Nassau Motor Company - 2nd Gen 900 Revealed!

[MAG]

We’re very excited for the prospects of the Tango. It’s a small, economical, and fun to drive car that is coming out at just the right time.

As far as the Raider goes, mechanically it’s pretty similar to the previous generation. The A-body was refined and updated into the AR chassis, but still uses most of the same suspension components. A few of the magazine road tests that have come in and show that it’s comparable to or slightly slower than the last generation. We’re going to downplay that though, as our engineers did the best they could to meet all new mandates and still get performance out of the engine. Plus, just look at that sleek, futuristic body!

But the future is currently bright for Nassau. We’ve had a decade of healthy profits and now we’re ready to put them back into the product.

[MAG]

April 18, 1978 - Welcome to the 1978 North Gasmean International Auto Show!

In 1971, we unveiled our biggest car ever. Over the past decade, the Nassau Galleon has become something of an icon of the large car era. But times are changing. New mandates are in effect and the large cars of yesteryear are falling by the wayside.

At Nassau, we’ve been working tirelessly to take the large car style and luxury and fit it into a more economic and usable package. I’m here to announce that we’ve done it and we’re ready to unveil the 1979 Nassau Galleon!

We start with the 1979 Nassau Galleon S sedan. The new sedan is 3 feet shorter than the previous model and rides a wheelbase of 105". In the real world, the new Galleon is almost exactly the same size as the outgoing Arabia sedan. Now you can get the big car feel in a small car package.

The entry model into the lineup features a standard cloth interior, which retains the bench seating from the previous model. Fuel efficiency has been increased nearly 40% over the previous model, meaning you’ll save plenty of money at the pumps.

The Galleon SE returns for 1979. Upgrading to the SE trim gets you chrome trim on the outside and a leather interior with front center console on the inside. You also get a Hi-Fi 8 track player.

Replacing the Galleon Brougham for 1979 is the all new Galleon Grand Coupe. For the gentleman who wants to ride in style, the Galleon Grand Coupe features a plush leather interior with bucket seating for 4. Hi-Fi 8 track is included.

All three models of the 1979 Galleon are powered by the Nassau B50-8U V8 engine, shared with the Raider XF coupe. This engine produces 172hp and meets all federal standards from 1978 onwards.

Well, that about wraps things up for Nassau this year. Oh, wait. We do have one more new model to introduce.

Presenting the 1979 Nassau Runabout. The Runabout is the result of letting your engineers have a little fun. Sharing the body and basic design with the Galleon S, the Runabout also features a cloth bench seat with room for 3. This is Nassau’s first entry into the “utility” market since 1970 and we’re back with a bang.

Pricing for all new models will be announced sometime this fall.

[abg7]

If I recall correctly, the Galleon Runabout is the first ute you have ever made. Had it existed in real life, it would have sold like hot cakes in Australia and New Zealand, where demand for car-based utes has traditionally been very high until very recently!

[MAG]

Yes, the Runabout is our first entry into the “ute” market. It will be our first utility vehicle since the Express HD van went out of production in 1970 and our first car-based vehicle since the Metropolitan Delivery in 1955.

Though no one can seem to find a picture of one, there were a few Raider-based ute prototypes running around our development center in the mid-1970s. They never made it to production though.

[MAG]

October 30, 1978 - The final 1978 Nassau Galleon S has sold. Let’s take a look back at our entry level large car.

The D-body Galleon S was introduced in 1971 as our base model large car. This car slotted above the smaller Arabia S and Arabia SE and below the Galleon SE in our lineup.

After initially struggling for sales in its first 2 years, 1973 began a sales jump that saw it become our best selling D-body for the remainder of the first generation. Sales topped out last year, in 1977, when 43,724 were sold.

Galleon S Sales
1971: 10,145
1972: 12,449
1973: 25,776
1974: 35,116
1975: 40,648
1976: 41,181
1977: 43,724
1978: 25,332
Total: 234,371

November 14, 1978 - Nassau has announced its new pricing structure for 1979. Please see below.

$7,792 - Tango Turismo
$7,988 - Tango 5R
$8,309 - Tango 5S

$9,979 - Raider S
$13,908 - Raider XF

$11,769 - Galleon S
$14,430 - Galleon SE
$15,031 - Galleon Grand Coupe

$12,696 - Runabout

The remaining 1978 Galleons will be priced as follows until inventory is cleared.

$14,383 - Galleon SE
$15,035 - Galleon Brougham

[MAG]

January 3, 1979 - Another year comes and goes for Nassau. This year saw us replacing 2/3 of our lineup and preparing to replace the final 1/3.

