16th March 1978.
It was a surprisingly dreary Thursday morning. Mac and picked up Steven from the bar and Jack got into his aunts old beater.
“Oi, lets get going” yelled Jack, “we’ve got six cars to go and test so lets go.”
Getting into the cramped car, they drove to the first dealership, Anhultz Pasedena.
Anhultz Mimas
Jack: It’s pretty roomy inside and theres a fair amount of space in trunk.
Mac: Looking around theres nothing that ain’t too out of the ordinary. Except for that undertray. That’s gonna be a pain in the arse to remove when repairing and for whatever reason, it has a massive air duct underneath the car, although I guess that does help the reliability.
Bud: Lets take it for a spin then…
A couple of laps around the block later
Steven: It’s pretty comfy and looking at it in person, it certainly is good looking. Not as good as the SpaceDragon though.
Jack: Are you still going on about that?
Bud: And easy to drive, but it takes an eternity to reach highway speeds.
Mac: It’s pretty barebones but I guess thats what makes it one of the cheapest, although we still need that trailer.
Bud: Well lets move onto the next dealership.
It was a short uneventful drive to the next dealership, IP California.
IP Highway Star
Steven: You know what, it doesn’t look too bad when you’re standing in front of it.
Jack: See, I told ya, aint too bad. And there’s plenty of space for us and even more in the back.
Mac: Those back doors make it real easy to load too. Though its gonna be a tight fit to get all our gear in there.
Bud: Well, hop on in then…
A couple of laps around the block and a near crash with a truck later
Jack: That was bloody close, and you’re out main driver.
Bud: Look, it wasn’t the easiest to drive you know. Besides, if it weren’t for my driving we’d be all dead. This thing doesn’t have that high of a safety rating.
Mac: Besides that, the ride wasn’t too bad, though I would say its pretty expensive for what we’re gonna get.
Steven: Alrighty, onto the next one.
The Genra GVC dealership was just down the road from the IP dealership so they group decided to walk there instead.
Genra GVC Combi
Steven: No, even up close it looks pretty ugly.
Jack: That rear is pretty plain and doesn’t look like it can be opened.
Mac: If thats the case, loading it is gonna be a bitch. At least the side door is pretty big.
Bud: I guess the next thing to do is to test it out on the road.
They drove the van up and down the road until they were told to go back by the car dealer
Bud: That was easy to drive. By far the easiest driving car of all that we’ve looked at so far.
Jack: Easy to drive yes, but it was fucking hard on my ass.
Steven: That was not comfortable. At all.
Mac: That being said, its one of the cheapest vans. If only it looked better.
The DAAG was next up, with their signature German styling.
DAAG SW20t
Steven: This. This is good.
Mac: Plenty of space, easy to load, especially with that rear hatch.
Bud: One of the best fuel eco, comfy seats, this is almost the perfect package. If only it wasn’t so expensive to run and purchase.
Jack: Time to take it for a test ride then…
Weaving through traffic, they drove the van onto the highway before coming back
Bud: My god. This van. I love it. It’s so easy to drive.
Mac: The ride in the rear was pretty good too.
Steven: Plenty of space for other crap too. Guys, we have a winner.
Bud: Hold on though, theres more stuff to look at, besides which, this thing is one of the most expensive vehicles we’ve looked at, and it’s not exactly the most reliable either. Not to mention, that it can’t carry that much heavy equipment in the rear compared with the others. Anyways off to the next place then.
It was a pretty long drive to the Albatross dealership, rush hour traffic was not helping, but they eventually arrived.
Albatross V200
Steven: Looks okay from the front I guess. But its as empty as the bar in monday morning round the back.
Mac: Ouch, that price tag. This is by far the most expensive van out there.
Jack: Not to bad inside, pretty spacious and looks like theres a rear hatch too.
Bud: Has an automatic too, so it should be easy to drive.
One loop around the block later
Bud: Not as easy to drive as the GVC or the DAAG, but its close.
Steven: I guess if we got this one it would be okay, just choose any color other than that one. That green is not good.
Mac: Yeah, but it has the highest service costs of any car so far, and again its rear engined so working on it is gonna be fucking hard.
Jack: But it isnt too bad is it though. So, shall we head off to the last dealer?
One short drive later and they finally arrived at the Baltazar-Bush Dealership.
Bush Cargo
Steven: It’s not that bad looking at it now. Though the side decals look pretty crap.
Bud: Doesn’t look like its got a rear hatch either, and its though it has a lot of space in the rear too.
Mac: One of the lowest service costs too. And is by far the cheapest car so far.
Jack: Yeah its probably gonna be the most uncomfortable ride ever.
One quick trip to the beach and back later
Jack: Yep, fucking pain in the ass.
Bud: Its not as bad as the Genra, but this is a lot harder to drive too.
Mac: It is the cheapest though.
Bud: Well, we’ve gotta make our decision now, what should we go for…
May 10th 1998.
20 years had passed since EagleHeart’s first tour, California to Miami. Along the way they met one of Werner Music’s agents. Signing that contract in '79 the band shot to fame releasing top hits such as “Downstream From St Louis”, “Arboretum Of The Undying” and most famous of them all “Rock ‘n Rollin’”. The band would eventually disband in '86. As for what happened to the members, well, Buddy would eventually start a new band in '89 along with Jack. Mac decided to leave the rockstar life behind, marrying his long time childhood friend Anna Rosen. Steven on the other hand, would leave EagleHeart in '85, starting his successful solo career. With that money, he did eventually manage to buy himself a Mitsushita SpaceDragon. Sadly, his life filled with drugs and alcohol got the better of him and on June 12th 1988, he was found dead from drug overdose.
sigh “20 years ago huh. Has it really been that long” muttered Bud, lying on top of the old battered Mimas, lighting a cigar and gazing at the night sky. “Man, we had some good adventures back then.” bzzt bzzt Bud looked at his phone. “Hmm, a reunion tour huh…California to Miami…looks like we’ll all be going back tour again” said Buddy, stepping into the seat of the Mimas…
Well done to Elizipeazie for winning round 76!
1st: Elizipeazie
2nd: NiuYorqCiti
3rd: zschmeez
4th: abg7
5th: Leonardo9613
6th: Knugcab
If Elizipeazie cannot host, hosting duties will be given to zschmeez as NiuYorqCiti has already messaged me saying that he would be unable to host.
Here’s a link to the finalists spreadsheet.