Centara spent the larger part of the 50’s downgrading and lowering most of their trucks, to meet the needs of a market that preferred to buy cheap and self-modify. But there was one sector of trucks that couldn’t afford to downgrade: the A-line. These were tractor trailers, box trucks, tow trucks; pure commercial vehicles at the peak of heavy industry, where all out performance was all that mattered. And for 1960, the line received a huge upgrade intent on putting it at the top of the industry; maybe even posing it as a competitor to the Centurion.
Specs
The engine was internally called Base-200, because of it’s production goal to produce 200 lb/ft of torque at idle revs; a feat which required 4-barrel dual carburetors and 4500cc of displacement. Being a commercial vehicle, however, meant that the displacement wasn’t as much of an issue, and the tall ride height also allowed the truck to cheat it’s way into the offroad tax as well, if you opted for the offroad package with 4x4 and chunkier tires.
This truck was so large, traditional brakes simply weren’t strong enough to handle it with a full load; Centara virtually had to upgrade to disc brakes in the front just to get enough power. And what does a full load look like? 3200kg, or 3600 if you were towing! Sure, the cost of an A-line was pretty steep -over $20000- but to a given corporation or public utility, Centara was sure it was worth the cost.
Thinking it out… how cool would it be to do concept cars for the next era coming, but we don’t know the “rules”, regulations (other than current era), and no restrictions whatsoever other than future era unlocks. These cars can represent our brands ability to dream up things for the coming era.
Maybe oscillate between these concepts and race cars that represent the current era’s sentiment, as we go through the years.
I know Pontiac had a SOHC inline 6 in 1966-67. I think Kaiser-Frazier may also have had a SOHC I6 at that time or even earlier. They weren’t the norm, but they were around (at least for inline 6’s).
The long answer is: It depends on what type of cars. Economy cars were mostly if not exclusively OHV.
(S)OHC engines I know of the top of my head in the 60s are Porsche 911, Merc M103 engine, Ferrari V12, but also Subaru’s flat 4 (although late 60s). I assume it could be a space/weight reason, not cost-cutting per se.
Many performance engines were DOHC however (Jag, Lotus, Maserati, etc), so in a sense SOHC might be a bit rarer early 60s.
Then you have retrofitted american engines like the Ford Cammer, or the straight 6 that had SOHC version at some point in the 60s.
I am no expert tho.
Edit: but then again, this is ALC, what we do becomes canon in Araga - so if the best econ car(s) are SOHC (or most submissions are SOHC), then people will expect that, but if your SOHC car costs more and less reliable than the competition, then the market might want to look elsewhere.
Here at Schnell, The automobile is designed to be timeless. The New-Series 3000 with the 3.0L I6 with 165hp@5500RPM and 231nm@4500RPM. It also has the revolutionary Power steering as standard. There is more to the vehicle.
It has been professionally measured by the Doofenshmirtz Measure-inator to comply with regulations
An example of SOHC in a cheap compact car in the 60s is the Datsun 510, albeit a bit later.
Seems like the Schnell could be a Mercedes/BMW rival and they were SOHC so… Looks like a 70s car to me, but then again, it could have been a car that revolutionized styling or something…
AfAIK, Mercedes never made a pushrod OHV, they replaced their sidevalves with SOHC units in the 50s, for example.
There is an overwhelming majority in support of some bonus rounds, but more people want them to be occasional rather than constant.
Race rounds are the most popular, followed by custom, followed by concept cars.
No particular type is massively disliked.
So, the outcome is simple. After this round, there will be a race round. Scattered around, there may be other bonus rounds as I see fit. More details will come out later, but there’s something important for now.
The custom and race rounds will both involve modifying road cars - regular cars which have been submitted. That means I will need cars for people to use as a base. If you have submitted a car in the past, please send me a DM with whether you wish to opt in or explicitly opt out of having your cars used. When you submit a car, please opt in or out as well. If I do not have explicit permission, I will double check but assume you have opted out. During the bonus round, I will select cars as appropriate and release the .car files for all participants. Opting in means you are fine with having your car file posted here in this thread. It does not mean you are fine with having it spread elsewhere - if you want to use the car for some other competition or purpose, please DM the original creator for permission.
Add a grey (Hex code is A3A3A3) triangle in the bottom left - long side of equal length to the long side of the rectangle, short side of equal length to the short side.
