Next, I'm a musclecar person. I don't like Hondas or front-wheel drive except the old Toronados and those in the '30s. Four cylinders don't do much for me since they seem to be lacking the other half of the engine. In the Sept. 03 issue, you have the last page of "Import Killer Part 2." On the facing page there is an ad for the Pontiac Sunfire, a 2.2 four-cylinder making over 1,000 hp. Yes a four-cylinder. It also shares over 50 percent of the stock Ecotec engine parts the ad says. Wow-that's just a tad more than your big-block Chevy makes with fewer cubes. I wonder if it's possible to put two of those four cylinders side-by-side and make a V-8 that would have 2,000 hp on less cubes than that Chevy. It seems I've heard of the Cavalier doing the same thing.
via e-mail
Finally, someone with taste is picking the women. The model on the cover of your Sept. '03 issue is by far the hottest babe you've had grace your magazine, and the Chevelle is a nice piece of work too!
Andy McMullen
Redding, CA
I've enjoyed your magazine since 1964. Even with the ongoing slant to certain brands, the information provided over the year is second to none.No one enjoys the beauty of a pretty girl more than me, but that overblown cow on the cover of your latest issue is overkill. Don't stoop to the levels of other car mags by using girls to get attention.
Paul Boyd
Wyandotte, MI
Top 10 Signs You're a Gearhead With a Project
10. There's a container of Gojo in your bathtub.
9. You wake up earlier on Saturdays than on workdays.
8. You can't remember your wife's birthday, but at the slightest prompting you will recite your car's bore, stroke, displacement, cam specs, valve specs, rocker ratio, bearing clearances, rod length, journal diameters, bolt-torque specs, carb jetting, ignition advance, plug gaps, redline, shift points, compression ratio, flow numbers, axle and transmission gear ratios, dragstrip times.
7. You pack your spare toolset for a trip to Barbados, and a carb to rebuild on the plane.
6. You lie awake at night thinking of car parts.
5. A jury found you innocent by reason of insanity when you were stopped for doing 120 mph. Upon encountering a clear, straight stretch of desert highway, you were unable to tell right from wrong.
4. You wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat screaming, "Die, Honda!"
3. You fire up an engine you built for the first time and you get aroused.
2. You and your cam break-in sessions are the topic of heated discussion at local Block Association meetings.
1. You find a Dear John letter from your wife on Monday morning-dated Friday.J. CaballeroErsey City, NJ