Olympus Motor Group

1901
Twin boys are born in Detroit Michigan to Joseph and Elizabeth Rathbone on July 29; Dale, and Joe Jr… Joseph, a successful banker who had afforded his family a comfortable lifestyle, had become enamored with the emergence of automobiles. He passed this fascination to his two sons, who themselves would become avid collectors of fine motorcars.
1920
The Rathbone boys nearly escaped having to serve in the war, but now were adults. Dale chose to go into the world of finance, like his father, while his brother Joe, could not resist the allure of the elicit alcohol trade. Joe had a custom made V8 coupe in which he would regularly run bootleg hooch. Dale on the other hand, drove a luxury saloon, he had purchased from his father. Throughout the 1920s the Rathbone boys made their fortune; one through finance, one through crime. As the decade of excess reached its pinnacle, Dale began to notice some goings on in the financial world, that did not sit well with him. He advised his clients to divest from the stock market, and secure their wealth, because they would soon need it. By this time, Joe had been having some run-ins with the law, and his car was well known in certain precincts. Dale divested his wealth, and bought a stable of cars, for which Joe could use for his business; cutting Dale a piece of the action.
1929
The stock market crashed! And thus begins the Great Depression. Dale Rathbone and his clients however, were minimally effected by it, since Dale had seen the writing on the wall years earlier. Joe’s elicit bootlegging operation was booming, since Dale had become a silent partner. Dale’s investors wanted in on the action too, but Dale an Joe thought that an operation that large would draw too much attention. Instead, the brothers opened a garage in Redford Michigan, where they would buy cars, custom fit them for bootleggers, and sell them to daring entrepreneurs. Neither brother had any engineering training, but they loved cars, so they didn’t mind learning.
1933
The great experiment had ended, but the country was still in the throws of depression. The Rathbone boys’ garage had seen a downturn in business. Dale saw that many of the factories in the area were ramping up production. He found out that these manufacturers were making machinery and parts, and sending them to Germany. Dale and his investors started buying into these operations at a frenzied pace. 3 years later Dale’s heart fell into his stomach as he watched the Olympic games in Berlin. Realizing he had helped fund a monster, Dale needed a new venture in which to invest. Meanwhile, the few clients that still came to the garage, were asking Joe to make their cars faster and lighter; turns out, the boys had established a race shop.
1941
War has broke out once again. Bound and determined to be funding the right side for once, Rathbone’s investment group was now buying into companies supporting the Allies in the war effort. Joe had converted the Garage from a racing shop, to a training center; where he would train enlisted men, going into the motor pool, how to fix their transport vehicles.
1945
The war has ended. Troops return from Europe and the Pacific. Factories that had converted to wartime production, now had to revert back to civilian use. Dale Rathbone saw an opportunity. Many auto manufacturers had not designed a new vehicle since before the war, meaning they would go to market with the same cars the troops had before they left. Dale, along with his brother Joe, recruited 4 of the industries top engineers; Lazarus Wayne, Eli Webb, Rob Stewart, and Jerry Springstead. They incorporated Olympus Motor Group on 1 January 1946. OMG would have 4 divisions.
Olympus
Jerry Springstead would head up Olympus, the company’s flagship brand. Olympus would manufacture luxury cars. This would allow for the company to charge higher margins. This would be the company’s top priority. The first cars to hit showrooms would be Olympus; in 1948, and in the future. Olympus would also be on the forefront of technology; new features would debut in Olympus vehicles, before the other brands, or even competitors.
Pantheon
Rob Stewart was the lead engineer at Pantheon. Pantheon would feature performance cars. Their technology would be a tad behind Olympus, but well ahead of most competitors.
Star
Lazarus Wayne would head up Star Motors. Slated as an everyman’s car, Star Motors vehicles would try to hit as many demographics as it possibly could. Being third on the technological and logistical priority list, there would be some demographics that Star could not reach; ideally, those would be the ones reached by the other brands.
Pegasus
Eli Webb was in charge of the Pegasus brand. Pegasus was meant to be an affordable, simple, easy to maintain vehicle. Pegasus cut costs by not re-designing their cars often, re-badging cars made by the other 3 brands that did not meet their quality standards, and limited marketing.

