Cult of Personality [LORE] [FINAL RESULTS]

[VicVictory]

1969 Epoch M40 Atlas 2300

@Machalel

What do you do with an old, tired beast? Most people would sell it off, part it out, haul it to the junkyard.

This contributor decided to do a little research. With the Epoch M40 Atlas, there’s quite a bit that you can do to harness the power of the beast. All 83 horsepower of them.

Here are a few pictures of my project as it went along. You’ll see the fine U23 2.3 liter motor was, other than being liberally coated in grease and old leaves, in great condition. Solid body thanks to great factory rustproofing by Epoch. And in the back? Yeah, I don’t want to know what was nesting there either.

And here’s some photos of the finished project. Voila. Instant camper truck. Proper patina on the outside, and that giant cargo area in the back has been converted to two fold-down bunks and a ton of gear storage on roller racks.

This is just a tasate of what people do with their M40 Atlases. At a recent meet, we had 3 camper trucks, 2 that had been converted to food trucks, several lowriders, and even a plumber whose grandfather bought their Atlas brand new in '69 for the family business. We confirmed; that 5-digit odometer has rolled over four times, and the van is still in service. Granted, with a rebuilt engine and on its seventh clutch.

Scoring:
Mainstream Culture - RestoMods: Very High (Currently in 1st)

[VicVictory]

Week 4 submissions are open.

PLEASE NOTE: I have decided that this is the halfway point of the “competition”. Weeks 4, 5, and 6 are going to be the second half. If you’ve been meaning to send it in, dooo eeet!

[loflyh]

Legacy Auto Works - 1980

Janet

1980 Janet
Legacy Auto Works - Passion Inspired Engineering
A division of Retro Age Motors

But, I don’t want a car with a woman’s name on it …!

Then meet Cindy …aaah, I mean, Retro Age Motors 1980 F4FC. Same race heritage, same great driving experience …just not all the prestige …oh …and a lower price tag too.

Retro Age Motors
Parking Memories in the Driveway

[Knugcab]

1972-87 IP FREEWAY STAR Mk1

The IP Freeway Star was released in 1972, as an answer to a need for a smaller and cheaper van in the home market after the Highway Star had grown in size in 1967. In 1973, it was also released in the United States, with the biggest marketing campaign IP of America had been running this far. Cooperating with cartoonist Carl M. Holz, both animated TV commercials and ordinary magazine ads did feature the beagle “Sloppy” and the bird “Boondock” from the cartoon “Walnuts”, with Sloppy replacing his trusty old red doghouse with an equally red Freeway Star, touting that it was much more flexible than the doghouse. Because at least the passenger van version (called the “Astro” as it also was the usual suffix for IP station wagons) had an unusual interior that maybe was low on luxuries, but instead had features like front swivel seats that could be turned to face towards the rear passenger bench, and small collapsible coffee tables integrated into the rear door trim, and all seats also could be folded flat to form a bed for two. There was also a cargo van version available, that of course had an empty cargo area and normal front seats instead.

Technically it was different from the Highway star by being unibody instead of body on frame, but the rear end still was leaf sprung as on its larger sibling. The engine was an enlarged (to 1.3 litres) version of the all aluminium “LEE” (Low Emission Engine) unit first seen in the 1970 IP Colibri, designed from the start to give low amounts of toxic emissions and to cope with unleaded gasoline.

To boost some interest in the model in the US, IP of America made numerous special editions, like the 1974 “Royal” and the 1976 “Celebration”, most of them only with cosmetical differences like paint and hubcaps, sometimes including otherwise optional equipment like radios and power steering.

The first generation Freeway Star was facelifted in 1984 and produced until the 1987 model year.

[TheAlmightyTwingo]

The 1965 Meijer Hellfire V12 GT

Lore
After settling it’s first American Headquarter in Detriot, March 1960, the company decided to make a muscle car but with a European twist. The result was the Hellfire V12 GT, it produced around 242Hp from it’s ‘tiny’ 4L V12 and managed to get from 0-60MPH in 7s but in contrast to most muscle cars it was actually able to turn and it was fitted with comfortable leather seats instead of church benches. Production lasted from early 1965 to mid 1967.

