Airborne Automotive (UE4!)

Sharing Car Design Sharing Forum
1

Company’s logo.

One of polish dealerships. Made by @Mr.Computah

Basic information

History

Most notable people

Cars list

1972 Valetta

1991 Mercury T S2

1955 Monocoque

If there are some problems with grammar or some other stuff you might want to correct, just tell me. I’m also open to suggestions and propositions of using the cars in competitions or simple tests in-game.

Car stats might change a bit between updates.

PS. I’m afraid that this WW2 story might seem a bit unreal, but this spectacular effect must be here :wink: (still better than Kim’s propaganda, @szafirowy01 )

9 Likes
2

1972 Valetta

Airborne’s mid-market sports car. Aimed to compete with likes of Datsun 240Z, but aimed at people who actually wanted to get more than two seats in their budget GT/everyday sports car.

Airborne Valetta was first presented in 1971 to a short group of journalists and Airborne employees; while all the technical stuff was actually well accepted, the body design was rejected by most of the people and forced D. Skrzyszowski to do a facelift before actual production because one certain reason; it looked like a cheap ripoff of a certain japanese sports car.


The only 1971 Valetta prototype left in the existence. Sourced from Airborne Museum.

Final design and production car prototype was finished just a month after the presentation of 1971 one. It featured different front bumper, different grille, lack of rear side vent and slightly redesigned rear fascia. Valetta was approved then and went to production in the final form pictured below.

Airborne Valetta (pre-facelift one, described on here) was produced only in 1972 - despite the plans to sell it in 1973, fuel crisis and a gigantic bailout of Airborne interrupted those plans. There aren’t many pre-facelift Valettas made (around 6000 cars), so today a car in perfect condition would need much more money that new (selling price was 15600 $ with dollar value from 2010, now pristine condition original unmolested pre-facelift Valettas can go for even 100 000 $).

1972 Valettas were available only in USA and western Europe (with exception of Great Britain).

The car’s chassis was made in typical Airborne’s fashion from 50s to 70s: monocoque chassis made out of steel that wasn’t supposed to corrode as much. Valetta had galvanized steel chassis and it’s body was made out of normal steel.

Valetta has got an engine from V30 family named V30-304B, made specially for it - it was a 3 litre inline 6 with four barrel carburettor generating 140 hp and capable of revving to 6000 RPM. Despite carbed engines’ character to not be fuel savvy engineers at Airborne had managed to make the engine economical enough to make the car burn slightly more than 13.3 L/100 km worth of 91 RON fuel.

This car was fitted with a four seat standard interior with standard AM radio. It wasn’t too fancy but complied car’s character. However, Valetta MY1972 had one luxury option: hydraulic power steering, which helped with steering a lot despite the car weighting only 1 metric ton.

Of course, 1972 Airborne Valetta also had some problems like falling company and shortages on production (only circa 6000 cars were made this year, part of the remaining orders were moved to 1974-1976 production of the facelifted model). Another problem was quite low top speed sitting at 175 km/h. Brakes were slightly problematic to the new user too. Despite having almost no brake fade, and being solid discs braking distance was still at 38 meters, so you had to learn braking dynamics to not lock the brakes and brake efficiently. Another problem, which had appeared years later is body corrosion; tuners however had managed to overcome that with aftermarket aluminium and fiberglass body panels.

Statistics

7 Likes
3

That front grille is gooooooooooood. Also look who’s also back :smiley:
On topic - i never attempted this body because I usually end up with either a Ferrari Daytona or a Datsun 240, which in both cases isn’t what Im looking for. You managed to make it work.

1 Like
4

Thank you.

There are still some people who say but it’s a 240Z , but it’s hard to avoid with this body even with streamlined version.

5

It’s been a long time coming but you’ve finally remade Airborne in UE4, and I am frankly impressed - the Valetta’s exterior styling is a unique take on the body that most closely resembles a 240Z or 365 GTB/4. And despite unfavorable weight distribution, it’s still a decent drive. Your next design can’t come soon enough!

1 Like
6

Next car? You’ll wait, I need to pick something that’s possible to do in UE4 for now

7

Teaser.

4 Likes
8

1991 Mercury T S2

Mercury. Four-iteration supercar line produced from 1978 to 1994 in total. Known for their twisty behaviour and many deaths caused by not experienced drivers who tried to be too courageous in their supercars.

At least, this is how first three iterations: Mercury NA, Mercury Turbo and Mercury T S1 were like. In the late 80s, when Airborne was preparing a successor for T S1, they’ve took the drivability aspect into consideration and combined it with a completely new look.

