Playboy's Automotive Report

Times are changing quickly in the car business. The 1992 model year will witness major shifts in influence. Forget what you think you know about American cars. Quality is up, defects are down and fresh styling is again turning heads. Cadillac's elegant new Seville STS, for example, is challenging the Japanese and European luxury leaders, and Buick's supercharged Park Avenue Ultra and the new Oldsmobile Eighty Eight Royale look like winners. Chrysler continues to lead the minivan wars. And Dodge's thundering V-10 Viper sports roadster invades a franchise Corvette has owned for years. Still, the big news for Chrysler won't come until this fall. Lee Iacocca has to hope that his company won't bleed to death from discounting before it can launch its flashy 1993 LH sedans. European luxury cars are faltering under relentless attacks from the Japanese. Some European brands, such as Peugeot and Sterling, have already abandoned the U.S. playing field; more will surely follow as competitive pressures increase. And Japanese carmakers, despite intense public scrutiny from Americans who are tired of watching their industry decline, are responding with still more cleverly designed, attractively priced new models--many of them built in the U.S. Environmental concern is heating up. Mitsubishi and Honda are touting new fuel-efficient, lean-burning engines. BMW and Volkswagen lead in recycling technology. They predict that some cars will be totally recyclable by the end of the decade. Safety is suddenly very fashionable. Air bags and antilock brakes are available on models in every price range. On the retail front, customer service is in, salesperson indifference is out. We're watching a revolution, and when the exhaust smoke clears, there will be fewer makes to contest the battle. With all these changes--there are currently 60 makes and more than 600 models to choose from--Playboy has again assembled a panel of automotive experts (their biographies can be found on page 139) to evaluate 1992 cars in a variety of categories. And for the second year in a row, as part of our annual new-car roundup, we're presenting Playboy's Car of the Year award. The winner is pictured overleaf. Gentlemen, start your opinions.... Hottest Pocket Rocket Under $20,000: Mazda's devilishly quick, egg-shaped MX-3 eased out Nissan's NX2000 in the voting. Ken Gross picked the MX-3, commenting that its "head-turning looks, high-tech features and Miata-like handling make it a winner in the minisupercoupe class." David Stevens thought that (continued on page 110) the MX-3 had a slight case of "insufferable cutes" but loved the handling. "Buying one without the optional V6 engine would be like ordering a new Rolls-Royce with cloth seats." Len Frank hadn't driven an MX-3, but he chose it anyway, saying, "Mazda is an exception to the stiff-spring-no-damping school of Japanese suspension tuning." Brock Yates preferred the Nissan NX2000, calling it "the Saturday-night special of automobiles." John Lamm wasn't knocked out by the looks of the NX2000, "but the driving fun makes up for it." Arie Luyendyk cast his vote for the redesigned Volkswagen Golf, saying "its handling and acceleration are the equal of some thirty-five-thousand-dollar cars."

Most-Improved Old Model: "Talk about Cinderella stories," said Gross, "Mazda's unobtrusive old 929 looked like an ugly duckling alongside a Legend. The new 929 echoes the styling cues we've come to expect from Mazda, plus it offers technical innovations, such as a solar-powered ventilation system, that everyone will want to copy." Frank called the old 929 "the car to offend no one. But the new one leaves Acura, Lexus, et al. posing far behind." Stevens felt the redesigned 929's steering was "a bit light for his taste," but the over-all remake was superb, "like watching your homely sister grow up to become Julia Roberts." Lamm liked the Pontiac Bonneville SSEi: "This car is proof that Pontiac's alive and kicking." Yates voted for the Oldsmobile Eighty Eight, saying "nothing here is terribly revolutionary, but the Eighty Eight is a great leap forward for GM, along with Buick's Park Avenue. Considering past offerings from Lansing, Oldsmobile would win a Nobel Prize if one were given for cars." Luyendyk praised the face-lifted Jaguar XJ-S. "It's cleaner now, and in white, it looks like you're driving royalty."

Biggest Kick to Drive: "A kick to drive" said Yates, "implies a certain zany unpredictability that disqualifies near-perfect cars like the Acura NSX. The Dodge Viper is a runaway--literally--winner. It won't save Chrysler, but it will scare the piss out of a few thousand lucky owners. It's a pure Neanderthal that's more fun than a night out with Pee-wee Herman." After driving a Viper prototype, Stevens said, "The old saying about there being no atheists in foxholes applies to the Viper. Take it from zero to one hundred and back to zero in fourteen seconds and you'll be praying, too." Frank questioned Viper's development costs: "How do you spend fifty million dollars developing yestertech?" His choice? A GMC Syclone truck, ideally built especially for him with an extended cab and no body cladding. Luyendyk preferred the Corvette ZR-1: "It's a product Chevy can be proud of. Handling is great, acceleration is good and you can't beat the price compared to the Italian exotics." Gross's choice was the Lamborghini Diablo, which he felt was "a worthy successor to the Countach." Lamm picked the Mitsubishi 3000GT/Dodge Stealth: "This is the real world-winner, particularly if you find yourself on curving roads in nasty weather."

