Blyatiful
maybe… just maybe the car was a licensed fiat 124 shell with FMU hardware
The sadness of 1980s CAFE restrictions
I was only allowed to submit 1 design for the Hunt for a Star Car challenge, so here a couple of my discarded 1980s designs. They’re still awesome, in a painful 80s sort of way.
First, is the Orion Serval, which I submitted. However, in researching the part, I was disappointed to see how truly meager 1980s muscle cars’ power number were. I set the cam profile the lowest I was comfortable doing, and ran it as lean as possible, and even choked the exhaust. This discarded version put out 175 hp (20 more than its real life inspiration) and 272 lb ft of torque (45+/- more than real life); gas mileage was about accurate, but the 0-60 time was about 1.5 seconds (+/-) slower than real life.
I also made this truck, and then throttled it to within an inch of its life to the CAFE gods. Many of you may have already seen it. To me, it just reminds me of the people who listen to Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Born in the USA’ without actually listening to the lyrics; or maybe that’s just me.Star - Tradesman 4X4.car (61.9 KB)
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How you did you manage to get a Stars & Stripes flag on the hood? Is it a mod, or was it painstakingly made manually?
That aside, the pick is certainly 'Murican, all it needs is an eagle on top of the flag and you’ll bring home the bacon. But it’s more of a villain’s car than a hero’s… 
I did it manually, but it wasn’t exactly painstaking; it really took about 10 minutes. I had an older design that had eagles on it, but you couldn’t see them unless you were really close up. I just thought if the ‘Dukes of Hazard’ met ‘The Fall Guy’ (Lee Majors), this would probably be what they’d drive.
1982 Matilde SM41
While strictly not an P-M-I production, the Matilde is the in our collection. The odd result of what could have been an 80s romcom at the beginning, was developed by an electronics engineer from P-M-I USA. The engineer in question couldn’t believe his luck when he won the lottery and could realize his dream to go live with his then girlfriend, Matilde, in Germany where they married. His other love was of course cars, and in particular muscle cars. So, he started his own car company, with idea of producing the ultimate European muscle car.
The Matilde SM41 was not a bad car as such (we have competent engineers) but old-fashioned and fuel-thirsty with its big carburated six cylinder engine, despite some more modern design choices, such as 3 valves per cylinder. The car was relatively fast, but the rear end was light and became very lively under high speed turning, leading to more than one of the sold cars being crashed. On top of that the design was not something that the Europeans immediately fell for. Like every oddity, it had its share of fans; the underdog supporters, but those were generally not in the capacity to actually buy the car. It was quite expensive, certainly because the Matilde had to be sold high over production price to keep the new company solvent.
The sadly obvious result was the dissolvement of the engineer and Matilde; the money being gone, she was as well. The company went bankrupt as well.
Only 80 Matildes were ever sold. 400 were produced. The remaining 320 were sold to P-M-I to be recycled. The one below was kept for the in-house museum.
Specifications
| Engine Specs | Matilde Inline Six |
|---|---|
| Description | Straight-6, cast iron block and heads, forged crankshaft, conrods and pistons |
| Valvetrain | SOHC – 3 valves per cylinder |
| Bore x Stroke | 101.0 mm x 85.5 mm |
| Displacement | 4110 cc |
| Aspiration | 3 double-barrel performance carburetors |
| Compression Ratio | 8.8:1 |
| Output | 200 HP @ 5200 rpm, 318 Nm @ 3200 rpm |
| Redline | 5800 rpm |
| Chassis Specs: | Matilde SM41 |
|---|---|
| Layout | Front-engined, RWD |
| Interior | 4 standard seats and basis 8-track radio |
| Chassis/Body | Corrosion resistant steel monocoque / Corrosion resistant steel panels |
| Suspension | Double-wishbone F / R |
| Driveline | 4-speed MT, open differential |
| Brakes | Solid discs F / R |
| Curb Weight | 1336 kg |
| Weight Distribution | F:61% - R:39% |
| 0-100 km/h | 7,5 s |
| Top Speed | 215 km/h |
| 100-0 Braking Distance | 39,0 m |
| List Price, New | $ 24636 |
| Production Run | 1982-1983 |
| Examples Produced | 400 |
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Now that I looked at it closer, I can see what you mean. It’s mostly tailights and badges for the stars, right? That’s a very creative way to form a flag decal, even if the eagles had to be sacrificed…!
And @Private_Miros, that car is rather similar to Brazil’s Santa Matilde coupe. It could just be an incredible coincidence, but the displacement and overall concept are so alike…
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Correct 
I occasionally go find random cars to get inspired by. I don’t always follow strict, but in this case, it was heavily inspired. Good catch!
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Hehe, the Santa Matilde is one of my favorite underdog Brazilian cars. Your use of the Matilde name caught my car sense, the rest triggered it!
