Just keep in mind the inspiration pics and comments in the actual rules post so you build something that is to the girls’ tastes. You also have like 11 hours left to get the car and your advert done.
1936 Harris 45S by Carrosserie Marin
The Harris 45 platform was launched in 1933 by Harris autocars in Coventry England as a chassis, bulkhead and drivetrain for use by coachbuilders for a variety of high-end applications.
It was supplied with a 4.5l cast iron ohv inline 6 engine, with either a three speed or four speed manual transmission.
This car, the “Marin 45S” uses a slightly later 1935 update to the chassis which offered independent front suspension for sports applications instead of the solid axle leaf springs of the “standard” chassis.
The chosen engine configuration for this car is three single barrel carburetors and a quiet exhaust setup for ample power without causing disturbance on the road.
The body was designed by Philibert Marin and built by his team in Nice, France. The design trying to combine modern art deco art elements with a sports touring vision.
The interior offers up rich leather and thick carpeting with a rosewood and machine aluminium dashboard, rosewood being used for much of the interior.
A modern combined radio/phonograph is fitted behind the seats for entertainment on long touring trips of Europe.
10 Likes
8 hours Remain!
I currently have entries from:
@ChemaTheMexican
@cake_ape
@debonair0806
@Ludvig
@Prium
@Maxbombe
@mart1n2005
I urge those who have entered to reread the naming scheme for this round, because about half of you have overlooked something that is very necessary. I really don’t want to bin over half the field for reading comprehension.
I still need a .car file from @Riley as well.
5 Likes
1937 Bellomont Spectre V16 Touring Coupe by Frizzitolini
lore :tm:
Bellomont is known for making some of the finest luxury cars in the USA since its founding in 1911, and its potential was expanded even further when being bought out by the Mercer Motor Company in 1920, becoming its luxury division. While Mercers are produced in abundance for the average Joe, Bellomonts are available for the 1% to look down upon the working class.
The Spectre is one of the most high-end Bellomonts available, boasting a gargantuan 8.8 liter V16 pushing out a whopping 350 horsepower, with it also being rumored to have a top speed of 145 miles per hour. It also features front independent suspension to assure the finest in both comfort and performace.
Already one hell of a machine on its own, Italian coachbuilder Frizzitolini decided to take the Spectre even further by giving it a custom coupe body, with both gorgeous Italian lines and improved aerodynamics. With the combination of both American engineering and Italian styling, it’s practically a match made in heaven.
8 Likes
Best lore 
2 Likes
Sometimes, a car looks good enough to speak for itself, in which case lore is not needed.
I dunno about that, bearing in mind lore and presentation is being marked upon
hahaha what do you mean the lore 
was definetly always there
2 Likes
Model name: CSR150 - (YourUserName)
Trim name: Year and Name of the car
Engine family name: CSR150 - (YourUserName)
Engine variant: Name of the engine
Yep, I literally didn’t read past the first line…since they’re always the same procedure every challenge James, until they’re not 
Oh well, it’s CSR so the bin is just a question of time anyway.
Thanks @Happyhungryhippo , I hope you finished a car if not for the challenge then for your own entertainment. I definitely see som flaws in the Carolus, but then again I’m tired of looking at it for now…
As for lore, it’s mostly a backstory for some ex-employees-to-be, but that’s a story for another time.
Unfortunately, I was so tired from work that I went to sleep with my overall (at least not with shoes).
But those things happen and video game competitions are not that important that I miss my sleep. However, I will follow this Challenge with great interest and I am cheering for your car as its - for me - the best-looking.
Round 1: Lost in the Mail
Instant bins and other painful things.
Lucidoux Estate, Sarthe France, October 1937
Relaxing in their Solar, Miette and Gwen started to go of the responses from brands to their inquiries into a coach-built car.
“4…5…6…7…” Gwen counted as she paced across the floor, “I thought we sent letters to around 10 different companies. Where are the rest of them”
Miette sipped her tea, “We did send out 10, but I believe two of them just didn’t receive our letters. One of my acquaintances at the post office informed me that they were never picked up by their recipients. I’m not sure what happened to the response from the third company though.”
“Well if they didn’t respond, it’s their loss. I’m not chasing down companies that aren’t prompt in responding.”
Zephorus KL Élégance
@Riley
Bin reason: Entry not received on time and year missing from trim name.
