CSR81: A Personal Oil Crisis
Previous CSR Round
CSR Rules and Stats
November 29, 1973
Los Angeles, CA
“Damn it!” cursed John Rogers, banging his hand on the dash. He had just spent the past 2 hours waiting in line at his local gas station in order to fill the tank on his 1967 Chevy Impala sedan. However, just as he was approaching the front of the line, he saw an employee bring out the dreaded “Sorry, No Gas” sign. Sighing, John turned the key, and the Chevy’s big block roared to life. The needle on the fuel gauge showed a quarter of a tank left, barely enough for his commute to work the next day. Cursing the powers that be, John shifted the car into Drive, and delicately made his way home.
Arriving at home, John pulled the Chevy into the garage. He was getting desperate. Without gas, he would not be able to get to work. Without work, he would be unable to pay for gas. Since the oil embargo was declared the previous month, this had become the bane of his existence. John looked around the garage, and spotted his lawnmower. “Well, I suppose I can wait to cut the lawn,” he thought. As he emptied the gas from his mower into the Chevy’s fuel filler, John began to wonder, is there a better way? Is there some solution to this terrible oil crisis?
Once inside, John sat down on his sofa, and cracked open a beer. On the TV, the evening news had just gone to commercial break, and was showing an ad for some new car. “…smaller than the original Mustang, with an easy on gas 4 cylinder engine…” John sat bolt upright. “That’s it!” he exclaimed to the empty room. “I need a more efficient car!”
Requirements:
- Trim year must be 1974.
- Must cost less than $8000 (@0% markup).
- Must run on 91 RON Regular Unleaded fuel. Even though 92 RON leaded gasoline was still the most common fuel in 1974, all cars starting in 1971 were required to be able to run on unleaded.
- No catalytic converter is required, since it was not a requirement until the 1975 model year.
- Square sealed beam headlights are not allowed, as they weren’t legal in the US until 1975.
- 5 mph safety bumpers were required in 1974, so bear that in mind for your design.
- Loudness must be less than 45.
- Must have at least Standard 60s Safety.
- No PU/ET restrictions, just keep it reasonable (i.e. it won’t take 30 years to engineer).
High priority:
- Fuel economy - Gas is expensive and difficult to find, so this is of the upmost importance.
- Drivability - John is going to spend a lot of time commuting, and he doesn’t want it to be too difficult to drive.
- Reliability - John doesn’t want to worry about maintenance, so reliability is rather important to him.
- Service costs - John doesn’t want a car that’s expensive to run.
Medium priority:
- Comfort - Once again, John will be spending a lot of time behind the wheel commuting, so it shouldn’t make him sore on the way to and from work.
- Safety - John would like to not die in a crash, but he can sacrifice a few injuries for better MPG.
- Styling - John doesn’t care too much about how his car looks, but he doesn’t want it to be overly ugly.
- Practicality - John would like to be able to carry the occasional thing to work, and maybe even carpool from time to time.
No importance:
- Prestige - John doesn’t care how fancy this car is. He just wants it to get him to his destination.
- Sportiness - John couldn’t care less if it’s sporty. Spirited driving wastes fuel, don’t you know.
- Offroading - John can’t be bothered with taking the car offroad, so it doesn’t matter at all to him.
- Utility - John isn’t going to be towing anything, so this is of very little importance.
As always, cars must be submitted to me via PM with the following naming format:
Car model: CSR81 - [username].
Car trim: Name of the car I will display
Engine family: CSR81 - [username].
Engine variant: Name of the engine I will display