Sales
The launch of the Hellfire wasn’t received well in America due to it being underpowered for it’s price nor did it go well in Europe because off it’s too expensive price tag and size. Around 10.000 units were sold with 3500 being sold in Europe, 6000 in America and 500 being exported to Asia. Prices never really inflated because it never really took off and reached a legendary status like the Dodge Charger.

Culture
Since it wasn’t popular at all around launch not many units were build, that’s why the cars went for cheap after production was canceled. Currently the car is a cheaply obtainable classic and it has been increasing in popularity slowly(still not popular at all).

Markets: Europe and America

NOTE: The price is in today’s dollars

[Ornate]

About the Velkolepy Popular

The eastern European car maker, Velkolepy, was famous for its ultra-luxury vehicles since its foundation as a coach-building company. Between 1880 and 1940, Velkolepy saw many famous clients buying their grand-tourers from Western European royalty to American tycoons. With the outbreak of World War 2, the company would see itself mothballed and with its workshops being used for the war effort. With heavy airstrikes being performed on Bozchia, it would see all of its company assets destroyed and left as rubble. With the end of the war and the nation being liberated by Soviet forces, the remanent Velkolepy assets would be nationalized and merged together with all other automobile manufacturers and steel producers. In spite of setbacks such as political conditions, losing contact with technical development in non-communist countries as well as drastically changing their focus from grand-tourers to compact commuters, Velkolepy managed to hold on to their reputation of well-built cars although losing prestige associated with them.

The Bozchia-Soviet split would result in the country being able to receive aid via the Marshall Plan as well as open the country up for more trade. While the aid would allow Velkolepy to build, the large pivot the company had made would see it stumbling around in International markets during the 50s and 60s with small compacts odd reliability issues and, compounded with technical stagnation would see the company’s reputation being frayed.

Bozchia wanted a vehicle that would restore the prestige of Velkolepy on the international stage, as well as the reputation Bozchia had of being “of those eastern European states”. Applying the “Win on Sunday, sell on Monday” strategy brought the existence of the Velkolepy Popular RSI. The company had managed to buy the production rights of a newly made OHC flat-4 engine made by a French car maker and combined it with a small RR compact body to make the true “people’s sports car”.

The RSI, however, was definitely not a daily driver nor would be viable to make it the national car of Bozchia. A tamer, cheaper Popular had to be developed. The regular Popular was just a basic commuter that had only the basics such as a mono-speaker radio and cloth seats. This combined with its fuel efficiency was planned to be the car not only for the people of Bozchia but for the people of the world. With the fuel crisis, a certain American entrepreneur known for importing automobiles would help Velkolepy return the US market after being missing for more than 30 years.

[HybridTronny]

It’s Atera’s first RWD sports car that rolling down from it’s factory in Osaka. With the help of Mitsubishi with tuning this car, it’s a pretty dang fun car to drive. Oh and it’s a pretty cheap car too starting off around $15k at the time.

It is also appeared in a very popular sim-racing game, Gran Turismo 4 as Kazunori Yamauchi, the creator of Gran Turismo series love the car in real life and in the game.

[HighOctaneLove]

1971 Bogliq Kitten Si

For some annoying reason Bogliq USA couldn’t make enough Zealot Enthuses in Coupe form. The trim supplier was restructuring and fell behind in their production.

In response to this crisis, Konstantin had 5k Bogliq England Kitten Si’s imported to fill the gap. The Kitten had a smaller engine than the Enthuse, 1.3L vs 1.6, but the Kitten was smaller, which bridged the gap, kinda.

Enough people bought them so they weren’t a failure but, by mid '75, it wasn’t unsurprising to see the occasional Kitten Si at the back of a Rural Bogliq dealership forecourt, languishing on heavy discount, left untouched because the local hoons don’t like small FWD cars with multiple carburettors!

Priced at $1,350 driveaway, the Kitten was yet another Konstantin “Captain Call” designed to benefit the US consumer at any cost!

Buy better, buy Bogliq

[Radster]

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Pictured here is the Vega Furis GTP. It ran in IMSA GTP from 1987 to 1991, driven by Bernard Moreno, Gregory Stein and Jody Cooper. Only three examples of this race car were ever built, one of them now owned by a car museum in Detroit, and two still owned and maintained by the Vega Motor Company.

This publication now has the opportunity to test one of the two units. Will they accept the challenge?