3 Likes

1948
Olympus rolled out their first post-war models in the fall of 1948 for the 1949 model year. The Virgo Sedan, and the Libra Coupe.


If you want to tinker: Libra - Luxe.car (30.7 KB)
Gen2-UndercoverHardwareman - Olympus Virgo Luxe.car (38.5 KB)

4 Likes

Crikey! The Libra has a very high ride for a sports coupe!

1 Like

7 Likes

You’re right. I was trying to keep the comfort and drive-ability numbers high, because it’s being marketed as a luxury coupe. Since I’m only posting screenshots, rather than the entire car however, I suppose I could fudge it, and it wouldn’t matter.

When I see the color of these things all I can hear in my head is Tony Stark saying “Little ostentatious, don’t you think?” :laughing:

Automation’s currently limited body choices being what they are, I appreciate that you’ve still managed a consistent design language between the two.

The trademark Goddess Gold paint was extremely limited in the early years of Olympus, to showcase prototype models. It was meant to be ostentatious; to inspire the affluent. It is rumored that a Hollywood actor once asked to purchase one of these trademarked vehicles, to which Rathbone responded, “…not even if you were the president”. Years later, in the fall of 1980, after Ronald Reagan was elected, Goddess Gold became publicly available, offered on just the highest trim levels of all their offerings.

2 Likes

@Awildgermanappears Touché :wink:

@undercoverhardwarema That’s fair though. Especially considering how easy it was to crash back in those days…

Troublesome 50s

I’m still frustrated by the choice of body styles, but I’ve re-written this post, to not only show off my 1950s Olympus models, but also, I dropped some names in the original, which I guess is a big no-no.

1951
Anyway, as we know, 1950s United States, was a booming era of post-war excess. The Rathbone boys, and their investors had to be smart with their money if they wanted to maintain a viable company. Unlike most independents who lacked the resources to turn-over their models quickly, Olympus saw the need to keep their styles fresh. In order to justify the costs, designers included some opulent flourishes, sure to make the 1951 Virgo an instant classic.


1951 also saw the release of the Sagittarius Roadster; a luxury roadster, similar in design, although much tamer than the Pantheon Challenger XS that had debuted a year before. The extra year was due to designers not being able to decide on a suitable grille for the vehicle. Some early 1951s got one, while all the others got the grille that won out.
1952
Having spent so much time wrestling with the final design of the Sagittarius, Olympus decided to put off the new Libra coupe, until 1952. This staggering of styles would continue until the 1970s.

2 Likes

Troublesome 50s Part 2

The 1950s were grueling for the North American market. Not only were the independents struggling to stay afloat, but the baby boom was hitting its zenith. Imagine coming back from war and having a decent middle class living; now imagine you have 4 or more children, just leaching off of that. In 1956, Olympus released its redesigned and much larger Virgo. It was so big and unruly (drove like a boat), they had to create a new trim level. The Premier trim became the Virgo’s entry-level trim; while at the same time the DuLuxe was so lavish and posh, only the wealthy would buy it. The DuLuxe Virgo was so heavy, OMG had to develop the 360 Cubic Inch Titanic V12 (an allusion to the Titans of Greek Mythology).
Also debuting in 1956 was the Sagittarius. The Sagittarius came as a 2-seat roadster, or a 4 seat grand tourer. Rather than different trim levels, all Sagittariuses were decked out, and came with choice of engines. This offered another way to make use of OMG’s Titanic V12.


The following year, Olympus debuted the redesigned Libra Coupe. This design further delineated the Libra from the Virgo, as the Libra was becoming Olympus’s entry level model. The Libra still came in Luxe and DuLuxe trims. The Libra was the last model to hold onto the Inline 6, with a newly revised DOHC 180 cubic inch OlympusSix. The DuLuxe trim had the option of either the OlympusSix or the Herculean V8.
1957 was also the inaugural year of the Olympus Aquarius, an early rear wheel drive luxury utility vehicle, with seating for 6 adults. Available in Luxe or DuLuxe trim, the Aquarius was ahead of its time. It made use of the Goddess V8, or Titanic V12.