Add a black (Hex code is 000000) to the bottom left - long side is of equal length to the long side of the rectangle, but short side is of half length.
(Note: you may need to use various techniques, such as changing the z-height or fiddling with layers. If you only have 2 layers available, the initial rectangle can be swapped to a triangle at the cost of more difficult alignment)
New export for year 1962 - Hakaru 800, 1000 and 1500 series automobile.
800: Base entry passenger 2 door saloon vehicle
1000: Premium level passenger 2 door saloon vehicle
1500: Sports version passenger 2 door coupe vehicle
Pictured above is the 1962 Hakaru 1000 Premium with the Hakaru 2LR engine.
Following on from the relative success of the CJM model before it, the Hakaru 800, 1000 and 1500 series of passenger cars utilized a more modern upgrade from the LR engine, the 2LR. Better tooling and manufacturing processes were purchased to improve build quality in the cars.
Phénix Carosserie started in a small french garage outside Lyon in the early 30s. They started doing bodies for ladder cars for other manufacturers in 1934, but their racing enthusiasm quickly took over and before the start of the war, they started doing custom bodies and styling for race cars, but it was cut short. After the war, a lot of new cars were done as monocoque and they decided to explore this avenue. In 1948, they took over a small engine repair shop and started doing custom race cars in their garage, even entering some high profile races in France and Italy.
Specializing in fiberglass race bodies, and with the addition of an engine shop, they decided to actually build and sell a small “affordable” sports car. Now renamed Phénix Auto, the birdmen were on the cusp of something great - they decided to soon expand to the nearby Aragan market, which was fully embracing the car culture…
Base model Nymphe TRA 1.4L shown without its hardtop
Built in a very small assembly near Lyon, this small fiery sport car is Phénix first production attempt! Launched a year earlier in France, it saw few modifications before entering the Aragan market.
Delivered with 3 lines of front-mounted Inline 4s built on the same block, the base model came bundled with the 1.4L 4-valve SOHC developing a whooping 100 hp for such a small sub-800kg body. The S and GT versions came with 1.5L and 1.6L engines respectively.
The small fiberglass body, coupled with its independent front and rear suspensions, made the Nymphe super nimble, while the 4-speed manual transferred the power effectively to the wheels, allowing the Nymphe to clock about 185 km/h.
All that power going to the rear wheels forced Phénix Auto to slightly stagger the wheels and include a novel small spoiler behind, but this kept the oversteer to a minimum and allowed it to go 0 to 100 in under 10 seconds!
While plush sporty interior is relatively comfortable for such a car, it also comes either with a fixed head (Coupe), a detachable hardtop (TRA), or a soft dropdown top (TSR).
We’re already seeing rally racers and sports enthusiast bringing a Nymphe to events in France and Phénix hopes its motorsport legacy will start today.
Winsley had a successful run around the 50s. The Hobart sports car was ended up becoming a success in many countries, including Araga which Winsley made the place its new R&D base for road cars and race cars. Besides that, the firm is also fully committed to Formula 1 races, to the point that they won several championships and even made a racetrack in southern Araga, Winsley Racing Circuit (now named Ezion-Winsley International Raceway) as its home base for all its formula operations.
On the road, with the success of the Hobart, plans for a second vehicle is moving strong, as the firm found a new market of GT-based vehicles, especially on higher class markets due to higher living standards. Thus, the Sydney GT was born for this, with access to more powerful engines, smoother ride and more luxury features.
The Sydney was available in 2 engine guises at launch, a 2.6 liter inline-6 generating 170 hp, and a 3.2 unit generating 196 hp. A 221 hp, SOHC 3.8 V8 model (shown above) was released later in 1958 as a third and top-of-the-line model of the firm. The first-generation Sydney was built until 1963 which was canned until the firm decided to revive it in the 2000s, and became a mainstay of the firm to this day.
The Majesty, an american compact built for those with sensible taste, designed to catch the attention of any and all passersby; It comes equipped with a respectable 2.3l 6 Cylinder engine made specifically for the Aragan market, conveniently placed at the back so you have dont have to worry about lacking storage space.
The surprisingly spatious and comfortable interior is layered with a fine leather(ish) cover mimicking the exterior’s colour.
