1961-Model Preview

The big shift of U.S. car buyers to compacts--which last week accounted for 27.9% of auto sales--has forced Detroit to completely realign its 1961 new-model plans. The result will be a major series of body-styling and engine changes to meet the public's demand for economy in size and performance. Not only will there be more--and bigger--compacts, but standard-size cars will come smaller.

The big Fords will be cut in overall length. While trimming its standard cars, and increasing the horsepower in its bigger-sized compact Comet, Ford is also heading into even smaller areas. It-plans to build a four-cylinder, five-passenger car smaller than the Falcon to compete in the Volkswagen and Renault class, selling for under $1,700. To get the price down, Ford plans to make the car in Germany, may not have it out until 1962.

Pontiacs, though still wide-tracked, will also be shortened. Even Cadillac will nip inches off the length of most models. The functional lines of the compacts will be reflected in big-car styling, although Cadillac will stick with its fins. The new look will feature rolled edges and soft curves, with the trend away from bigness and sharp-flaring, winglike fenders. The public is expected to be pleased--but the industry also has its own economy in mind. Detroit makes less profit on the compacts than on standard-size cars, and sells fewer additional gadgets on them. By reducing the big cars in size, and using fewer materials in them, Detroit hopes to add to its profits.

Out with the Hump. The newest car in 1961 will be Pontiac's four-cylinder compact, the Tempest. The first four-cylinder engine in a G.M. car in 30 years, the new water-cooled engine will generate 130 h.p. It will be mounted at a 45DEG angle to provide the Tempest with a low hood line. The Tempest will be similar to the Corvair in styling, but will be five to ten inches longer. The Tempest will also feature a trans-axle, a driveshaft system that has the engine up front but the transmission and differential in the rear.

This eliminates the hump in the front and the back floors, gives the car better balance by more evenly distributing weight between the front and the rear.

GENERAL MOTORS' two other new com pacts, the Oldsmobile F85 and the Buick Special, will be scaled-down versions of their big-car brothers, but bigger and more powerful than the Corvair. Unlike the Corvair, their engines will be up front. For the two cars. G.M. has developed a new eight-cylinder. 145-h.p. water-cooled, part-aluminum engine.

AMERICAN MOTORS will bring out a Rambler with an engine having an aluminum block for its bestselling model, the 108-in. Rambler. The new block is 50% lighter than a conventional cast-iron block, and by cutting down weight is expected to improve gas mileage. American Motors also has a new muffler, which it says will not have to be replaced, as in most present cars. Coated with ceramic, it should last for 90,000 miles of driving, says American Motors.

CHRYSLER'S new Lancer compact will be a bigger (190 in. long) brother of the Valiant, will use the same six-cylinder, inclined (30DEG angle) engine as the Valiant. This engine has been so successful that Chrysler will use it on all Valiants, Darts and Plymouths next year. The big Plymouth will undergo major styling changes.

In with the Sixes. Like the compact impact, which caught Detroit by surprise, there has been an unexpected public shift to six-cylinder engines. A few years ago the V-8 engine seemed to be driving the six out of business, and at one point Dodge even planned to drop the six entirely by 1959. But the demand for sixes is so great this year that Ford is importing engines from Canada. Among Ford customers this year. 40% have ordered six-cylinder engines v. only 23% last year. Chrysler's six-cylinder engine plants are working on a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week shift, and demand is so great that production is being allocated. Of the 1,100,000 cars Chrysler expects to build this year, 700,000 will have six-cylinder engines. Chevrolet buyers also prefer six-cylinder engines, with 51.6% asking for them this year v. 43.8% last year. Rambler has also boosted production of six-cylinder engines, from 89.2% in 1959 to 92%.

On their new economy kick, automakers are counting heavily on the development of an all-aluminum engine. Though aluminum engines dissipate heat more slow ly than cast-iron, and are more difficult to machine, they have a great advantage in weight, which is one way to get a lighter car frame, lower shipping costs, a faster pickup and better mileage.

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