(The car probably would’ve done decently, despite being quite impractically long. It looks great and well designed, listening to the aesthetic feedback given in the inspirations. Even though the ad was posted on time, the .car wasn’t received until after the deadline had passed.)
1938 Carolus Rex XII 452
@Ludvig
Bin reason: Year missing from trim name.
(While you did send me one that had the year in the trim name eventually, at the time of the challenge closing it didn’t. Even if it had been properly named, it wouldn’t have done very well purely on visuals alone. The styling is…questionable…at best. It’s definitely not 1930s. If anything it looks like a car from the fallout series. In the post you posited when is too much. This. This car is a good example of too much.)
1936 Brinkwood Landau Sixteen
@Lemmy_K_Brinkwood
Bin Reason: Submitted in the wrong place.
(You messaged me directly on discord explaining that you needed to send the car file to me on there because you weren’t able to post things on the forums. I tried to help you get your account on here to the point where you could post and direct message on here. That was on Oct 26th. By the deadline of Nov 15th, you should’ve been able to post and message properly if you had interacted on here enough. As for the car itself, it’s rather ungainly and reminds me of a tractor of the era with that particular grill design. It doesn’t feel refined and probably would’ve been passed over by the girls very early on.)
Gwen sat down in the wicker chair across the table from Miette in a bit of a huff, “Let’s split the letters we did receive between us so we can get through them faster.”
Miette pulled about half the stack of letters over to her across the table and began flicking through them. Her pace slowed and brow furrowed as she examined one from the french manufacturer Peöne.
“It says here that the Peöne Poussée is supposed to come with 195 width tyres all around, but by my measurements,” Miette said, doing some quick proportion calculations with the photos provided in the brochure, “they seem to be only 155 in width in the pictures, unless the car is absurdly long.”
Gwen peered over at the brochure Miette was looking and grimaced, “Despite it having such a smooth ride and even smoother engine as they claim, I wouldn’t be caught dead in one. It looks like a parrot that got into somebody’s coca-cola supply and is wired out of its mind. Oh and it says there that it’s 5.63 meters long. How long is your 17/2 again?”
“About a whole meter shorter than that,” Miette scoffed, “And it wasn’t a sedan converted to be only a 2 seater like this appears to be. That cabin is huge. Also what’s this about unibody construction? That doesn’t feel safe with the car being that long.”
“In any case, if they’re going to lie about their specs, they’re not getting my money,” Gwen snatched the brochure away from Miette and chucked it into the wastebasket.
1938 Peöne Poussée
Bin Reason: Abuse of advanced trim settings and distinct lack of historical realism.
(This is one of the biggest cases of min maxed weirdness and advanced trim shenanigans I’ve seen. I know it’s french and french cars are allowed to be a bit on the avant guarde side of things, but 195s and a monocoque body in 1938 is a massive realism bin, as is the disregard for the suspension rule mandating rear suspension to be solid axel. A little tweaking of the sidewall curve or tread width values to obtain a more realistic shape is one thing. Having the wheel width settings set to -25 is another thing entirely. The only thing that I particularly like on it is the color scheme. It’s a blessing the girls won’t be owning one with how many rules this has broken and the amount of false advertising.)
Gwen picked up the next pamphlet in her stack and immediately smiled, “Oh this is such a pretty car. A bit older than what I expected, but it says here that it’s only being labeled a 1935 model year due to the fact that that is when the chassis was manufactured and they’re still working through hand bodying them for clients. This design that Sedgwick has here is quite amazing, and it even has a second row of seats.” Her expression changed to one of confusion as she continued reading.
“It says here that the Saffron Lotus has 4 doors, but clearly the car in the picture is a 2+2 coupe. Did they send the wrong brochure? I could’ve sworn we asked for the coupe.”
“Sedgwick Saffron Lotus you said?” Miette asked, raising an eyebrow, “It’s very possible they sent the wrong thing. And what they are offering isn’t exactly the type of car you’re after. Sure, their engines preform well in the stop and traffic in New York, but get them up to the speeds we’d be traveling at out here and you’d be blowing through head gaskets every other week. I’d say we steer clear of them.”
Gwen sighed and put the Sedgwick pamphlet off to the side. She didn’t want to follow Miette’s advice, but having that unreliable of a car would be painful. Maybe she’d ask and see if they did coachwork in addition to full cars and have something bodied by them in the future.
