Rekindling and Old Affair

By Alexander L. Taylor III

Once again, Americans are finding out that cars are fun

Summer is a time for rediscovering familiar pastimes: picnics, baseball games and trips to the beach. This season millions of Americans are enjoying a kind of fun they have not had in years: a spin in a sleek, shiny new car. More buyers are flocking to auto showrooms than at any time since 1979. Instead of fuel-sipping "econoboxes," people are choosing cars with pep and pizazz that put pleasure back into driving. Says Len Scarano, general manager of the Arrow Auto Mall in Little Falls, N.J.: "A few years ago, people wanted to know only two things: the price and the gas mileage. That's not so true any more." Buyers are enthusiastic about sports cars, moving into minivans and jumping into Jeeps. Even full-size sedans, once thought headed for obsolescence, are staging a comeback.

During the first half of 1984, sales of American-made cars surged 26.5% over the same period a year ago. The biggest increase was in sales of mid-size cars, like the Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme, which were up 28%. Large and luxury cars showed a 22% rise. Ford led the industry with a 32.2% sales gain, and General Motors followed with a 26.1% jump. U.S. automakers expect to sell 8 million cars this year, up from 6.8 million in 1983, and earn a record $10 billion in profits.

Increasingly, buyers are looking for cars that combine styling and performance. Despite the 55-m.p.h. speed limit, they want quick, highly maneuverable vehicles. General Motors' Pontiac division, which had expected to sell 65,000 of its agile, two-seat Fiero (base sticker price: $8,310) this year, now says sales will top 100,000. Momentum is also building for the $15,500 turbo-powered Chrysler Laser and Dodge Daytona, which have a claimed top speed of 125 m.p.h. In California, one of the strongest sellers is the Chevrolet Camaro Berlinetta, a luxury sports car. Loaded with options such as a sunroof, digital instruments and a cassette player, it sells for about $13,500.

Though sales of new convertibles have not lived up to optimistic projections, they remain popular. Chrysler has sold 11,867 LeBaron and Dodge 600 convertibles this year, and Ford has moved 8,739 topless Mustangs. Jim Roberto, sales manager of Denver's Skyline Dodge, says he sells rag-tops as fast as he receives them. This fall another convertible will debut: a canvas-top version of the American Motors sub-compact Renault Alliance.

High-performance Japanese imports, including the Honda Prelude and Mazda 626, are in demand. But some of the most popular models are in short supply, since Japanese manufacturers have agreed to quotas on their shipments to the U.S. That gives dealers a chance to make tidy profits. Kramer Motors Honda in Santa Monica, Calif., for example, adds a $2,000 markup to the $6,300 sticker price of the subcompact Honda CRX 1.5.

Chrysler inaugurated a whole new vehicle category last year with its minivan, which carries seven passengers and still drives like a car. Though its Windsor, Ont., plant is operating at full speed and will produce 180,000 minivans this year, Chrysler is hard-pressed to keep up with demand. Some dealers are charging a $2,000 premium on each van. Due within the next nine months are two competing models: the Chevrolet Astro and Ford Aerostar. Industry experts think that minivan sales could go all the way to 750,000 a year.

Revived by falling gasoline prices, four-wheel-drive vehicles, including Jeeps and many trucks, have become the fastest-growing market segment. Jeep sales are up 108% in 1984. Says Joe Ricci, who operates dealerships in Florida, Illinois and Michigan: "It's become a cult car and status symbol." Not all of the cultists are men. Since the station wagon-shaped Jeep Cherokee was slimmed down, women have accounted for 30% of the sales.

The new enthusiasm of American buyers is, in part, belated acknowledgment that U.S. cars have changed. They are more functional and aerodynamic in design, quicker to accelerate and easier to handle. Several models are frank imitations of such high-priced German cars as Porsche, Mercedes-Benz and BMW, but at prices as much as $20,000 less.