Motorsports Review

Fruinian Touring Car Championship
The Tango Turismo debuted for the 1978 season and although we never reached victory lane, we had a pretty decent year. Congratulations to Ricardo Gonzales for winning the championship in his Blake B2000!

FTCC Final Standings:
4th - Justin Cochran (Nassau Performance)
8th - David Dupel (Segelson Motorsports)
12th - Dalton Davis (Segelson Motorsports)
15th - Kevin Steen (Nassau Performance)

Trans-Gasmean Racing Series
The Raider XF made its debut for 1978. Things went much better for us here, as the aerodynamic design of the new car was far ahead of the competition. Congatulations to Gary Thomas for repeating as champion with his Lutz Saber!

Trans-Gas Final Standings:
3rd - Marc Martin (Allroad Motorsport) - 3 victories
5th - Dan Limon (Nassau Performance) - 1 victory
8th - Kyle Stephens (Nassau Performance)
10th - Mike Mitchell (Johnson Brothers)
13th - Derrick Davis (Johnson Brothers)
16th - Ted Stanley (Allroad Motorsport)

Gasmean Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (GASCAR)
Nassau would like to announce that we’ve reached a deal with 2 racing teams that will see the Galleon Grand Coupe compete for the 1979 GASCAR Salem Cup!

1978 saw us bring in $4.5 billion in revenues and earn $134 million in profits. Our reputation took a bit of a hit as the reliability issues with switching to unleaded fuels were bigger than we expected.

Our prestige also tanked, as the Tango is not really seen as much more than basic transportation.

Our forecasters have given up on the economy. Gasmea hasn’t been at a 1.0 since 1955. For some reason, this perpetual depression continues. We’ve set ourselves up to be profitable in the current climate, so if we see a boom, that’ll only help us out.

Sales jumped back up to over half a million vehicles for 1978 after the tumble last year. We expect this to increase for 1979 as our entire lineup is now modernized and production has been optimized for the Tango and Raider.

1978 saw us sell a total of 516,764 cars, making it our second best year behind 1976. The release of the Tango caused a huge jump in Fruinia, where we sold over 200,000 cars for the first time ever.

The Tango 5R came in and had the best sales year of any car we’ve ever produced, selling 209,572 units.

The Tango 5S didn’t lag far behind, selling 158,466 cars.

The Tango Turismo did just about as well as we expected for a “performance” economy car, selling 18,375 units.

The Raider S for 1978 had the best year ever for any Raider model. The first year of the third generation sold 47,604.

The new Raider XF sold well also, but production is limited by the small size of the factory where its engine is built. We sold 34,536 of the top trim.

In its final year, the base model Galleon S sold 25,332 units, its lowest total since 1973.

The 1978 Galleon SE sedan managed to sell just 7,753 cars this year. We should be sold out of this model by the middle of February next year.

The 1978 Galleon Brougham sold 15,126 cars over the course of the year. This was its lowest total ever. We still have a few kicking around dealership lots and should be sold out early next year.

Model Breakdown
209,572 - Tango 5R (New)
158,466 - Tango 5S (New)
47,604 - Raider S (New)
34,536 - Raider XF (New)
25,332 - Galleon S (-49%)
18,375 - Tango Turismo (New)
15,126 - Galleon Brougham (-57%)
7,753 - Galleon SE (-58%)

[Aladeen]

I still don’t get why the new Galleon is closer in size to an Arabia than its predecessor, yet comes standard with a V8 engine.

[MAG]

When the B-body chassis was developed in the early 1960s, the target market was Fruinia, as Gasmea wouldn’t open up for another decade. As the roads in Fruinia aren’t as wide as Gasmea, the Arabia, Bahama, and Regent weren’t very wide cars. We did not have a V8 engine at the time, but even if we had, the body wouldn’t have been wide enough for it to fit.

When our engineers chopped up the B-body chassis in the late 1960s to create the C-body (Raider Mk I), and D-body (Galleon Mk I), the chassis was both lengthened and widened. This wider version of the chassis was more suited for Gasmean roads and allowed a V8 engine to fit.

When the compact A-body (Bahama Mk III and Raider Mk II) was being developed, there were no plans for a V8. However, we didn’t have the production capacity to keep producing the Raider and build a new car, so the Raider was moved to the new platform. Last minute changes were made to stuff our smallest V8 under the hood. This in part, led to consumers beginning to reject the 2nd generation Raider, as it was clear that the car was a bit of a hack job.

When developing the 2nd generation Galleon, our engineers elected to keep it nearly as wide as the 1st generation Galleon, but shortened the car considerably, as other manufacturers were doing as well. That’s what’s led to a big car the length of our former small car, but wide enough for a larger engine.