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(OOC: yes I wanted to think outside of the box )

[Aaron.W]

TSR Comet Turbo 2 RS

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Yep, it’s another Comet. But not just any comet, but a Group B homoligation model. Only 200 of these are made. Engine is now destroked to 2.8 litres to fit in the rules. It is also more powerful, making 426HP. It also has AWD. It took them 3 years until 1985 where they first raced this car, which is also the last year for the Group B era. This is now considered a supercar.

A TSR Comet Turbo 2 inside a TSR exotic dealership

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For more info, go check out my lore!

[conan]

WHOOSH.

This is the 1978 AEKI Skeva Turbo. Saying that it’s a pocket rocket would be a hyperbole. It’d probably not fit in your pocket. But that doesn’t matter as this car goes like a Saturn V with added Turbocharger.

It was not the first Turbocharged car to have ever existed, but it was one of the first proper mass produced one. It also made the Turbocharging something to brag about in the pub.

2-litre 4-cylinder engine with fuel injection. Adding the Turbocharging let this car produced a staggering 170 horsepower in a package weighing in at 1060kg. Lighting fast wouldn’t describe this car in 1978. Only 7 seconds and you’d already be at 100km/h.

But this car is not all about sheer speed either. Inside you’ll find high quality material and fit and finish and specially tuned stereo from renown Danish Hi-Fi maker. This is a lot more comfortable than you’d think. It also has specially tuned suspension and uprated brakes and is a perfect car for both long motorway cruise and a dash down mountain road.

The Skeva Turbo was produced until 1983 and became the icon of 1980’s excess. Bring on the puffy perm, the fur, the ridiculous coloured tracksuit and a can of Tab.

[Mikonp7]

I heard outside the box?

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1980 Popas Tachanka

The following documents are strictly confidential and should not reach the public

Pictures

[VicVictory]

Apologies for a few days w/o reviews posted. I gasp turned into a daywalker for the weekend and spent the time with my family. Will be starting work on these shortly.

Edit: Apparently I was unaware that Carbon Fiber unlocks at some point during the time window for this competition. And I didn’t have it on my explicitly “banned” list. So that entry is not being accepted, and CF is going on the “banned” list.

If you have to play the technicalities game to try to get your car in, your car probably violates the spirit of this competition. Just saying.

[VicVictory]

1985 TSR Comet Turbo 2 RS vs. 1988 Atera Zeta Sport

@Aaron.W vs. @HybridTronny

It seemed like the 80’s were a time of excess, even during the recession that plagued the states for much of the decade. Junk bonds, S&L scandals, and the high life of white collar scoundrels and celebrities was on full display.

For many whose lives hadn’t been turned upside down, the usual “Keeping up with the Joneses” mentality was still in full force. The need for style and speed was still there, especially for the Yuppie, but the cash flow wasn’t there for the ultimate toys.

Such is the backdrop for the battle between the flashy TSR Comet Turbo 2 RS, a highly touted successor to the original Comet Turbo, and the Atera Zeta Sport, a car not quite as revered or glamorized in livestyle publications, yet found in much greater numbers on the roads and in state registration databases.

1985 TSR Comet Turbo 2 RS

While the original Comet Turbo was a lightweight wonder machine, the Comet Turbo 2 had put on quite a little of weight with the generational change. Its 2.9 liter twin-turbo H6 motor was churning out 426 horses by 1985. Good for an impressive 6.4 second 0-60, despite its newly found heft.

1988 Atera Zeta Sport

By comparison, the Atera Zeta Sport, introduced a few years later in 1988, was much leaner, at 3062 pounds. Forgoing any sort of boost, the 2.8 liter twin-cam six in the Zeta was good for a pretty impressive 242 horses. It was able to get up and go with a 6.8 secon 0-60, not that far off the mark set by TSR.

But here’s where the TSR Comet falls down, like the impostor stock brokers who loved to drive them. All of the cooling vents and complex aerodynamic bits that TSR incorporated into the Comet 2 to make it look (and feel) like it was glued to the ground made the grand coupe pay a big price. A stock '85 Comet Turbo 2 RS had a top speed of just 90.4 MPH. And while the Comet had great low-speed handling, it couldn’t really get up fast enough to make a significant difference at high speed. Meanwhile, the Zeta Sport simply worked. Its superior road manners, comfort, fuel economy, and cost outlay easily outweighed the slightly lower handling capacity. And its 140.5 MPH top speed absolutely blew away the Comet.

