Meliora Automotive - 1989 Alba update

[Sillyworld]

@DeusExMackia @VenturaBay Thanks guys. I’m glad to hear someone actually liked the Perenne. To be honest, I’m not entirely sure of the design, specially the rear, but I’ll do a face lift later

1962 Ocelote

1962 also saw the launching of the Ocelote, a brand new car designed for Eugenio’s son, that was supposed to take the place of the Rino, while being a mass produced car, just like the Perenne. Both were sold across America (the continent).

It had a steel ladder chassis and steel panels, with double wishbones in the front and solid axle with coils in the back. The power came from another ADM engine, this time, the 4.9L OHV Mastiff V8. While the regular version used for ADM in the Rivera and the Mástin had 148 hp, the meliora engineers worked their magic and extracted 222 hp out of it.

It was only offered in one trim, with a manual 4 speed transmission, power steering, 14 inch wheels, 2+2 interior with leather seats and a modern std radio. The brakes were discs in the front and drums in the rear.
It was’t as fast as the Rino (being mass produced mean the car should be more reliable, more heavy and less powerful than it could be), it did 0-100 km/h in 8.5 seconds with a top speed of 224.5 km/h.

Overall it was a good car and it defined the course Meliora will take during the 60s, with Eugenio working in the light sports 6 cylinder powered cars and his son in the heavy and more powerful V8 muscle cars.

1962 price: $2,753.34

[alternatesteve2]

Love this car, Sillyworld! Where did you get the body? Or it is one of your original creations yet to be released for public consumption?

[Sillyworld]

It’s not a mod, it’s this body →

It does look better in the picture than it looks in game lol

[alternatesteve2]

Ah, I see now! I’ve actually used this body before…thanks, and keep up the great work!

[Sillyworld]

1964 Perenne Fastback

In 1964. the perenne received a facelift, and introduced a totally new trim.

It had the same engine (2L DAOHC L6) as the original, but this time, Eugenio himself re-design the front and the rear, maintaining some elements of the original, plus adding a more familiar grille design.
The changes in the convertible were only aesthetical, but the fastback was modified from the original.

It had 4 speed manual gearbox, disc brakes in the front, drums in the back, a quality standard interior in 2+2 layout with a standard radio.
Overall, it was faster than the convertible and was pretty good received by the people.
0-100 10.4s
1/4 mile 17.58s
top speed 182 km/h.

1964 price: $2,259.51

[Sillyworld]

1965 Leopardo

Following the '62 Ocelote, with another big cat name, it came the '65 Leopardo. Initially it was available in 2 trims, the regular coupé, that was a direct evolution of the Ocelote, and a more powerful version, the Rally Sports.
###Leopardo Coupe

This was the regular trim, powered by the same 4.9L OHV V8 as the Ocelote, with the same 220hp output. Design by the Eugenio’s son, this time the car was bigger than the previous model, and with a more agressive looks, but retaining the same black stripes and a similar front.
It was available with a 4 speed manual gearbox, discs brakes at front and drums in the back. It was again a 2+2 layout, with a premium interior and a std radio, with the standar safety for the time.

It reached a top speed of 215 km/h and it did 0-100 in 8.6s. The 1/4 mile time was 16.5s according to official sources. Even tho it had a surprisingly soft suspension, the ride wasn’t bouncy, and it ended up being a good all-around car in despise is muscle nature.

###Leopardo Rally Sport

After squishing all that was reasonable available in the ADM Mastiff V8, it was obvious that Meliora needed a better engine, one that was specially design for performance, instead of adapt a truck engine to a car, but Meliora didn’t had the infrestructure to develop a new engine, let alone a big V8, so Eugenio’s son contacted American Eagle Automotive, a company with V8 experience.
And after some negotiation, the Leopardo Rally Sport was born, powered by a Big Block Cleveland engien (BB - 455C). The engine 400ci (6.5L) OHV V8 was rated at 325hp, but in reality, after dyno testing it, it make 334hp and 437 ft-lb of torque, not bad at all.

After the lack of engine was resolved, it came the rest of the engineering. The exterior was pretty much the same, except for a re-worked rear spoiler, and side vents. It was offered only in black color.
In the interior the car only had 2 seats and a more complex safety.
The suspension, the brakes and the transmission were completely new and differed a lot from the coupe trim.
The result? top speed of 241km/h, 0-100 in 7.5s and the quarter mile in 15.42s. Even tho it was a whole second quicker than the Coupe, the car was still pretty slow compared to other cars from its time. Still the car was a sales success, thanks to the AEA engine and its nice power curve, combined with the reworked suspension, the car was very very good at cruising and cornering, and only for that experience people bought the car, plus it looks bad ass in black.

Coupe 1965 price: $2,824.88
Rally sports 1965 price: $3,657.34

[Razyx]

Me encanta el Leopardo, muy bueno.
(Good one, I really like the Leopard (o) ).

