The original Everette has again long since been lost to the sands of old builds, so I remade it, this time with a proper amount of pointless and garish 1950s styling elements. The original just wasn’t convincing me.
Preliminary Design Session - Late 1953
After spending much of 1952 shoring of the last of the production problems on the GT, C Fenton Trunt Company turned its attention to a new project proposed by Everette Haverford. He wanted an everyman’s car with a Fenton badge on it and convinced his boss, Fenton, that he did too.
Fenton and Everette sat together in a meeting along with the chief of engineering on the new project, Bill Waterson and head of marketing, Zach Stasiak. He laid out the plans and talked them through.
“Now this is naturally just our first ideas for the new car so we’re not married to anything just yet,” Bill explained. “So don’t be afraid to critique. What do you think?”
Fenton and Everette looked over the plans in silence for a few seconds. Finally, Everette pIped up.
“Its a bit small, don’t you think?”
Bill was expecting this. “Ah yes,” he said as he pointed to the ceiling. “Zach would you care to explain?”
Zach leaned forward from his seated position and laid out their approach.
“See, the giants aren’t making anything small right now” he stared. “but the market is there. Its a wee bit niche, yes, but its there and you’re not going to have impossible competition. The only other people in the market right now are a couple of the other small guys in Indiana.”
“Plus,” Bill interjected, “smaller means more economical – more affordable. More people can get their hands on it that way.”
“Okay. Okay…” said Fenton thoughtfully as he pondered their approach. “What about the engine? Everyone is going to V8s now and you said you want a six in this car?”
Bill was ready again without hesitation. “Again, its a matter of affordability. A six is cheaper to make than an eight.”
Zach interjected this time. “Plus we can make the V8 a high dollar option and earn a higher margin if its not standard. People love paying more for extras but they don’t want to pay for the bottom line.”
Fenton and Everette both nodded to this. Fenton scratched his chin a bit while Everette simply continued nodding. After a second or two, they both exchanged looks. They could tell they were on the same page.
“Well all right then.” said Everette. “It seems like you guys have this well in hand. Make it happen!”
Prototype Trials - Fenton Proving Grounds - Early 1956
Bill and Everette watched the new car go around the track for what must have been the 100th time. And watched it spin out again for what must have been the 50th time when it got to the high speed bend.
“This is the problem we’ve been having. The thing is too damn tail happy,” He said blithely.
“Why’s that?” Everette quizzed only somewhat ignorant of the answer.
“Well its a small front-heavy car.” Bill answered. “There just isn’t any weight on the back tires especially not once you get up to speed.”
They both watched in silence again for a half a minute or so.
Everette finally broke the silence. “Now I’m not an engineer, but wouldn’t this just be solved if you put a stabilizer bar in the front?”
Bill huffed a little in frustration. “We tried that and in short yes. But again its so front heavy. It just makes the steering mushy at the limit but its still trying to brake loose the whole way there.”
Everette nodded silently.
“This is just a thought.” Bill said prefacing his next statement because he had no idea what reaction it would garner. “But what if we drove the front tires instead of the back?”
Everette gave him a stare as if he had lobsters crawling out of his ears.
“No I’m serious,” Bill countered. “Apparently a lot of newer European cars are doing it and it works very well. They don’t have these problems with high speed instability and it takes advantage of a car’s natural front heaviness.”
“Okay, hold up.” Said Everette. “Lets talk this through.”
And so they did. That was the day it was decided that the Everette, as the car came to be known, would be front wheel drive.
1957 - Naming and Release
The question was on everyone’s minds what the call C Fenton Trunt Company’s new car. But really there wasn’t any surprise as to what it became known as. It was Everette’s idea so it was his car; it got named after him.
Five years after one fateful dinner, the Fenton Everette went on sale in August 1957 for the 1958 model year.
For more about this car see the original post in FHL’s thread.
