Whoa!

Detroit automakers last week put the brakes on the horsepower and speed race --at least publicly. The Automobile Manufacturers Association resolved to scratch all advertising claims suggesting speed and to withdraw from the stock-car races that are used to back those claims. No longer will automakers furnish the pace car for Indianapolis' Memorial Day race or enter cars in the competitions at Daytona Beach, Fla., Darlington, S.C., Langhorne, Pa. or Pikes Peak.

The automakers passed the resolution unanimously because they were beginning to gag on the dust of the expensive speed sweepstakes. Not only were costs of the stock-car races up to $7,000,000 a year, but the contests became so numerous that victory carried a hollow ring. Automen were also worried over the public's increasing association of speed with tragedies on the highway. So they bowed to the longstanding pleas of the American Automobile Association and the National Safety Council to de-emphasize horsepower and speed.

Ford Motor Co.'s Ford Division said that all its racing cars will be sold and its professional drivers furloughed by July 1. De Soto was taking a critical second look at a current ad, which boasts that De Soto can "flick its tail at anything on the road." Chevrolet, which spent heavily to put out a racing Corvette only a few months ago, stopped development of the car.

Although speed will be a barred word, horsepower will remain respectable--within limits. Automakers will stress horse-power-for-work (climbing hills), horse-power-for-safety (passing other cars), horsepower-for-luxury (to supply the power brakes, power steering, power windows, air conditioning).

Average horsepower, which has gone up by 30 h.p. a year in recent years and now stands at a high 227-h.p. for a standard passenger car, will edge up more slowly. Automakers will add about 30 h.p. to most 1958 models, but that may be close to the limit. For the future, the new look in advertising will boast of mechanical performance, power conveniences, styling and luxury.

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