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.”