Team Tiger Trouble (+1)
As the team closed in on the Toledo Ironworks Heritage Museum, it was Jaden who said, “I really wish we had the time to stop there. I mean, the Humans have such a respect for these transports, and the engines that propel them.”
“I’m not stopping, Jade.” Kaylie said, her clawed hands gripping the wheel more firmly as they cruised along.
“I may be able to be of assistance.” Nova said. “Accessing the Toledo Ironworks Museum database… Compiling data… Rendering 3D holographic images… Hard-light projector is warmed up. Beginning History Lesson.”
Kiva tipped his head, then watched as Nova materialized in the car with them, in miniature scale, standing on the center console.
“In the year 1919, Toledo Ironworks started the construction of automobile internal combustion engines. Under contract by Townsend Coachworks, they produced a 397 cubic inch flathead inline eight cylinder engine, the first engine the company produced. Converting the units, that is a 6.506 liter engine.” Nova said, accompanying the information with an image of the engine.
“In 1925, Townsend Coachworks purchased Toledo Ironworks, and through an unusual partnership, allowed them to keep their company name and operational autonomy. During the event the humans call ‘World War II,’ through the years 1941 to 1945, Toledo Ironworks constructed engines for military aircraft.” Nova showed an image of a propeller-driven fighter plane, which turned and banked as if it were currently in the middle of combat, before it dissolved into bright particles as she continued.
“After the war, in 1946, Toledo Ironworks produced a small displacement twelve cylinder engine, with the cylinders grouped into two banks of six. The common designation is a V12. This engine, at 305 cubic inches, or 4.998 liters, was intended for use in luxury automobiles. Initially offered with four carburetors, a later model replaced this arrangement with three two-barrel carburetors.”
Kaylie noticed that they were running low on gas, and stopped to fill up the tank again. At the same time, Nova continued with the history lesson.
“In 1952, Toledo produced the 287 cubic inch Iron Eight. This engine is a V8, of 4.703 liters, and is part of a long-lived series of power units, being referred to as late as 1969, by the name of the Ardent Small Block. By 1953, Ardent Motor Corporation purchased Townsend Coachworks, which included Toledo Ironworks. By 1959, the Iron Eight was modified to a displacement of 333 cubic inches, or 5.457 liters. At this time, it was still referred to as the Iron Eight.” Nova showed another image, this time of the engine with one of the cylinder heads rendered transparent, and showed the difference in size between the 287 and 333 cubic inch versions. “In 1965, a performance oriented variant of the Iron Eight was created, and given the name ‘Triple Three.’”
The next image was of a car, and Nova explained, “From 1960 until 1972, Townsend made a luxury car using a 500 cubic inch V12, exclusive to this model. At 8.194 liters, and constructed entirely of cast iron, this engine is quite heavy, but due to the cylinder arrangement, it is incredibly smooth.”
“In 1967, the Ardent Big Block was created, with a displacement of 444 cubic inches, or 7.276 liters. Unofficially, the engine gained the name ‘Triple Four’ though no Ardent documentation ever shows this engine being called that. Two years later, in 1969, the Triple Three T/A was created, producing 230 horsepower from the factory. That same year, the Big Block was given a ‘Super T/A’ variant, with 372 horsepower.”
By now, the gas tank was full, and the fuel was paid for, so Kaylie got back into the car and started them back onto the road.
“In 1972, Ardent Motors purchased 40% of Suzume Motor Manufacturing Industries of Japan, with agreements to share their technology. By 1974, Toledo Ironworks lost what was left of their autonomy-” Nova said, though paused briefly as Kiva spoke up.
“That rattling just got louder. Are you sure you didn’t accidentally buy snake oil instead of gasoline?” Kiva said, deciding that humor might relieve some of the tension.
“I’m sure. I didn’t use the pump with the big red nozzle, so I think I got the right stuff.” Kaylie said.
Nova, never to be deterred, continued. “-autonomy, and their American operations was completely folded into Ardent Motors as part of their Powertrain Design Bureau. In 1979, the engineers were tasked with creating more efficient and compact engines for Ardent Motors. By 1982, the 1.9 liter Toledo Trivalve four cylinder inline engine was created. It is of a single-overhead-cam design with three valves per cylinder, 12 valves in total. This engine design was used with minimal design changes for almost 25 years.”
As Nova finished displaying the four cylinder engine, she switched off her holographic projector, gracefully disappearing in a flash of orange light. “That concludes our virtual tour of the Toledo Ironworks Heritage Museum. I hope you do not mind that I made a slight donation of 30 Silver Crowns to the museum for the use of their database.”
Kayden shrugged, then said, “It was worth it to avoid the stares we would’ve gotten if we stopped. So we spent the same amount on our transport, but we enjoyed the virtual tour.”
Just then, Nova piped up with, “Incoming text-based message from the event organizers.”
“Well, we’re going to damn well try!” Kaylie said, as Nova read the message out loud.
“Are you asking me to send that as a reply?” Nova asked.
“No. We don’t need to taunt the organizers, Kiva already did that by turning the chat room purple with yellow font.” Kaylie said.
(OOC: A huge thank-you to @VicVictory for the information! He wanted an info-burst, and honestly, I wanted to do the same, but couldn’t find the right way to ask.)
