Generations [LORE, UE4] [FINAL RESULTS]

[Private_Miros]

July 1972 - PMI Usurper HQ

.

Gentlemen. Stakeholders of this beautiful Corporation. We have a conundrum.

We have two magnificent new cars to introduce on the market over the coming months: one is the Jeddah trim level of our face-lifter Scud, the other is the third generation of the Elegant. Both are fantastic cars, I believe, in their own right, but our marketing campaigns must choose a focus. I trust on you to make the tough decision that is necessary in this matter.

I do not wish you to make this matter ill-informed, so here’s the breakdown:

1. The Scud Jeddah is our luxury trim; we have up to this point never offered a car with such high-quality interior. This also means a higher price than usual. The engine is either an updated version of the trusty 390 or a massive bored-out 511 cu.-in. version of the Scub Sabre’s 464. The car is comfortable, massive, safe, prestigious; but it drinks fuel and especially with the large engine understeers like a boat. Then again, this is a long-distance cruiser not meant to be sportive.

2. The new Elegant is the complete opposite. It remains a small car - though as with the second generation already, more conservative in style - and much in line as with our competitors it offers an engine tuned for this new-found fad of fuel economy - much like the foreign imports that gave birth to the Elegant in the first place. Two trims are offered, each with the 248 V8, one with a manual gearbox, that is sporty and swift; and one with the automatic gearbox, that trades in the sportiness for drivability and comfort.

I realize this will be a tough choice gentlemen, as it can make or break the perception of PMI Usurper Corp. in the high-level specialized press. Now, let the voting commence!

[Knugcab]

TIMEWARP SOME MONTHS BACK
IP OF AMERICA HEADQUARTERS
OCTOBER 1969

“What do you think about the future of lead in fuel?”
“Gone, if not in 10 years so absolutely in 20.”
“How are we going to cope with this?”
“Excuse me, but what do you mean now?”
“I heard Bogliq is very well into making all their cars run on unleaded…”
“Bogliq? What if you for once could be interested in our own company?”
“What?”
“Have you heard of the Colibri that will be launched on the Mamayan market in just some weeks?”
“Uhm…think so, yes”
“And the LEE engine?”
“…?”
“Low Emission Engine. It’s engineered for lead-free gasoline and there is much more done to keep the emissions down too. It will be installed in all small IP vehicles in some years. And the Hicam and Stellar engines are going to gradually be converted too. All engines launched from now on will run unleaded, even new variants of the Stellar and Hicam famuly engines”
“Everyone…from now on?”
“Yes, so Bogliq can always try to put us down! HA!”

(@HighOctaneLove, great news huh?)

[NormanVauxhall]

Blue Marlin Motori Auto & Žnoprešk Avtomobil

THE Z200 SERIES 1969-1977 (Restyling 1974-1977) At the start of the 1970’s with the rise on the martket of 2 hatchback sedans and square shaped ligts, the Z200 started to looked outdated. There were no possibilities to create a good looking hatchback out of the chassis developed for the car, so Žnoprešk restyled the front with a more modern square design, update the engines and develop the a bigger 1.7 liter out of the same block used for the 1969 edition. Unfortunately, the 1.7 liter was only …

[nerd]

1972 - Undisclosed Location

Rado rep: Sales are going decent in the US, and it’s time we get a respectable share of the profit.
Sofa rep.: What do you mean, “respectable share”, we already give you 30% of profit.
Rado rep,: Make this a 50/50 split in profit or we’re cancelling the deal.
Sofa rep.: I will check with boss.

After a long debate, Sofa executives agreed to raise Rado’s share of the imported car’s profit to an even level with Sofa.

Meanwhile on the news in 1972:

“Rado could be in big trouble as a report shows that the fatality rate for the driver of the Rado Communt in a collision with another object is a staggering 98%.”

[machalel]

Late 1971…

Graham Lightbridge had never been so busy as since he took over the helm as head of Epoch USA division in 1959. He simultaneously felt like he had only just settled in and that he had spent his whole life in the role. Epoch’s expansion and reception here had been slow to start, but had increased exponentially and was quickly looking like profits may even overtake those gathered in the UK and Europe…

While Graham had started on estimates and hand-over notes, he now felt that he had a deep understanding of the American market, and was starting to get frustrated at the lack of engagement he was getting from Epoch HQ over in England.

"I hope you will excuse my language, but God damn it Frank… Youre just not listening to what I’m trying to say. I don’t care what you think will or won’t sell here, I don’t care if it fits in your plans or not, I don’t care if there will be extra work, I don’t care if I have to even cut my budget to cover the extra production costs to get it started, and I sure as hell don’t care what some bean counter in their ivory tower there in London thinks about profitably and cost benefit ratios and gad knows what else when they probably havent stepped foot over here! I bet they probably wouldn’t even have the balls to take a risk on buying a sandwich at the canteen there in case their bloody sandwich order got bloody mixed up and bloody broke their bloody cost benefit ratio! I’m sick and tired of not being listened to and I’m sick and tired of being bloody treated like a glorified bloody import agent who has not bloody care in the world about the bloody company he is bloody trying to bloody get to bloody succeed… Bloody hell… "

…

“No I’m not apologising. I know I’m right and you know I’m right. I’ve seriously had enough. Make it happen or I’m quitting. I’ve already been approached by a couple of other companies who value my performance and direction. The only reason I’m still here is my loyalty to Epoch, who game me this opportunity in the first place. I’ve paid it back many times over, with little gratitude from you guys over there at all.”

…

“i don’t care. I’m going to write up my proposal now and you know what the outcome will be if it doesn’t go ahead.”

click

Graham hung up the phone and massaged his temples. It was good to finally get that off his chest, even if he did get a bit too heated.

