European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 15, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse Thursday january 15, 1987 the stars and stripes Page 13 car Corner new Austin Rover Sterling sedans go on Sale in . The Austin Rover Sterling sedans built in England and powered by japanese Honda engines going on Sale now in the United states where the British subsidiary Austin Rover of North America Hopes to sell 30,000 the firs year. It is no secret certainly that the Austi Rover group of Britain the manufacturer of he Sterling sedans is practically shaking its future on the Success of this North american operation and officials have been anything but reluctant to Point this out. Two cars Are being featured for North american sales the Sterling 82ss and 825slthe two cars differing primarily i appointment and trim Levels. Both Are pow ered by the 24-valve, aluminium Honda 2.5 Lite engines of i i i horsepower. The cars Are front wheel drive with either a five Speed manual or a four Speed automatic transmission. Prices will run in the si9,000 Range for the 8z5s and $24,000 Forth b25sl Model the Sterling was introduced in Britain last summer As the Rover 800, and will arrive on the German Market and other euro Pean markets Early this Spring with two ver Sions the Rover 825si and Rover 825 Sterling. Well be driving these cars soon and will have a full report later this Mon thin another British car development land Rover announced recently that it has opened in first Ever american headquarter son the East coast Lanham my with 11 dealers appointed to sell its four wheel drive Range Rover vehicles. Land Rover plans to expand the dealer network to 35 by late this Spring following the official launch of the Range Rover. Pm rebuilding pays during the los Angeles Auto show which ended last weekend general motors president of James Mcdonald told a pres conference that the six year Effort to rebuild pm with new technologies new tools new Talent and a new team spirit is nearly finished and is beginning to pay dividends. Discussing the new pm cars and trucks featured at the show Mcdonald said they demonstrate that pm today is a High tech corporation with the most advanced technology and the greatest lineup of talents in the the pm president said there is Little re semblance Between today s pm and the pm of 1980. The pm you see today is anew team with new equipment know How and he said of s rebuilding Effort it largely behind us and cited these areas Plant modernization "1920s Vintage plants and equipment Are being replaced with the most advanced facilities and com Putty based manufacturing in the major acquisitions the Purchase and integration of electronic data systems and Hughes aircraft has Given us the deep est Well of Talent in the we be restructured All of our North american car and truck operations to give us an organization with streamlined decision transition to front wheel drive the vast majority of our products now have themore space efficient transversely mounted engines and integral Frame body relationships the old adversarial culture is behind us. Our management employees and suppliers have come to realize that the Only True Job Security comes from being world class and world Mcdonald said the Auto Industry is com ing off a record sates year and that pm is finishing its third successive year of six Mil lion plus total vehicle sales when you add our new products to the Tincup it looks As if Well do extremely Well in the year ahead the pm president said. Car conversion seminars the , Auto conformity firm s european Headquarters in Frankfurt announced recently thai a series of five car conversion seminars will be held in Ger Many during february. Guest speakers from the United states will be present at the seminars to answer questions and present a photo series on the car conversion process the firm said. The latest department of transportation environmental Protection Agency and . Customs requirements also will be covered. The seminars will be held in the Fol lowing cities Kaiserslautern feb. 14, see hotel Gilt Erswood 2 to 5 . By thurs feb. 15, forint sport hotel 2 to 5 30 .fuerth, feb. 16, Novosel hotel 2 to 5 . Stuttgart feb. 19, slut Gan inter National hotel 8 10 10 . Frankfurt feb. 21, so Eigenberger hotel 2 to 5 30 . Randy Barnett Chrysler s to by Lido loses out in naming of new Chrysler Maserati Detroit a Chrysler corp and Maserati have chosen a new name Tor their yet to by Intro Ducco two scat luxury car. In making tie announcement . Liebler Chrysler s general marketing manager said that despite Many re mors about what our new sport Coupe convertible might be named it will be called Chrysler s to by Maserati " there had been reports