Convoluted? Yes, but we were a small, struggling automaker during a depression. We stretched every cent we could out of development.

[abg7]

How would it be if you listed the current values of your more memorable classics, such as the original Raider? I think they’d be worth quite a lot more now compared to when they were introduced, especially the higher-performance trims!

Also, I never thought the Tango would look good in fluorescent greenish-yellow, but it does - and the Turismo version would have made a great budget hot hatch!

Edit: First-gen Raiders would be worth much more in the 21st century. If that’s what I meant, please keep that in mind.

[MAG]

Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, in the current time-period cars from the late '60s - early '70s are pretty much being given away on the secondhand market.

High insurance premiums in addition to requiring leaded fuel, and a world-wide focus on economy have killed the muscle car. Even though we only sold 81,824 1st generation _Raider NP_s, one could be found used for probably around $1,000 in 1980. So if you’re looking for a Raider, invest now as I’m sure in a couple decades you’ll be sorry if you didn’t.

For reference, see the below ad. My dad purchased his 1970 'Cuda in 1978 for $1,300. Things were super cheap back then.

[MAG]

January 30, 1979 - The final 1978 Nassau Galleon SE has sold. Let’s take a look back at our premium large car.

The Galleon SE was introduced in 1971 as a premium option over our Galleon S large sedan. This car was the top dog in the Nassau lineup for nearly a decade. Our biggest car was powered by our biggest engine, which was a 5.7L V8 producing 260hp.

After averaging around 12,000 sales per year for its first 4 model years, sales began an uptick in 1975. The sedan had its best year in 1976 when over 19k were sold. The Galleon sedans are succeeded by a new, smaller model for 1979.

Galleon SE Sales
1971: 10,138
1972: 13,317
1973: 11,729
1974: 11,648
1975: 14,031
1976: 19,038
1977: 18,379
1978: 7,857
Total: 106,137

March 28, 1979 - The final 1978 Nassau Galleon Brougham coupe has sold. Let’s take a look back at Nassau’s personal luxury coupe.

The Nassau Galleon Brougham was introduced in 1971. As the Raider -
launched the year before - replaced the Grand Pacific as a sports car, the Galleon Brougham replaced it as a luxury coupe.

Powered by the same A57-8M as the sedan, the Brougham was no slouch in the performance department and was the largest car in the NASSAU EXPRESS performance car lineup.

Originally expected to sell in small numbers, the Brougham went on to be one of our top selling coupes of all time. Its best year was in 1976, when over 39k were sold. The Galleon Brougham is succeeded by the new 1979 Galleon Grand Coupe.

Galleon Brougham Sales
1971: 18,571
1972: 22,830
1973: 25,853
1974: 29,876
1975: 33,079
1976: 38,049
1977: 35,461
1978: 16,459
Total: 220,178

This closes the book on the 1st generation D-body. Across all three model lines, we sold a total of 560,686 cars during the 8 year model run. These are also our final models to run on leaded gasoline.

November 14, 1979 - All motorsports have ended for the 1979 season. Let’s see how Nassau performed this year.

The 1979 Tango Turismo improved slightly this season. We reached victory lane twice during the twenty race season. The team was dealt a blow when our top driver, Justin Cochran, announced he was leaving the team at the end of the season. Finally, congratulations to Claudio Castagnoli, the former Nassau driver, for winning his second championship for McNamara in his 1979 Raven!

FTCC Final Standings:
3rd - Justin Cochran (Nassau Performance) - 1 victory
6th - David Dupel (Segelson Motorsports) - 1 victory
10th - Dalton Davis (Segelson Motorsports)
15th - Kevin Steen (Nassau Performance)

Trans-Gasmean Racing Series
The 1979 Raider XF continued to perform on the track as it came down to the wire this season. The championship came down to the final race of the 22 race season at Laguna Seca and at the finish line it was Allroad Motorsport driver Marc Martin taking the win and the championship. He becomes the first Nassau driver for an outside team to win a championship.

Trans-Gas Final Standings:
1st - Marc Martin (Allroad Motorsport) - 4 victories
3rd - Dan Limon (Nassau Performance) - 3 victories
6th - Mike Mitchell (Johnson Brothers) - 1 victory
9th - Derick Davis (Johnson Brothers)
12th - Kyle Stephens (Nassau Performance)
18th - Ted Stanley (Allroad Motorsport)

GASCAR
Nassau supplied cars for 2 teams for the 36 race Salem Cup. Both teams struggled with the new car in the large GASCAR fields and are hoping for bigger and better things in 1980. Perennial top makes Whitaker and Lutz duked it out with driver Sam Shaw coming out on top in his Whitaker Gazelle.