1938 Sedewick Saffron Lotus
Bin reason: Incorrect body type, door count, and abysmal reliability.
(I very, very much did not want to bin this car. Visually it’s in my top 3 and overall realism wise it’s tied with another car for 1st. Most of that is because the majority of it is lifted from a similar vintage Duesenburg, but it’s still a beautiful and painstakingly crafted car. That being said, it was built on a 4 door sedan body that was almost completely rebuilt in 3D as a coupe, breaking the rule of the cars all having to be coupes. It also has around 20% engine stress on a decent number of components that could’ve easily been remedied by more quality usage or a different ratio of bore and stroke. That made for an abysmal reliability stat that along with relatively poor other stats made the Sedgwick poor choice for the girls. A realistic and beautifully car to be sure, but riddled with problems that ultimately put it in the bin.)
After the shock of having two of the pamphlets turn out to be complete duds, Gwen quickly riffled through the remaining 5 and suggested that they pause their discussions for today and arrange for the brand reps they had originally contacted to bring example vehicles to the Lucidoux Estate the following fortnight. That way they wouldn’t fall prey to the false advertising of the ones they had already looked at and they would be able to examine the quality of the vehicles in person. Miette agreed that this was a wonderful idea and they proceeded to relax for the rest of the day.
9 Likes
Monocoque body in 1938 should not be a realism bin. By then you had the Chrysler Airflow, Citroen Traction Avant, Opel Olympia etc. - heck, Lancia was an early adopter in the 1920s already. Sure, I get the other complaints about the Peöne though.
Yes, but there were other more pressing bin reasons. Also, the majority of the cars you listed weren’t 5.6 meters long like the Peöne.
Riley dropping an absolute shocker there. Really beautiful car too
While those are attractive cars they aren’t the kind of coach-built works of art I assumed this csr was aiming for. No one was cross shopping a traction Avant with a Bentley Embiricos for example
Round 2: A Mechanical Tableau
The rest of the reviews and final standings.
Lucidoux Estate rear lawn, October 1937
A fortnight after their initial deliberations, Lady Miette and Gwen were greeted on their rear lawn by five gleaming mechanical art pieces being presided over by their company representatives.
“Hopefully there won’t be any deceit like there was with the advertising brochures,” Miette whispered to Gwen as they approached the group. She tapped the ground sharply to gain the attention of the representatives, “Gentlemen. I’ve gathered you all here today to present your fine machines to my compatriot Ms. Harkness. Hopefully she’ll find one of them to her liking and you’ll go home with a large commission from her and myself. I hope that you will all be honest with your sales pitches and answer all of her questions truthfully.”
A chorus of assent went up from the representatives and the girls strode over to the olive car on the end of the line.
1938 Mons Sparrow
@cake_ape
“That is an…interesting choice of color,” Gwen said as she got up close to the Sparrow, “Do you mind if I test the steering angle on this…thing?”
The sales rep opened the driver’s door for her and Gwen slid behind the wheel. She yanked the wheel to one side and was almost immediately met with the sound of rubber scraping against metal.
“That’s what I thought,” she said over the squeaking of her turning the wheel back to center, “This car is much too low to be nimble like I’d want it to be. And it’s really an odd drab green.” She asked for the keys and let the car idle for a bit, surprised at both the smoothness of the engine and the performance numbers the sales rep was spouting at her. Satisfied that she’d heard enough about the car, Gwen climbed back out and asked the most important question: price. Her face blanched at the number the sales rep quoted to her, and when Miette asked if that included the special sports tyres and was told that it didn’t, her face drained of color as well. They both quickly thanked the rep for his time and moved on to the next car.
(The Sparrow is an interesting car. Close to replica caddy V16 under the hood, making for nice stats all across the board. It scores pretty well on realism to, especially with the choice of stopping at a luxury AM radio instead of going all the way to a record player like a lot of the entries. However, the Sparrow feels way closer to a restomod of a late '30s car instead of stock car from the era. The ride height is way too low, to the point that the wheels clip if they’re turned even 5 degrees. The tyres were a bit wide, but as sport tyres they aren’t too bad. The front end is nice and reminds me of cords of the era. The detailing goes into restomod territory the further towards the rear you go, with the deeply inset tail lights and conforming bumpers making it feel like a custom beetle in the rear. Paying close to the full budget though for a car that rated only middle of the pack for design and not so good on practicality and svc’s means that the girls won’t be picking this offering from Mons. A less drab paint color would’ve helped you a bit too, since the olive you picked is on the questionable side.)
