Originally an American manufacturer of industrial refrigerators, Armor Motors emerged from World War 2 as one of the few upstart car companies which were able to find footing in the American car market. They did so by carving out a small niche, building smaller, affordable, dependable cars.
1954’s Armor Highland was no different. With a wheelbase of 107 inches, it was about 8 inches shorter than other cars being made at the time. And, while Armor execs appreciated their place in the American market, they felt their new car was the perfect platform to test the export market.
Araga’s steel tariffs had recently been lifted, and Armor decided to send the Highland there in the hopes of expanding profit margins.
The car itself was fairly straightforward; with a full frame, solid rear axle and coil-overs, and a 3.1 liter inline 6 producing a little over 120 hp. Interiors were rather plush, with premium finishes surrounding the occupants. Also a comfort to drivers was the new Torque Command automatic transmission.
The Somervell Super Six was one of two postwar cars (the other being a steel sedan) made by Somervell Automobiles before being absorbed into Arlington Automotive Industries. Since I’m playing as all of Arlington, this is the 1948 model - from the year Somervell got bought out.
The Super Six was powerful, relatively lightweight, and open-top. Returning veterans with some money and a lot of admiration for European roadsters were Somervell’s target audience.
The 185-hp 258ci i6 was the last engine developed in-house by Somervell. It was a shortened, OHV version of the company’s pre-war straight-8, and it had 3 carburetors for balanced fuel delivery.
The Super Six was a luxurious and expensive car - aluminum body, first-rate upholstery (not enough to salvage the jarring ride and tight-fitting cockpit, though) and the image of a macho who’s made it. So where Arlington in 1948 was still steering clear of Araga (as they barely had sufficient steel to go around to make cars for Americans) Somervell was already there, getting… not down and dirty. High and mighty is more like it.
“Somervell Bespoke Automobiles, Kentucky” I think. I can’t be bothered to make a true coat of arms emblem or anything, so I put letters on a cross instead lol
Named after the Carrera Pan-America road race this is a hard top variant of the Type-304 race car built by Birmingham Sports Cars. The aluminium panels are fitted to a steel tubular space frame chassis with a proven endurance racing career.
Power comes a Knightwick motors sourced 1500cc inline four cylinder engine. BSC lightened and balanced the conrod for smoother engine performance. Dual single barrel carburettors and a formed tubular exhaust are also part of the upgrades. The engine produces 70bhp@5000rpm.
The road going car benefits from dual coloured seat upholstery with small occasional rear seats. The dashboard is wood veneer faced with chrome ringed instruments.
Floyd Motor Co enters the challenge with the daring Sparrow! Our entry here is from 1950, the first year of the Sparrow. FMC partnered with some post-war affiliates in the aerospace industry, and built the body panels out of aluminum! This special lightweight also rides on a custom space-frame chassis, and a fully independent suspension. As one can see, Swell new technology abounds - let’s go over some more wonderful features brand-new this decade:
3.2 litre SOHC Flat 6, making 148HP and a mountain of torque - enough for a brisk run to 60MPH in 10 seconds, and a top speed over 110mph. Be safe out there!
Safety is critical when driving the roads, especially at night – The Sparrow has a redundant lamp design for the headlights, turn signals, and brake lights.
*A plush-yet-supportive set of seats up front, and a comfortable bench in the back row. Behind that is a cavernous trunk. All wrapped in premium two-tone materials with a matching dashboard.
*Premium Radio included with this model
The FMC Sparrow competes and dominates the Fun / Fun Premium markets. It also remains competitive in the Family market, due to its versatile layout and excellent safety.
Brampton is a vehicle manufactuer based in Woking, Surrey. Founded after the great war. Brampton is known for producing mostly near-luxury automobile, although they also dabble a bit in cheaper cars and ultra high end cars during various period in it’s history.
The first car is 1948 Brampton Sports Saloon. It’s an attempt of trying to make the dowdy saloon car of the post-war period more exciting. Brampton took the basic chassis and engine of their 2200 saloon car and putting on a unique fastback body with more luxurious interior appointment.
This car is equipped with 2200cc 6-cylinder engine is producing 81hp which allows it to reach the top speed of more than 130km/h. 0-100km/h is around 16 seconds.
a racecar, for the road. the ultimate status symbol
(also yes, it’s scuffed, this body is a nightmare)
Ironically, at the time the Razzo was released Schiavone had multiple other models, all significantly cheaper and likely more appealing to a wider audience. However, being that their first impression of the Aragan people would have to be big and flashy… the Razzo was their first pick to export.
