A Taste For Convertibles
This round will only be held on Open Beta branch.
December 27th, 1988. Somewhere, some country in EU
Massive wall of flavor text incoming
“Four winds at the four winds bar
Two doors barred and windows locked
One door let to take you in
The other one just mirrors it…”
James wakes up listening to the first bridge of Astronomy, by Blue Oyster Cult. His father is probably playing it on his boombox. He takes a brief moment to think.
“Hah, what an appropriate song to wake up to. There is no way out of this. No escape from the reality. No matter how much I dream, I’ll always be brought back to the world in the most cruel way possible…”
He thinks to himself as he looks at the magazine he was reading before falling asleep. The page that was open…
“Goddammit, I’ll probably never get the car. The rate I’ve been saving my money at, it’s gonna take me another whole year to even come close to owning the premium targa model… This is dumb, I should just buy a decent convertible sports car with the money I’ve got at this moment. It’s not like I’m gonna find a new better job out of thin air and earn a good amount just like that…”
He thinks to himself as he readies up for the day. His apartment room is looking messier than usual, thanks to him not giving a crap about most things anymore. He knows he has a job and he has to keep working to not starve himself, he knows he has a girlfriend who he’s been with the past few years or so and wishes to keep that way, and he knows that he needs a new sportscar. That’s all that matters to him right now.
Things went to utter shit for him last year. He had a beautiful 1969 Pontiac Grand Prix Coupe, a car that he loved very dearly. He’s not a huge muscle car fanatic but he fell for this one the moment he looked at it. Always thought he’d never let that car go… Until one day a truck collided with him head on. The driver was drunk and fled the scene after the accident. It was a rather quiet part of the town and at the dark of the night, the collusion left him unconscious…
Fast forward a few days and he’s in a hospital. The Grand Prix’s massive front overhang and body saved him, but the car itself was wrecked, far from restorable. It had to be sent to the yard. James was quite badly injured too, with a broken knee, few broken ribs and of course… trauma. Even after he was discharged he had to stay bed-locked for several months. And just when things couldn’t get any worse for him, the company he worked in for several years now, found a loop-hole in the policy and managed to lay him off while replacing him with someone else. James was left in ruins…
He has been slowly trying to pick himself up from all the shit he’s been in to. His girlfriend, Lily, has been quite supportive and caring. He now has a considerably worse but stable job. But for a car, he now owns this piece of shit:
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The rover’s dismal 0-60 time and the inability to properly merge on the highways, rather average handling and the Almost ready to explode Honda K engine made James more depressed every time he drove the car. Not to mention its interior and electronics were as shoddy as they could be and the ride was so terrible that he’d much rather prefer his dad’s old 70s Corolla.
“Oh well… Here I go again, driving to my work on this godforsaken car…”
HONK HONK
It was a horn he knew too well. He looked outside his window. It was lily, in her Honda Prelude Si. She came to pick him up to work despite him asking not to do so.
“This girl… Why doesn’t she ever listen to me…”
15 mins later, Lily and James were on the 'lude with James on the wheels. Lily prefers to let James drive when they’re together as James won’t be driving a decent car for a long time. Every little bit helps, she says.
“So, how’s the savings going?”
“Not good… I need another whole year to get enough money to buy a Velvet.”
“Hmm… if there was any way I could…”
“Lily, please, you’re already doing a lot for me!”
“Okay okay calm down… How much do you have now?”
“I have around 30 grand or so. 35 if I really push it.”
Lily takes her time to think a bit, then proceeds to speak again.
“I mean, can’t you buy a decent car with that money already? Like there are some really good Euro or Japanese cars and even American cars for that kind of money.”
“I’m not sure Lily, I’ve been wanting that Velvet for such a long time… And I want a convertible too.”
“Are you sure you can keep driving that Rover for another year, James? And besides there are convertible sports cars available at that price too that are very good you know…”
“I… I’m not sure. I hate to think that I won’t be able to get the Velvet after all this time, but… I think you’re right, having to drive a shit car for another whole year is a much more frightening thought.”
“Yes, James. Listen to me, let’s look for a brand new car from February of next year. You’ll have some extra money by then. I’m sure the current market has plenty of good convertible sports cars for the money you have. Do yourself a favor and get this over with instead of waiting for a car that’d be too expensive to buy AND maintain.”
“Perhaps, I could do that…”
A few minutes of silence later.
“Alright then, let’s start looking for convertibles from today.”
“That’s the spirit! And promise me you’ll take me out on the first ride of your new car!”
“You bet I will.”
Alright there was the brief and all.
TL;DR is, James and his girlfriend are car enthusiasts who appreciate fun to drive, fast, yet relatively comfortable cars. (If you already couldn’t tell by the cars they own/owned). And from the last part, you can tell James wants a convertible and only a convertible.
