Thursday, April 5, 1934
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By PAT CLARK
You just don't see car manufacturers pushing
rumble seats and tailfins onto the buying public
anymore. The magic words these days are "aerody
namic design," "front-wheel drive," and "emerging
technology," a representative of Ford Motor Co. said.
"That's not a fashion thing or a style thing " said
Bill Peacock, public relations manager for Ford.
"The auto industry is light-years away from the big
fashion gambit we did in the '50s and '60s. Cars are
approached on a driver-oriented basis today."
Peacock said the auto industry is becoming inter
ested in aerodynamics. Ford tests new cars for
aerodynamic design at the Lockheed Aircraft wind
tunnel in Marietta, Ga. Air moving the car can waste
fuel, he said. Better aerodynamic design means bet
ter mileage.
What all of this means in practical terms is that
the chrome-laden, tailfinned turquoise ragtop land
barges from the gas-rich '50s are not about to make
a roaring comeback. It does mean, however, that we
will start seeing cars break out of the box-shaped
design that was especially prevalent with European
imports in the 70s.
"Foreign cars, especially the Volvo and BMW, basi
cally had a three-box design," Peacock said. "It was
very inefficient for managing air. The trick is to
make the environment comfortable for passengers
and still round the car off for aerodynamic design.
You never saw a square airplane."
The prototype of the new aerodynamic Ford
retains an old, romantic gas-hog name: Thunderbird.
Another "new, efficient" design feature, front
wheel drive, is neither, new nor necessarily efficient,
Peacock said.
"There were front-wheel drive cars in the '20s,"
Peacock said. "The distinct advantage of them is
that it is package-efficient. You don't have the drive
line down the middle of the car. The disadvantage is
that they are not as good for acceleration and high
speed driving." Peacock said front-wheel drive cars
also handle better in bad weather than rear-wheel
drive cars, at least in smaller car lines.
"At about the midpoint of the auto size spectrum,
front-wheel drive does not offer appreciable advan
tages, except from the marketing standpoint. So you
may see car companies do front-wheel drive cars
even if rear-wheel drive would do as well or better,"
Peacock said.
Car colors have changed with car designs. Popu
lar car colors are a regional matter, Peacock said.
"Light colors predominate in the Sun Belt. Conser
vative colors, Uke the earth tones, tend to be popular
in the East. Silver is popular everywhere, especially
the West Coast, where Mercedes sells well."
In any case, Peacock said, you can forget about
robin's-egg blue and pink. "The light, primary colors
of the '50s and early '60s have pretty well disap-
peared, and two tones have too. Some cars this year
will have a darker shade of the same color on the
lower panel" He said this gives the car a sleeker,
more well-proportioned look.
While car exteriors conform to new aerodynamic
ideals, you are not without options for interior
design. Custom-designed interiors are common with
luxury cars, he said.
Cloth has replaced vinyl as the interior fabric of
choice. Peacock said cloth interiors are popular for
three reasons: its improved durability, its resistance
to heat ("you know how uncomfortable it is to get in
a car after it sits in the sun all day") and its reassur
ing texture, which "helps to hold you in the car."
For both interior and exteriors, Peacock expects
high-tech wizardry to continue as the rage in the
auto industry for the foreseeable future. "We're get
ting ready to go into major changes in the auto
industry with what I call 'emerging technologies.' "
Most of the breakthroughs Peacock described will
not be noticeable as style changes, but as driving
changes.
One such improvement is an electronically con
trolled air suspension spring. "It's a rubber-type air
cylinder, constantly changing air pressure, moni
tored by sensors that in turn send signals to a com-
Shelley SperryDally Nebraskan t
puter. It keeps the car in best balance under all
kinds of load-bearing conditions. The steel spring in
cars now is calibrated for the average use, not any
one single use," Peacock said.
Peacock also expects electronic power steering to
come into vogue in the next few years. "Electronic
power steering gives you the correct amount of
power steering boost for every road speed. You get
the same power boost now no matter what speed
you are going and degree of turn. The electronic
power steering means you will get the same feel
coming through the steering wheel at all speeds."
