AUTOS: The Horsepower Race

The horsepower race, which Detroit likes to pretend does not exist in standard cars, is off to a fast start in the compacts. Chevrolet first offered an optional power pack, boosting the horsepower of the Corvair from 80 to 95. Last week Ford disclosed that it will offer an optional 100-h.p. engine for the 90-h.p. now in the Falcon. Chrysler will do even better. It will offer a 148-h.p. engine for its Valiant which is now the most powerful compact (101-h.p.) among the Big Three.