[Sillyworld]

Gracias!
(Thanks)

[Sillyworld]

1968 - 1973 Perenne GT (facelift)

The money was flowing to Meliora, and its name was starting to gain recognition among the automotive world. 4 long years later after the last trim of the Perenne, several things have change. Eugenio, the company founder was having health issues more often, and for the first time, Meliora was thinking to finally enter to the international racing world (it had participated before once in La Carrera Panamericana) and a prototype was actually being built, but for that, money was needed. So instead of renew the light sport model every 2 years (as the muscle models were renewed) in 1968 the Perenne received a new make over, with a re-designed in-home engine.

The new trim was simply called “Perenne GT” (but it wasn’t a GT per se) and it featured a re-worked exterior, as well as a re-tune engine and suspension.

The powerplant was derived from the original 2L DAOHC in-line 6, but this time with a larger bore, giving a total of 2.2L of displacement and 127 hp, paired to a brand new 5 speed manual gearbox. The car weighted less than a ton, so it had more than enough power to push the car up to 188 km/h and reach 100 km/h in less than 10 seconds and it can be stopped with a simple solid disc front - rear drums brakes combination. It wasn’t the fastest car Meliora offered at the time, but it sure was one fun of a ride.

It came only with 2 seats and a simple interior with no radio, because must of the effort was into making it a light car (so GT was a weird choice for a trim name), trying to emulate the sport European cars.

1968 price: $2,496

[Sillyworld]

1968 - 1971 Puma [corporate]-- 3 trims --[/corporate]

The last mass produced car of the old Meliora age, and the last attempt to a muscle car, the heritage of cat cars was about to end, and what a way to go.
As the Leopardo Rally Sport, the engine came from AEA, in different configurations and displacements.

The first trim, was simply called Base, and it was the entry level, with a price of $3,816, ranging above the average Muscle car, but it was better looking than anyone of them (or so, it was said [by me]). The engine was an american 383ci/6.3L OHV V8 that was rated at 300hp, but in reality it did 16 good hp more.

And for a good more amount of money ($5,653 more expensive than a C3 corvette), you could get the Puma 440 (named after the 440ci engine) which was faster and better in every way, (except fuel economy). You could get it in the classic Meliora Orange and with 363 hp you could go all the way up to 260 km/h and do the quarter mile in 14.22 seconds.

Finally, in 1969, in the same year Meliora participated in the 24hr le mans, a commemorative model was presented, the Puma Motorsports, with a mighty 7.2L V8 HEMI engine pushing over 400hp. Captable of 0-100km/h in about 5.9 seconds, the quarter mile in 13.74s. It was not only fast in a straight line, this trim was also quite good turning. Only 444 were produced, for the ludicrous price of $6,081.

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Thanks to @findRED19 for providing the engine

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1968 - 1971 Puma Base

1968 price: $3,816

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1968 - 1971 Puma 440

1968 Market: $5,653

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1969 Puma Motorsports

1969 price: $6,081

[Fayeding_Spray]

H-How do those headlights work? they look so good!

[phale]

So, how would this have done in the Fruinian Muscle Car Cup?

[Sillyworld]

@Fayeding_Spray

H-How do those headlights work? they look so good!

I don’t know The main beams are close to the center of the car, and I don’t know if that is or was legal, but I also though that the main beams will be the ones in the bottom, and the pop-up the high-range-road_lights (I don’t know how they’re called in english).
Or maybe… the real beams are hidden in the side vents xD

@phale

So, how would this have done in the Fruinian Muscle Car Cup?

Hahahaha! that’s a pretty good question, I will put the data and the spreadsheet and we will see!

EDIT:
Well, it would have done terrible bad! 10th place around the Nascar track and around 10ish as well in the price/value.

[abg7]

The Puma and Perenne are just plain gorgeous… I wish they both existed in real life! You are spot on about the Puma being too slow around the tri-oval at Daytona, though, but it is one of the best muscle cars I have ever seen!

Edit: I ran into the same problem you did when my Chieftain entered stage 2 of the BFMCC - it was also too slow for its price. However, this would have been less likely if I had simply given it more power, by adding an extra four cylinders, at least one liter of displacement, cutting the price, or some combination of all three…

[Sillyworld]

@abg7 Thank you, I appreciate the comment. And yeah, the Puma is more looks than performance xD Compared to the Big Fruinian Muscle cars, it failed because those are absolutely monsters. The Puma still uses a ladder chassis and a solid rear axle with a 4 speed gearbox, which is pretty terrible because it is big and difficult to steer. An although it has a high (but sensitive) amount of power, still most of the fruinian monsters had over 500hp (and I pretty much suck at fine tuning).

