1968 - Transportation

Transportation

Penn Central is created February 14 by a merger of the Pennsylvania Railroad with the New York Central. Pennsy president James M. Symes, 71, has promoted the idea of combining the two roads; both are in financial trouble as a result of competition from trucks and automobiles that use publicly financed highways and airlines that use publicly financed airports. The new $5 billion corporation will be bankrupt within 2 years.

A Delta Airlines jet carrying 169 passengers is hijacked February 21 over southern Florida, the hijacker holds a gun on the pilot and forces him to land in Cuba, similar episodes follow, and the hijackings will lead to airport searches of passengers and luggage.

Pan Am and Aeroflot begin direct service between New York and Moscow July 15 (see 1956). Aeroflot uses the four-jet 11-62 designed by Sergei V. Ilyushin, now 73, for the first direct air link between the two countries since the start of the Cold War in 1946.

A prototype of the Tu-144 demonstrated by Aeroflot December 31 is the first supersonic airliner.

The S.S. QE 2 launched by the Cunard line replaces the 83,673-ton Queen Elizabeth launched in 1940. The new 66,850-ton passenger liner is 963 feet in length overall, carries 1,815 passengers, 1,000 in crew, and has four swimming pools, 13 decks, 24 elevators, and a 531-seat theater.

A 326,000-ton supertanker goes into service on charter to Gulf Oil. She will be followed by five sister ships (see 1972).

British Leyland Motor Corp. Ltd. is created February 8 by a merger of the 2-year-old British Motor Holdings Ltd. and Leyland Motor Corp Ltd.

U.S. automobile production reaches 8.8 million; truck and bus production approaches 2 million.

Volkswagen chief Heinz Nordhoff dies of a heart attack at Wolfsburg, West Germany, April 12 at age 69. He is succeeded by his deputy director Kurt Lotz, and Volkswagen captures 57 percent of the U.S. import market, with U.S. sales peaking at 569,292 vehicles, up from 120,000 in 1959. Seventy percent of VWs sold are Beetle models priced at under $1,800 and VWs outsell many U.S. makes, including Pontiac, Chevrolet Chevelle, Ford Fairlane, Plymouth Fury, Buick, Ford Mustang, Oldsmobile, and Chrysler (see 1970).

West Germany produces 2.5 million cars and nearly 600,000 trucks; Japan 2.1 million cars, 2 million trucks; Britain 1.7 million cars, 400,000 trucks and buses; France 1.8 million cars, 243,000 trucks; Italy 1.5 million cars, 115,000 trucks.

The German NSU Ro 80 introduced in Britain is the first Wankel-engine automobile (see Wankel, 1957). Toyo Kogyo in Japan uses the Wankel engine for its new Mazda cars.

Former Ford Motor Co. chairman Ernest R. Breech dies of a heart attack at Royal Oak, Mich., July 3 at age 81; Ford assembly line designer Charles E. Sorensen at Bethesda, Md., August 13 at age 86; Fruehauf Trailer Co. cofounder Harvey C. Fruehauf of a heart attack at Detroit October 14 at age 74.