During this time, OMG’s Pegasus brand was competing with its Traveler sedan. In 1958 Pegasus released a Jeep like vehicle called the Porter, as well as a mini-bus called the Mover. All of these vehicles were built with the same interchangeable parts and 60 HP 4 cylinder motor. They would become a big thing in the next decade with people who would customize them and build rat-rods out of them, but that’s a few years away.
Likewise Star and Pantheon were improving their offerings. The Statesman was given Coupe and Sedan variants, as well as Convertible. A shorter wheelbase version of the Statesman, called the Freeman, was offered in Sedan and Wagon, while a sport coupe called the Sportsman was also added to the lineup. The latter two vehicles shared their chassis with the Pantheon Puma (Freeman - Sedan only), and Pantheon Ocelot. The Craftsman and Goodman trucks remained relatively unchanged, except for the optional 5.4 liter high torque V-8.

4 Likes

The “red-arrowed cross” is for moving the car within the photo scene.
Interesting stand-out brake lights.

This one is decent, with a hint of Mini up front and also at the back. But the suicide doors actually look right on the G-160, which helps it stand out.

Honestly my favourite thing about this company is that the initials are OMG.

So, my last few challenge submissions have been a failure, and I’m realizing that I could have never run light campaign in UE4; but I am learning from my failures. Unfortunately, the anal-retentive side of me is having a hard time coping with this new information. So, for a 1960s era muscle car, I’ve not been able to build a functional model, let alone one that looks the part. This is my latest attempt, knowing that none of my previous ones have reached 100 in the muscle category. I finally got one, and it’s driving me crazy.


So let’s go over this. 1) Those warning lights! A muscle car with power steering is just not desirable, but still I have a blinking red light. 2) Driveability! 34.5 with only a 29.8 sportiness and 0 comfort (with premium seating). That would drive me insane. 3) Engineering time! by stiffening all that suspension, I drove engineering time to over 6 years! Is that really what people want? 4) I realize my designs are meh! I’m trying my best for historical and lore accuracy. That being said, I didn’t even realize there were chrome pinstripes until this past Tuesday. Tiger - 300.car (23.0 KB)
I’ve included the file. I am open to constructive input. Also, I do not know how to open .car files.

To be fair I didn’t realize the “bumper bars” were chrome strips… i literally just used them as bumpers up until like, last week :expressionless:

I think 1300kg is super light for a muscle car, especially with premium seats, what body did you use? with what front/rear suspensions? Is it full steel? Tyre setup?
Your steering curve looks good, shouldn’t be that. Your engineering time looks reasonable (for sandbox, I mean. Light campaign has some kind of tech pool feature where you can invest in R&D to reduce it, as well as get some features ahead of time, and also your engineering time reduces everytime you re-use a feature in a car so it won’t be as high)

But yeah the weight of the car makes me think you probably made the wrong choices in body type and suspension to begin with

[EDIT] no gaming computer on me, can’t open the car "^^

For this particular model, I used the not quite an XKE. Fully steel, 306 hp/300 lb ft torque. 600 mm tyre/16 wheels 175 in front/190 in back.

Quite a few of these warning are very, very sensitive. It’s usually worth ignoring the common ones, as if you do work towards removing them all, guess what you make.

A Crossover. Usually it’s better to work to what you want to make, and make it fit the demographics than as to what the warning want.

You may be right; when designing a car, it is possible to get away with just a few minor warnings that aren’t worth fixing, and still make it highly competitive in at least one demographic.

Reboot

Hollywood loves a great reboot. Whenever a story gets old, or backed into a corner, we reboot. Who will play your favorite role? Find out in the reboot. With lessons learned, we reboot Olympus Motor Group; a car company born out of post war excess. Rather than focusing on the different eras, and what can and cannot be found, we will focus on the different brands found under the OMG banner. Stay tuned.