The drawback to the new electronic equipment in
cars is the need for a reliable, low-cost computer,
Peacock said. "The market will only pay so much for
this kind of equipment," he said. "As prices of elec
tronic computers go down, these changes will become
more possible."
Even the traditional Oct. 1 to Sept. 30 model year
for cars is falling by the wayside, Peacock said.
"The industry has gotten into a frantic period of
bringing out new cars and light trucks as soon as
they can." He said the advantages of abandoning the
old format were that they could stagger the new
model introductions and balance the workload
through the year in design and production plants.
In! 11 TIF
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"You're listening to KLAT radio. Remember, we
mean back talk. It's time for the High-Tech Hour,
with your host, Alan J. Bluto. Now, here's Alan."
Thanks very much. Time for another fun-filled
hour in which we answer all your questions about
high tech. Let's go to our first caller. Hello?
"Hi Alan?"
Ma'am, I'm hearing an echo. Is your radio on.
Mike
Frost
"Why yes."
Well, please, turn your radio down. Thanks very
much. Go ahead with your question.
"We're having several friends over for dinner
tonight and I was wondering what kind of software
to set.
What are you serving for supper?
"Tuna casserole."
Yucko. If you're going to serve that mush, I'd sug
gest something that's going to divert their attention.
Maybe a good video game like Popeye or Kickman.
"My husband thought maybe we should while
away the hours with conversation."
Why bother talking when you could play a good
video game? Take my advice, stick with Popeye and
your evening will be a success. Next caller, please.
"Hello, Alan?"
Ma'am, I'm hearing a radio in the background.
"Oh, I guess it is on."
Please, turn your radio down. Thanks very much.
What's your question?
"Well, our son has tampered with our cable televi
sion box. We are not getting a pornographic televi
sion station from Del Rio, Texas. What should I do?
Ma'am, what your lad has done is a federal
offense. If you don't want to see the little slime
bucket rot behind bars, send me the tampered cable
box, and 111 make sure it's viewed, er, disposed of
properly. Really. You can trust me. Next call.
"Hello, Alan?"
Sir, I hear the screaching of tires in the back
ground. "Yeah, that's because I'm calling you on the porta
phone in our station wagon."
Well, please, turn your radials down. Thanks very
much. OK, what's your question? .
"It's not a question per se. I thought I'd share a
high-tech joke with your listening audience."
Go right ahead. Because it is such a new field,
there are very few high-tech jokes. It's not because
high-techers don't have a good sense of humor.
"OK. See, I went to a computer store, and I asked
the clerk if he had a computer with 60 bytes. He said,
'I haven't had 60 bytes for more than a week.' So, I bit
him 60 times!"
Good one, sir. Thanks for calling. Hello, you're on
the air.
"Hello, Alan?"
Sir, I'm hearing steam heat in the background.
"Yes, my apartment is heated that way."
Well, please turn your radiator down. Thanks very
much. Go ahead with your high-tech question.
"It's kind of personal. I've always used an Apple
Home Computer. I'm engaged to Darla, and I just
found out she uses and IBM personal computer. Can
this liaison work?"
Listen, you know I'm an open-minded guy and
everything. But, I just don't approve a mixed-data I
mean, I use an Apple, like you. People who use IBM's
aren't like you and me. They have an entirely differ
ent, well you know, video display terminal ItH never
work. Dump her. Hello, you're on the air.
"Hello, Alan?"
Ma'am, I'm hearing a high level of radiation in the
background.
"It's my son. He's building an atomic reactor."
Well, please, have your son turn uranium down.
"I can't and that's my whole problem. Little Adolf
has gone hightech crazy. He's got seven atomic reac
tors in the back yard. He's got his home computer
tapped into SAC. He says he's going to destroy us all
if we don't treat him with respect. I'm scared, Alan."
Treat him with respect, eh? Ma'am, your son's a
mealy-mouthed little liar. No individual has that
kind of capability. It's technolgically im