GASCAR Final Standings:
21st - Albert Snow (Mack Motorsports)
33rd - Duke Michaels (Michaels Motorsports)

[MAG]

January 2, 1980 - We’ve made it! The 1970s were a huge period of growth for Nassau as we went from a small Fruinian company selling 185k cars per year to a worldwide automaker with sales over half a million.

With all three of our model lines now fully replaced and modernized, we’re hitting the ground running this decade. We took in over $5.1 billion in revenue, earning a profit of over $317 million.

Our reputation dropped slightly as we are seeing some issues with the new DOHC setup in the Tango compacts. The release of the new Galleon line upped our prestige a bit.

Things are also starting to look up in the global economy. After a brief recovery in the mid 1970s, things sank back down at the end of the decade. This year though, we could be seeing the beginning of a boom.

We built on our success last year as we finished the current cycle of new product releases. We now have our production lines optimized at all three of our car factories. Sales wise, December 1979 was our best month ever, breaking the previous record from June 1978. We sold 47,099 cars in December.

1979 saw sales increase to 533,946 units. This topped last year and is now our second best total ever. Sales of the new Galleon exceeded expectations.

The 1979 Tango 5R beat its own record from the previous year and sold 225,907 cars.

The Tango 5S saw a somewhat significant decline, dropping to 139,005 cars sold.

It was the same story for the Tango Turismo, which saw its sales nearly halved. The 1979 model sold just 9,914 units. Could our basically brand new compacts already be obsolete?

Sales of the 1979 Raider were down as well. The 6 cylinder Raider S sold 26,805 units, a drop of 44%.

The V8 Raider XF didn’t see as strong of a decline, but sales did drop. It nearly equaled the base model, selling 26,550.

The new Galleon lineup appears to be a hit. Across the 4 model lines, we sold 104,328 cars. The best year from the previous generation was 1976, when 98,268 were sold.

The 1979 Galleon S nearly doubled sales from the previous car, totaling 47,894 units.

The top of the line Galleon SE sold much better than the previous car. Sales nearly tripled from the previous year. 26,665 cars rolled off dealer lots.

The Galleon Grand Coupe took over for the Galleon Brougham and sales remained relatively stable from the previous year. This is still down considerably from 1976 though. We sold 20,675 coupes.

We didn’t know what to expect from the new Nassau Runabout. The new ute based on the DS chassis sold 9,094 units in its first year.

Model Breakdown
225,907 - Tango 5R (+8%)
139,005 - Tango 5S (-12%)
47,894 - Galleon S (+89%)
26,805 - Raider S (-44%)
26,665 - Galleon SE (+239%)
26,550 - Raider XF (-23%)
20,675 - Galleon Grand Coupe (+26%)
9,914 - Tango Turismo (-46%)
9,094 - Runabout (NEW)

[MAG]

May 21, 1980 - Charles Gaul, son of company president Robert Gaul has joined the Nassau engineering team. Charles recently graduated from the prestigious College of Nassau with an engineering degree. He looks forward to being part of the team developing the next generation of Nassau cars.

August 4, 1980 - From the EngineFad news and rumors section:
“According to industry sources, Nassau Motor Company has purchased a large tract of land outside the Archanan city of Slotylv. Word is, Nassau will be expanding its presence in the country and will be building a new model or a cheaper version of its Tango hatchback specifically for Archana.”

September 28, 1980 - Nassau president Robert Gaul and his team have broken ground on a new car/engine factory complex in Slotylv, Archana. In a short speech, Robert praised the workers of Archana and stated he looked forward to car production beginning in the country by 1984.

November 20, 1980 - All motorsports have ended for the 1980 season. Let’s see how Nassau performed this year.

Fruinian Touring Car Championship
The Tango Turismo for 1980 didn’t have as much success, as we lost our most talented driver after last season. This season, Andy Wick piloted his Blake B2000 to the championship.

FTCC Final Standings:
5th - David Dupel (Segelson Motorsports) - 1 victory
11th - Kevin Steen (Nassau Performance)
12th - Dalton Davis (Segelson Motorsports)
19th - Marco Andres (Nassau Performance)

Trans-Gasmean Racing Series
The Raider XF duked it out once again this season, but we weren’t as lucky this time. This year, Terrence Bruno took his Lutz Stallion to the championship for the first time.

