From: issa@cwis.unomaha.edu (Issa El-Hazin)
Subject: Re: Before Buying Japanese.
Organization: University of Nebraska at Omaha
Distribution: na
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 01:20:28 GMT



>>>    Yup.  Dunno if it was due to the recent Japan bashing but Taurus
>>>    just won the sales contest.  If you want an example of a GOOD
>>>    US-made car, I'd check out the Taurus, Seville STS, Mark VIII
>>>    and a few others....   These are world-class automobiles. 
>>

>This I read in Motor Trend:

>'92 CADILLAC STS
>(Long Term Update)

>"We've racked up over 20,000 miles on our long-term Seville.  It
>still gets down the road with plenty of horsepower and offers a
>comfortable ride on long trips.  On the down side, the STS suffers
>from the same ailments as last time - the door rattle and
>cold-weather front end squeak - although it's been to see the doctor
>twice for regular checkups, at $30.94 a pop.  A new malady is
>sealing fluid leaking from the rear window frames, a problem other
>Seville owners have confirmed."  (Jan 1993 issue, Pg. 115)
>
>So you pay 40 grand and get rattles?  And then you fix it and you
>get leaky window seals?
>
>If I want rattles, I'll buy a Chevy Cavalier or a Toyota Tercel and
>keep my savings - 30 grand.

I've read this long term test in MT and these were my thoughts exactly. Funny 
to note, this came from the pro'est_american_cars rag [or just about]. The 
same one that crowned the STS "car of the year" in 1992.

Car and driver did a comparison test (2/93) between the Acura Legend 
Coupe, the Cadillac Eldorado Touring Coupe with the Northstar V-8, the
new Lincoln Mark VIII, and the Lexus SC400. 

The results were:

4th place:       Legend               (85 points)
2nd place:       Cadillac ETC
                 Lincoln Mark VIII    (tie at 86 points)
1st place:       Lexus SC400          (a killer_almost_perfect 97 points)

--------------------
C/D on the Lexus SC400:   (2/93)
  It is rare that one automobile so reliably pegs the I-want-one meter
of every editor in this office. Here is proof we aren't always overcome 
by horsepower alone: the SC400 requires more time to hit 100mph than any
other car in this comparison test.

  It's what it can do along the way that counts.

  Which includes the fastest lane change, the shortest stopping distance
(by far), the quickest 50-70mph in top gear, the stickiest skidpad grip, 
the fastest-reacting traction control, the quietest idle and wide-open 
throttle, the most accurate seat-to-steering-wheel relationship, scores 
of perfect 10s for ergonomics and styling (not to mention for its transmission),
the highest fun-to-drive quotient, and a platform as resolutely solid as a 
Budweiser Clydesdale. Also, apart from the chrome badges on its rump, the 
SC400 is so beautiful to behold-particularly the integration of its nose 
and headlamps-that the shape is already being copied by competitors.

  Win that many kudos in the Catholic church and you become a saint.

  The SC400 is the sports car of this group, as thoroughly planted on 
Ohio's switchbacks as a 30-year-old hemlock, easily hounding the other 
three contestants despite its shortfall in acceleration (0-60 6.9seconds). 
It is difficult to imagine making the SC400 better.

  A neighbor recently asked, "If you had all the money in the world but had 
to pick one vehicle to drive every day for the next three years, what car 
would it be?"

  I didn't have to think, even thought I had just crossed America in a 
Ferrari 512TR. That is because I was sitting in the Kitchenburger of coupes: 
a burgundy Lexus SC400.

The SC400 is the Luxocoupe perfection. Possibly the best car on the planet.
-------------------------