Lore Restart (Mostly)
Yes, I’m restarting most of the car design lore. Exactly 100 days after I created this thread. Sorry.
It’s 1978. You, the CEO of America’s second (or third, fourth etc. please don’t get angry over this) biggest car manufacturer, the Sisten Motoring Corporation, have decided to put on your crisis suit. People have flocked over to Japanese imports after the fuel crisis and as such, nobody is buying Sistens or Taluvecs anymore. Well, aside from grandpa whose back hurts.
But you’re not surrendering yet. No, you call in a secret meeting between all the big heads at SiMoCo to figure out the solution to the two main problems: 1. Young people aren’t buying your cars, and 2. Pretty much no one is buying your cars.
The solution? Create a new brand that would attract those youngsters and would offer compact models with good mileage to rival the imports. A new brand, called Corsica.
Designed by Sisten-veteran John B. Delaman, it was his last design before he retired in late 1982. The Cheetah was first presented at the 1981 North American International Auto Show, in a booth completely separated from Sisten and Taluvec.
Two models were shown at the show, the Sport 3.0 V6 and the Supersport 4.5 V8. After the positive reception, models started rolling out to dealerships in mid-1981.
The Gen. 1 Cheetah features all-round independent suspension and the Rear Drive System© (Sistens name for RWD they used in the 70’s and 80’s, for no apparent reason).
The V6 with cutting-edge Fuel Injection was a modified version of the SC 30C679, previously used in entry-level Taluvecs. When new, it produced 171 horsepower and 218 torques. But the crowd-pleaser was obviously the Supersport V8, a 4.5 liter… beast… that produced 200 horsepower and 271 Nm of torque. However, it would not be the range-topper forever.
In 1985, Corsica launched the very first CR model, it standing for Corsica Racing. To make the CR, a fat TURBO was attached to the V8, increasing the horsepower rating to 252 and making 339 torques more, allowing the 0-100km/h speed to jump from 7.4 to 6.4 seconds.
A mild spoiler was fitted and the rear bumper received two extra exhaust pipes. Because it was originally planned to be in limited-production only, just one color was available. The exclusive blue would become a standard for all CR models, even when later models could be optioned with other colors.
As mentioned two sentences ago, the CR was originally meant to be in limited-production only. After the original 200 cars were built however, Corsica r̶e̶a̶l̶i̶z̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶y̶ ̶h̶a̶d̶ ̶s̶o̶m̶e̶ ̶m̶o̶r̶e̶ ̶b̶l̶u̶e̶ ̶p̶a̶i̶n̶t̶ ̶l̶e̶f̶t̶ ̶o̶v̶e̶r̶ decided to build 100 more to give to the best performing dealerships in the US.
With just 300 units built, it is currently the most sought after CR. However, it isn’t the rarest original Cheetah model.
In celebration of Sisten’s 80th anniversary in 1986, SMG decided to take a model from each of the brands lineups and dress them up in some fancy paint. For Sisten, it was the Sunburst hatch, Taluvec chose the Callahan TTS full-size sedan and Corsica went with the Cheetah.
To make the Corsica Cheetah “80th Anniversary Edition”, they took a fully-loaded V8 Supersport from the factory, painted them in gold and then put some stickers on them. 10 of the cars went to former executives and noteworthy employees, the other 70 went to very select dealers. One car burnt down in a dealership fire and another was crashed a year after it was sold.
Specifications
3.0 V6 | 1981
Horsepower: 171hp @ 6200 RPM
Torque: 218 Nm @ 4300 RPM
Top Speed: 200km/h
0-100km/h: 7.7 seconds
Transmission: 4-speed manual/5-speed manual/4-speed automatic
Price: Starting from $38000
4.5 V8 | 1981
Horsepower: 200hp @ 5400 RPM
Torque: 271 Nm @ 5100 RPM
Top Speed: 210km/h
0-100km/h: 7.4 seconds
Transmission: 5-speed manual/4-speed automatic
Price: Starting from $43000
4.5 V8 Turbo | 1985 (CR)
Horsepower: 252hp @ 5500 RPM
Torque: 339 Nm @ 4700 RPM
Top Speed: 212km/h
0-100km/h: 6.4 seconds
Transmission: 5-speed manual
Price: Starting from $45000
For Corsica, their next model skipped 1982 and came out in '83; the Oakwood full-size sedan. But, for 1984, Corsica followed up on their promise to make fuel-efficient vehicles…