Trans-Gas Final Standings:
2nd - Dan Limon (Nassau Performance) - 4 victories
3rd - Marc Martin (Allroad Motorsport) - 3 victories
7th - Mike Mitchell (Johnson Brothers) - 1 victory
10th - Derrick Davis (Johnson Brothers)
13th - Kyle Stephens (Nassau Performance)
17th - Ted Stanley (Allroad Motorsport)

GASCAR
Nassau bumped up to 3 teams this season and results improved slightly, but were still not good. The Lutz Tampa came out on top this year with driver Frank Johnson.

GASCAR Final Standings:
16th - Albert Snow (Mack Motorsports)
19th - Duke Michaels (Michaels Motorsports)
27th - Bobby Sanders (Sanders Racing)

[MAG]

January 1, 1981 - The worldwide economic recovery is officially underway! After nearly 25 years of economic stagnation, the world has begun to boom.

This has also led to a boom for the Nassau Motor Company. Profits were almost nil this year though, as we purchased land in Archana and started construction of a new plant.

We only showed a profit of $5 million on $5.5 billion in revenue.

As you can see in our 5 year chart, sales were steadily above the previous year. We had a small dip after a price increase on the Galleon and Runabout.

In total, the 1980 sales year was the best in our company’s history as we sold 563,998 cars.

The Tango hatchbacks saw our biggest increase in sales. The public is gobbling them up, even as we continue to work on reliability issues with the C16-4U’s DOHC setup. Across the model line, we sold 417,313 cars.

The 1980 Tango 5R was our most popular model, and could go on to becoming our best selling model of all time if it keeps up this pace. This year, we sold 248,314 of the base model.

The Tango 5S saw it’s sales jump back up to that of it’s introduction year in 1978. This year we sold 157,646.

The tiny Tango Turismo saw its sales jump as well. 11,413 2 doors were sold this year.

Sales of the Raider coupes bumped up slightly for 1980. Sales are still down a good bit from the first year, but we feel that the coming economic boom will be good for the car. This year we sold a total of 57,192.

27,610 of them were base model I6 _Raider S_s. Sales were up slightly over 1979.

The remaining 29,582 sales were V8 Raider XF coupes. That puts it in shouting distance of 1st year sales levels. It was also the first time that the top of the line Raider has outsold the lower trim levels.

Sales of the Galleon were down across the board this year as the world moves toward smaller, more economical cars. We expected this, as we made this Galleon much smaller than the old one. This year, after a small price increase of 5%, we sold 89,443 DS-bodies.

The top seller was the 1980 Galleon S. We sold 40,183.

The Galleon SE also saw a sales drop, but not quite as severe as the base model. People that are choosing our sedan are starting to choose the premium trim more and more. This year we sold 22,759.

Galleon Grand Coupe sales were relatively flat compared to the previous year. 20,378 were sold.

Sales of the Runabout ute dropped considerably. If this continues, the model may be discontinued after 1981. We sold 6,113.

Model Breakdown
248,314 - Tango 5R (+10%)
157,646 - Tango 5S (+13%)
40,183 - Galleon S (-16%)
29,582 - Raider XF (+11%)
27,610 - Raider S (+3%)
22,759 - Galleon SE (-15%)
20,378 - Galleon Grand Coupe (-1%)
11,413 - Tango Turismo (+15%)
6,113 - Runabout (-33%)

CAFE Report
CAFE standards have officially gone into effect for 1980. The required Corporate Average Fuel Economy for this year is a minimum of 18mpg. Here’s our chart for the model year.

As you can see, our CAFE for 1980 was 19.03mpg, comfortably above the mandate. Should a company fall below the mandate, they must exceed the next mandated average. For instance, if a company failed to meet 18mpg this year but meets the 20mpg standard in 1982, there is no penalty. Should a company fail to meet 2 consecutive standards, they will be forced to pay penalties to the governments.

Our engineers have calculated that we will probably fail to meet the 1982 standard, as we have no new products in the pipeline until afterwards. Once that new product cycles in, we should exceed the standards for 1986, so we’ll be okay.

That’s all for 1980. Could this become the “Decade of Excess”?

[MAG]

November 20, 1981 - With the racing seasons of all major motorsports drawing to a close, let’s take a look back at how Nassau performed this year.

Fruinian Touring Car Championship
The 1981 Tango Turismo continued to be a mid-pack performer this year and unfortunately we didn’t reach victory lane. We’ve gotten word that long-time partner Segelson Motorsports will be switching makes next year. Congratulations to former Nassau Driver Justin Cochran, who won the championship in his Viking 800.