[Sillyworld]

1969 Andron

For several years, Eugenio wanted Meliora to participate in international racing events, and in 1966 decided it was the time to enter, so he and his engineers got to work in a racing car. The first part was to get an engine. Instead of designing a new engine, Eugenio decided to use an existing OHV engine (to save money… and weight). The AEA engines were to big, so they took the Mastiff V8 engine from ADM and got to work. The design of the car took more than planed, and they skip the 1966 Le mans event, and by 1967 the finished car was too slow in comparison to other cars, so it went back in the designing board again.

By 1968 the car was finished, but the engine still was in the making. Since Eugenio was so determined in use a OHV instead of a multivalve set-up, it was pretty hard to squeeze the power, specially since the help of some forced induction. At the end, the valvetrain was pretty expensive, were valves made of titanium and magnesium with pneumatic pushroads. The engine was good for over 400hp, depending on the fuel and the configuration.

1969 came, and they still needed to produce at least 25 road legal cars to meet the homologation requirement. Originally, it was planned to build 5 race cars and 25 road cars, but the race version was so expensive that only 3 were made, and after the event, 2 were sold to gain some money back (not official sources say that Meliora was close to bankruptcy due to the project). All the 28 cars were ensambled in the HQ (although most of the parts were either bought or build in the Farm-factory). The racing returned in mixed results. Only 2 cars enter the race and both finished, but were unable to still the victory from Ford, but the good performance and reliability caught the eye of many and give Meliora recognition in the automotive world.

Some of the closest competitors for the '69 Andron Road car are the KHT brooklands and the Mulsanne, as well as the Dimension Paradox 410. Although They never were put to race against each other, “in paper”, the 4.6s 0-100 km/h and the top speed of 283 km/h made the mexican super car slightly quicker and faster. In fact, it was only surpassed by the AC Cobra 427 from '66. Not even the corvette c2, the mustang boss 429 or even the Ford GT40 road were quicker.

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ANDRON RACE CHASSIS

000 — Never sold or raced. It remains in the private collection of the Quiroga’s family.
001 — Sold in 1970 to Gulf racing, then sold again in 1972 to a private collector. Bought back in 2002 and remains in the Meliora’s Technical campus in display.
002 — Sold in 1970 to Gulf racing, then sold again in 1972 to a private collector. In 2003 it was bought by DSD’s CEO (@Darkshine5)

ANDRON ROAD CHASSIS

L01 — Car collector in Texas, USA
L02 — In possession of Gunnar Racing
L03 — Missing
L04 — unknown
L05 — Owned by J. Leno
L06 — reported as stolen in 1973, never found again
L07 — Missing
L08 — Crashed in 1971
L09 — unknown
L10 — Car collector in UK
L11 — Private car collector, unknown location
L12 — Owned by the Sultan of Brunei
L13 — Recently found abandoned in a old farm in near Sttugard
L14 — Car collector in Israel
L15 — Car collector in Mexico City
L16 — Car collector in Brazil
L17 — Unknown
L18 — Lost in a fire
L19 — Crashed in 2007 in Nürburgring
L20 — Pimped by a rapper
L21 — Private car collector, unknown location
L22 — Recently bought by D. Letterman
L23 — Missing
L24 — Private car collector, unknown location
L25 — Sold at auction in 1998.

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Added factories and facilities owned by Meliora to the OP.

'69 Andron LM Race Car

Lap times with +5 quality semi slick tires

1:08.03 — daytona nascar
2:13.59 — automation
1:20.54 — airfield
8:09.29 — Green hell

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'69 Andron Road Car

1969 price: $10,700

Lap times

1:24.28 — airfield
2:19.66 — automation
1:12.00 — daytona nascar
8:36.51 — Green hell

[Deskyx]

Woah very close stats to Dimension’s first generation Paradox 410 on road and track! I’d imagine lots of close battles with the two since the 60s.

[abg7]

Like it, like it a lot - your best effort yet. Would it have been eligible for stage 1 of the BFMCC, and if so, how well would it have done? Unlike the second stage, mid-engined cars were actually eligible in stage 1.

[Sillyworld]

@Deskyx Wow, hahaha yeah very similar stats and performance indeed. Although yours has an advantage in cornering (and overall real life driving), seeing it is significantly faster around the nürburgring. But the paradox got some help with a rear wing, and the Andron is pure mechanical grip… because Meliora was so poor to cost a wind tunnel to test downforce xD
Also the Andron is probably one of the few MR cars prone to understeer instead of oversteer, it’s quite difficult to pivot the frond end in this one.

@abg7 Well, it doesn’t qualify because it scores poorly in any muscle/pony demographic, but I’m sure in the first round it would have been last, because it is quite expensive and not adapted to real life driving, and in the second round, the road trim is like the 4th or 5th faster around the NASCAR track. But the race version is obvioulsy faster than any of them ;D (but not by that much tho)

[Deskyx]

@sillyworld Dimension is always keen to supply engines to smaller companies to save costs. And just as keen to enter the Mexican market… Perhaps we can see some cooperation in the future?

TFW when a race car is more reliable than your performance car

Also you can use our wind tunnel…