Best-Handling Car: Stevens liked last year's Playboy Car of the Year, the Acura NSX. "If my ex-wife were this forgiving," he said, "we would still be married. On second thought, naaaah, the NSX is better-looking." Lamm agreed--about the car, at least: "The NSX is the state-of-the-art winner with precise handling and a decent ride." "For a live-with-it-everyday exotic, you can't beat the NSX," said Gross. "Hop in and little voices urge you on to Ayrton Senna--like driving feats. Porsches and Ferraris still have the cachet, but the NSX is more drivable and now they're even being discounted!" "The NSX is an A-plus student here," added Yates, "in a class loaded with good-time Charleys sporting gentlemen's Cs." Luyendyk also liked the NSX for its high-speed-cornering capability. Frank commented that he likes to race, and for that, "Corvettes do it better than most cars."

Sexiest Car for Your Girlfriend to Buy: Gross said if price is no object, he'd go for the Mercedes-Benz 500SL--which was also picked Ultimate Convertible in this feature. "So what if it's expensive? She can drive it forever. What woman wouldn't want to 'wear' the closest thing Europe offers to haute couture on wheels?" Yates agreed: "If she has any class at all, she'll go for the bucks. The Mercedes-Benz 500SL drips status like the crown jewels and costs only slightly less." Frank also chose the 500SL: "Among dozens of desirable cars, none carries the polish and panache of an SL. What better car for anybody's girlfriend?" Lamm's choice was the Subaru SVX: "It's my girlfriend's stated preference because of the design and the way it drives." Luyendyk's only choice was the Jaguar XJ-S convertible, especially a white one driven by a "tanned, beautiful girl." Stevens picked the Alfa Romeo 164S sedan, calling it "a really overlooked beautiful piece of machinery that's nimble and sexy like Rebecca De Mornay in mirrored aviator sunglasses, a scoop-necked top and tight jeans."

Coolest Car for a High School Reunion: "As Zero Mostel said, 'If you've got it, flaunt it.' " said Stevens, who would go rolling back to his high school reunion in a brand new Bentley Continental R. "So what if the back seat is small? Just don't let your old flame poke a hole in all that supple leather with her spike heels." Luyendyk agreed: "This car is a symbol of success and very inviting for your high school girlfriend to jump in and reminisce." Gross called the Continental R "a British men's club on wheels that drips class. Driving it guarantees your new money will look just like old money." Yates opted for the Ferrari Testarossa, calling it "a visual home run. Even the former president of the chess club would know that it's a hot machine." Lamm, who grew up in a small farming town in Wisconsin, chose a GMC Syclone truck, calling it "the pickup of 1992. I'd probably get a speeding ticket, but then I really would feel like I was back in high school again." "Back in my home town, Youngstown, Ohio," said Frank, "anyone showing up in an import would have been stoned--that is, hit with rocks. I'd drive an Avanti, the last car manufactured there."

Hottest New Feature: "It has to be the Mazda 929's new solar-powered fans that exhaust the hot air out of a parked car," said Gross. Stevens agreed: "Anything that automatically sucks the hot air out of a car before I drive it is a sure winner. What could be better? Maybe air bags in the shape of blow-up dolls?" Yates leaned toward the Mazda MX-3's miniature V6 "simply because it's such an outré example of show-off engineering by the Japanese." Luyendyk praised the Mercedes 500SL's fully automatic, one-button top-closing device. Lamm preferred the Infiniti's full-active suspension "for doing what everybody else is just talking about." And Frank thought the Porsche Tiptronic transmission was "pretty neat, but didn't go far enough. Why not something like the Ferrari Formula I car shifter with a fully automatic mode for those occasions when your right hand has better things to do?"

Ultimate Convertible: "Is there a choice beyond the Mercedes SL?" asked Frank. "How bourgeois of me." Gross felt that the Viper "is a head-turner, but you wouldn't want to drive it from New York to California. The Mercedes SL is still the finest two-seater droptop available at any price--for long distances or just dawdling around town. Too bad it's nearly a hundred grand, and that's with just a V8." (A V12 engine will be coming in late 1992.) Yates is a Mercedes fan, too: "Any machine that's as fiendishly complex and as expensive as the 500SL has to qualify as the ultimate sportster." Luyendyk also picked the SL, applauding its "looks, smoothness (continued on page 138) Automotive Report (continued from page 110) and wonderful top mechanism." Lamm tipped his hat to the Mazda Miata, calling it "the choice for the regular guy because it's affordable and so much fun. Also, it was designed so that the driver can raise or lower the top with one hand while stopped at a red light." Stevens' vote went to the Morgan Plus 8: "Gross and I borrowed one from the importer, Isis Motors in San Francisco, earlier this year," he recalled. "Driving around, we had women crawling all over the car like eels rising up from the Sargasso Sea. At least, I think they were women."