FTCC Final Standings:
8th - David Dupel (Segelson Motorsports)
12th - Kevin Steen (Nassau Performance)
13th - Dalton Davis (Segelson Motorsports)
18th - Marco Andres (Nassau Performance)

Trans-Gasmean Racing Series
The 1981 Raider XF continues to be a force in the Trans-Gas road racing series. After falling just short of a repeat title last year, we reclaimed the throne with a strong performance from all of our teams.

Trans-Gas Final Standings:
1st - Dan Limon (Nassau Performance) - 5 victories
3rd - Mike Mitchell (Johnson Brothers) - 3 victories
5th - Marc Martin (Allroad Motorsport) - 2 victories
9th - Kyle Stephens (Nassau Performance)
11th - Derrick Davis (Johnson Brothers)
15th - Ted Stanley (Allroad Motorsport)

GASCAR
The 1981 GASCAR season started off with a bang for Nassau at the Daytona 500. Against all odds, driver Duke Michaels piloted his Galleon Grand Coupe through the field after a poor qualifying effort and hung with the leaders for most of the race. A daring pit stop strategy saw Duke gain the lead with 20 laps to go and almost nothing but fumes in the tank. As he entered the 3rd turn on the final lap, nearly a lap ahead of the rest of the field, his Grand Coupe finally coughed and ran out of fuel. He managed to coast to the finish, just ahead of 2nd place, scoring Nassau’s first ever win in the GASCAR Salem Cup Series!

The remainder of the season saw the Nassau powered teams improve over 1980, but we did not reach victory lane again. Greg Valentine took the championship in his Lutz Tampa.

GASCAR Final Standings:
11th - Duke Michaels (Michaels Motorsport) - 1 victory
15th - Albert Snow (Mack Motorsports)
23rd - Bobby Sanders (Sanders Racing)

November 30, 1981 - Nassau has announced the end of the Runabout pickup. Let’s take a look back at our first foray into the utility market since 1970.

The Nassau Runabout began production for the 1979 model year and was based on the DS chassis along with the Galleon. Powered by our B50-8U V8 engine which produced 172hp, the Runabout found a small niche amongst the agricultural community and surprisingly, performance enthusiasts.

The Runabout was never expected to sell in large numbers and it never did. Just over 18k were sold during the three year model run.

Runabout Sales
1979: 9,094
1980: 6,113
1981: 3,400
Total: 18,607

[MAG]

January 4, 1982 - The new decade rolls on. The Nassau Motor Company has reached new heights with its current model lines. Although we saw some consolidation with the discontinuation of the Runabout pickup, we still had another banner year.

This year saw us continue construction on our Slotylv factory, which ate up a lot of our profits. We still managed to turn a profit of over $200 million on $5.7 billion in revenue.

The economic recovery continues. Surprising economists everywhere, Archana has actually overtaken Fruinia in terms of buying power.

Our 5 year, year-over-year graph now shows the bottoming out of sales at the end of 1977, when we sold just 5,560 cars due to low inventory supplies and factory change-overs; as well as our best month ever in December 1981 when we sold 49,141 cars.

And below are our total sales for 1981.

This year, we sold a record 578,924 cars. The big news here is our growing presence in Archana. We’ve gone from selling just 23,239 cars there in 1978 to 53,174 this year. This is still considerably below our 299k sales in Gasmea and 226k in Fruinia, but Archana could become a force to be reckoned with really soon. With our new Slotylv factory coming on line in the next few years, we’re glad to be expanding our presence there.

Our compact Tango lineup saw its first sales drop this year, as we sold 410,535 which was down nearly 7k from 1980.

The Tango 5R saw the biggest drop, but was still far and away our best selling car. We sold 239,559 in 1981.

The improving economy meant more customers opted for the higher trimmed Tango 5S. Sales were up this year to 161,464.

The Tango Turismo is struggling to find a market. Perhaps the competition has improved or perhaps this 3 door hatch isn’t what people want. Either way, sales were down to 9,512 units.

The Raider saw sales increases across both models for 1981. More and more customers are going with the V8 XF model, as it has outsold the base I6 S for the 2nd year in a row. In total we sold 64,928 sport hatchbacks.

The base model Raider S only outsold the higher trim model in Archana, but sales were respectable across all regions. Total units sold this year was 29,218.

The Raider XF is proving to be a popular performance car, and possibly the definitive sports car of the early 1980s. This year, it had its best sales year ever, moving 35,710 units.

The DS-body Galleon is proving to be popular as well, as sales were up across all model lines; with the exception of the now discontinued Runabout. We sold 103,461 large cars this year.

Leading the way was the 1981 Galleon S. The lower-trimmed sedan sold 45,853 units.