Also, I have to say, my XTP was also a reference to an '80s car, although a more subduded one. Underpowered V6 and supercar ambitions? I guess you could say it’d never make it past 88mph…
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Also a Brazilian one?
Hofstetter Turbo looked very supercar / Countach-esk. But those were (under)powered by the VW Brasil engines, not V6s.
I don’t know much about Brazilian cars anyway, I am Belgian. I just looked into the brands when stumbling onto the Santa Matilde.
And that photoshop? 
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Haha, not quite. Thought the “88” bit would’ve served as an obvious clue; it’s the (overblown racy version of the) DeLorean DMC-12, the world’s most famous time machine!
Only my “DeLorean” has an even sleeker body properly ruined by bad corporate decisions and rotten timing…
Ah, yes! the asthmatic V6 that killed the car. The body and supercar made me completely miss the 88 reference. Also because I don’t really think in miles per hour.
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There you go! I know the body is tad bit more radical than the DMC’s, but the same idea-technology deficit is still there.
I feel the DeLorean encapsules the '80s performance scene really well; great innovative designs, but man did those engines not cash their checks…
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I’m surprised that nobody has posted anything here in several months, but I think this thread ought to be revived… with something I cooked up earlier, but recently revised: the third-generation Morton Corsair.
Sandwiched between the wedge-shaped second-gen car and the sleeker, more curvaceous fourth-gen model, the Corsair III debuted in 1985. However, with 225 SAE net horsepower, it was a long way from matching the sheer grunt of the big-block original. Even so, it was decidedly faster than its immediate predecessor, ensuring that it gained a dedicated following among performance-starved American enthusiasts.
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A little something that Epoch released in 1987 - the M50 Turbo.
Featuring a mid-mounted DOHC 24valve turbocharged v6, displacing 1796cc and fed through a 2-barrel carb, this engine was good for 108kW @ 6400rpm and 183Nm @ 4500rpm. Full boost (0.7 Bar) wasn’t reached until 4200rpm, meaning that you were either cruising or racing… not much in between. Even without a LSD, the M50 Turbo was able to propel its 1170kg mass to 100km/h in a reasonably sporting 8.5 seconds, and eventually reached a top speed of 195 km/h. Whilst not as “go-kart-esque” as the more commonly known Toyota MR2, the M50 Turbo was a much more plush and practical offering, with comfort rivalling cars twice its price.
(shown above with “Electurbo graphics” nil-cost option, and “E-Sport” front bumper)
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This is what happens when a Celica, MR-2, and Saturn SC2 have a love child…
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Pretty much what I was aiming for… a “what if Toyota went semi-Lexus with a mid-engined celica instead of the MR2”.
For something on the other end of the spectrum, I give you the 1978 Epoch M30 Augustus 27.
Designed to be Epoch’s “World Car”, the Augustus ended up being a compromise in almost every aspect, with the exception of passenger comfort and safety. The car’s engine, a 2694cc straight-6, put out ‘breath-taking’ 77.5kW (103HP) at 5400rpm. When combined with the 4-speed automatic gearbox, the Augustus 27 could reach 100km/h in just under 13 seconds, and topped out at 158km/h.
Alongside the standard car, was the “sports” model, the Augustus 27 Rex. Based upon the same platform and engine, Epoch’s engineers managed to wring out more power to the tune of 115kW (154HP) at 6100rpm. This improvement was somewhat dampened by the more luxurious and well equipped interior, however performance still improved to demonstrate a 0-100km/h time of 9.6 seconds, with a top speed of 175km/h - better than it had any right to really…
Pricing for the Augustus 27 and Augustus 27 Rex came in at about $2,800 and $3,100 respectively, which, when a Corolla cost about $3700, was probably one of the very few things it had going for it!
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Please note: the following vehicle is a bad replica of a bad real-life car. The names have been badly changed to pathetically hide the identities of the guilty.
(Insert Bong-Bong from Law and Order here)
Tymouth Plurismo
Though it had been around since 1979, the Plurismo had been powered by a pathetic Pergo 1.6 liter engine. Designers at Tymouth had enough of their little front wheel drive sports-hatch getting made fun of, and designed their own 2.2 liter motor in house. Feel the 96 horsepower through its disurbingly wide-ratio 4-speed transmission.
(Note: Other than 4th gear, which is too much overdrive, I was able to actually damn near replicate this RL transmission.)
While that was a bit of a help, Tymouth really really wanted to make a statement. Like, "let’s do a front-wheel drive muscle car. But keep the 4-cylinder thing.) A few years later they had…
Meet the Plurismo Buster! Using a new turbocharged version of the previous 2.2 liter and ditching the feedback carb in favor of MPFI, this new hatch was… Still kinda ridiculed, even with a 5-speed with not so insanely long gear spacing. But at least it was faster.
If anyone wants to drive these legendary pieces of shit, let me know and I’ll export a beam file for y’all. Or if anyone wants the .car files.
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