Hi Mr. Carl, first of all thank you for trusting ZSW for this project.
We heard clearly you and your wife´s requirements for improving this Cosmopolitan to bring it up to the latest technologies while maintaining the charm and aestethics of the good old years
Let me talk you first of the redesing made, we made little modifications to the bodywork, mainly in aerodynamics and air flow, we inspired in many 80´s and 90´s sports cars and these modifications will really help on fuel economy and handling in the country roads of UK while maintaining the shape of the glorious Knightwick, we really see what a sporty premium version of the Cosmopolitan would be back then. Also the paint used resemblance the mythic midnigth purple, an elegant color from the 90´s that is timeless, everybody with knowledge will recognize this color among the other monochromatic aestethics of today, but it can blend into the modern cars aswell.
We heard you that confort and prestige is everything, a infotainment with all the latest tech is mounted in a more discreet place, it wouldn´t interfere with the driver FOV and will provide all the best quality music and navigation, perfect for all the rides you will make to different car events. also electric windows and leather seats with 3 point seabelts integrated will add up to confort and safety. a Redesigned steering wheel will also improve the ergonomy for the long rides and improve the feelings of the improved engined which i will explain to you now
The engine is the same, but we adapted the exclusive 1.275 engine to comply with todays performance standards, with a 100+ HP you are prepare to keep up with all the new sports family cars of the current days, we mainly focus on the fuel system and adapt the timing with an improved ECU, the car is perfectly tweaked to bring power, economy and smoothness.
All this modifications will cost $22.000, perfect for your budget negotiated before
It was all going so well. No one was breaking the rules bar @Lorgot leaving the model year at 1980, which is going to be more of a hindrance than a help so i’ll let that slide. Also @Knugcab not putting his username in the engine family field, but again it’s not a life ender really. I was so happy. Then I got to the final car and it is over budget with the price penalties, so sadly @Ch_Flash is the only rule breaker of the round.
The cars base price was $22,900, then with the $2,000 for the engine swap and the $1,000 for the swap to an advanced auto from the standard auto it goes $1,000 over the budget i’m afraid.
The exterior design isn’t massively different to the stock car on first examination. The paint is the same colour. The front end however has had some changes, The bonnet has been replaced with a completely flat variant with the headlights also being changed for ones with built in indicators, they are still inset like the standard ones. The main exterior change is the removal of the bumpers, some aftermarket more modern style replacements would have looked better than simply removing them entirely. The front grille has had a sort of BMW style kidney grilles added onto it, this does give the look of a weird Chinese car from the mid 00’s.
The rear design is very much like the original, with a twin exhaust fitted to give a more sporty look.
The interior hasn’t been changed visually from the standard car. According to the information the interior has been changed to a luxury interior and infotainment.
Knightwick Cosmopolitan 1300T by LMJ Design @Knugcab
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Like the car above the LMJ Cosmopolitan is kept the same colour as the original car, the rest of the design however has had quite a few chances giving the car a much better look. At the front the headlights have been faired in behind glass and spot lights have been added to the lower bumper area. All of the chrome trim has been removed from the exterior of the car, a rear spoiler and wheel arch extensions help accentuate a sporty feel. The way the rear lights have been darkened I’m not a huge fan of, it was all the rage with a pair of tights about 20 years ago though.
Inside the seats have all been replaced with more up to date sporty and more comfortable seats. There is a brand new infotainment system but no real screen to speak of which would have looked good . Also climate control so you don’t sweat to death on a hot day now. A new instrument panel would have been nice though as the original is from the base car with no rev counter.
The first car to change the colour, and here it’s a rather fetching metallic shade of not quite green or blue. The DDS also has fared in front headlights and body coloured bumpers making it look more upmarket and newer than the base car. I prefer how the wheel arch extensions on this car are done compared to the LMJ as the square edges look less like the standard arches just stretched out. The wire wheel stye alloys are my favourite of the four cars, they do look period but also fitting for the car. At the rear the tail light “trim” i can take or leave really but it does break up the bock of lights. The small wing style spoiler looks nice though.
