I’ll do this bare minimum ads just in case @kaybee doesn’t get to it in time.
1979 Cornell Romper
ultra quirky
several pens yeah so cool
12 Likes
that external tacho is weird as shit and I love it, its so good.
¡Trés goofý, oui!
Who has submitted / engineered before the latest patch: Check your price, since that rose a bit, in my case by 100 Dollar.
And, since I finally took the time for it: A hippomobile without proper interior isn´t a hippomobile, so have a look at this.
4 Likes
Same for Shibusu and I. It was over $300 in our case
10 Likes
This is a car designed to serve the driver.
Advanced automatic transmission, power steering, computer fuel injection, cassette player.
You have just to drive and enjoy more than 28 MPG.
Yes, you read right. Cassette player, are we entering in the 80’s with 8 track? No way!
2 Likes
Oh yeah this has closed btw. I’ll check all the cars are rules compliant and update on that later on
2 Likes
A little on the slow side i’m afraid however here is the first third of reviews, hopefully should have this settled within two weeks of closing, so Monday at the latest.
Couple of interesting notes before I get to actual reviews
- All of the cars entered had four cylinder engines, one was a flat four and all the others were inline.
- Every car was front wheel drive, which I was quite surprised about.
- All of the entries had steel panels, which i guess was to be expected but maybe someone could have gone crazy with fibreglass since it was used widely enough in the 70’s.
- Seven cars had eight track players, and two went for casette.
- every car completely smashed the 19mpg base limit economy, the worst being 23mpg(us)
The 1979 Ascot Grenadier ES
The design of the Grenadier is really nice, it’s every bit your typical 70’s small American two door sedan. The hearing aid beige colour along with the contrasting vinyl roof fit perfectly. The wheels are probably the only negative point for the style as they seem a bit too “showy” and nice for this type of vehicle, also being alloy that’s probably a step above the usual.
For the engineering it’s probably more of an “upmarket” trim I feel than a true fuel saving commuter car. To that end it is one of the five cars to fully max out the budget and also has the highest service costs and worst fuel economy. On a money saving challenge this perhaps isn’t the best. The comfort is above average however no doubt due to the auto gearbox and power steering. All these fancy options have pushed it towards the lower end of the reliability table though.
not the winning car
The 1979 Cornell Romper
An unusual car whether you are looking at design or engineering.
To start with the design it’s colour is somewhat similar to the above Ascot, just maybe more of a caramel colour. On the face of things it’s a European looking five door hatchback with the benefit of roof bars for extra utility. There are however the obviously huge front and rear bumpers and large side rubbing strips looking very noticeable on the body. The real elephant in the room is the bonnet mounted rev counter in a kind of vent arrangement. I’m not sure this is the easiest place to put any kind of instrument even though it was on some muscle cars of the 1960’s.
When it comes to engineering this is a case of it may look like a cheap European hatchback however it basically has every high end choice going. The only car with multi point fuel injection, while this isn’t banned by any means it’s not really got any place in this kind of segment, and is no doubt adding to the high list price and service costs. The fuel economy is only 0.2mpg better than the worse car, in a significantly smaller footprint. The comfort is very good but it’s at too much of a cost overall.
not the winning car
The 1979 Wells Gavino SE
The first of the four door sedans for this car, body choice is probably a bit on the new side for 1979 but I’m sure this can be reasoned as a very forward thinking design for lore reasons.
The design is a bit mis-matched as the front end design works nicely, however the tail lights are on the small side and don’t really fit the design. The front side markers are also comically huge and the windscreen wipers have fell off in transit.
The engine is the largest here, however it is very restricted with a low end exhaust and intake manifold and a 0 fuel map. Economy and power is possibly being left on the table here with more fueling but also higher compression then being used. Reliability is pretty good however even with the small amount of valve float at the heady 3700rpm power limit.
This is the first manual gearbox car looked at here it does still have power steering though, which is lucky as the heaviest car in the test. Comfort and fuel economy is very good, reliability, safety and environmental resistance are on the upper mid levels so even with the judicious use of negative quality the Wells is still a compelling choice.
could this be the winning car?
This concludes the orange hued cars.
13 Likes
3 Likes
Ah well, maybe next time. Thanks to Maverick74 for a very well done and lovely redesign of one of my companies. If only I was as talented with engineering… 
The 1979 CalEco Miser
The first small yellow hatchback. The design very much looks “of it’s time” but also could be sold well into the 80’s as it isn’t dated in any of it’s choices. The low headlights give the front end a bit of an off forehead look so maybe slightly large lights would look better. The black contrasting striping and name on the side along with the contrasting wheel colours look nice against the yellow paintwork. The tyres do seem extremely low profile for 1979 though, this probably would be a knock in a csr looking for more realism.
Looking at the engineering this is the kind of car even Ebenezer Scrooge would think was too frugal. Every design choice has been made to maximize fuel economy, service cost and purchase price, to this end it’s the best at the first two, and second for the purchase price. A galvanised chassis is only real concession on the car. Amazingly this isn’t the least comfortable car, even with it’s basic eight track player and manual steering
could this be the winning car?
The 1979 Ginkyo Luck 1.6
The second of our yellow cars, this time in a bit less of an eye searing colour. In a similar way to the Miser the design looks very genuinely like a cheap car that could have come out in fuel crisis America, front end being very similar to a metro city. The huge tail lights and indicators in the bumper on paper sounds awkward but i actually really like how the design works.
This is the cheapest car in this challenge, and by a not insignificant $740. The service costs being only $11.90 higher than the cheapest too. Comfort is the lowest which is somewhat surprising with standard interior/standard eight track and power steering, i guess this is the game penalising torsion beam suspension so much. Reliability and practicality are the highest and the fuel economy is very competitive
could this be the winning car?
