ARM 44: First Car Reunion (submissions closed, reviews pending)

[abg7]

ARM 44: First Car Reunion

Previous ARM

Background

Guildford, Surrey, May 2026

You never forget your memories of your first car - buying it, driving it, owning it, maintaining it, tinkering with it, carrying goods and people in it, and finally selling it when you were ready to trade up to bigger and better stuff - but those memories you gained never went away. Eventually, as modern cars became too expensive and complicated for your liking, you developed a hankering for something that reminded you of the very first car you’d bought and driven. With your finances as sound as they have ever been, you decide to trawl through the online classifieds one Sunday afternoon - and eventually you settle on something that seems familiar to you.

The Car

The car you ended up buying was a 2000 WM Wanderer in Opal White, but it wasn’t just any Wanderer - it was the exact same car you bought new over a quarter-century ago after passing your driving test. Now that you have something much newer (and better-equipped) as your daily driver, you decide to use it as the basis for your next project. While the flagship GT trim, with its larger, more powerful engine, has started to creep upward in price, examples of the base-model 1.6 ES such as this one are more affordable by comparison - and you couldn’t help but buy it straight away. So what will you do with it? Rallying, drag racing, circuit racing, even drifting could be considered with this simple, lightweight platform - but no matter what your client does with it, the resulting build must remain street-legal.

Priorities

Major Priorities

• Aesthetics - Mild or wild, if it looks right, then it is right.
• Authenticity - Whatever happens to it, the end result must remain recognizable as a 2000s WM Wanderer.
• Performance/Sportiness - 100 horsepower just won’t cut it these days, after all.
• Cohesion - What’s the point of a build whose stats and engineering don’t match its looks?

Moderate Priorities

• Drivability - No matter what the Wanderer ends up as, it’s still a road car, and it must stay that way.
• Safety - With great performance comes a greater need for occupant safety.
• Reliability - The donor car was known for being highly dependable - a trait that shouldn’t be ignored no matter what the build is meant to be about.

Minor Priorities

• Running Costs - Show cars can be expensive to run, but at least they get saved for special occasions - and you have plenty of cash to spare anyway.
• Cost After Options - You’re willing to spend as much as your budget allows to get the best possible result.
• Comfort - This restomod is meant to be used for special occasions, but it should also be driven occasionally without being too physically taxing.

Extra-Cost Options

The following changes will incur price increases as follows:

• Panel material: $1,000
• Suspension type: $1,500 per axle
• Engine orientation: $1,500 (includes drive type changes for free)
• Drive type: $2,000 (included for free with engine orientation changes)
• Engine head swap (defined as using a different head type and/or material): $2,500
• Full engine swap (defined as using a different block material and/or engine configuration): $5,000 (includes engine orientation changes and head swaps for free)
• Gearbox type: $3,000 (won’t apply if a manual transmission with more or fewer gears is used)
• Major bodywork distortion using morphing zone adjustments and/or fixtures: $2000 (alterations that can be made by using different body set variants are not permitted)

Rules

• Retain the original techpool distribution (+5 in all areas).
• Don’t change the chassis type or material (although you may change the panel material at extra cost - see above).
• Maximum price of $50,000 AMU after options (prices for which are shown above).
• Quality must be between 0 and +10 inclusive.
• Advanced trim settings may be used, but in moderation.
• 98 RON or E85 fuel only.
• Must be WES 11 compatible.
• No race parts.
• Current stable release (Al-Rilma) required.
• Please clone the base model and family using the Clone All button in the Car Manager after downloading the donor car (see below). Once this has been done, set all years (model/trim, family/variant) to 2020 (to simulate a remanufactured car).

Submission

• Naming scheme: ARM44 - (your forum username) for model and family (trim and variant names are free)
• Rules discussion begins at 6:00 am (UTC+7) on May 6th, 2026 and ends on 6:00 am (UTC+7) at May 12th, 2026. .car file submissions will begin at that exact time and remain open until 6:00 am on May 26th, 2026 (ads comprised of at least one picture showing the car can be submitted for 12 hours after that time).
• Donor car link:
  ARM44_-Please_Clone-_WM_Wanderer_1_6_ES.car|attachment (234.8 KB)
• All submissions must be sent to me via Discourse forum DM (not Discord).

Good luck - and have fun!

[abg7]

With the lack of responses to the rule set and options pricing, I’m happy to say that submissions are open!

[Ananas]

I don’t see a rule about model/trim/family/variant year; Is it allowed to leave some or all of them at 2000, or should trim/variant or everything be set to 2020?

[abg7]

Almost forgot to state that model/trim and family/variant years must be set forward to 2020 for the cloned car - but I’ve just added it.

[Knugcab]

(Didn’t have much time for this so did a speedrun)

LMJ DESIGN PRESENTS THEIR TAKE ON THE WM WANDERER

Longing for the days of your youth? We can make your WM Wanderer look like if it came straight out of the pages of Max Power. But it is more than skin deep. We also provide a boost up to 227 hp, thanks to turbocharging. A big brake kit. A modern infotainment system. All to keep this car relevant into the new millennia that it promised us.

[Ananas]

Yellow Fruit Tuning Shop presents:

WANDE RER

A daily-able time attack beast.

For starters, to prepare this humble Wanderer for vicious lap-time hunting, we changed the rear axle to fit AWD and double wishbone suspension. But don’t think we left the front end alone…

After telling the engine to get rotated, we bored and stroked it out and fitted a large turbocharger. It turns out this lump could handle any amount of boost our little hearts could ever desire. We settled on around 1.7 BAR.