The company that appears to have capitalized most successfully on new buyer trends is Ford. It revamped virtually its entire car line in a risky bet that customers would respond to sensuously rounded shapes characteristic of European models. So far the gamble has paid off. The Thunderbird, one of the most radically restyled, is selling 61% faster than a year ago, and sales of its sister car, the Mercury Cougar, have doubled since 1983.

Ford is also promoting performance. It jammed a mammoth V-8 engine into its compact Mustang and produced a car with neck-snapping acceleration: 0 to 60 m.p.h. in 7.2 sec. The luxurious Continental Mark VII LSC has been redesigned for better handling. It has a new slippery shape and a suspension system that uses air-filled rubber sacks instead of steel shock absorbers. Another manufacturer that has been especially successful with cars designed for demanding drivers is Pontiac. In addition to the Fiero, it has won over customers with its 6000 STE, a mid-size model aimed at wooing young adults away from expensive imports. The STE has a wedge-shape profile, six head lights in place of the usual four, and it handles like a European sedan.

While many Americans are sold on high speed and racy lines, some others still want a car big enough to take the whole family on vacation. Because Detroit has been limiting production of fullsize cars, dealers, especially in the South, complain they cannot get enough of them. Says Dick Strauss, a Richmond Ford dealer who is nearly sold out of the $14,500 Crown Victoria, the successor to the Ford LTD: "Preferences haven't changed. The standard-size car is still the most desired, although not everyone can afford it." Tampa Dodge Dealer Hubert Brooks is also squeezed. Says he: "I can't keep a big car on the lot."

Few car shoppers today seem willing to scrimp on options. Says Daniel Dolce, general manager of Jersey City's DiFeo Buick: "People want the whole works. There is no such thing as a stripped-down car any more." Many consider power steering, door locks and push-button windows virtually standard equipment.

Among the newer options, stereo cassette players are the most popular. With four speakers and elaborate electronic controls, they can cost up to $895. Explains Chrysler President Harold Sperlich: "People have more money now and they feel comfortable parting with it." The average price of a new car this year is $10,760, up from $7,591 four years ago.

Some 1984 cars are chockablock with electronic equipment. The Chrysler Laser, for instance, has a dashboard that displays speed in digital form and flashes messages like DRIVER DOOR AJAR or LOW OIL PRESSURE. Other models have computerized voices that provide the same information. But some buyers do not like the disembodied voices and have disconnected their units.

For drivers who find it exasperating to fold and unfold road maps, Buick this fall will introduce an electronic map display as an option on its Riviera. Drivers will be able to buy cassettes that contain electronic maps. When a cassette is inserted into the front-seat console, the map will appear on a TV-like screen on the dashboard.

Still in the planning stages is a map display that will pinpoint the location of the car by bouncing signals off a navigation satellite. Also in development are myriad other electronic devices: computer systems that adjust shock absorbers to different kinds of road surfaces; a device that eliminates engine idling by shutting the motor off and then restarting it with a touch of the accelerator; a trunk that can be opened by the sound of the driver's voice.

Meanwhile, Detroit is planning to introduce more European-influenced cars. This fall Chrysler will unveil its H-car line of four-door sports sedans that will include the LeBaron GTS and the Dodge Lancer. Claims Chrysler Executive Vice President John Withrow: "We built this car to handle. It will out-BMW the BMW." Estimated price: $9,000 to $15,000. GM's fall offerings follow a simi lar theme: front-wheel-drive cars with a high-tech look. Known as the N models, they will be marketed as the Pontiac Grand Am, Oldsmobile Calais and Buick Somerset Regal. Their prices will start at around $9,000.

Detroit hopes that these 1985 cars will keep buyers rushing to showrooms. Dealers, though, are already having trouble keeping the latest models in stock. When the village of Ridgewood, N.J., asked Teterboro Chrysler-Plymouth to lend a convertible, as it has in years past, for the local beauty queen to ride in during the Independence Day parade, Sales Manager Alan Graf had to refuse. He was sold out.

-- By Alexander L. Taylor III. Reported by Lawrence Mondi/New York and Paul A. Witteman/Detroit

With reporting by Lawrence Mondi/New York, Paul A. Witteman/Detroit