Mercury T S2 had debuted in 1990 at Tokyo Motor Show in a prototype form. After gaining many positive opinions it was directed into production and first deliveries were done in early January 1991. The car produced in years 1991-1994 and was marketed in Europe, USA and competed with likes of people who were chosing Corvettes, Ferrari 348s and 512s and were tuning some KHTs. It could also serve as cheaper alternative that would give KHT Atlantic (@squidhead, does this thing exist in UE4 universe too? If not, don’t mind me then. :sweat_smile: ) a solid run for it’s money if a skilled driver handles the S2 Mercury.
At the time of it’s production Mercury T S2 was Airborne’s halo supercar, with exception of low-produced only-1991 Evoluzione built from remaining F90 racecar parts.

Mercury T S2, like it’s precedessors was a mid-engined, RWD supercar project. This time, it was made less deadly with more stable tyre width combination, installment of air suspension, smaller turbolag, power steering and ABS with traction control.

Powerplant wise, T S2 was ran by old H48 engine modified and refreshed for 1991 - less turbolag and more power. 406 hp from turbocharged 90 degree V6 in combination with 5 speed manual gearbox was enough to reach 100 km/h in 4.5 seconds and do a top speed of 307 km/h.
It was still falling short in comparison to ambitions of those engineers who had wanted to somehow push the 400 km/h Charybdis prototype from 1989 into production in time of recession and massive costs related to Airborne’s operation of moving company’s HQ to Poland from USA, just about half of the world.

Suspension wise, the car was set up to be more than good in corners and features one good seen mostly in racecars: pushrod front suspension. Mated with vented discs on all four wheels it finally was a proof that Airborne had designed a Mercury that doesn’t want to kill non experienced drivers.

Mercury T S2 eventually had found it’s customers due to relatively low price tag combined with great looks and rich history. Customers also had liked the interior which wasn’t the most comfortable thing ever (material-covered interior with carbon fibre panels and inlays combined with Sparco bucket seats), but it was well complimenting the vehicle.

Mercury T S2 was also Airborne’s last model to wear the bird badge on a rear - it was depicting the most powerful Airbornes in times when it could not produce and base itself on Poland and was a patriotic accent. After 1989 it was obsolete, but since Mercury T S2 was actually a huge improvement on T S1, which was started in 1986 the logo stayed.

In years 1991-1994 there were 2844 Mercury T S2s sold, including some rare combinations that are worth millions - the rarest T S2 version is a 1993 carbon-covered car made only as one-off design choice for unknown Italian collector.

About successors of the T S2, Airborne had finally decided in 1994 that they won’t stay with archaic 16 year old V6 platform and switched back to 90 degree V8s and 60 degree V12s in the fastest models. Car enthusiasts had to wait for next Airborne’s supercar to 1998, when eleven Synth GT1s were sold to public and to 2006 Deimos in case of “mass-sold” supercar.

5 Likes
9

I don’t see why KHT would not exist in UE4. Early cars were made before numerous calculation changes, and the cars still were considered canon, so I’d say you can easily compare UE4 to KHT in kee, no harm there.

Also - BRING IT ON! As long as there aren’t any corners :smiley: 88 Atlantic is a PIG of a car. Pretty much handles like a dump truck and best used (I wanted to say “in a straight line” but) on a Vegas strip outside a casino. In my opinion second worst KHT after the Keimola. Now… the Nemesis from 84, there’s your REAL problem.

On topic - I like the car, has the Venturi vibe about it, with a bit of McLaren F1

10

Haha, you’re right. I chose the Atlantic just because it would be comparable with the Mercury T S2 on a twisty track, just like Lamborghini Diablo VT or Porsche 959 with Honda NSX.

Thanks for letting me to compare the car, I’ve just seen the Atlantic made only in Kee, since I made that little disclaimer :wink:

And I know that Nemesis from 1984 would easily beat my car - but let’s not do a silly war. Please. :grin:

Thank you about the general opinion on the car :slight_smile:

11

1955 Monocoque


Monocoque’s most distinguishable feature - left side-only exhaust pipes. They were placed there, instead of the conventional rear setup due to technical limitations and too large design interrupt.

The year was 1955. Airborne was already producing some cars, but they were too small and too european for USA taste, which was company’s main market. Actually, company’s CEO had realized that some time earlier and he already had an upscale model ready. Meet first luxury-tier Airborne in their history, the Monocoque.

It’s debut was quite controversial. While critics had nothing to issue Airborne in case of handling, dynamics, flexibility and equipment inside some of them were divided about lack of chrome, which was visible especially when compared to some cars of the era, like Cadillac Series 62. Later fans and customers were thinking about Monocoque as basicly a car that was 10 to 15 years ahead with it’s design, especially when comparing examples that usually were early 70s Maines or legendary cars of Znopresk, such as Z200. From other minor details that were rarely seen on cars these times is actual reverse light.