Our top of the line Galleon SE saw a large sales increase this year. We sold 30,077 units.

The Galleon Grand Coupe saw a significant sales increase this year, up to 24,131 units.

In its final year, the Nassau Runabout sold 3,400 units.

Sales Breakdown
239,559 - Tango 5R (-4%)
161,464 - Tango 5S (+2%)
45,853 - Galleon S (+14%)
35,710 - Raider XF (+21%)
30,077 - Galleon SE (+32%)
29,218 - Raider S (+6%)
24,131 - Galleon Grand Coupe (+18%)
9,512 - Tango Turismo (-17%)
3,400 - Runabout (-44%)

[MAG]

February 1, 1982 - As we prepare for the Fruinian International Motor Show later this month, how about taking a look at some of the newest advertisements we’ve released for our cars.

[MAG]

February 16, 1982 - Welcome to the 1982 Fruinian International Motor Show!

Every so often a car comes along that is so new, so different, that it changes the game. The Albright Aero in 1937. The ZAC 2700 in 1951. The Lutz Stallion in 1964. And now, Nassau is ready to join that club by revolutionizing the small car. We’re proud to present, the brand new 1983 Nassau Nifty!

We’ll start with the 1983 Nassau Nifty S. The base model of our new “sub” compact hatchback slots below our current compact Tango, riding a wheelbase of just 88 inches and coming it at a total length of just 134. For comparison, you’d need 1 and a half _Nifty_s to equal the length of the largest car we’ve ever produced, the 1971-1978 Galleon SE. This tiny footprint is perfect for the ancient city centers of Fruinia, where even the Tango can run into some trouble.

The base model features seating for 4 and a lightweight cloth interior. Even with its small size and light weight, the Nifty features top of the line safety technology.

The Nifty S weighs in at just 1,616 pounds, and reaches a class leading 30.4mpg.

Helping reach that number is the most advanced engine ever created by Nassau and the first in our new line of powerplants, the Nassau D14-4I.

The Nassau D14-4I features a single overhead camshaft with 4 valves per cylinder and for the first time ever in a Nassau vehicle, electronic fuel injection. The D14-4I produces 60 hp at 5,400rpm and 76 ft-lbs of torque at 2,600rpm.

If you decide that the standard Nifty S isn’t quite enough for you, we’ve still got you covered. Presenting the 1983 Nassau Nifty Deluxe!

We’ve thrown everything we’ve got at the Nifty Deluxe to make it the small car you want to be seen in. Outside, 14" aluminum alloy wheels replace the 14" steel wheels on the base model and we’ve added front fog lights.

Inside is where we’ve made the biggest changes. We’ve replaced the basic cloth interior with premium leather and added a Hi-Fi 8 track cassette. We’ve also bumped up the stopping power of the standard front disc, rear drum brakes.

Even with all of these additions, the Nifty Deluxe still returns an impressive 29.2mpg.

The Nifty will be manufactured in our new Slotylv plant in Archana.

[MAG]

January 4, 1983 - 1982 has come to a close. As the Nifty S and Nifty Deluxe are now officially on sale, let’s take a look back at the year that was 1982.

Motorsports Recap

Fruinian Touring Car Championship
The Tango Turismo is languishing in the FTCC. Our former drivers are winning championships for other teams and we’ve lost long-time partner Segelson Motorsports. It was not a good year, as our car was never really competitive. Congratulations to Justin Cochran, for winning his second title in his Viking 800.

FTCC Final Standings:
14th - Kevin Steen (Nassau Peformance)
16th - Marco Andres (Nassau Performance)

Trans-Gasmean Racing Series
1982 saw the Raider XF slide a little bit as the competition level increased. We failed to repeat as champions, but still had a good year. Congratulations to Rick Kovac and his Whitaker Panther M6 on their championship.

Trans-Gas Final Standings:
3rd - Dan Limon (Nassau Performance) - 3 victories
6th - Marc Martin (Allroad Motorsport) - 2 victories
8th - Mike Mitchell (Johnson Brothers)
11th - John Rankin (Nassau Performance)
12th - Derrick Davis (Johnson Brothers)
17th - Ted Stanley (Allroad Motorsport)

GASCAR
Our win at the 1981 Daytona 500 may have been a fluke, but our driver’s name is still on the trophy. The 1982 season was more of the same for the Galleon Grand Coupe. It’s a good car, but the Gasmean automakers clearly have us beat in stock car racing. Congratulations to 2-time champion Greg Valentine and his Lutz Tampa.