The interior has the seats changed to newer ones with head restraints all round. The old radio has been replaced with a nice infotainment system that includes a colour screen in the space on the old instrument binnacle which is a good way of offering all the benefits of modern screens without one sticking up out of the dashboard. The dashboard and interior has dark alcantara all over it which is a funny look but at the same time nicer than the plastic original.
The first thing you notice here is the very bright blue, it’s utterly bonkers. Probably a bit too bright in all honesty, unless you are building a show car. Along the same lines are the wheels, apparently they are medium tyres but for some reason they look like racing slicks, also the front and wheels are different widths which should be a real knock on the head with a wooden stick. the front bumpers have been replaced with more rounded ones which do look good on the front, it’s a shame the rears are not the same though. The look of the car overall is definitely more “racing car” than was really needed, the large rear spoiler does fit the shape of the car but it seems a bit much really.
The seats have been replaced with new more supportive front seats, and what appears to be individual racing seats in the rear. Following the same very bright colour scheme as the exterior. There is a screen based infotainment unit in the dashboard which is a good nod to modernity, the stock hvac is a bit of a let down. The only car here to add arm rests to the door which is a very nice quality of life improvement.
The design is my favourite of the four valid entries, the colour and the changes really work well together. Engineering was all well chosen, the all round vented brakes probably weren’t needed but everything else on the car side of things works great. The real issue here is the engine, it’s a completely brand new dohc 1500 four cylinder with direct injection and a turbo. Somehow it manages to have worse reliabilty than anything else by a long shot, worse than the 1970’s tech engine in the base car even. The service costs are the highest, and it uses a large portion of the budget too.
this is a case of too much “race car for the road”. The design is too lairy for what is wanted and the suspension setup is extremely uncomfortable, even with the luxury interior the comfort is terrible. The choice of the automated manual gearbox is probably not helping the comfort as they are notoriously jerky at low speeds. The stock engine has been updated with reinforced internals, multipoint fuel injection a sports intake and (very loud) sports exhaust. Some better tuning however would have got more than 83 horsepower because all this high end equipment is going to waste here.
Purely on stats without taking into account the way it got there this would be the best car. The design is the weakest however, just removing the bumpers doesn’t really modernise the design in any way. It’s a shame the interior wasn’t modified to fit the luxury interior selected too.
The stock engine has single point injection and a super quiet exhaust added which is a bit restrictive a choice for 2020. The power ends up being only five horsepower more than the original.
This car has the highest driveability and comfort of the four cars, but the choices are somewhat unusual shall we say. It has an offroad skidtray, 100 cooling which is far too much for the ancient 1.3 engine. The air suspension and active dampers and roll bars is simply overkill for a restomod on a basic 80’s car.
Considering the luxury interior it’s unusual the prestige is so low on this car, also i would have expected a higher service cost. This does use the full budget however.
The design of the LMJ is similar in a few ways to the DDS entry, fared in headlights, extended wheel arches and body colour exterior. The only thing i’m not 100% sold on is the dark rear light colour and a respray into a more vibrant colour would have been very welcome.
The LMJ uses the stock engine with a slight bore increase and a turbo giving it a reasonable if not earth shattering 95 horsepower. With the light weight and short cvt gearbox it is quite quick. It has the best engine reliability and fuel economy here which is impressive for a turbo engine.
The LMJ manages to compete with the DI Cosmopolitan on every stat except comfort, and that’s with no really weird engineering choices and also being the cheapest car here which is pretty impressive.
Thanks for the win, I am ready to host and I have a car done, however, since one thing is a bit open for discussion at the moment, I will put up a poll surrounding ARM39.
Im happy with the fact that my car was likeable, im happy with that. Me and reliability have real issues though. On my next build, that will be something i aim to rectify.
Thankyou for hosting a fun challenge, i really liked the base car. I only enter these challenges dependant on the base car if i like it or not.
Design is always my weak point, I’ll keep working on that. Interiors are new to me and I’ve never actually made one, so I might experiment around with that. Other than that for forgetting to put it into modern times I’m happy with the highest stats and an overall second place, I appreciate you not being too harsh with the design points.