The 1979 Yamaguchi Kuruma SL
A break from the norm with a sub-compact sedan. Design wise a pretty ordinary looking car, could be a gta npc car. The chrome strips on the boot lid and tail light surrounds are a slightly fancy touch, and the front grille design manages to break up the front a bit. The windscreen wipers are an unusual design which i assume makes it easy to build both rhd and lhd cars, also the mirrors are probably too small tbh.
The engineering side maxes out the budget, but with manual gears, no power steering and the third lowest comfort level it’s on an uphill struggle. Safety is the highest of any of the cars, but the recurring fuel and service costs are also high too making continued ownership an expensive proposition.
not the winning car
13 Likes
Agree on the tyre profile, but since engineering was Vento’s part I didn’t want to fiddle with stats changing things…
@lotto77
Sorry for the early end, I guess I was too conservative with a safe, tank-built sedan. Your design with solid conservatism really nailed what I was up to, so thanks again for helping me building a consistent vehicle that might end up as senior’s best choice as most of my cars.
Also thanks for not letting me down and providing a great fitting styling with effort last minute despite the fact you didn’t have the time for it.
2 Likes
The 1979 Hirano Legion
A boxy looking but still rather attractive car overall. The design looks thoroughly modern and it straddles the line between a hatchback and a wagon. The use of chrome trim on the grille, bumpers and door handles does manage to make it look a bit less of an out and out economy car.
The engine isn’t quite as modern seeming as the body looks but it does have three valves per cylinder giving good power and economy for it’s size. The use of low end fuelling components does strangle power a bit. The Legion does have a computer controlled automatic gearbox and power steering giving mid/high driveability and comfort.
could this be the winning car?
The 1979 Hosher strobe
The strobe has the looks of quite a sporting coupe with it’s long bonnet, swept back windscreen and long hatchback window. The front end design looks good with the inset sealed beam headlights and raked front fascia. I do like the body line that runs right along the side of the car and into a spoiler style design below the rear window. The huge fuel cap does kind of look like a blemish however. Also I think you may have forget to change some of the panels to match the same red.
It may look sporting, but the performance figures say otherwise. Power is 78bhp which is in the region of most of the other entries, the gearing from the three speed auto box has an exceptionally long first gear giving quite terrible 0-100 speeds, i would assume the car shifts into third pretty much instantly which at least does make the fuel economy semi decent for the engine size. Comfort is good for the Strobe and it manages to be $430 below the maximum price but reliability is the price you mainly have to pay as it is the lowest here. Just a four speed manual gearbox would probably have made this car a real contender, with rwd it could have been quite sporting too.
not the winning car
The 1979 IAS Vulture 1800SE Avant
A very similar size to the Ascot Grenadier but with a much more modern design, this is one of the largest cars in the challenge. You definitely get a lot of car for your money with a huge load space and modern airy cabin. The overall design is appealing with large imposing front grille and quad sealed beam headlights giving this the appearance of a more upmarket vehicle.
For such a large car it only has a 1.7l engine, this does however go with dohc being the only car here to go with twin camshafts. Power manages to compete well with fuel injected cars even with a single fuel saving carburettor. Economy isn’t bad either considering the size and automatic gearbox. Power steering may have been nice for a large fwd car though. The Vulture has the best comfort and prestige of any car here, no doubt due to it’s size and full premium interior.
could this be the winning car?
12 Likes
The final five rankings.
5.CalEco Miser @Knugcab & @Vento
The cheapest service, lowest weight, best fuel economy, shortest braking distance and best environmental resistance. However the comfort is pretty much not there and when it comes to the actual driving it’s pretty Miser"able" with only 38.7bhp on tap the CalEco makes every commute a dice with death getting up to speed, and the lowest safety isn’t helping.
4.Ginkyo Luck @azkaalfafa & @AndiD
The cheapest car here and also the most reliable. Reliability that is probably helped by having no amenities in the car with the lowest comfort. On the whole the Luck and the Miser could have tied in some respects but the Luck having horsepower on par with every other car and also power steering does give it the edge on driving ability.
3.Hirano Legion @NormanVauxhall & @Fantic2000
Both of the next cars use the full available budget and like the 4th and 5th places in some ways trade blows. The Legion has slightly cheaper service costs, slightly better driveability and the fuel economy is a tiny bit better. Comfort is on the higher end, but in the battle of full price cars it loses out, braking is also worse as is safety. The Legion also has the worst environmental resistance of any car tested here, which doesn’t bode well for it’s long term life.
2.IAS Vulture 1800SE Avant @Danicoptero & @shibusu
The Vulture is the most comfortable car in the test no doubt in part due to it’s relatively large size, but also it’s use of a premium interior and premium eight track player. The very modern dohc engine does consume quite a lot of fuel however and service costs are on the higher side.
1.Wells Gavino SE @DuceTheTruth100 & @moroza
The Wells doesn’t win outright in any of the stats or in design. It does however manage to be on the upper end of pretty much every important thing i am looking for in this challenge, it is also $870 below the full price cap which goes a long way to why it wins the challenge. Second in comfort, third in reliability, second in purchase price, third in fuel economy,
18 Likes
Glad to see Norðwagen finally engineer something without squeezing the living daylights out of the budget competent for under 10k.
@ducethetruth100 High-five! Want to co-host the next one? I have ideas…
5 Likes
Thank you for mat1n2005 for hosting this round. It was a pleasure to having been able to cooperate with someone to create a car and I’m happy to being active here on the forum more after years of sleeping.
I’m happy about the third position, not hiding that I’ve done my best to reach the fist.
Better luck next time.
Cheers!
7 Likes