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Show SALT FLAT NEWS, MAY, 1975 Editorial WHATS GNU IN CARS Time was when the measure of a man was the length of his automobile. His worth was reckoned by the width of his wheelbase, or the sum total of his headlights. No more. As the country giinds slowly toward a conservation ethic, motor city advocates of conspicuous consumption have made a figurative in their thinking. Each now claims his product is the smallest, the lightest, and above all, the most sensible of automobiles. In Europe, where petrol prices have long since passed the triple digit mark, this sort of has been the order of the long day. European cars were for the most part friendly little creatures; they were called Imps, Sprites, Sunbeams. And then there was the unassuming import that eventually undermined the American market: the lowly Beetle. While the bug made its slow but steady progress in the far right lane across America, it was repeatedly passed by U-tu- m the likes of Cougars, Thunderbirds, Rockets, and Barracudas, their tail fins cutting through traffic, chromium teeth gnashing menacingly at pedestrians. As we went to press, Wendoverites were still mulling over the problem of an unfunded The small car was considered which in Speed Week on the Salt Flats. At a loss for suggestions , we called on artist Holdaway , half fact it was. expecting one of his usual flippant replies. Well , being himself an old hot rodder, Richard Today, things are different. Detroit, which once scoffed-a- t took an uncharacteristic sober look at the problem , finally coming up with this idea: If any engine of fewer than eight cylinders, now finds that' you can't fix the flats , consider getting some new wheels." six or even four will do the trick. The snarling Cougar that' Does Ford have a better idea ? Lincoln-Mercury perched upon the sign has been succeeded by a kittenish offspring, the Bobcat. At the Ford plant, horsepower is also on the decline; witness the emergence of the Mustang's little brother, the Pinto. In the old days, automobiles came painted with Dear Editor: . sudden death for opposing Speedway Association, a nonflames, racing stripes and numbers, but the Pinto conjures Lake Salt of Bishop Koyle and the Dream I am afraid I must take issue profit corporation up an image of a car covered with spots. A polka-dotte- d administered the Salt Fists Mine, and I certainly want to City, car, we feel certain, will never sully the track at Daytona. with the quote you credited to until recent years when the Diviprevent my son from' going the me in your March issue of the and Recreation sion Parks of same route as the men listed can vehicle in down a drive a road the Today person Salt Flat News, .The article by ' our remains them. succeeded It above. known as a Rabbit and feel not a trace of humiliation. In Mr. Richard N. Goldberger attrithis to intent property acquire the Fifties, one might as well have been ferried through the buted a statement to me to the Very truly yours, from Bureau of the streets in a donkey-drive- n cart effect that this situation is not Franklin C. Nielsen and to continue, hopeWhere will it all lead? We see automakers working des- our problem any more.' While it Lyman, Utah fully, to administer the racing n the competitor in the future. The is true that we have no current activity perately to under lease from the modest Bobcat will be nosed out by a still modester lease from the Bureau of Land Bureau of Land Management in the the interim. Housecat, which in him will be antiquated by the very Management toon administer Dear Editor: BLM lands, we racing activity salt analysis was modest Honda Civetcat. Previous as being do consider the I sent a form letter to several Chrysler-Plymout- h done at the request of the Diviwill launch the backward look, rele- ours because of problem our interest and and journalists insion and the Governor, and the legislators gating its Barracuda to the backlot aquarium and swimcontinued involvement on the of the recent them most recent investigation was forming ming forth with a station wagon known as the Grouper. salt. UGMS Report 91 and its condone at the request of and exThe Fury will' yield to the Fingerline, and, at the very I would point out that while clusions with no more response pense of the Division. I think the bottom of the automotive egosystem, we'll have the basic the race track is principally, situation than if I threw a is a matter of both our forthcoming BLM in the Division rock of the across Plankton. ocean, except for land, Plymouth interest and our problem. I think Deke has Parks to and Recreation title American Motors, whose Javelin once hunkered in the Houlgates article in Autowe share this with the Bureau of showroom, will introduce the superbly economical Ant. Section 2, and we administer Land Management, who own week of Jan. 17. Around here, You cant get lower than an Ant, Madison Avenue will four additional sections of state and administer the majority of everyone erupts in a panic on environmental and conservation land. I would further identify tell us. the area. I am delighted with issues; the legislative and executhat we have requested money their intent to make further But everyone will try. Well shop around, and tive inertia in Utah is truly from to acquire studies to determine the the new Dodge Duck. Dodge builds tough the the Legislature 30,743 acres of Bureau of if possible, of the salt amazing. Ducks. the salesman will say without batting an eyelid. I suppose that part of the Land Management land under cause, And so it turns out the car of tomorrow is not at all the the Recreation and Public Pur- migration, and hopefully a tech- problem is that the Salt Flats are arrived at that will used for racing and dare we rakish, finned and futuristic fantasy we dreamed of as poses Act. To date the Legisla- nique can be for. the racing salt the preserve say the word hotrodding by teenagers. If ever a car was a fantasy, it was the 1957 ture has not seen fit to provide activity. non-LDThe us Edsel. Bonneville this juvenile delinquents money. Dodge. Or the '59 Chevy. Or'the I would a un-Americ- Land-Manageme- nt one-dow- . test-wadd- le in-dep- th -- S hope management be identified and can program initiated that will permit the continued racing activity and preservation of the- salt along with the mineral extraction benefits of private enterprise. ' Yours truly, Harold J. Tippets Director, State of Utah Division of Parks & Recreation , - from Los Angeles, the Sodom and Gomorrah of our times. Things were different when g Ab was out saintly. some or ennobled there, maybe British aristocrats. God-fearin- Cheers, Mark Dees Santa Monica, California Dear Editor: Dear Editor: Read tire seven hundred gree heat prophecy reported by Norman Pierce (March issue), whom I met years ago. I dont believe in a Creator who is worse than the Nazis of Germany! de- Sincerely, Hans Berhold Salt Lake City SdllBttJausIegs AirTioe ' April 30, on KUTVs evening news, the front page of the Salt Flat News was seen framing anchorman Terry Wood's neatly barbered head. The occasion, as is so often the case with TV e papernews, was a glum one. Richard Goldberger, reporter for this newspaper and News of on the the of Flat Salt the from University campus had been peddling enjoined boy, NEWS an article of in violation of the the been had Mr. hawking Utah Unwittingly, Goldberger Student Code. He had done so off and on for five years, and might have continued blithely for member of another five had he not made the mistake of trying to sell a copy to a free-lanc- well-inform- ed the Student Affairs Committee. Distressed at the ruling and a potential loss of income, Mr. Goldberger promptly appealed to the committee for an 'exception for an exceptional newspaper. For more on the story, see page 10. . Dear Editor: As far as I am concerned, every word of that article (Norman Pierce interview) is true, and the least I can do for my is to warn Mm of coming son events. ... prominent Mormon Authorities as Francis M. Lyman, James E. Talmage, Such Frederick J. Pack, and Melvin J. each one was taken in Ballard Reviewed your article on the salt crust in the March 1975 edition of the Salt Flat News. I have just two minor corrections: jl) The depth of the holes through the salt down into the underlying clay was 4 to 6 feet instead of two feet deep, (2) we conducted the survey in October, 1974, instead of July. Could you send us sue more copies of your Salt Flat News? Thank you. ril send you a copy of James Sharps article on the Jackass mail later. Yours truly, ROY D. TEA, District Materials Engineer Your Complaint Printed Free This Space, Next Issue |