1938 Pusilanime Sumptuous V-12 Special
@Maxbombe
“Already this feels like a much better option,” Gwen said as she approached the Sumptuous, “A nicer color, a quite eager presence, and what looks to be plenty of space and power too.” She climbed in to the driver’s seat and started the car up like she’d done with the previous one, completely oblivious to conversation in hushed tones between Miette and the Pusilanime sales rep. Just as she was getting comfortable with the suite of Bakelite buttons and knobs, Miette tapped her on the shoulder and gestured for her to get out of the car.
“I have some rather unfortunate news dear,” Miette told her quietly, “this nice young man has just informed me that they accidentally sent one of their testing prototypes over instead of a final production version. He profusely apologizes for this mix up and says that appointments in the final version are much more plush.”
“That’s a real shame,” Gwen said dejectedly, " I was really enjoying the character and feel of this car. Perhaps when we’re in America next we’ll visit their headquarters and try the fully refined version."
The girls both thanked the very chagrinned Pusilanime sales rep and moved on to the next car.
(It’s sad that such a nice car is held so far back in stats due to a miscommunication on how the techpool points work. The proportions and general design remind me very much of LaSalles of the period and everything you’ve done to modify the type 57 body is incredibly clean. It’s also probably the realistically engineered car here, besides maybe the saffron lotus. It is a bit spartan in terms of interior accoutrements, lacking any sort of radio, but cars of the era were just like that sometimes. I really wish this could’ve placed higher than it has. It’s my favorite out of the unbinned, non-talbot lago based designs.)
1936 Harris 45S by Carrosserie Marin
@mart1n2005
As Miette and Gwen made their way to over to the next car, they were accosted by the Harris sales rep before they could even fully approach it. He explained quickly that while the 45 S may be shown as quite low to the ground here, this is just for presentation purposes and the ride height can be adjusted at build time to the customer’s comfort level. Evidently he had overheard Gwen’s protestations of the wheel scraping in the Mons Sparrow and wished to rectify that perception of his own offering. Gwen did test steering at the current ride height it was set at though and was surprised at how far she could turn before scraping. Not quite lock to lock, but fairly close. She was also surprised to hear a slightly rougher pattering when she started the engine.
“What engine is in this?” she called out to the sales rep, “And where are the headlights? They’re not those tiny things by the front bumper are they?”
He told her that those weren’t the lights and directed her to switch the headlights on and come take a look at them herself. She was surprised to see them within the front grill, and yellow even.
Miette crossed her arms and asked the smug looking sales rep, “how exactly are we supposed to get them to change the bulbs when they burn out, and for that matter the rear wheels as well? I didn’t see an opening to get to the center of the wheel.”
The sales rep deftly showed them how to access both areas, as well as the rear license plate. Both girls were suitably impressed and when they asked the performance and price figures, those were quite acceptable as well.
“I do quite like this car with its combination of british engineering and french design, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to live with how difficult to access everything is,” Gwen stated, “I think we should move on to the next two and see of they’re as nice.”
(This car is really nicely put together. I know a lot of it is inspired by the Peugeot 402, but you have taken the rest of the body in an intersting and period aerodynamically sound direction. The use of a 4.5 L i6 is an intersting choice in a field of V12s, but seeing as it’s a british car in french wrappings, it makes sense. The attention to period correct detailing is wonderful, with a particular note of the semaphore style side indicators, starter crank hole, and cabin intake vents. The interior lets it down quite a bit in quality though, not only with the lack of headliner, but also in the choice of a record player as entertainment equipment. Those really weren’t a thing until the '50s. Overall the car is still a really strong contender though.)
1937 Bellemont Spectre V16 Touring Coupe
@LS_Swapped_Rx-7
The girls semi-reluctantly approached the next car. Gwen put it through its paces like she had with the previous three cars. The only thing that really stood out to her was the monstrous growl that came from it when she tested the accelerator.
“How much horsepower does this thing have?” she asked the stony-faced Bellemont sales rep.
“350. Top speed of 145 mph, 0-60 acceleration of 8.35 seconds. The body was coachbuilt by Frizzitolini in italy. The available colors are…” He was cut off abruptly by the loud horn blare as Gwen’s head hit the center of the steering wheel, lulled to sleep by his rather monotonous and monotone voice.