earlier that the convertible to be introduced later this year As a 1988 Model would be named the Lido the Given first name of Chrysler chairman Lee Scocca. To stands for Turbo convertible which describes what the car is lib scr said. Also the letters Mcdon t get in tin Way of the names Chrysler and the to s car badge Wilt consist of the Maserati Trident surrounded by the Chrysler pent astar which Are the emblems of both car makers. The to Turbo convertibles Are to include Many Chrysler components including engines and automatic transmissions. Overall engineering and Assembly of the car will be done by Maserati at its factory in Northern Italy. Chrysler has said it Hopes to build 6,000 of them a year. They will sell for about $30,000, the two firms Are also producing a new 16-valve engine and could Possi Bly build a tour door luxury Sedan be fore the end of the decade. hondas available in Germany cry rates High As pocket rocket the Honda civic cry sports car is the subject of today s review As we recently drove a european version pow ered by a 1,6-liter fuel injection engine with four valves per Cylinder the crxl.6i-l 5 Model. Its .-spccification counterpart is the cry is. The big difference Here is in the engine the 16-valve european version with i2ihorsepower and the . Car with 91 he from its 1.5-liter fuel injection engine with 3valves per Cylinder. We drove the Honda Courtesy of the eur asian motor company which is now offer ing Honda cars in both . And european specifications along with .-spec Hyun Dai cars and the us spec Suzuki off Road Samurai John Gordon an Independent Honda importer and the firm s director said he plans to have a network of Oft Posl Honda dealers As Well As some 50 German Honda dealers who can set and service Calion Honda cars the Range including civics accords and preludes along with the regular Honda car lineup cordon says thai both the legend and integral luxury cars will be available these models from the Acura automobile division of american Honda motor co. Honda Hyundai and Suzuki cars Are available for us. Or european delivery Gordon said with european delivery taking about three to four weeks after the order displaced. Now Lei s look Al the Honda civic cry 1.6i-16, a car that would be listed under the pocket rocket category in american automotive jargon meaning Little cars thai go like mad. Well under 10 seconds for Zero to 60 Mph for instance and with top speeds of at least 115 Mph from their Small but highly sophisticated engines. The cry Hatchback a Well qualified the Honda cry is u shown performing on Stidom Coors. Member of this category is primarily a two seater sports car even though there is a tiny Seal in the Back that allows on adult Passen Ger to be ferried across town but Only in an because of this rear Seal configuration the setback folds Dow the area for Driver and passenger is extremely Large and comfortable with plenty of Roo mall around. The . Version has no rear seating. There s a drawback for the Driver however As his legs hit the steering wheel no matter How carefully he slides into the seat. But once in the cry everything fits neatly perfect pedal positioning proper reach on the five Speed Gearbox lever and a wide open View of Lite Road. There s also a foot rest always a Welcome item there s plenty of room to store things with a Glove Box a Box within the dash a storage Box Tor cassettes and a bin for maps at the Bottom of the Driver s door. The gauges on the instrument panel Are easy thread the various Needles Ulun United separately from the Orange background when the lights switched on. The engine which Revi to 7,000 rpm i surprisingly silent yet Strong and responsive and it works in perfect Harmony with the five Speed Gearbox. The front wheel drive cry under Steen noticeably in tight turns especially if you re pushing it but it hangs in there goes where you Point it and is always run to drive. On ice and Snow and we had our share of that the cry charged on without wavering an Power to the Road came on smoothly. The car handles Well on Back Road and it s Quick All around with cruising speeds of i of to 112 Mph about right our top Speed came to 124 Mph and it was no problem sustaining it. These figures of course will be lower for the .-spec cry is but even there the Zerc-to-60-Rnph time according to Honda s lining is under 9 seconds and top Speed is115 Mph. Along with the car is performance car the Honda car series with . Specifications includes the cry of Economy car with 58 he and the cry with 76 he this car also with a 12-Vatve engine. The hondas May be teen at the .Honda sales office next to Benjamin Franklin Village in Mannheim. For in formation write eurasian motor co., 5, 6900 Heidelberg Ger Many. ,
