Hahaha, love it!!! Thanks @TR8R for your halloween themed round, I particularly loved the twist at the end!!! 
Also, congrats to TheElt for a sweet win!!! 
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Some of these designs are just awesome. Good job guys.
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Well done TheElt - it’s been a long time coming but he has finally won a round!
And I love your epilogue in which you had the client be hoist by his own petard… What a way to go!
Surprised I won at all, cheers for the round!
Sadly I’m gonna be a bit too busy to take on hosting, so I’ll have to pass it onto the next person down, @conan
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Alright. Will post something soon.
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CSR54: Guardian Reader’s Motors.
This round still use the Kee engine.
The year’s 1985. The cold war is still raging on. Timo have been a professor of political science at some university in London for 9 years. And while he doesn’t show his profession to his neighbour, the fact that his daily commuter is a 1974 Fiat 126 that always park on the street in front of his flat branded him as a goddamn communist. His vaguely Easten European looks doesn’t help the case either. The fact is, while he obviously support the case for socialist movement. His political ideology has nothing to do with his choice of wheels. Why shouldn’t a man be able to operate simply a basic, practical and affordable automobile?
Then, on a very cold and miserable monday morning. The Fiat cough it’s last. That car finally gave up it’s ghost on the way to university, leaving Timo stranded on the street of London. It was then that Timo decided that he needed a new ride. The car he bought brand new after he graduated his doctorate degree has traveled nearly 140,000 miles. Quite impressive for any 1970’s machinery, let alone one that’s this cheap.
Now. Timo is not living in poverty, despite his choice of automobile telling otherwise. He came from a wealthy family and obviously could’ve had a better car. But Timo has never been one for Bourgeoisie. Why exactly should he splurge on a more luxury car, when the old Fiat could do the same job? And while his neighbour’s Rover 2200 or Ford Cortina was long gone after 3-4 years, the Fiat made it far longer than that.
So, Timo went to a shop and bought a copy of a renown motoring magazine which on the cover showed a cast of the cheapest cars available in Britain today (1985).
Here’s the catch. Timo do like his car. After all, he had kept a flaky Fiat on the road for so many miles. And he know a few things about them. A shoddily built crap will NOT do. Going the cheapest route won’t mean he’ll accept the car. And obviously, he noted that there’s been a lot of improvement in automotive industry since the Fiat rolled off it’s assembly line.
He’s very much delighted that the magazine he bought compared the cars with the Fiat 126. And then assigned the points in performance, fuel efficiency, handling/stability, comfort, finish and durability. With the car matching the Fiat getting 0 and reaching the standard of a very standard rep car of the day, a 1.6 Cavalier, getting 10. And while the magazine stated that these points aren’t to compare the cars directly. Of course Timo is going to base his choice from this.
And then of course, Timo will try the cars out himself at the dealership. And then decided his workhorse for the next how many years it would take to break it.
A few things of note. Timo is a near 40 years old bachelor living alone in a London flat. He parked on the street and usually doesn’t have to carry anything more than a few kilo of papers but he wouldn’t mind extra space for that occasional uses. Timo will not make prejudice about car’s origin as long as it’s a good one.)
Rules
- Year: 1985
- Price: $7,000 at 0% markup.
- Engine PU/ET: 20/35
- Car PU/ET: 70/30
- Safety: 25
- Must post an advert (just the car full name is required, no price needed).
Tips.
- If it’s not in the rule, it’s not required.
- This is a highly subjective round and quite LORE HEAVY. Min/maxing the car will simply not do.
- That means you can send in a car using whatever octane you want. 92 98 80 91 or 95. It’ll be commented accordingly. (No recommendation! Only the 98 is penalized somewhat).
- You can give the car a cat although it’s very much not required.
- Be sensible, be VERY sensible. Timo is an extremely sensible guy.
- But if one decided to do a Citroen 2CV. Eh why not. He might like it?
- Stats are important, but not THAT important. As I said, this is a very subjective round. Do not go for absolute number (this includes reliability and other stuff, all stats basically).
Deadline for entries is 24th October @ 17:00 GMT.
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UK fuel in 1985 was leaded. Unleaded appeared in 1986 and was rated at 95 Ron.
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Hm. So should I fix it so that 95 is recommended or use proper leaded fuel then? If the latter it’ll probably be regular 92 as a 1 star fuel.
I guess I’ll allow all of them.
Another 80s econobox round, but with a very tight budget… I wonder where I have seen this before?