GASCAR Final Standings:
18th - Albert Snow (Mack Motorsports)
20th - Duke Michaels (Michaels Motorsport)
28th - Bobby Sanders (Sanders Racing)

Sales Recap

1982 was very good for Nassau financially. We took in $5.7 billion in revenue, earning $202 million in profits.

We’re going to need those profits, as our current lineup is beginning to show its age and some of our models are coming due for replacement.

The economic recovery has hit a speed bump as we saw markets contract slightly this year. We don’t expect this to last long though.

Sales wise, this year was pretty steady for Nassau. We had our best month in January and saw sales slide each month afterward.

Even with the sales slide, we again had a record year, selling 581,947 cars. This was up 3k from 1981. Our competitors have been releasing new products though, and our current models are beginning to fall behind.

The Tango compact lineup increased significantly over last year and nearly matched its best total ever, achieved in 1980. This year we sold 416,179 hatchbacks.

Leading the charge once again was the 1982 Tango 5R. It saw sales bump up slightly to 242,859 units.

The Tango 5S saw sales rise as well, up to 164,479 cars. This was its best year ever.

The Tango Turismo continued its sales drop. After selling nearly 20k in its first year on the market, sales have dropped considerably. This year the 3 door sold only 8,841 units. With the Nifty coming online for 1983, this could be the last year for the Tango Turismo.

After becoming the best selling generation of our sports coupe last year, sales for the Raider remained stable. This year we sold a total of 64,036.

The base model Raider S dropped slightly, down to 28,426 units.

The top of the line Raider XF V8 sales for 1982 were nearly identical to 1981. This year we sold 35,610.

Our Galleon lineup saw a slight overall sales decrease this year, caused mostly by a drop in sales for the Grand Coupe and the discontinuation of the Runabout. In total we sold 101,732.

The Galleon S was the top seller of the lineup, recording 47,303 sales.

Sales for the Galleon SE were nearly identical to last year, selling 31,012 units.

The Galleon Grand Coupe saw its sales drop for the first time since 1980. This year we sold 23,417.

Sales Breakdown
242,859 - Tango 5R (+1%)
164,479 - Tango 5S (+2%)
47,303 - Galleon S (+3%)
35,610 - Raider XF (-)
31,012 - Galleon SE (+3%)
28,426 - Raider S (-3%)
23,417 - Galleon Grand Coupe (-3%)
8,841 - Tango Turismo (-7%)

CAFE Report
For 1982, the CAFE regulations required that our cars sold average 20mpg.

Unfortunately, we did not hit that number. In fact, our average went down as sales of the Galleon have increased quite a bit since 1980. For not hitting the target, we have been fined $10 million (this will be accomplished using the R&D tab). Should we fail to hit the 1986 target, we could see even bigger penalties.

[MAG]

January 22, 1983 - The February 1983 issue of EngineFad magazine has hit the shelves and has some pretty interesting articles.

The cover story features the brand new 1983 Lutz Stallion LX. The new model is powered by a 4.7L fuel injected V8 and holds a considerable advantage over other cars in the small sports coupe class. It definitely outguns the Raider XF and its chief competition, the Whitaker Panther M6.

Speaking of the Raider, there’s a pretty interesting article speculating on the next generation of the car.
"Photographers were able to capture some shots of the heavily camouflaged new model at Nassau’s North Versailles test center. We were only able to make out the shape of the car, which is very similar to the current model, so we’re expecting an “evolution” of the design as opposed to a “revolution”. What could be under the hood is a different story. Nassau was one of several automakers hit with fines for not reaching the new CAFE mandate. Being a smaller automaker, Nassau doesn’t have the advantage of a Whitaker or Lutz, who can use sheer volume of sales to offset a lower mpg V8. For this reason, we could possibly see the end of the V8 Raider. We expect Nassau to go to work on their I6 engine to bridge the power gap. Speculation has the new model hitting the streets prior to the 1986 model year.

Other articles include a GASCAR Salem Cup preview. Nassau is the only non-Gasmean automaker still running in the series. Enginefad sees this season being a duel between Whitaker and Lutz, shocking no one.

The clock has struck midnight for Albright Motors, Gasmea’s 3rd largest automaker. Years of poor investments and poor product planning have hit the company hard as they’ve now appealed to Gasmean congress for a federal bail out.

There’s also an article on CAFE penalties and who’s been fined. Many automakers met the 1980 standards but failed in 1982, including Nassau. Only a handful, including the previously mentioned Albright Motors failed to meet standards both years.

Finally, there’s yet another article on the Whitaker Blackhawk sports car switching from a FR layout to MR. The car has been front engine, rear wheel drive since its introduction in the mid 1950s but every few years, these rumors pop up.