The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Page 16, WNhy Free Prees, Wodnesday, January 20, 1993 by JiI Mclntosh Urban Iegends There's no doubt about it, from basic driving te, cruising classics, cars have become an integral part of North Anierican life. For this reason, it's net surprising that our automobiles turn up time and tume again in that gossp favourite, the ' urban legend' Urban legends are those stories that are regularly circulated, believed by moot who hear them, and that are completely false. They include the woman wbo baked ber intestines on a tanning bed, a choking Dobermnan who bit off the fingers of a thief àtili inside the bouse, or children receiving LSD imbedded in blue-star 'tattoos.' They are so popular that one Ainerican professor bas made a career of collecting and writing about them. They show up in newspapers, Ann Landers' columne, and are spread. by word-of-moutb; and yes, as often as not, tbey include our favourite means of transportation. One that I got tripped up by was the story called the 'ice-cream car.' It goes like this: a woman in a soutbern state, usually Texas, stops to buy ice creani every night. Her car always starts excopt when she buys pistachio. The local garage can't findt the problem and finally tbey send a mechanic along witb ber. Ho discovers that the regular flavour are sold in containers, while pistachio must ho hand-packed. In the extra turne it take to pack the ioe creani, the car sits in the sun and develops vapeur lock, whicb is wby it won't start. Believable? I thought it could have been, since niany 1950s cars (my busband's Cadillac included, wbich is wby I fell for it) bad their fuel pump located cirectly above the engine, where the heat caused the gasoline te, vapourize. Mlas, it was just a story. One I didn't fail for, but many bave, is the '$100 sportscar.' The story is that a man answers an ad for an expensivo car, usually a Porsche or Corvette, that a woman is selling for $75 or $100. The car is easily worth, $50,000 so be buys it. The woman's explanation is that Wes ber busband's car; ho ran off with bis .secretary and left instructions that bis wife seil the car and forward the money te him. Variations of this story include a vintage Corvette being offered for $500 by the parents of a young man wbo bas diod and they just want tobe rid of it; or the lderly lady wbo calls an insurance company and asks tho value of a 1967 Chevrolot, thon souls it for the $300 sbe's quoted, since the appraiser doesn't realize it's a valuable higb-porformance Corvette. There are deals te ho found on used cars but, alas, I think youl wait a long time for the likes of those. My third story is the ever-popular 'car victims' and its variations. The first involves two tractor-trailers involved in a head-on collision on a lonely road. They're hotb written off and sent te the scrap yard. Some time later, yard ernpîoyees -- sometimes disturhod by an unusual smell - pull apart the SER PAGE 22 1993 ACURA LEGEND COUPE Honda's filurst 6-speed Bmy Glen KonowSkil Appearing at the Montreal Auto Show last week was the upgraded Acura Legend. The big news comes in the form of a 30-borsepower gain in the engine department. The new engine will produce 230hp, up from last year's 200bp. Witb the new gain in borsepower cornes a new six-speed transmission. The firet six-speed for Honda, this new, transmission will offer the low-end gearing for sporting performance and good fuel econoiny for cruising. To bandie aIl this power, traction control will ho offered as standard equipment on the coupe. If youlre net farniliar witb traction control, it is a way in which the car's computer keeps track of wbeel slippage. *When slippage is detected, power is cut and traction is restored. I bave driven cars with traction control and in higb-powered car it helps in poor weatber conditions. A new 16-incb alloy wbeel will grace the-Coupe. The car will have 2X5(55x16 Yokohama Y376B perform'4nce alI-season tires. On the inside, an improved sound s"stem wiIl increase driving pleasure. The .Bose Preniium Auto System IL will ho featured.1 Lada sales skyrocketing By Glen Konorowski Ever wonder wbo might ho picking up some of those lost sales ail the car makers are cernp laining about? Would you believe Lada? Yes, with the current excbange rates with Russia being at the low end of the scale, sales are up for Lada. Our teugfi tirnes bave led te skyrocketing sales of these durable cars. The Samara, their base car, wbich selîs for well under $8,000, bas seen a sales increase of 94 per cent over last year. Lada's answer te the Jeep, the Niva, bas seen a jump in sales of 200 per cent since last year. In fact, the company can hardly keep up witb the deniand for tbis 4x4. Upuntil a few years ago, the dealer network for Lada didn't extend mucb beyond Quebec and Ontario. But now, Lada ex tend s from coast te coast witb about 60 dealers in key cities. Director of sales and market- ing James Christenson, expects te dealer network te expand to 80 by year's end. New for 1993 is a lifetime warranty against rust on al Lada vehicles. Backed by Rust Check, aIl cars wil ho coated -= L Ir à%."É"%Wm1rm I 5Yi= Y Cà A-> dtn* AeoeAve ér.u1992 JETTAS i.uîc O ** m * i 16 1992 BCABILTCNETB OR .9% W 'ANIN $350 CAS BA5] wR49 1992 HUROVANS $ $5,0 CASH BACK 5 ' 000 OR 2.901,10 ,FINANCING M-/ FIAwIN with that company's exclusive rust protection for-mula. 1%e cost of the treatment on ail cars will be piclçed up by Lada. To prove that they h ave really "picked up the tab,' Lada prices have remained the samne or lower on some models. The Rust Check warranty wilI have mileage or ago restrictions. Subsequent owners of 1993 Ladas wil ho able to assume the gu aranteed forever warranty by Rust Check. Ail 279 Rust Check outiets acrose Canada and the U.S. will bonour the guarantee. OWASCO VOLKSWAGEN INC. 1425 DUNDAS ST. E. WHITBY Experence the Owasco Feeling. Pro yen ta serve you D EST since 1972 An 'I CARE' and O.M.L. SERVICE AWARD WINNER AjaxfPickeringtTor. 686-6410 Oshawa/Whitby 668-9383 Extended service hours Thurs. until 1:3Opm, Sat 81OOam - 1:OOpm Offering Customer RVenS(Cnada USA. ,Europe) Cau*m & Wwicà bmudon 1 M mubad.Im .$&y prs48ouItOC. fIsspbi t 1 nqw4wdlr.