Tech-wise, Monocoque was an extremely modern car in it’s times too, especially in it’s main region that was USA - still big V8 engine, but SOHC instead of pushrod and for first time ever in Airborne and probably whole US - full monocoque chassis made out of galvanised steel. This innovation was enough to give the car it’s name. It had however retained the sense of luxury seen in typical american cruisers.
And the engine was innovative enough for the company to use it until late 60s in the Alpha and Beta models and the M70 engine was succeeded by short-lived M71, which was very similar except for DOHC valvetrain.

The Monocoque had pretty respective figures for a luxury cruiser - 7.0 L 60 degree V8, SOHC which generated 236 hp and was enough to push the 1700 kg behemoth to 100 km/h in 11.3 seconds and reach the top speed of 199 km/h. Gearbox was probably one of the strangest choices ever made by Airborne - despite engineers’, Adam Skrzyszowski’s and Koelner’s massive criticisms Dawid Skrzyszowski had accepted 2-gear automatic torque converter for extra comfort value.

Monocoque, as it was Airborne’s successful superpremium model had opened the market for the company and worked as perfect ad for the whole Airborne. It wasn’t however mass-produced: due to high quality parts and their manufacturing cost there were only 7630 Monocoques made in years 1955-1960 and each of them was the most expensive vehicle officially available in the company’s lineup during that time. Monocoque was however also a great learning material for Airborne; it’s successor, Alpha, officially launched in 1961 was more mass-approaching and fixed some problems of it’s precedessor.

1958 Black-spec


Mythical Monocoque version which wasn’t even offered in official dealership network; only 25 examples were made and those which remained are skyrocketing in value.

Designers at Airborne weren’t pleased with Monocoque’s some too comfy choices and criticized them as taking away company’s sporty soul and name. In 1958 they have proposed their propositions to start building another Monocoque variant which would live more to the heritage. CEO had declined not finding any reasonable idea to start producing something that years later would be called a muscle car.

The “Black Card” designer team was upset enough so their leader had gritted his teeth and said: YES, SIR. when he had heard that and walked from the room, shutting the doors. Actually, they’ve decided to make their plans alive anyway and bought 25 Monocoques at their own cost and tuned them. Every car was however a loss, but Monocoque in the tuned variant was more of an manifest than actual profitable project.

Exterior changes were minimal. All the cars were painted black and rims were replaced with more aerodynamic ones, painted black too with chrome outline. Inside the hood changes were more drastic: while stock engine was kept, whole fuel system was changed from 2 barrel installation to DCOE one, resulting in a power boost from 236 hp to 255 hp. Pistons with conrods were replaced with their forged equivalents to withstand higher torque and moved RPM limit. Those changes, along with sportier suspension setup and interior stripped out of phonograph and super luxury seats (which were replaced by stiffer seats with longer backrest and side holdings, which were known later by the name of bucket seats) and in total of circa 70 kg of weight loss resulted in surprisingly good car: it was quite fast on straights and had comparable handling and cornering with most european sports cars of the era.

Black Card Monocoque (in 80s fan-dubbed “Black-spec”) was never officially sold to public - they were rather sold by underground network of customers and car enthusiasts. After selling out those 25 Monocoques way quicker than official Airborne did, D. Skrzyszowski had noticed the success, apologized to the design center and next luxury designs also had luxury, but sporty approach - in a single or two variants.

3 Likes
12

1986 Seishi (SE1)


1987 Seishi R’s rear wing shown above.

Late 1980s for Airborne were quite a busy time. Preparations to move back into Poland, introducing new models, starting Airborne Cup in 1989… All those preparations had required a massive bunch of money. The company had it already from profitable sales of Xy and Persephone models mostly because they were cheap econoboxes. It actually saw the potential in the market of cheap sports coupes. Therefore the Seishi (from Japanese: warrior) project was started. It was ready in 1986 with presentation of the SE1 codenamed car with two variants: Standard (known also as Basic or B) and more powerful S.

In 1990 Airborne had revised trim names of Seishi lineup, which were the following for SE1: 16, 18S and 22R (the 22R designation was however never officially used during the production of Seishi R and became an service entry and fan name rather). Next generations, up to SE4 kept this variant naming scheme until the very end of Seishi line in 2010.

In 1992 it was replaced with more modern Seishi SE2.