Graham sighed.

“Well only time will tell if this was worth it…” he said to himself, taking out his stationary and starting to write.

[Dorifto_Dorito]

Click on the image to go to the ACA thread

[BoostandEthanol]

Late response, I know, but shush.

---

In a garage, somewhere near Suzuka, late 1969.
AKA the Keika Automotive HQ

The phone rings. Daniel picks it up. A few words are exchanged.

“Send it over to me tonight. I’ll see what I can do… Oh yeah, by the way… Yeah, in return for my services now and in the future, I’d like to have access to some more machinery. Nothing fancy, but currently we’re struggling to meet demand, so any way we can boost production would help. Thank you.”

He puts down the phone and smiles. This deal could work well for both of them… Hopefully.

---

Next he sorts through the letters on his desk. First he reaches for the one that interests him most, coming from Cardiff. As an ex-Caliban employee, he want intrigued by what they of all people would want. He ripped the top of the envelope off and pulled out a letter.

He skimmed through it, picking out the key words. “Contract”, “chassis” and what seemed like a coded cry for help. He turned around to view the half finished spaceframe behind him. Maybe sending some blueprints over wouldn’t hurt? And the extra money would certainly help purchase any extra things to help boost production.

They don’t seem like they pose any competition so far anyway.

---

1973

Keika’s had been selling well in the Golden State for the past three years. Now officially imported, they were gaining popularity fast in circuit racing. Daniel finally decided to get on a plane and head out to San Francisco to see how it was doing.

Daniel greeted Rachel Foust, the owner of the US Importer and dealership chain Keika’s were being sold in at the dealership. They sat down and had a coffee.

“So what were the issues with the car?” he began.

“What do you mean? It runs great.” she responded.

“Still issues with it though. I have a feeling that magazine clipping from a few years back was cropped for a reason.”

“Yeah… Unsafe, not too reliable… And it lacks prestige.”

Daniel pulls out some blueprints and spreads them across the table, then starts to list off his plans as he quickly points across the diagrams.

“Here’s what I’m thinking. We get a 4 barrel from the race cars on it, should get the power up a little more. Say around 10hp. Not a lot, but should get 0-60 down further. Also, some rally wheels from the race cars. Alloy wheels so they’re nice and light, also far wider. If you can source some higher performance tyres to wrap them up in, I think with some tuning we could be looking at over 1.1G in the turns. Next, we can add some safety stuff. Not too much though. Keep weight below 900KG. Go cheap where you have to. After that, I’ll leave you to make the interior a little nicer. I think we can afford to make it nicer inside, but you’re going to have to do that this side of the pond. What do you think?”

“That’s a lot to take in. But sounds good to me. Keep the old ones coming in too. We’ll sell this as a higher spec model. Call it the R or something.”

“You’re in charge of marketing. Get on it.”

---

[Mikonp7]

---

(Sorry but no Story due to not having time )

[VicVictory]

Reminder: This week’s deadline is Saturday morning (PDT), not tomorrow morning.

[HighOctaneLove]

Coyote and Bogliq USA lore can be found HERE

[machalel]

We were humbled by the demand when we released the Mk1 Artemus. This time, five years on, we have extended the opportunity to America to share in our centenary experience with the updated and improved Epoch Artemus 3000 Mk2. A limited run of 2000 units is planned for the US market, to be sold at a cost price of $1,970. This will be your last and only chance to own a piece of history… Our birthday present to you…

[Knugcab]

Expect our lawyers to call you soon…

http://discourse.automationgame.com/t/ip-automotive-ltd/23455/31?u=knugcab

[Mikonp7]

cough cough https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wr9ie2J2690 cough cough

[Knugcab]

Yes, but that song was launched waaaaay later than the van…

(OK, I agree, the idea came 13 years ago when listening to the song and thinking “that sounds like some kind of stupid trim level on some strange asian van”… …just didn’t have automation back then, stealing is the true form of appreciation )

[BoostandEthanol]

@Knugcab

“that sounds like some kind of stupid trim level on some strange asian van”

Yeah… about that. It is! Nissan Elgrand Highway Star.

also I’m like 99% sure his point is that his car isn’t called the Highway Star, just a line at the top of the advert

[Knugcab]

I was just joking with him a little bit though. Or maybe RPing, hehe.

[Private_Miros]

[VicVictory]

A little over 36 hours to go. I’m missing 11 entries.

[Madrias]

Wish it were that I could. Sadly, I can’t play Automation on my phone.

[nerd]

Recorded Conversation From 1973

Rado Rep.: “Look, people will be all over us about the safety of the Rado Communt. We need to tell them the truth.”
Sofa Rep.: “If we cave on safety, what else could this lead to? Your government has been talking about emissions regulations too!”
Rado Rep.: “What else can we do?”
Sofa Rep.: “Lie.”

---

Official statement from Rado: “We do not believe there are any safety problems with the Rado Communt in particular on American roads. The 98% statistic was fabricated as part of a smear campaign.”

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The Rado Communt 121 Super was a slightly modified version of the 67 standard, getting a 2.0l straight-six from Sofa’s largest offroad SUV and both the “67 Standard” and the “121 Super” got other updates in 1973 to meet new American regulations. Among those were the addition of larger front and rear bumpers and front parking lamps above and slightly inward of the front indicators.

Of course, the really big news was the 2 liter/121 cubic-inch straight-six mentioned earlier. It made 59 hp and 74 lb-ft of torque which was enough to reach a top speed of 80 mph. Since the standard Sofa 3-speed transmission couldn’t handle the torque that the 6-cylindr made, a different 4-speed transmission was used from the Sofa SUV mentioned earlier. The resulting car was introduced with the 1973 refresh.

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