So those who now choose to drive the Comet Turbo 2 do so mostly as a showpiece, reminding people of a day of decadence and lunacy. Whereas Zeta owners simply tear it all up.

Scoring (TSR):
Mainstream Culture - Rods and Sports Cars: Very Low (Currently in 7th)

Scoring (Atera):
Mainstream Culture - Rods and Sports Cars: Very High (Currently in 2nd)

[VicVictory]

1978 AEKI Skeva Turbo

@conan

Really, is there anything that the Swedes won’t turbocharge? Alright, we jest, we jest. You know that we love our Scandinavian friends and their penchant for blowing lots of hot air.

Meet the '78 AEKI Skeva Turbo, the car where “hot hatch” met “premium sedan”. Without the sedan bits, of course. Fuel injected and turbocharged, the 8-valve, 2-liter SOHC motor puts out 170 ponies, and is bolted to a transaxle that sends all that to the front wheels. For extra smoky burnouts that make truck guys wonder what the hell just happened.

The Skeva Turbo has a 5-speed manual option for proper sporting use. Inside it includes leatherette seating for 4, a Hi-Fi quadraphonic 8-track radio system, and the finest in safety features such as 3-point front seatbelts with pretensioners, high strength door intrusion beams, and electronic fuel cutoff in the event of a collision.

This may be one of our favorite funkadelic foreign cars to reign during the late 70’s and early 80’s. It’s fun to drive, yet at the same time quite refined. Not too horribly pricy to get your hands on a clean example these days, though that’s bound to change, given a recent spike in interest from collectors.

We’ve seen at least a half a dozen at the last two car shows we went to, and our chief editor was lamenting being stuck behind one all day at the track last weekend. He was swearing up and down that the car wasn’t moving over after being flagged, but the video evidence is under review.

Scoring:
Mainstream Culture - Classics: High (Currently in 1st)
Mainstream Culture - Retro Motorsports: Medium (Currently in 7th)

[VicVictory]

1971 Bogliq Kitten Si

@HighOctaneLove

Last week on our blog, we highlighted the 1971 Bogliq Fanatic. Truly, the little car that could of the era. Today we cover its cousing, the '71 Kitten Si.

While the Kitten was a familiar small car in the states, Bogliq rerouted a few thousand Si models, originally destined for Britain, to USA dealerships. These are truly exceptional pieces to be found today, as their hasty deployment resulted in a right-hand drive version of the car, otherwise adapted to US safety regs.

It was intended to be a step up from the Fanatic Engage, but failed to gain widespread popularity, generally due to the availability of a larger 1600cc on the “base” model.

Still, having one of these is like sitting on import gold, without the import duty and shipping costs. A true British driving experience without all the hassle.

Scoring:
Counter Culture - Classics: Medium (Currently in 5th)

[VicVictory]

1980 Popas Tachanka

@Mikonp7

Now here’s something a little out of left field, and possibly found in a field. Before the craze of chopping up cars (and later SUVs) to do extreme stretches on them, it was actually normal for some manufacturers to produce stretched-wheelbase versions of their luxury cars to put out as limousines. Times changed, and the manufacturers shifted that burden to the 3rd party coachmakers, and now we’re where we’re at.

But let’s look at this example from the good old days. It’s a 1980 Popas Tachanka, this one being the “weaponized” version that was used for anything from security outfits to third-world dictators. Our blog’s history buff has traced this exact car as being one of three owned by the President of Bolivia, ordered brand new in 1980. We know it was used for at least 12 years, but where it went after retirement is a bit sketchy. It’s claimed that two different drug cartel bosses were gunned down inside this vehicle, one by his own security staff.

For those less inclined to need armor or security details, there were civilian versions built as well. High-quality leather throughout, multi-zone climate control, and a top-notch audio system all came standard from the Popas factory.

After nearly 40 years, all the limousine services have retired these beasts, but they make fun cars to beat up in any number of ways, including jumping them off road. Or if actually using it is more your speed, we’ve seen a few restored to their former glory. With the trunk-mounted RF antenna and 9" color CRT TVs, just like the originals.