1986 Seishi Standard

The most popular, cash making variant of Seishi that had all the practicality of it but it only looked like a sports car. It’s performance was very average compared to everything else and the Standard was often chosen as the alternative to less sporty Persephone 15E or just as a cheapo car for people liking sportscars. It did not fall short of the quality though; it was still pure, well-made Airborne.

It was the poorest of all trims. Q16 engine (1.6 SOHC) built specially for this car had circa 100 hp, the car itself had plastic bumpers and many interior parts borrowed from the Persephone as well as basic steel rims. It was the lightest and the slowest trim - 10.3 seconds to 100 km/h and top speed of 181 km/h weren’t something that would impress anyone, but it was just enough for this cruiser.

There were however good parts of the car: it was nearly indestructible, RWD, got moderate power output perfect for rookie drivers and could pack four people without much problems (in this class, obviously.). It also had indestructible 5-speed manual with reverse 1st gear sourced from the Mercury and adapted to Seishi’s engine. However, it lacked goodies from more powerful and more upscale versions like the S - for example alloy wheels, coloured bumpers and ABS.

Financial side of owning this car wasn’t bad - maintaining it was not costful in any means and you can still pick a cheap one today. When new, those cars costed 12600$ (in 2010 USD). Their popularity caused a major role in drifting and amateur racing community along the DOHC Persephone S.

1986 Seishi S

To satisfy more wealthy customers who actually wanted a good sports car Airborne could offer the Seishi S - more sporty version of beloved mass produced coupe.

The S variant was launched consequently with the Standard model and it had featured coloured bumpers with additional front cooling, side vent, alloy wheels and a little spoiler on it’s trunk. The “S” letter could be placed on rear fascia of the car per customer’s wish.

Like all the SE1s, the S variant had used the same suspension configuration from all the range. It however had a custom engine built specially for this car - codenamed Q16D it wasn’t a 1.6, but 1.8 four cylinder with DOHC valvetrain that revved higher than base Q16 and also had more power - it generated 130 hp at 7100 RPM.

The Seishi S did not differ much from the regular model interior-wise - most changes were kept to purely cosmetical things, but the S variant had received slightly bigger and more grippy steering wheel, as well as an option to stuff Recaro bucket seats in.

The car was obviously more expensive than the Standard variant of Seishi and it had costed 14430$ (in 2010 USD). Owning and maintenance costs were very similar and most parts were interchangeable with more poor variant. There are obviously less S models on the road and for sale and most of them were abused in motorsport or drifting events. Some part of them was also murdered by rice tuning in 2000s, so finding a pristine example may not be very expensive, but very difficult.

1987 Seishi R

The most evil of all of the Seishi lineup. It’s also the rarest and was produced only during two years (1987-1988). It wasn’t also available as a mass product and it’s price and availability was told only “per customer’s request”.

Seishi R, in comparison to other variants was greatly changed. Front fascia got redesigned - foglights were moved, whole bumper got more cuts for improved aero efficiency and more aggressive look. Vents on the side of the car were kept from the Seishi S, but weren’t painted in body color anymore - instead, they were just naked plastic. R model had also received full sport interior with Recaro seats and standard. Wheels were reused from the Seishi S with the difference of the black paint on them.

Technically-wise, like all the Seishis it had the same gearbox and suspension. There was one different element though - it’s engine.
Seishi R had used V32 engine previously utilized in Airborne S220 since 1984. In comparison to the S220’s variant, V32 in Seishi was tuned even further and in final it was turbocharged multipoint 2.2 inline 6 with 221 hp and punch enough to push the car in just 6.2 seconds to 100 km/h and reach 230 km/h.

The Seishi R actually became a legend thanks to many positive reviews as well as good underground promotion through the owners - their cars were just special in the eyes of people and in final more of them were trying to acquire them. Airborne also sold posters with the car on it - more than two million ones were printed and sold, becoming nowadays a rare collectible.

Due to short lifespan of SE1 R, as well as lack of official selling there were only 832 cars sold and each of them was priced at 21150$ (2010 USD), which was almost two 1.6 Seishis. Today, due to their rarity every preserved or tastefully modified example goes for no less than 50.000$ and they’re hard to find due to them being a sought-after collector item.

788 cars were sold in Blood Red color (pictured above; the car is sourced from Airborne Museum), 43 of them are painted in standard Championship White and only one is painted black. The last two color options, if original are skyrocketing the price of the car - while it’s unknown how the owner of black SE1 R is named it’s known that in 2011 the car went for astronomical 350.000$ on the auction!

Statistics for your pleasure!

1986 Seishi Standard/16

1986 Seishi S/18S

1987 Seishi R/22R

4 Likes