Is a car from 1984 acceptable? It’s sold new in 1985 after all.
I have one lore car suitable for this. And it’s not… very good.
As long as it’s sold in 1985 it’s alright. 
Ahh… I have an LLA Bandit that will work for this. But, will it be the 1600, 1400 or 1200…
do you mean 24th or 22nd…
It was going to be 22nd. But I changed it… Fixed now.
A British Hero Returns - Introducing… The LLA Bandit 1200 Si
The Engine
After 3 years of development the LLA engineers are proud to release the LLA b1200 Injection. A small 1.2L Iron Block inline 3 that uses a single overhead cam driving 6 valves and a single point injection system that casts out any barbaric carburetors. Furthermore with forged internals the b1200 Injection can reach 6000 RPM reliably whilst producing an adequate 51.3 Hp.
The Gearbox
Paired to the b1200 Injection is a manual 4 speed gearbox. It may not be innovative but due to the cars small dimensions will propel the car to 92 Mph. This also means the car has great fuel efficiency, 30.1 Mpg(UK) to be exact.
The Interior
The Bandit is meant to be a city car, which also means sitting in traffic and short journeys. This is why the Bandit has been designed to be comfortable, but in order to keep the car available to all, the construction of the interior has been designed with one simple matter in mind: The Bandit is meant to be Adequate not fancy. But this doesn’t been the car isn’t driver focused. This is why LLA engineers have fitted power steering to the Si model, making the Bandit easy to manhandle around city streets.
The Summary
Finally, in summary, the LLA Bandit is designed to be a city car for all. It offers simple yet expansive features that other cars in it’s price range do not offer. This makes the LLA Bandit perfect for those looking for a cheap runabout that is reliable and efficient that isn’t all that lack on features.
Si models go for around $6600 each.
Prices vary depending on dealer. Totally non rip-off finance is available but the car is owned by LLA Finance, not YOU. Finally other colours such as poo brown or not so popping grey are available.
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Designed as an inexpensive FWD sedan, the Dynamite LC-4 has quite a decent features list for the price-point. Built to the demands of the California Emissions Requirements, the LC-4 wears a catalytic converter proudly, while still making a proud 60 horsepower from a 1.4 liter inline 4 under the hood. Sure, other cars use that leaded crap, but when the smog bans roll in and leaded gas disappears, the LC-4 will still be driving around.
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MY85 Bogliq Vrabie
Conceived in the 70’s as an attempt to show the West that the CCCP was capable of making fun to drive cars, the first generation Vrabie was a reasonable success. This was to be expected when you had a captive audience and the alternatives were banned!
This changed for the 2nd generation; the first Vrabie to emerge from under the Iron Curtain. Bogliq Europe imported a number of Vrabies to attempt to corner the niche, ultra cheap, convertible market. Sales started in 1979 and met with mixed success, mainly due to the Vrabie having a DOHC, 2v triple instead of the usual OHV fours of it’s logical rivals.
In 1985, the Vrabie was updated with single point fuel injection and a compression increase to compensate for the new unleaded fuel regulations. However the 4 speed manual and basic interior was retained which meant that the Vrabie would still retain its “cheapest new convertible” market position.
The price for the updated 1985 version was an amazing $7,000 which meant that a Vrabie was in reach of even first car buyers and Bogliq’s renowned parts support meant that Vrabie owners would be able to source maintenance and replacement parts long after the car would cease production.
Driving the Vrabie is a joy, the lightweight steering and lack of interior distractions mean that, along with the willing twincam triple, the Vrabie is capable of whisking a determined driver along a B road at a decent pace. The car is theoretically capable of 181Km/h although our testing at the ATT only saw about 170Km/h reached.
Grip is good for the class and there is no wheelspin so the Vrabie feels secure in the corners, never threatening to bite, and mild understeer is the result of carrying too much speed into a corner. The brakes are fade free and provide a nice pedal feel and the 4 speed manual shifts cleanly and securely.
The interior is sparsely furnished but there is a full suite of gauges for the driver and there is plenty of storage space with decent bootspace and room behind the two seats to store a soft bag or two.
So the Bogliq Vrabie is a real drivers car that could be lived with every day, but don’t just take my word for it, check one out at your local Bogliq dealer; you may be pleasantly surprised that you did!
Buy better, buy Bogliq
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Bogliq will be hearing from my lawyers aboot that name!
Fixed, your trademarks are secure, good sir!
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