Now for something quirky that also considers design aspects of your car!
Car Shopping Round 31: Transeuropean Express
The post-war hardships continue to affect the general population of European nations in 1948. In face of this, owning a personal automotive vehicle, for now, remains but a dream. However, some optimism spreads, with ambitions towards lasting peace and cooperation, and the Marshall plan coming in to revitalise the crippled economy.
Now it’s 1949, a transeuropean car show is organized, which will visit multiple European cities, the cars covering most of the distance under their own power while remaining frugal on precious fuel. We hope to inspire local and international automotive manufacturers as well as entice the European folks! For this grand tour, we request two very different types of vehicles, however with similar goals:
The Continental Commuter: A car that can travel fast (Must not be track performance!), and doing so with less. We would like to see how much you can make out of as little fuel as possible. This should showcase to the public that a personal car capable of high speeds mustn’t use prohibitive amounts of fuel. You can hide the fact that you indeed fuel it with super leaded petrol. All configurations allowed, though we are certain that a highly complex engine won’t spur much confidence (DOHC only permitted for Inline configurations).
The Commuter of the People: The vehicle that could be put into mass production! Of course that means that there shouldn’t be any limited production parts, and you may only use regular leaded fuel. It’d be wise to use a smaller and simpler engine (No engine displacement over 2000cc; No V12; Only 2 valves per cylinder; Nope, no 2 valve DOHC).
Do note that due to political uncertainties, we were not able to plan a venue in any states of the east bloc including the soviet-occupied part of Germany. However, we are still open to accept vehicles product of these states.
Now for the event!
Companies and workshops all across the globe can ship their motorvehicles to London, the city to host the first venue. We are in hope that our invitations to the royal family come answered. Please, at your own discretion, don’t send in something that will embarrass yours truly (Era-friendly styling; No single wing with downforce; No Barth-body; Lips are tolerable). Also, you must understand that due to certain events, the Londoners are easily terrifed of loud things (At least one muffler required).
Your car will then be ferried to Amsterdam. We encourage you to offer the cars for seating of ferry passengers (More than two seats). The venue here will be relatively brief, but it will be noted how well the car accepts preparation for a voyage (Practicality over 30). You may mount luggage on the roof or the boot using a rack (Practicality requirement drops to 20 if you choose to mount something resembling a rack; I accept two appropriate looking wings without downforce as rack, too; Use wisely, it has downsides!).
We are then heading to Hanover, right up there in Germany. At this point, we will have our first records about the car’s behaviour and functionality, which will be interesting to engineers and engineering enthusiasts alike. We know some contraptions are of very young design, but if we aren’t confident of the car’s ability of further traversing into continental Europe and up into the Alps, we will suggest their crew to instead head to Bremen or Hamburg with it to ship back home (Over 60 Reliability; At least 30 Drivability). While we don’t expect it in face of the brief, we will enforce a return to sender if we track a high fuel usage of the vehicle, which is definitely not in the spirit of this display (Fuel Consumption must be below 10l/100km | above 23,52MPG without rack, 9l/100km | 26.14MPG with boot/roof rack).
The way to the next venue in Constance will proceed at a high velocity! Up until Stuttgart, we will determine the vehicle’s high speed capabilities driving on the Autobahn. We might see speed records (Top speed with a twist!), but what is more significant is the car’s capability to do so efficiently (Fuel consumption at 90 km/h and 120 km/h, or 56 mph and 75 mph). At this venue, we may see interested aerospace engineers (Visual aerodynamic cues are considered and give a bonus to this scoring. This will be in relation to the body’s inherent aerodynamic efficiency in an attempt to balance out the car bodies. Make it streamlined! A roof rack might be in the way of the wind…).
Then we’re passing over the Alps, and through the serene Switzerland, we arrive in Italy, heading to Turin. After this arduous trip, we’ve tracked which cars had the most troubles on their way. Here is also where the economics of the cars will be considered. Of course the continental cruisers will be the ones sought after, but one can only afford that much, which is where the people’s trusty commuters will gain the attention (Price without markup; Running Costs considered, Reliability judged).
By Monaco and Marseilles, we’ll have a good grasp on who’s meeting the best resonance with the crowd and experts. The rolling exposition will continue on to the north-west across France, until your cars may arrive in Le Havre to be shipped back. Most, at least. We don’t know which folk want to request a test drive on the way, for which your cars better be drivable enough.
Overview:
Year setting for trim and engine variant: 1949
Phase 1
London: Design Commentary
(Bring a muffler)
Amsterdam: Check on Seat Count and Practicality requirements
(>2 Seats) (30Prc, reduced to 20Prc with rack)
Hanover: Check on Economy, Reliability, Drivability requirements
(10l/100km, or 9l/100km with rack | above 23,52MPG, or 26.14MPG with rack) (60Rel) (30Drv)
Phase 2
Constance: High Speed Cruising Economy, Top Speed
Turin: Price, Running Costs, Reliability
Monaco: Judgement
The statistics will be rated in relation to each other. Both categories are judged equally, each having their strong categories. The rack is a usable gimmick.
Send by: Saturday, 14th of January, 23:00 GMT
Edit:
Don’t forget to put your name on the car model and ideally engine family!: CSR31 - Username
Trim and variant are free to name as you desire!
Furthermore:
^This here as a tip!
Edit 2: Additonal info on streamlining
Briefly showcased how the body shape will affect the aerodynamic rating right there.
Do enjoy yourselves, Ladies and Gentlemen! 