ALTERNATE HISTORY SHOWCASE
Somewhere in Los Angeles, November 2020
“Smog warning for downtown today, with authorities urging people to keep indoors and wear their masks. Meanwhile, in markets, oil is holding steady at 17 per barrel, which should see fuel prices low for the rest-”
A lot of things have changed since the 1960s, cars most of all. Words like tailpipe emmissions, fuel economy and safety are as important as performance and luxury… but what if none of those changes ever happened? What if consumer tastes never evolved the way they did, and remained stuck there? That is what I invite you to explore, in the Alternate History Challenge.
This is intended as a one-off challenge, although I am open to continue it if things go well. The round will be open for rules discussion until the 23rd of January; the timeline for submissions will be published once rules are finalised, but you will have at least two full weeks once rules are set. I am also looking for some suggestions for fun and iconic images to use as references, as I am not particularly strong there tbh. A preliminary album of inspirations can be found here and may be updated in future.
The actual challenge itself:
- This is intended more as a showcase than a contest, with reviews likely in the mold of SCCR or my second assessment of ACDC. I may choose a “best in class” here and there, but do not expect a ranking.
- There will be four different “customer profiles” here - working car, family car, premium car, performance car. More about each profile can be read below. You may submit up to four cars, and will receive up to one review per profile. If it looks like two of your cars are targetting the same profile, I will only review one. If you do not submit a car for each profile, I may review one car for multiple profiles - for instance, an 8-seater SUV with good utility can be a family and working car, or a prestigious but sporty coupe can be a premium and performance car. You do not have to submit four cars, or target all four demographics. If you want to just submit one supercar, feel free. If you want to just submit one family wagon or one brawny working truck, feel free to do that too.
- For aesthetics, the primary desire is something decidedly retro, or an evolution of it. All those spiked bumpers that were made illegal for pedestrian safety, for instance, are completely legal right now. Feel free to go with classic designs but modern tech, or something newer based on that. Anacronisms and such are fine here. A nice big minivan full of touch screens? Sure. A giant SUV putting even the boatiest of boats in mind? Go ahead. Anything goes here.
The Rules:
- This challenge will be run on 4.2 (the “unstable” branch) to take advantage of the ability to use earlier technologies.
- Please name your family and model as “AHS - YourForumName”.
- All cars must have their trim and variant years set to 2020. Model and family years can vary, but try and keep it within reason.
- There are no safety or catalytic converter requirements. For safety, that includes both type and decade - standard 50s and basic 10s are both valid picks. Similarly, any choice of entertainment is valid, although a phonograph might not be a great choice.
- There are no hard PU/ET limits, but be reasonable. Make the car make sense. I reserve the right to bin any cars which feel incoherent or implausible.
- 3D fixtured interiors are optional, and I won’t take a particularly dim view of cars without one here. If you do make an interior, make it match your options - touch screens mean satnav or better, a luxurious 3D interior means luxurious options and so on. Feel free to request that I hide the chassis and similar, as needed.
- While fuel economy may be unimportant, range certainly is. Range is determined by fuel economy and fuel tank size. Fuel tank size is determined by footprint (3 liters of fuel tank per square meter) and weight (0.02 liters per kilogram). Consider the use of the car in evaluating range, but a good target is at least a couple of hundred kilometers to get from one major city to another with a relatively small number of stops. Whether this comes by getting a little bit more economy out of your engine or by squeezing in a larger tank is up to you.
- Given the unstable nature of 4.2, feel free to include screenshots of your statistics with your submission. This will function on the honour system, although I do reserve the right to ignore any screenshots which I feel do not fit the submitted cars.
- 17TH OF JAN EDIT: All the fuel types which are available in at least one market are legal - this means that AvGas and leaded are allowed, but ethanol and DevMeth are out. 91 RON (unleaded) and 92 RON (leaded) are available roughly everywhere and for equal cost. 95 RON (unleaded) and 98 RON (leaded) are available in most places and for equal costs. 98 RON (unleaded) is less available and more expensive, and so on for 100 RON while AvGas is specialty fuel which needs to be actively sought out. To combat the benefits of leaded fuel, however, an engine reliability penalty will be incurred due to spark plug fouling. Choose wisely.
The Customer Profiles
The four major profiles are family car, working car, cruising car and performance car. As noted elsewhere, you can submit up to four cars - one for each profile. You can also choose to submit one car for multiple profiles, such as a big SUV equally at home taking the kids to school as taking a tonne of wood to a construction site. I will allow you to *indicate* which segments you intend for a car to be targeted at, but I reserve the right to add or subtract segments.
Family car
This is the simplest, and most straightforward car here. These are cars for taking the kids to school, to sports and so on. Two rows of seats are a must, with three being appealing to some. Practicality reigns supreme, with buyers looking for sensible cars. A wide variety of body shapes will be accepted - hatchbacks, sedans, minivans, SUVs and even wagons. A variety of price points will be considered here, from your basic sedans and econoboxes to your more high-end cars like the Ford Expedition, Cadilac XT6 and such.
Working car
These are cars being used for hard, physical work. Remote farms, offroad trails, construction sites and such. Cargo capacity, towing capacity, and just overall grunt are important here. For some, repairability matters too - the ability to fix your own car when the nearest mechanic is a couple of hours away. Repairability is impacted by both aesthetic and engineering choices; two lists are below, but note that different choices will have different impacts. A simple computer is less impactful than a complex one. People here don’t want to spend tons of money on their cars, though.
Features which increase repairability
- Ladder or space frames - being able to separate the two parts of the car makes things easier. Ladder frames and space frames are both easier to repair.
- CD player entertainment or earlier - standard head units mean that things can be replaced simply and easily.
- Carburetors - no computer under the hood makes it easier to replace stuff.
- Sealed beams, and simple lights - if there is only one or two fairly standard bulbs, you can easily replace them when it’s done. With sealed beams, you can just swap the whole assembly. Yes, sealed beams are still available. No, they aren’t mandatory.
Features which will decrease reliability
- Anything involving computerised systems - if it uses a computer, it is hard to replace stuff. This includes advanced auto, sequential/dual clutch transmissions, active suspension and aero, electric power steering/LSDs/fuel injection, smart boost, variable valves/intakes, and just about all driver aids
- Safety which includes airbags (Advanced 80s, Standard 90s, Basic 00s and later) - airbag modules are a pain to replace, damage to these is rough.
- Highly-filled engine bays - less room to work makes it harder to work.
- Exotic materials - if you have a ton of magnesium and carbon fiber on a car, it’ll be a pain to fix.
- Turbochargers - more parts means more stuff can break.
- The usual things that impact servicing cost - staggered tyres, race intakes, stuff like that. Even when you aren’t paying for repair, it’s a pain.
Cruising car
This is the kind of car you can enjoy taking on nice long road trips, with the windows (or even the top!) down. This will focus on the “cruising experience” - how close it is to engine and turbo stress at highway speeds, how good the sound insulation is (weight slider, quality sliders), and what sort of interior you use. There’s a preference for convertibles here too, being able to really enjoy your surrounds. Drivability is relatively important too, although these cars aren’t being driven too hard.
Performance cars
These are your sports and muscle cars, and are pretty self explanatory. There is still no replacement for displacement, however; a big hefty V8 will be picked over a smaller but higher-performing turbo i4. The preference for V8s is particularly strong, but V10s and V12s are also interesting. The SRT Demon, Redeye and Scat Pack would be some of the poster cars for this sector. Some people in this sector just want a cheap car with RWD and a crazy engine; others are willing to spring for a better, more expensive car.
