European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 30, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes monday May 30, 1977foreign automakers expect to increase . Corner sales by 17% this year w normally this column deals with production cars but from time to time a look at the racing picture crops up because both scenes overlap. Although formula 1grand prix racing no longer ties in to any great degree with production automobile the Long distance Competition still does. It famous porsche firm of Stuttgart Zug Senhausen has always maintained that Long distance racing provides the ultimate test and that their achievements on the tracks have resulted in better porsche cars for their customers. Porsche announced Over the weekend that the Martini porsche team has two objectives for 1977 defending their title in the world championship of makes and repeating last year s Victory at the 24 hours of be  firm said it would not defend its title in the world championship of sports cars because the double Burden of participating in two championships with two differ ent racing cars is too big. For porsche. 1976 was a  year with two parallel endurance racing world championships covered and both  from this double test has shown that there is no room for two world championships porsche said. The potential of interested companies professional private teams and sponsors is not sufficient to cover both Only if this Poten tial is concentrated on one championship May the classical world championship of makes be brought to a new Peak  interest lags  year As followers of the sport know the world championship of makes open to any Auto firm seeking to compete was split into two divisions one for sports cars and the other for Silhouette cars Normal production cars modified for racing the idea similar to the . Lascar Stock car racing setup As result of the two division split Nei ther program is on Strong ground and Sev eral races have already been cancelled this year for Lack of Spectator interest. The Days of the big sports cars Are Over and porsche wisely suggests that just one championship be conducted and that one for the Silhouette  s no secret that porsche has been urging More firms to participate As porsche have been winning without opposition. The Stuttgart firms feels that Bow Ford of Germany. Fiat and Lancia Hope fully american and British companies and any others will join in this Type of racing. If it Ever develops it will make for a True manufacturers championship with cars that customers can relate to. Better chances regarding this Issue the German firm say s porsche has already begun with such concentration favouring the world championship of production cars which in the Long run gives the automobile companies better chances of participation and engagement. The world championship of sports cars. Porsche feels has Little Chance of asserting itself in the future. In the sense of a More sporting Long distance world championship arousing greater Public interest it is to be hoped that the second test with the parallel Champion ships this year will be the last  porsche is Fielding one 935 Turbo close to a 911 in appearance in the Silhouette series and will enter two 936 sports cars at be mans along with one 935. Last year sle mans winning 936 open cockpit sports car is entered again for Belgium s Jacky Ida and Frenchman Henri Pescarolo a second 936 will function As a backup car at be mans but Drivers Haven t been named. The Lone 935 car which porsche feels is also Good or a leading position at be mans will be driven by Germany s Rolf Somme Len and Manfred Scurti of lichens teen. Renault turbos the major opposition to porsche at be mans the race is june 11-12 will be provided by the French Renault Turbo cars and the British Mirage racers the mirages to be powered by Renault Turbo engines. The teams of Renault Mirage and porsche alone will have seven group 6 sports cars at the Start All of them having a Chance to  says its 935 and 936 cars feature exterior modifications but As to Basic engineering they Are identical with the successful models of last year. The body modifications with both models Are the result of optimizing aerodynamics follow ing wind Tunnel tests porsche says be cause increased performance resulting from body changes Are often More valuable than that drawn from the  two 936 cars prepared for be mans Are last year s cars with the serial num Bers 001 and 002. As those two cars sur Vived unharmed in world championship runs in 1976 As Well As All the test rides they were modified and freshened up for this year s 24-hour event. As far As the engines Are concerned. Porsche said both the 935 and the 936 engines were refitted to feature two Turbo chargers instead of one the modifications resulting in stepped up performance. Moreover the change made for better engine  porsche added that in View of these achievements it is noteworthy that the presently employed porsche racing engines arc genuine descendants of the 911 series production  the 24 hours of be mans is the oldest race of All. The first one dating Back to 1906. It still remains the top test for any car and a firm that wins there is justifiably proud of it. Not too Many years ago be mans was a super spectacle with big and incredibly noisy sports cars fighting it out. Although those Days Are gone the task of winning a 24-hour endurance race is still just As difficult and that s Why the Appeal remains. Randy Barnett by Edward s. Blechtzin los Angeles up flushed with their two most successful sales months Ever the top foreign automakers Are optimistically revising their sales forecast upward and now expect to top last year s Pace by better than 17 per cent. Toyota Dat Sun Volkswagen and Honda executives said in interviews recently that they have added More than 100,000 cars and trucks to their sales projections for the entire  four firms which account for nearly two thirds of All imported Auto sales expect to sell 1.4 million cars and trucks this year compared with just under 1.2 million in 1976.imported cars accounted for an All time monthly record of 206,278 sales in april on top of a record 188,388 cars in  the first four months of the year they . Sales Market and in the three county los Angeles area took nearly 40 per cent of  really did t expect this great a year said Robert o. Link vice president and general manager for Dat Sun. . Slagen corporate marketing manager for Toyota said just Matching 1976 is All we expected to do and now we be added another 40,000 units to our projections spokesmen for Volkswagen the German automaker that will begin building cars in this country next year said the projection for the Sale of 346.000 vow porsche and Audi models has not been officially re Vised upward but we re expecting some thing above that  Schmillen. Assistant director and Field sales manager for american Honda the distributor of the fastest growing import increased an original year end projection of 180,000 sales to 200.000 for this year and expects to hit 240,000 in 1978 when production capacity increases. Another japanese importer Mazda said sales of its rotary engine and Piston engine cars have been above estimates in each month so far this year. Sales of the Small imported cars was in Sharp contrast to the Domestic models. Be cause of continuing slow sales the Ford motor co. And american motors corp. Idled More than 17,000 workers last week at six plants that build Small cars. Ford meanwhile introduced its new West German built fiesta to newsmen in California where imported cars Are Domi Nant in the Small car Market. Ford expect to sell 100,000 fiestas in this country in the first year 35 per cent of them in califor  the arrival of yet another import even if it s sold by a . Automaker do snot worry imported car executives. It s a Good and healthy thing said Toyota s Hagen. Our goals Are modest in relation to theirs and i they say the move to Small cars is great. It s got to help us  pm to build full sized wind Tunnel Warren Mich. General motors will construct the first full scale aerodynamic wind Tunnel in the . Auto Industry at the pm technical Center Here. Excavation is to begin in August. Designed to measure aerodynamic forces on full size cars and Light trucks As Well As scale models of Large pm vehicles the facility is expected to be operational by 1980. According to Frank j. Winchell vice president in charge of the pm engineering staff. It will be located at the Southwest Corner of the technical Center near twelve mile and Mound roads. The project was originally authorized in january 1974. But was deferred because of the economic downturn. Construction con tract bidding will begin after plans and specifications Are updated. Winchell said. This  Winchell said will give pm improved engineering capability to evaluate the effects of vehicle shape on fuel Economy wind disturbance ventilation engine Cooling and safety. The wind Tunnel will facilitate a comprehensive Auto Mobile aerodynamic program which will help us meet National Energy goals and customer vehicle  the wind Tunnel will be adjacent to the pm design staff offices with an under ground connection for moving Clay models to the test area. The amx Hornet ready to move out equipped in racing wrap the new amx Hornet from american motor boasts a Sharp appearance both inside and Oul. It s a relatively fact car la today s non muscle car Era yet it s nimble in traffic and fun to drive. Styling u in a door Hatchback form. A test report on the amx Hornet will appear on this Page next week. Is photo