Q. Who is the first woman
driver to place fairly high at the Indianapolis 500 race and also win
the Indy 500 Rookie of the Year award that year? — G.W. (via Internet)
It was Lyn St. James, who finished 11th at the indianapolis 500
in 1992, when she won the Indy 500 Rookie of the Year award. She was
the oldest racer to win that award, at age 45. St. James, who was one
of few women to have had extensive racing experience in various types
of competition cars in America and abroad, likely would have finished
higher at the Indianapolis 500 if given a more competitive car to
drive. The highly personable St. James, now in her early 70s, still is
active in motorsports, but not as a driver.
Q. We’ll be going to the moon again, so why are
fully self-driving cars so hard to develop? — R.Z. (via Internet)
A. According to the Automotive News’ “Shift” publication, a completely
autonomous car calls for an “endless number of hardware and software
components and algorithms,” all focused on enabling a car outfit such
as Waymo to see a self-driving vehicle’s surroundings and understand
what is happening around it before charting a vehicle’s course from one
point to another. It looks like it will be some time for you to buy one
at your local dealer.
Q. What was the year that once-giant General
Motors came out with a large number of distinctive new cars? Now,
virtually all American cars look alike. — J.G. (via Internet)
A. The year was 1955. GM then owned nearly half the domestic new car
market that year, when it introduced an impressive number of new car
models. For one thing, Chevrolet, which was the world’s most popular
brand, introduced a totally redesigned new car—now a classic—and also
its legendary new V-8. The all-new Pontiacs had a potent
“Strato-Streak” V-8, its first new V-8 since 1932. Oldsmobile and
Pontiac added their first four-door pillarless (no center posts)
hardtops for a “top-up convertible” look. And Cadillac’s model line had
a new Eldorado twin-carburetor convertible with head-turning bladed
tail fins. Also, many mechanical improvements were made to make GM’s
cars faster and handle better. As the 1955 model year ended, production
of the GM models set records across all brands. For one thing, Chevy
made a staggering 1.7 million passenger cars. (For the first six months
this year, Chevy sold only 198,799 cars.) In all, GM produced nearly 60
percent more cars for 1955 than in the previous model year.
Q. What the heck is a Pegaso
car? I hear it was quite a sensation. — M.C. (via Internet)
A. It’s a rare, limited production 1950-57 Spanish sports car. The most
famous Pegaso model is still wild looking and appropriately is called
the “Thrill.” Its manufacturer called it “the fastest car in the
world.” A Thrill model in average condition now is valued at up to
$650,00, but good luck finding one.
Q. How is once-hot Nissan doing in America? I
hear it’s got problems. — (P.S., via Internet)
A. Nissan has all sorts of problems, and its sales are down. I haven’t
gotten a Nissan test vehicle since 2015.
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