Autos: The Right Formula

Though the first public unwrapping of the new 1963 models is still two months away, Detroit is already debating knowledgeably the characteristics of the new cars. Since sales of the 1962 cars are going so well, the automakers have decided that the right formula for 1963 is more of the same: more pizazz, more convertibles, more horsepower, and more emphasis on less maintenance.

Some of the 1963s will extend the required time between greasing and oil changes to 36,000 miles, more will have self-adjusting brakes, and nearly all Big Three cars will follow Chrysler’s lead by offering alternators—which do a better job than generators at charging batteries in city traffic—as either standard or optional equipment. Automakers also plan to add a bit more length to many of their cars—though the ’63s will still be far from the insolent chariots of the 1950s. Most notable changes:

GENERAL MOTORS hopes to snatch off some of the Thunderbird market with its all-new Buick Riviera, which looks like an outsized version of Volkswagen’s Karmann Ghia with a big American grille. The Riviera will have a 117-in. wheelbase, 340-h.p. engine, and come in a four-passenger, two-door, hardtop model. Chevrolet, also hoping to cut in on the Thunderbird, plans to introduce a Corvette model with the “fastback look” (Detroitese for the convex rear lines popularized by Jaguar’s hot XK-E). The big Chevrolet will have its rear doctored to resemble the pointed silhouette of this year’s Chevy II. Pontiac will set its dual headlights vertically, and on the pizazz Grand Prix plans to introduce a new “prestige” color: iridescent blue-black.

FORD, for the first time, will offer Falcon and Comet convertibles. Falcon sedans will take on the Thunderbird’s crisp roof line. The intermediate Fairlane and Meteor will add station wagon models and both will change their grilles, the Fairlane from flat to concave and the Meteor to a forward thrust. The standard-size Galaxie will have its massive circular taillights set into cylindrically sculptured rear fenders in a kind of twin jet effect. So that customers can tell a Mercury from a Ford, the Monterey will boast a reverse-sloping rear window that can be opened and shut electrically from a dashboard switch.

CHRYSLER, spurred on by a further decline (from 10% to 8% this year) in its share of the U.S. auto market, has done a massive restyling job on almost all its models. The Chrysler 300 will acquire a new sheet-metal skin and squared-off rear that give its lines a handsome simplicity. Plymouth will switch to a Thunderbird-like roof, will also square off its 1962 rear end-irreverently known in Detroit as the “duck butt.” The Valiant, adding a convertible to its line, will grow 2 in. and abandon the European styling it has worn for the past three years in favor of more rectangular lines. In a confusing exchange of identities, this year’s Dart will grow 6 in. (to an overall length of 208 in.) and be rechristened the Dodge, while what is now called the Lancer will grow 7 in. (to 196 in.) and become the Dart.

AMERICAN MOTORS has clamped the industry’s tightest security over Rambler’s heavily restyled Classic and Ambassador. On both models, the wheelbase will be lengthened from 108 in. to 112 in., but overall length will stay the same; the busy-looking lines of recent years will be simplified and side windows will have curved glass.

STUDEBAKER jumped the gun on new-model announcements when President Sherwood Harry Egbert introduced the radically different Avanti sports coupe two months ago (TIME, April 13). Ultimately, Egbert intends to begin styling the prosaic Lark along Avanti lines the way Fords followed Thunderbirds, but with little time to make major changes this year, Egbert has contented himself with giving the 1963 Lark a lower roof and an Avanti-like air scoop on the driver’s side of the hood.