Miette quickly retrieved her startled friend, addressing the sales rep, “We appreciate you bringing this fine automobile here, and I’m positive that it is probably the fastest car here, but we really must move on to the next option. Thank you for your time.”
(As stated, you car is the fastest, quickest accelerating car here. It is also quite unrealistic in how it achieves those specs. The engine is massive, even compared to Cadillac and Duesenberg standards, with a good 30 more hp than the supercharged dusey motor. It has the period inaccurate record player, which surprisingly netted you very little in terms of comfort, as well as huge tyres that are way wider than what would’ve been used in the '30s. The price is second highest, with cars decently cheaper getting similar performance times. A lot of that wouldn’t be as bad if the visual design wasn’t so boringly simple. I know it was a last minute entry, but things like not mirroring the hinges for your doors is inexcusable in a CSR challenge. It’s an ok looking car with unrealistically good stats in some places, and in a challenge where design is a highly scored metric, you have to make something that’s better than just safe.)
1938 Capital K38 Pegasso Royale Coupé
@Prium
The girls moved quickly on to the final car in the lineup, a smaller red and black coupe.
“The front end n this one is quite cute,” Gwen remarked as she moved to put the car though its paces like she had with the previous ones, “And the way they’ve routed the exhaust through the rear fenders is intersting.” Upon entering the interior, though, she began to frown slightly at the quality. She poked at some the trim surrounding the window and it yielded more than she had expected. The rest of the interior did seem to be more solid however, not flexing and having satisfying clicks in the majority of the switches. She still didn’t understand why there would be a record player in the cabin in so many of these cars. She’d tried bring her portable one on rides with Miette in her Aether 17/2, but the bounciness of the road, even through the plush suspension, made the needle skip horribly. As she sat in the K38 though, She found that she really enjoyed the almost sprightly character of the car.
“If only it was in a more effervescent color,” she mused to herself. Miette took that moment to remind her that paint is one of the easiest things to change about a car. Gwen smiled at that and extricated herself from the car.
“I think I have a bit of deliberation I have to do with Lady Miette here,” Gwen said, addressing all the sales reps at one. She and Miette then retreated a safe distance away to discuss what the final decision would be.
(The only things really holding the K38 back are the odd choice of a record player, really wonky fixture treatment around the windows in the interior, and just a bit of lacking in quality bringing down the overall stats compared to others. It’s a really nicely designed car that is seemingly hard to photograph well, since it looks better in game than it does in your promo pics. The lack of car specific lore in your post didn’t help either. Overall though it’s a well thought out car with plenty of personality that while it does have lower stats than some, the price being lower as well helps account for that. Those factors let it rank fairly high in Gwen’s choices.)
After debating back and forth for what was close to ten minutes, long enough to make the sales reps nervous, the girls finally returned to the line of cars.
Addressing the group, Gwen stated, “While all of the cars you have presented to me have their merits, only three of them truly caught my attention. Out of those three, one I regrettably note was not up to the brand’s full strength, so falls in standing. The other two were quite close in terms of visual appeal and engineering prowess. The manufacturer I’ve decided to patronize this time is…”
Winner?????
In first place is the 1936 Harris 45S by Carrosserie Marin!
The combination of really strong attention to detail, realism, and just a well rounded package with great stats is why this won. The only two thinks Gwen actively wants to change on the car are fairly trivial. She needs the ride height only slightly raised (by only 2 advanced trim ticks in game), and wants the red interior and trim swapped out for a light grey blue. She also will probably request the grill be chrome, but that depends on how the blue would work. Otherwise she really likes the innovative french styling with the incredibly reliable and efficient british engineering underneath.
The Final Rankings are as follows:
Overall I think this challenge went fairly well as a first trial of using point buy techpool in a CSR round. I know that I keep picking unusual and niche prompts for rounds, but I’m glad that I received some really nicely built cars this time around. Hopefully the next round goes smoothly and can build on the techpool knowledge gained from this round.
15 Likes
Another interesting and fun classic car round run by Portalkat, really good feedback on all the finalist entries. Btw I did attempt a headlining but it was a nightmare with the shape of the body 
I will host the next round, probably get it ready by the end of the weekend. I’m thinking it will need to run through December due to the holidays coming up and give people plenty of time to build something
I have a couple of ideas I’m working with right now
2 Likes