Scoring:
Counter Culture - Classics: Medium (Currently in 7th)
NOTE: Due to the above score, some higher-ranked vehicles have moved up the scoring curve to High or Very High.
Counter Culture - Jalopy Culture: Low (Currently in 9th)

[VicVictory]

@Ornate

a certain American entrepreneur known for importing automobiles

CURSE YOU BALCOLM MRICKLIN!

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1973 Velkolepy Popular

@Ornate

If there’s one thing we’ve learned throughout the years, it would be that ONE guy who we cannot mention (without the swear jar) gets his hands in everything. Literally everything.

Did you know he unsucessfully imported a bunch of Eastern Bloc cars right after establishing a certain highly regarded Japanese brand? Talk about hit and miss.

The '73 Velkolepy Popular was true to its name, at least in “Republics” that were “sympathetic” to the Soviet Union. We won’t use the words that we want to, as apparently Dimitri the Intern doesn’t like it when we do so.

In any case, what was a ubiquitous mode of transport in Eastern Europe was dumped on us by that one dude washed up on our shores one day, with many people wondering what or why. Possibly a day late (well, a couple years) and a few dollars too many to cash in on the Bogliq Fanatic craze. Still, what ended up being imported was eventually, albeit slowly, purchased and used here domestically. And much like your crazy Aunt Sharon at Thanksgiving, these things pop up at the weirdest times and remind you of their existence.

Now, that’s not all bad. After all, it reminds us of the '73 Velkolepy Popular RSI, which ran the Rally circuit in Fruinia that year. That was some glorious iron to watch… while it lasted.

Scoring:
Counter Culture - Import/Export: Medium (Currently in 9th)

[VicVictory]

1965 Meijer Hellfire V12 GT

@TheAlmightyTwingo

A Dutch muscle car. Yeah, that’s sounds weird, doesn’t it? This is one of those portions of Europe that tended to like their sporty cars to be light, nimble, and efficient, with a relatively high-winding engine.

So let’s take a 4-liter V12 (no, not a typo) and slap a camshaft in each head, see how it whirls in the States, right?

Not well, as it turns out. “No replacement for displacement” isn’t just a cute saying here, it’s the lifeblood of the Muscle car fan. A place where a small muscle car engine is a 5 liter V8 just wasn’t that keen on a smaller cammer.

It’s not the worst muscle car we’ve driven, just horribly out of place for the time. In retrospect, pretty much all of us would prefer to drive the cushy Meijer Hellfire than other weird competitors such as the Jaffil Hercules.

But if you place it against a '65 Vega Alameda, it just clearly doesn’t stack up. And that’s why you can get a Meijer for $1-2k for a complete car, whereas that same money will get you a rotting shell of an Alameda, likely not even rolling.

Scoring:
Mainstream Culture - Muscle Cars: Medium (Currently in 3rd)

[VicVictory]

1980 Retro Age Motors F4FC

@Loflyh

Our 1980’s retro-age kick is not by coincidence. Many of the contributors here are… what are they calling us this week? Xennials? Whatever, we grew up in the kick-ass 80’s. So when we get a chance to drive something from the 80’s we’re always going to do it with a slightly stupid amount of zeal.

Retro Age Motors, by all accounts a weird name in any contemporary time, seems to be a name that fits as their cars age. The F4FC sports coupe is one of their gems from the early 80’s, an unabashed 2-seater (no 2+2 here, folks!) with a lean body and plenty of punch to back up the attitude.

The 194 horsepower, 2.8 liter 24-valve SOHC turbo V6 seems to produce endless power from idle to redline. Though “saddled” with an automatic transmission, RAM felt it was important to integrate electronics and a semi-manual mode, which greatly helps with feeling when you want to lay it all on the line. Even just letting the car do its own thing, it’s good for a 7.3 second 0-60, quite good for the day. It also was pretty good on gas for a hi-po V6.

Sadly, not many examples are left. First off, a lack of factory rustproofing and general lack of care has left most shells and frames absolutely useless for any purpose other than recycling. Furthermore, that brilliant engine doesn’t have a terribly long lifespan, and the electronics on the transmission are fidgety at best.

Hopefully the remaining owners take good care of what they’ve got, so the F4FC doesn’t get erased from history altogether.

Scoring:
Mainstream Culture - Rods and Muscle Cars: Medium (Currently in 4th)