Clash of the Compacts

For six hours one day last week, the roar of auto engines echoed against the foothills of the Rocky Mountains as 23 cars gunned and slid around the $500,000 Continental Divide Raceways near Denver. The competition on the twisty, 2.8-mile circuit was the first endurance race to see how well Detroit's new compact cars stack up against their competition both at home and from abroad.

Under the rules only hardtop sedans and coupes with engines no bigger than 3,500 cc. could enter, and all V-8s were excluded. Lined up at the start in ten classes were cars from the U.S., Britain, France. Germany and Sweden. The entries that held all eyes were the new Chevrolet Corvairs and Ford Falcons, both competing in the same class (2,001 to 2,500 cc.) and each with top drivers and pit crews. Chevy made it a major effort, with five cars and a 25-man pit crew sponsored by the Denver Chevrolet Dealers Association. Not to be outdone, Denver Ford dealers entered three cars, with 15 experts on tap for split-second refueling and tire changes.

As testimony to the ruggedness of the small cars, there were no mechanical breakdowns. But the race was hard on the standard tires, particularly those on Chevy's five Corvairs, which had to slow down to make sure that they would finish. At the final flag, American Motors' Rambler was out in front averaging 55.5 m.p.h., with a Volkswagen second. A pair of Ford Falcons drove off with third and fourth, and two Corvairs had to settle for sixth and seventh.

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