Recalling Six Years

For 14 months, a Senate subcommittee chaired by Connecticut Democrat Abraham Ribicoff has studied the problem of auto safety, and has plainly moved toward legislation that would impose federal safety standards on Detroit. Weeks ago, Ribicoff demanded of the automakers that they produce a list, covering the last six years, of all cars that they have asked dealers to call back to the shop for repair of defective parts.

Last week the list came through. Since the 1960 model-year, there have been 426 recalls--or, as the industry prefers to call them, "campaigns." Of these, Ford had 184, involving 2,100,000 vehicles, General Motors had 171, affecting 4,700,000. Chrysler reported 24 involving 1,100,000 cars, and struggling American Motors had 47 on 796,000 cars.

Over the six-year period, more than 47 million passenger cars were manufactured, and so, as Ribicoff figured it, the recalls affected 18.5% of all U.S. auto production. Many of the recalls were caused by irritating rubs and rattles. Such defects are inevitable. "We now manufacture passenger cars which average about 14,000 parts each," wrote G.M. President James M. Roche in his covering letter to G.M.'s list. "It is hardly surprising under these circumstances that imperfections sometimes crop up."

At least half of the recalls did indeed involve safety factors. All of this made at least one point perfectly plain: even though the Senate subcommittee rates credit for stimulating interest in safety among both auto manufacturers and buyers, the auto industry has been spending a lot of money for quite a while to make repairs it deemed needful without any edict from Capitol Hill or any publicity.

Items on the list received by Ribicoff:

> Chrysler '62s were in many cases made with weak steering linkage tie-rod joints that could affect drive control; 346,008 cars were "campaigned" to eliminate the weakness.

>Thunderbird '64s included 3,058 on which a hard slam of the doors tripped loose the parking brake.

> Corvair '65s were assembled in a number of instances with positive battery cables close enough to the front engine shield to be grounded; 18,596 cars were recalled.

>Buick LeSabre '65s and Wildcat '65s turned up a batch of cars with weak wheels; they were replaced on 11,257 cars.

> Chrysler '66s from two plants came off the lines with improperly tightened control-arm strut nuts; of 182,000 vehicles involved, 45% were corrected before sale, and the remainder are now being "campaigned."

> Ford and Mercury '66s developed rear-brake-line vibrations to the point that 12,800 cars were corrected to avoid brake failure.

> Pontiac '66s include 600 from one assembly plant that left wheel nuts un-tightened on the left sides of cars; so far, 570 have been rechecked.

> A.M.C.'s '66 models include some with improperly bored steering gears that can cause steerage failures under heavy loads; 4,099 cars have been fixed.

With the receipt of the recall list, the Ribicoff subcommittee had all but finished its job. But the commotion about auto safety continued, with some of the criticism being aimed at targets well beyond Detroit. Author Ralph (Unsafe at Any Speed) Nader moved from the Capitol's Senate wing to the House side, testified before the House Commerce Committee and took a few shots at foreign cars. The Rolls-Royce, Critic Nader said, is "overpriced and overrated." Among other things, he complained, its door latches have an unpleasant habit of popping open on impact at as little as 20 m.p.h.

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