Some forged internals and raised redlines later we were making over 370 bhp. Not bad for 2.1 litres. If you want pops and bangs however, we have to disappoint; It is not that thirsty. The stock fuel system only needed a mild tune.

Manual transmission is the way to go for a car like this. The stock unit was actually quite nice, but we rebuilt it with new ratios. Anticipating high speeds we also added an undertray, diffuser and front splitter to keep it down. WANDE RER rides on preem sports grade P225/40R17 on all four wheels.

Now the suspension setup: We deleted the rear sway bar and replaced the front with a 300% stiffer one. Springs and dampers are moderately bestiffened, allowing the ride height to be lowered by 23 millimetres.

We don’t need rear seats where we’ll be going, so we threw them out to make room for a roll-cage instead. The fronts were replaced with buckets clad in perforated leather. We welcome you to break a sweat in them.

We swapped the stereo head unit for a more modern one and the speakers for new Hamayas. Nothing too extravagant, best keep the weight in check after adding all that drivetrain junk to the trunk.

Finally, to commemorate this WM Wanderer 1.6 ES’s transformation to a WANDE RER, we chromed one of the old engine mount brackets and used it as a gear shift knob. It is more ergonomic than it looks, we promise!

PICS WITHOUT FIRE :(

[Tullified]

oh i didnt realize the deadline was so soon. i have something cooking but i wont have time until the weekend to complete it. considering the turnout maybe its possible to have an extension?

[abg7]

I’ll weigh that up at the very least.

[abg7]

A few days late but I’d decided, on the day of the original deadline, to extend the submission period for entries by a couple of weeks, to June 9th, 2026. One week wouldn’t have been enough - I’ve only received two entries so far, and a one-week extension to the intended deadline would’ve resulted in the deadline being on the 2nd of June, which would’ve been less logical.

[Tullified]

2026 WM-01 Backhoe Loader

by

Sam Handwich Automotive Racing Technologies

Admit it, you have long desired for your Wanderer to be able to help with yard work. Finally, we have turned this vision into reality.

The WM-01 Backhoe Loader brings unparalleled productivity, versatility and performance to the WM Wanderer platform. Additions include a hydraulically actuated loader-type bucket in the front and a backhoe with complementary stabilizing legs in the rear, ensuring that you are ready for any situation you may face in your DIY journey.

Of course, the mechanical base of the venerable Wanderer also needs to be upgraded to guarantee your needs for all-terrain performance are always met. Therefore we have equipped the WM-01 Backhoe Loader with rally-sourced all-wheel-drive running gear and a heavily modified high-output engine, now producing 335 HP and 365 ft-lb. This in combination with the aerodynamic downforce provided by the bucket and backhoe delivers all the performance you need to approach any challenge with urgency, agility, verisimilitude and contemporaneity.

With the WM-01 Backhoe Loader in your arsenal, you are prepared for anything.

Photos

Sam Handwich Automotive Racing Technologies - we do not believe in acronyms

[abg7]

A bit later than expected, but submissions are closed - expect reviews and results to follow in 72 hours.

[abg7]

ARM 44 Reviews & Results

There may be only three proposals in your inbox, but all of them look tempting at first glance. After a few hours, however, a clear winner emerges, and the other rankings are decided in short order, as follows (overall rankings will determine ARM45 hosting duties):

3rd: LMJ Design Wanderer

LMJ Design takes the bronze medal here, with a striking Max Power-esque exterior design that reminds you of 2000s tuning culture - in a good way. Engine output is a steady 227bhp, with a flat torque curve, although the use of a cast-iron crank and con-rods raises some eyebrows. With an extra cog in its gearbox and proper high-performance tires, it should be a worthwhile improvement on the donor car, despite its solid rear disc brakes. However, the suspension is still as soft as it used to be (in terms of both damping and spring rates), putting it at the bottom of the pack in terms of sportiness. That alone is enough to consign it to third place.

2nd: Sam Handwich Automotive Racing Technologies WM-01 Backhoe Loader

Here’s something you don’t see every day: a total conversion of a 2000 WM Wanderer into a construction vehicle - and yet, for all its audacity, it somehow takes the silver medal. It’s more powerful than the LMJ proposal for sure, although surge stress on the turbo could be a problem (even though the internals are as overbuilt as the rest of the engine). What clearly puts it ahead of the LMJ, however, is the fact that everything about its mechanical setup shows more attention to detail, especially the suspension tune. Still, the surge stress gives it the lowest reliability score of the bunch, and this, combined with it being visually at odds for your plan for a road-focused build, leave it marooned in second place - although you could find it useful as a landscaping tool.

1st: Yellow Fruit Tuning Shop WM WANDE RER

In contrast to the LMJ being too much show and not enough go, and the Backhoe Loader being a little too leftfield for your tastes, Yellow Fruit Tuning Shop managed to nail the fundamentals and sweat the details on their first try with this proposal. As a more cohesive and less self-contradictory offering, everything about it screams “2000s tuner homage done right”. The looks, performance, and handling are all top-notch, while the interior is stripped-out but purposeful and well-suited for this car’s track-day focus. All in all, this is one of the best restomods you’ve ever seen that’s based not on some kind of exotic unobtainium, but on humbler, cheaper stuff; in fact, it may be among the best restomods of its kind, period. No wonder you signed on the dotted line for their proposal - and came away immensely impressed.

Congratulations to @Ananas for winning ARM44!

Many thanks to all three entrants - I hope you enjoyed this round as much as I did!

[Ananas]

Hurray!
Glad you got enough submissions for a full podium, what a majestic trio.
And thank you for the praiseful review.

I am able to host the next round.