1 Like

Pegasus

The Pegasus brand is OMG’s value/economy brand. The brand was conceived in 1946 by Rathbone and Associates, but the first models did not come out until the 1953 model year. This gave Olympus ample time to build up assets, such as a large volume plant, and parts inventory, to help mitigate costs.
Pegasus debuted three models on 29th of July, 1952 as 1953 models. All three models were available, only in standard trim, and the only color available was black. All three models featured a 1.3 Liter Inline 4, with twin-Eco carburetors; this was known as the Pegasus 4. The Pegasus 4 was capable of 60 hp, and 96 lb ft of torque. Most importantly, it was very easy to build; this would become the hallmark of the Pegasus brand, as enthusiasts loved tearing down, rebuilding and modifying these engines. These models also came equipped with a 4 speed manual transmission.


The Courrier was an entry level sedan. It featured basic seating, with two individual seats in the front, and a bench in the rear. This model would remain largely unchanged until 1980, other than safety features that were made standard equipment by law; such as padded dashboards, 3 point safety harnesses, and the like. Heat was standard, but Air conditioning and radios had to be added aftermarket.

The Porter was a short wheelbase van, that was available as either a minibus with seating for 5, or a light delivery vehicle with seating for 2. Like the Courrier, the Porter came with 135/75C13 tires, mounted on basic steel rims. A spare tire was attached at the front, so as not to take up any precious cargo space. The Porter was very popular among conversion enthusiasts, as its simple design allowed for easy modification.

The Wanderer varied from the Courrier and the Porter, in that it had much larger wheels, and a 4x4 transmission. The 4 wheel drive train was derived from OMG’s Star brand, with which this vehicle shared a line. Still, the Wanderer featured the Pegasus 4, similar to its siblings. Much like the Courrier and Porter, enthusiasts loved this vehicles ease of tear-down, and rebuild. Many customize Wanderers can still be found today.
In 1960, Pegasus released two more models, specifically for fleet orders. Those were the Traveler Sedan, and the Hauler pickup. Being that these vehicles would be delivered to various municipalities and commercial organizations, that would likely emblazon their own logos on them, they were shipped in primer. Primer also became an option on Pegasus other models. This allowed Pegasus owners further customization, without raising costs. Unlike the Courrier, Porter, and Wanderer, these vehicles would receive updates as their upper trim chassis-mates did, keeping them current in style.

The Traveler Sedan was a mid-size sedan, built on the same line as the Olympus Libra Coupe, and the Star Family-man line (available in coupe, sedan, and estate). As such, in addition to the standard Pegasus 4, some units were shipped with left over Olympus or Star power trains. The Traveler often had quality issues, as many were built with recycled parts from the more expensive models: The Olympus Libra for example, had an insanely high QA expectation, and this allowed only the best Libras to leave the plant, while at the same time mitigating costs for both models.

A 1960 Traveler, customized for use as a taxi. Even better, this particular example came equipped with the Libra’s Inline Six motor and Lux-O-Matic transmission.

A 1962 Traveler, customized for the Portland, Michigan police force. This model was originally equipped with a Pegasus 4, but was swapped out for the Orion Leopard’s 300 cid V8.

The Hauler was built on the same line as the Star Tradesman Pickup. It, being much larger than other Pegasus vehicle, and used in a more utilitarian role, was given a new 8 Cylinder motor. The Pegasus 8, is quite simply two Pegasus 4 blocks, married by a shared crankshaft at a 90 degree angle; this had a displacement of 2,546 cubic centimeters, put out 121 hp, and 175 lb ft of torque. Still other examples also feature leftover and recycled Star Tradesman power trains.
In 1970s, Pegasus became OMG’s ‘import fighter’ changes had to be made to the lineup, to make the vehicles more competitive. By the end of the decade, the automotive industry was evolving, and the traditional rear wheel drive car fell out of favor. The new Courrier and Porter were debuted in 1979, as 1980 models. The Wanderer was discontinued, but would return again in the 1990s. These new models featured contemporary styling and front wheel drive. While the Pegasus 4 had gone through numerous updates in the previous decade, that was merely to meet fuel efficiency and environmental standards; they still offered a simple layout, and 60 peak horsepower and 95 lb ft. of torque.

Like its predecessor, the Porter came in bot passenger, and commercial variants; both of which were popular for their customization.

The Courrier was now available in 3 door or 5 door variants. These were very simply designed, and were quite affordable, though not quite as popular as its predecessor. (To be continued…)

5 Likes