The pursuit of profitability, a perfectly natural process after all, had higher priority than ever. In this respect 1976 was notable for the adoption of clear-cut policies on the development of cost-cutting production methods carried through with intense concentration. Many manufacturers in Europe and America lost money in 1976; even those blessed with tight managerial control made very little (around 2 percent on turnover) and all of them would have been happy to achieve the 6 percent made by Toyota which set a new record for productivity; 2.4 million vehicles with 45,000 employees, 34,000 of them engaged on actual production.
But 1976 was not only the year of the campaign for new production methods. It also brought its quota of technical innovations, even if they were less numerrous than in preceding years. The effects of the slow-down in technical development which followed the energy crisis had become apparent. Now that legal requirements on passive safety were established, the experimental departments could work in more settled conditions. Those with only a casual interest in the
automobile were witnessing a drive for
aerodynamic efficiency in which the "two box" school of
Pininfarina (e.g. the Lancia Gamma with diag coefficient of 0.37) competed with the "three box" school (e.g. the Audi 100 with a figure of 0.41). The former permitted a reduction of the order of 10 percent in the drag coefficient.
The carburetter retained its commanding lead as a source of the fuel-air mixture. Injection, and in particular continuous injection (Bosch K-Jetronic) had achieved wonderful results in reducing consumption but it remained expensive. Finally, electronic ignition had started to make inroads, however production costs prevented its general adoption.
Rack and Pinion Steering
By 1976
rack and pinion
steering had become the general rule, only the Japanese remaining faithful to the old-style
steering gear. To make the driver's life more comfortable, power-assistance was gaining converts and even began to appear on small cars like the Honda Accord 1600. Systems which reduced the amount of assistance as the speed rose were attracting interest. They outclassed the American types which continued to be excessively light in action. On the other hand, progress towards smaller turning circles was practically zero. Among the braking systems, the mixed layout (discs in front, drums at the rear) was most often adequate, especially with front-wheel drive where more than 80 percent of the effort was concentrated on the front wheels. Once again, price entered into it, with widespread adoption of the floating calliper which needed only one
piston for each brake.
Split circuits, which had become obligatory for safety reasons, certainly made the
brakes spongy. In those conditions servo assistance became imperative, but not all cars had it. Many automotive road testers felt short-changed in the braking department, the general opinion being that there were far too few cars with a really high quality braking system, such as that on the Lancia Gamma which used four discs, those in front ventilated, and genuine double circuits ("Superduplex") which guaranted brakking on the front wheels whatever happened.
Tyres and Equipment
Thanks to the considerable economies achieved in making the basic car, it was becoming possible to improve the standard equipment. Thus there were more and more cars with power-assisted steering, adjustable
steering wheels, electrically operated windows and electrical devices to adjust door mirrors or to indicate the oil engine level on the instrument panel. Other features which were gaining ground were built-in radio as standard equipment, centralised door locking, hot air ducts for the rear passengers and the centralised monitor system on the instrument panel to check fluid levels and the functioning of the electrical system. It was this tendency above all, in which for once the Europeans were following the lead of the Japanese, which characterised the 1976 vintage; a sound one but with nothing specially remarkable about it.