The Razzo, which meant Rocket in Italian, was essentially a road-legal version of their SB2 racecar, which had dominated the racing scene with it’s astounding performance and flashy, almost obnoxious looks. The Razzo featured the same fully-aluminum body, mounted on a space frame chassis and fully independent suspension (double wishbone front and rear), all built to an extremely high quality margin. The engine was a detuned 6.0 litre V12, the same that featured on the racecars, but detuned in order to get better economy and make the car less of a handful to drive.
316 screaming horsepower and a monumental 394 N/m propelled the Razzo to speeds of 170 miles an hour, with a 0-60 time of 7 seconds due to the ludicrous amounts of wheelspin generated by the thin, skinny race tyres. The suspension is stiff and during cornering the car pulls just under 1g’s. The Razzo weighs just over 1000 kilograms, a lot of which comes from the massive engine.
The Razzo is… not particularly comfortable, with an interior reminiscent of the race model itself. 3 dials, Temperature, RPM’s and Speed. Fuel is measured by opening the interior fuel cap. The seat is made from leather with a plastic base, not particularly comfortable but very light. Unfortunately, due to the large engine the cabin is both very loud and vibrates a lot when idling, however, driving past 1500 RPM’s stops the rattling. A windscreen on the front is optional (this car does have it featured), as is the wiper.
Whilst the Razzo does cost only $64,100 ($2,410.77 in 1951) there are only 13 of them, with the 13th being produced as we speak. Therefore, it’s second hand value will absolutely skyrocket (pun intended) and it is a very worthwhile investment for someone who just needs something to show off.
Centara is a maker of budget and commercial vehicles. It is based in the automation universe, but is owned by, and acts as the automation extension of, a US company known as “Bazard” (similar to how Vauxhall primarily sells rebadged Chevys and Opels). While Centara is it’s own entity, and makes it’s own cars -mostly performance versions of Bazard’s civilian cars- for the most part the cars appearing in this challenge will probably all be re-badged Bazards.
Centara’s trucks did well throughout the last 2 decades, but their lineup was starting to age. They were still working with a design from the 30’s, and they definitely had the technology and skill to improve it by now. Part of that couldn’t be helped; just re-starting production after the war at all was tough enough. But they knew it was only a matter of time before their designs got eclipsed by the competition. Plus, they knew how important commerce and industry was in recovering the world’s economy, and that capable work vehicles were going to be needed to carry out said recovery.
So 1950 brought a new design to the B-line of trucks, a brand new boxy van and pickup aimed squarely at businesses, and built to be the most capable and dependable non-semi you could get. They chose not to compromise in their truck’s construction in spite of shortages, employing a thick steel body and a twin-carb V8, and giving it the ability to carry or tow over 1600kg. They also provided some pretty premium interior options on the high-end of the spectrum, including even a radio as a topmost option.
The version provided for the challenge is the tan van in the topmost photograph, with the designation “BVH8:” where B stands for “B-line,” V stands for “van,” H stands for “High trim,” and 8 counts the number of cylinders in the engine.
e.g. Ford Fiesta ST, Ford Taurus SHO, 7th Gen Chevrolet Impala, Chevelle SS, etc.
I don’t imagine the performance versions probably won’t be showing up here anyway, unless something about the fictional market prompts them. So don’t worry about it! :D
C. Ernault Somua Mécanique et Automobile, or CESMA, was founded in 1903 in Poissy France by Charles Ernault. Initially producing a variety of mechanical components for production purposes, the company began focusing on automobile production in 1921 with the introduction of the CESMA 8CV. The factory was forced to go into munitions during the war, and the rebuilding of France’s infrastructure shortly afterwards. But car production was restarted in 1948 and the all new Colombe (French for dove) was unveiled to the public in 1951.
Aimed at the 6CV family car market, it was powered by a 1098cc overhead valve inline four producing 43 horsepower and 53 foot pounds of torque. Power was routed to the rear wheels through a four speed column shifted manual transmission. In a departure from their pre-war models, the Colombe used a monocoque chassis. Another difference was the extensive use of aluminum for the body panels. This was partly due to the supply shortage of steel as well as an attempt to improve the car’s performance.
With a 0 to 60 of 27.6 seconds and a top speed of 71mph performance could at least be considered adequate if not exactly brisk. The MSRP for the Colombe was around 600.000 francs in it’s home country and $1574 in the US market (I’m assuming this challenge is using dollars).