Where do they live? Doesn’t matter. Somewhere in EU with not a lot of motorcar limitations at all.
Restrictions and Guidelines
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Trim Year: 1984-1989
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Max Engine/Trim ET: 135
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Max Engine/Trim PU: 135
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Price cap: 35,000 Automation Pesos. However if you have a REALLY good case, I’ll consider up to 40 grand. But it has to be REALLY good
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Fuels: 91 RON or 95 RON
doesn’t really matter just use premium -
Max Loudness: No more than 35 but if you’ve got a really good car with a beautiful engine tone, I’ll consider up to 40
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Minimum Safety: 37. Standard 80s safety at least is MANDATORY. However if it’s not available for you, pick the next standard safety tech available to you
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If it’s a heavy enough car and from the late 80s, I’d highly suggest to put in ABS.
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Seating is a bit complicated. Basically:
- You’re allowed to post 2 seater convertibles. 2 seats is all James needs. He gives fuck all about practicality.
- However, cars with 2 rows need to have at least 4/5 seats.
- If it’s a 2 row body, and if it makes sense, you are allowed to use +2 or +3 on the rear.
- If you have a mid/rear engined car, you can submit a car with one row only
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It’s 1989, catalytic converters in the EU aren’t really mandatory yet. You can futureproof your car by adding them but I won’t be giving cats a huge priority.
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NO RACE PARTS
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Only bodies that are allowed are:
I'll explain this further down below
- To avoid cheesing the rules:
- Minimum Drivability: 33
- Minimum Sportiness: 30
- Minimum Comfort: 17
- Minimum Reliability: 59
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NO 4x4 pls. FWD, RWD and AWD are allowed. However, James prefers either RWD or AWD. Rear biased AWD is fine as well.
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Given the price range, I will not prefer anyone sending a car with Fiber Glass panels. However Aluminum is fine if it makes sense for the car.
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If you have a car with 2 rows but using Mid Engine layout, feel free to ditch the second row completely
Other Priorities
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Basically the big 3 aka Drivability, Comfort and Sportiness
James prefers a car that he can have fun driving around, push it to the limits when he wants but also daily it and not have it break his back while doing so. Besides he’ll be taking his girlfriend to frequent rides, so he definitely doesn’t want to put her in any discomfort. -
Styling
James just came off a 1982 Pontiac Grand Prix Coupe and almost was going to buy aCorvette C4Marvin Velvet. He wants his cars to be beautiful and sleek. Also here’s where a good majority of styling point comes into play…
It doesn’t matter if you’re submitting a car that’s considered as a convertible in game. If you’re submitting a car for this competition, I EXPECT you to chop the roof off. Basically like the advert you saw above, or:
Car by @Mad_Cat taken from discord
car by @doofus taken from discord
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Performance His previous car did 0-60 in under 7 seconds. If he’s buying a new car, he expects at least something similar or better. Under 7 seconds is the priority here
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Service Costs Please keep it under $1150 if you can thank you. The last thing James wants is service costs cutting through his arse. Not a hard limit but definitely a priority. If you have a good case though I can consider more up to a degree.
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Prestige Eh I mean at least don’t make the car seem like a shitbox? Something like 25 prestige or more is FINE
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Safety The Grand Prix saved James from certain death. He knows he won’t be getting anything near it if he is going to buy a lightweight sports convertible now but he does expect the latest safety features at the very least.
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Environmental Resistance Not as important but James gets attached to cars he owns. The last thing he wants is his new car rusting to death within 10 years or so.
What doesn't matter
- Practicality
- Utility
- Costing significantly lower than the budget cap
- Emissions Unless it’s really fucking bad
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Offroad
lol
Oh and one more thing… I already am allowing bodies that aren’t inherently convertibles, so you guys can have fun.
I also allowed having no cats on your cars because fuck cats
Here’s one last thing I’m gonna do…
You’re gonna love me for this
Manual Gearbox is preferred!
Here lie a bunch of visual AND/OR performance related inspirations
please don’t send me a car that has reliability equal to this one tho
A few words on why I'm hosting this
This will be a one off challenge first of all. The winner doesn’t host the next round. If there’s going to be a sequel in the future, I will be hosting it. But this is a round to compensate for the lack of challenges we’re having due to the stalled Stable version of the update. Hence the CSR-likeness of this challenge.
Round starts from… basically now lol. If there’s any question or issues you have with the rules or the challenge in general, let me know below.
Naming Convention:
Car and Engine model: ATFC - Your Forum Username
Car Trim: Brand name and model of car
Engine Trim: Engine name
Round Deadline: Here
Wish you guys all the very best of luck!
