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Automotive
THE LIST
Top cars for women
According to TrueCar.com, here are
the vehicles that had the highest
percentage of female buyers in
2010: 1. Mini, 2. Kia, 3. Honda.
DID YOU KNOW? Toyota is resuming car production on April 18 but will work at half capacity. Operators shutdown after the March earthquake and tsunami.
AUTO BITS
TIP OF THE WEEK
Prepare for
hot weather
Nicole Lyons, professional
NHRA racer, offers some advice for summer driving:
• "The extreme cold of winter
followed by the extreme heat
of summer can put tires at
risk,” says Lyons. Check tires
to ensure there's no cracking
or bubbling, and examine the
inside of the tire, as well.
•"People are way more relaxed during warm-weather
driving, but you shouldn't
allow relaxation to turn into
distraction," Lyons says. Stay
off the phone, even handsfree models — cellphone use
is a top cause of distracteddriving accidents. — ARA
CAR Q & A
GM and small cars
Q: I am interested in the new
2011 Chevrolet Cruze automatic. What are your
thoughts?
A: There’s no question that
the old GM had problems
building small cars. That was
then — the new Cruze is now,
and what a car it is! I spent a
week in a new Cruze 1.4 liter,
four-cylinder engine sixspeed automatic. Our test
car base price was $18,000
as tested, $21,455 with optional equipment. The driving
experience was that of a
much more expensive vehicle. I have no problem recommending the 2011 Cruze.
— Junior Damato,
Talking Cars columnist
CARS WE REMEMBER
Studebaker Hawks and Andy Granatelli
Q: Is it true that racing legend
Andy Granatelli was involved
with the Studebaker Hawks, especially the supercharged
Golden Hawks of the 1950s? If
so, how did this come about? —
Larry M., Pennsylvania
A: Granatelli was the head
honcho at Studebaker Racing in
the early 1960s and involved
with the McCulloch Supercharger company that supplied
superchargers in 1957 and 1958
for the Golden Hawks. Later,
Granatelli became involved with
the 1962-63 Studebaker Gran
Turismo Hawk and Avanti with
a Paxton Supercharger as standard equipment and a
Granatelli-designed engine
under the hood.
Important is the McCullough
and Paxton connection, as they
were pretty much one and the
same corporately and the brainchild of Robert Paxton McCulloch. McCulloch established a
separate Paxton Supercharger
division in 1956 and then sold it
in 1958.
The beautiful 1957 and 1958
Studebaker Golden Hawk, one
of my favorite cars from the ’50s,
came with McCullough superchargers on 289-inch V-8 engines. Then, in 1962, Studebaker
purchased Paxton Superchargers
at a time when Granatelli was
president of Paxton and head of
Studebaker's racing division.
Granatelli became more and
more involved with the super-
Greg Zyla
charged Hawk and Avanti, the
latter of which he drove to speed
records at Bonneville's Salt
Flats. Granatelli, with his engine and Paxton supercharger
under the hood of a 1963 Studebaker Avanti, timed in at 196.58
mph. Previously, he ran 170.78
mph in 1962 and proclaimed
Avanti the world's fastest street
car.
This, in a nutshell, is the connection of the auto racing legend Granatelli to Studebaker
and the superchargers, though
Granatelli would go on to
greater fame with his STP Indy
Cars and his Richard Petty longterm STP sponsorship. In 1964,
Granatelli became the CEO of
STP Corp., an oil additive he developed.
Notable is Granatelli's unique
Indy 500 efforts, where he twice
brought a turbine-powered car
to Indianapolis –– in 1967 and
1968 –– only to see victory
snatched away both years with
the checkered flag in sight. Parnelli Jones, whose $6 part broke
with three laps to go while lead-
Andy Granatelli pops the parachute on his Avanti after a run of
196 mph at Bonneville. MOBIL PROMOTIONAL PHOTO
ing in 1967, and Joe Leonard,
who broke down with 10 laps to
go while leading in 1968, were
the unfortunate drivers.
However, Granatelli did experience victory at Indianapolis in
1969, as fans might recall Mario
Andretti receiving a victory-lane
kiss from Granatelli. Granatelli,
known as "Mr. 500," won again
in 1973 with Gordon Johncock.
Granatelli's book, "They Call Me
Mr. 500," is a great read.
Studebaker got out of the U.S.
car business in December 1963,
but Canadian cars were built
through model year 1966.
Avanti, meanwhile, sold its tooling and continued though 2007.
Paxton still sells superchargers for a variety of performance
cars, including the V-8 Mustangs and Camaros of 2010 and
2011. See
http://www.paxtonauto.com/
for more information.
Greg Zyla writes weekly for
GateHouse Media and welcomes
inquiries on collector cars or any
nostalgic auto subject at 303
Roosevelt St., Sayre, PA 18840 or
at [email protected].