Most Car for the Money Under $20,000: The all-wheel-drive Eagle Talon just edged out Ford's restyled Taurus and the new, Kentucky-built Toyota Camry in this category, with panelists acknowledging that any of the three is an excellent value. Lamm opted for the Talon, saying "anyone who has driven one in rotten weather knows the reason why I chose it. The Talon looks aggressive and can be driven that way." Stevens also chose the Talon: "For eighteen thousand and change, it's a great buy, providing you're not the size of Michael Jordan." Yates: "For Mr. and Mrs. America, and everybody in between, you've got to go with that old Dearborn standard, the Ford Taurus, with the Honda Accord finishing a wink behind, based on size and power." Frank also liked the Taurus, as well as Nissan's Maxima and the new Toyota Camry, "providing they're all properly optioned, of course." Luyendyk split his vote between the Acura Integra and the Honda Accord, because both of them are "luxurious, comfortable, handle well and look good." Gross felt that the "made-in-America, all-new Camry has what it takes to dislodge Honda from the number-one-selling spot. And the sporty SE version will give other wanna-be BMWs a run for their money."

Best of the Homeboys: "Some new cars restore your faith in America," said Gross, "like Buick's Park Avenue, the Olds Eighty Eight or Ford's Crown Victoria." However, he thought the Cadillac Seville STS was "the best of a tough bunch. Good looks, capable handling and real road presence make STS the best grand-touring Cadillac ever, arguably one GM car with a chance to entice back import drivers who fled the General in droves." Lamm seconds the motion. "Now this is the modern Cadillac," he said, "not an overweight, throwback Caddy that forgot to bring its tail fins. As nice as the exterior is, the interior is even better, with some of the best seats I've ever tried and an instrument panel that the Germans could learn from." Stevens agreed, basing his vote solely on the exterior restyling "because I haven't been able to pry one of these babies away from Cadillac." His second choice: Chrysler vans. "They still do it the best." Yates went for the Taurus SHO "now that they've fixed the shifter. The Buick Park Avenue, sans glitz, is nice. And on paper, I like the as-yet-untested Cadillac Seville STS." Frank's pick was the Ford Crown Victoria: "It shows how well Detroit understands cars of this type." And Luyendyk would see the U.S.A. in a Chevrolet Caprice, which, he says, "looks different yet is priced right."

Top All-Wheel-Drive Wheels: "Subaru's SVX is an impressive value," said Gross, "but Porsche's go-anywhere Carrera 4 is the best sports all-rounder. I drove one from Manhattan to Washington, D.C., in a six-inch snowfall. The only vehicles that could pass me were pickups--and they were sideways. As an eighty-thousand-dollar Jeep, it's unbeatable." Racer Luyendyk preferred the Carrera 2: "Give me two wheels to play with, that's all I need," but conceded that the Carrera 4 "is fun to drive." Said Yates, "It's difficult to choose a four-wheel-drive from a mixed bag of off-roaders and sports all-wheel-drivers. Forced to do so, I have to go with the Carrera 4." Lamm liked the Subaru SVX. "I've been on a ski trip in one," he said, "and it was outstanding. On packed snow, it goes like hell, and with ABS, it stops quickly. Remember though, when you turn, the SVX is bound by the same basic physics as a Yugo." Stevens added, "The Green Hornet would have loved the SVX--low and sleek with that eye-catching window in the window." Frank also liked the SVX, but asked, "Does it really need all-wheel drive?"

1993s We Can Hardly Wait For: Stevens picked the Chrysler LH sedans. "The year 1993 will be do or die time at Chrysler," he said, "and from what I've heard, the LHs will be worth waiting for. At least, they'd better be." Said Frank, "The LHs look wonderful. If only they didn't have wrong-wheel drive. They're probably OK for the family, though." Lamm: "OK, they're family cars, but they are a good indication of whether or not Chrysler will even exist in the next five years." Gross agreed: "I was given a sneak preview of the LH and I think it has what it takes to turn Chrysler around." Luyendyk looked forward to the Ferrari 512 GT America: "I just love Ferraris, that's why." Yates: "I'll have to pick the 600 Mercedes S-Class to see if the marketing geniuses at Mercedes-Benz of North America can actually convince some rich guys to dump one hundred and fifty thousand dollars into a mass-produced sedan that weighs about as much as a humvee--which, by the way, I'm really eager to see on the street!" Frank was equally skeptical: "Six hundred years ago," he said, "men wore stuffed codpieces and women had shoes with toes so long and pointed that they had to be supported with fine gold chains. Of course, they couldn't walk in them. The soon-to-come V12 600SL is a little like those medieval affectations: excess that doesn't mean much. I wish they had spent that development time on a 190 replacement."

Well, there you have it. Informed, irreverent and not always in agreement, our panel of experts has had its say again. One thing they do concur on, the battle for American sales supremacy has never been tougher in the car game. Despite rising prices, the need for carmakers to move metal is spurring dramatic discounting, often with stickers slashed before the paint has even dried on new 1992s. If you bargain skillfully, terrific buys await.

Playboy's Pick of the Pack

Playboy's Panel of Judges