CSR147 - Out and In the Open
San Francisco, 1987.
Mary and Caitlin, 26, are old friends and “long-term roommates” who just moved from a conservative small town in the deep south to San Francisco, where their Sapphic lifestyle does not need to be kept a secret any longer… Feeling free from judgment and free to be themselves, they have decided they want to make a rather symbolic purchase: a brand-new convertible.
Aside from it being a convertible and seating 4, the girls are not dead-set on any kind of car, and their budget is open to all but the top end of the convertible market. The vehicles they are looking at range from cheap and cheerful little runabouts to larger options that range from prestigious to sporty and everything in between. You have the freedom to make the kind of convertible you want.
Criteria:
Style: Since the purchase is an emotional and symbolic one, the car needs to pull at the heartstrings, and that starts with appearance. They are looking at vehicles that range widely in price and market segment, and they want a car with a styling flair that matches the car’s intention: A cheaper car should look cute, a sporty car should look sporty, and luxurious car should look luxurious, and something that strikes a balance should, well, strike a handsome balance. They aren’t snobs, so it doesn’t need to look expensive, but if it is expensive, it shouldn’t look cheap. Above all else, make a car they want to see, and want to be seen in.
Value for Money: They are looking at vehicles that range widely in price and market segment. They obviously will lean towards more affordable options if the more expensive options don’t seem to be worth the extra cash. The girls enjoy cars, but are not experts: for example, they are more impressed by features you can physically see and feel than fancy engineering under the skin; they are more impressed by acceleration than ultimate handling at ten tenths. Consider these things when making your choices and spending your budget. Service costs and fuel economy will be considered in this as well, but to a lesser extent than purchase price. I’ll add though, the girls are not robots and value for money isn’t perfectly quantifiable. Don’t expect an algebra equation for this.
The Stats: The car should be competent based on what it seems like it is meant to do. Since there is a wide variety of possible options, stats will be viewed in the context of the type of car it is. The girls will care about sportiness more if it is a sporty car, they will care more about prestige if it is an expensive car, etc. Nothing wrong with aiming for an all-arounder either, nor sacrificing stats for a cheaper car. This ties back a bit to value for money; do what you can with the budget you choose. With that in mind, stats they won’t really care about, regardless of car: Offroad and Utility. Not the type of car they want.
Inspirations (sorted roughly by price order, not necessarily desirability)
Renault Alliance
VW Cabriolet
Dodge Shadow
Ford Mustang
Chrysler LeBaron
GM J-bodies
3rd Gen Toyota Celica
4th Gen Toyota Celica
GM F-bodies
S13 Nissan Silvia
F31 Nissan Leopard/Infiniti M30
Saab 900
6th Gen Buick Riviera
E30 BMW 3 Series
Rules:
- Trim and Variant year: 1987 or older. If you do go older, please keep it new enough to that it would reasonably still be sold new in 1987.
- Must be a Soft Top convertible
Must be 2+2 seating: unfortunately some bodies can get full rear seats and some can't, and there isn't much rhyme or reason to it. For the sake of fairness, use this seat layout.
- Max trim ET: 125
- Max engine ET: 120 base, up to 130 for mixed-material engines (ie iron block, aluminum head)
- Max price: $45,000
- Max cylinder count: 8
- Fuel Type: Premium 95 RON or Regular 91 RON. High performance engines would be expected to use Premium, more normal engines would use Regular. Please think when choosing the fuel type for your engine.
- Must have a Catalytic Converter
- Standard CSR Realism rules apply: if you aren’t sure if something is realistic and you can’t find evidence online of it being a realistic choice, be wary. However, I’m gonna give some leeway here if an usual choice is within reason and seems to made for the sake of quirk rather than minmax.
- Standard naming convention for model and family. CSR147 - yourusername
- The challenge is being run on 4.2 Open Alpha
Notes: I’m trying to give a lot of freedom with this CSR; I think some of the best CSRs have been challenges where the entries varied greatly, and with this, no one should feel pigeonholed into a specific type of build. Basically, aside from that it must be a 4 seat convertible, reasonably realistic, and not ultra-expensive, you can build what you’d like. I’m hoping to see a wide variety of approaches. Some of the inspirations are slightly newer or slightly older than 1987 to hopefully give a good sense of the wide range of possibilities.
Submissions close June 21st, 0400 UTC.
