fumes which whirl through them.
Other manufacturers use both alumin
ized and stainless steel. Rambler's muf
fler is ceramic.
Pontiac has re-engineered its electri
cal system around a breakerless ignition,
which is said to give lifetime operation
and lengthen spark-plug life.
Fuel filters last longer; Buick's new
one has twice the area of past designs,
and this is said to more than double its
life expectancy.
The self-adjusting brake (which,
when necessary, automatically tightens
itself any time you back up a few feet)
is found virtually all across the industry.
Other mechanical improvement re
(Continued on page 14)
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