No, it wasn’t that I couldn’t resist to start a new challenge shortly after my last one, I rather want an addition to my lore, and found out that this probably was one of the better solutions to that problem.
SCENARIO:
It’s the early 80s, IP is seeing their sales on the home market decline a bit, and one of the explanations is that euro imports are the thing now. Everywhere you see them, peppy Golf GTIs, refined Audi Quattros, classy Jaguars, powerful Saab Turbos, boxy Volvos, quirky Citroëns…do I need to tell you more?
IP realizes that they can never build an euro car themselves, even if they made a car that did everything much better than all the euro imports, they still are a domestic manufacturer (out somewhere in the pacific rim, if you wonder), but if you can’t beat’em, join’em!
At the same time, the IP Colibri dealership chain, that are focusing most on small cars and some more special low-series models, lacks a flagship, which have caused some complaints, considering that the IP Lily dealers has the luxurious Royalist and that the IP Kingston dealers has the also quite exclusive Greenwood model. The Colibri dealers will never focus on big cars like the Greenwood or Royalist, but still they could complete the lineup with small runabouts with a compact sports sedan.
So, what they are looking for is an european captive import to sell under their own name on the home market, and now it’s time to decide which one is suited the best for the task…
(So yes. This competition will include your car in the IP lore, if you’re not fine with that I suggest you to not enter the competition. Of course you and your company will get credit for it, and I’ll never run with this car in any competitions on the forum. Also, there might be some restyling done if it feels like it’s needed to fit in better in the lineup, but it will only be based on fixtures, never changing body shapes, but just so you know)
Rules:
European brands only. Silly rule? Maybe but it’s the whole idea behind this. If you want to start a completely new euro based company because of this competition, it’s fine with me.
Year: Trim year 1984, model year can be older. Also, this model will be sold until around 1988 so it’s good if it’s staying in production that long (not that anyone will know it in 1984 but to fit the company history better I do this look into the future even if it couldn’t be considered by the manufacturer when choosing the model at first time)
Body: No earlier unlock year than 1965, this one will be sold to hip people that doesn’t want a dinosaur. 4 doors, sedan or hatchback, wheelbase that’s classed between 2.4 and 2.7 meters by the game (I know that centimeters differ sometimes, but that doesn’t matter, if the menu says 2.4 it’s 2.4).
Engine: 4 or 6 cylinder in any configuration, 100-150 hp, 1750-2549 cc. Unleaded fuel, max 95 octane. No race intakes or tubular manifolds, catalytic converter and at least one muffler required. Turbos allowed, after all they were hot in that crowd back then…
Drivetrain: RWD, FWD and AWD allowed. LSD allowed. No 4x4 or lockers, not looking for an offroader.
Wheels: No crossplies, offroad tyres, semi slicks or magnesium wheels. Dimensions that would have been considered insane in 1984 is definitely not a good thing either and will be judged with that in mind.
Interior: Only 5-seaters.
Mods: Allowed.
PU/ET: It’s not my headache but yours since it is a captive import…
Quality sliders: Negative quality not allowed. Extreme amounts of positive quality sliders will be considered unrealistic and not a positive thing, so keep it sane.
Maximum budget: $12000 before markup.
And, I made a benchmark car modelled after an unnamed 80s euro sedan, which managed this scores:
The benchmark car has a score of 0. For every point you manage to score better in each of the categories (obviously not fuel economy or price), you get one point. However, since I want something that’s able to beat the benchmark car, every single point it scores worse than the benchmark car will make the car lose two points.
A car with a negative score will probably not be considered at all, scoring high is of course a good and very important thing, but I will put in a subjective part too, for example, a lower scoring vehicle might beat a higher scoring one if the price is noteably lower, if the whole package seems more attractive to a buyer, if the higher scoring vehicle is too butt ugly to sell, and so on.
Fuel economy, like the price, will not be weighted in into the score, but every drop it consumes more than the benchmark car is of course a bad thing, even if it’s directed to customers that can afford fuel.
Deadline: 1st of june, 5 pm CET. Before that I want your submission, and a short presentation of the car and company, I’d happily take a link to the lore thread if it exists too.
Name the car model “Partner-yourname” and the variant the full name of the car, and the engine family “Partner-yourname” and the variant the full name of the engine.
(BTW, this is kind of inspired by when Nissan sold VW Santanas in Japan in the 80s as the Nissan Santana… So it’s kind of something that could be a Santana rival I’m looking for, which is not the same thing as “Santana copy”…)
Any questions? Anything I am missing?
