oh my, how convenient
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hi all, quick update:
i was away from my computer for the last week, and before that i was preparing for said week away/slowly working on the next few reviews and not going into it but it was a really really shitty week and i’m taking a little bit to recuperate.
i’m really sorry about the wait, i’ll try to get the other reviews out faster than these ones
thank you for being patient <3
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Don’t know how I missed this challenge, its super cool! Just wanted to ask if I can submit for round 2 without having participated in round 1? Or is just for the companies to continue their story from the first round? I also understand round 2 is prob a ways out, perfectly fair I just figured i’d ask now.
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yes, of course you can enter round 2 without having participated in round 1, i wouldn’t want to leave anybody out of the challenge if they wanted to participate
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Awesome! Should be perfect timing for my American manufacturer to start pushing into Europe so it works out great.
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A chat in CBC’s CEO office:
- “So how are we looking on the Diva’s?”
+ “Good, we found a way to get a gun in that tiny back”
- “Nice, That military contract should get us a good chunk of money”
+ “Speaking of military contracts… east and west tensions are building no?”
- “Yeah, my neighbor was telling me about how he has to go through 17 checkpoints to visit her mom… it’s crazy… what about it?”
+ “What you say we talk to Edward again?”
- “Edward the tank guy? you crazy?”
+ “Hey… you never know… it might be good to have a prototype ready if they ask for it…”
- “ugh, that guy freaks me out… but fine, only if you talk to him”
+ “Fine with me…”
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A message from the People’s Association of Kimigaru, addressed to the manufacturers of the world:
Good day or night to you all, I hope this message finds you well. We have realised after much deliberation that the situation regarding our nation’s number of car manufacturers has created many problems for our racing endeavours.
Starting at the beginning of the third month of 1950, as it has done for over a hundred years, the Kimigaru Derby will commence, and continue for a period of two weeks, in which traditionally, horses have been raced. However, there have been many technological advancements since the creation of the Derby in 1843, and it seems only fitting that as such, the Derby ought to have at least one event that concerns the racing of cars. However, this event will not be given a special paved track - it will be held on the same track as every other event, even those concerning horses. (So, in other words, if you’re slower than a horse, just give up…)
In some ways, this can be considered a rally, if that word can apply… The only question lies in whether there are enough Kimigaruan manufacturers to make that sort of race interesting - and that would be a no. As such, the situation has arisen where we would open our borders and racing leagues to the manufacturers of other countries.
Bring to us, if you so wish, a car that is not only fast, but is suitable offroad, so as to not risk injuring your well-trained drivers, and one that is beautiful and represents your countries well, as the Kimigaru Derby is a deeply traiditional even that is watched, even televised throuhgout the entirety of Kimigaru, and is watched by an exceptionally large amount of the population, and is even watched outside of the country as well.
So then, get back to us if you are willing to take part, we would love to have you.
With the deepest gratitude,
Hinayo Makisho
Supreme People’s Representative of Kimigaru
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Carsten Berg Coach automotive official response:
“Sport of racing is for those who could afford it, and those who can, will not settle for a measley 2 Liter engine! As the saying goes, no replacement for displacement and these races probably will be boring as if you’re watching a Dai-Kana in a afternoon rush hour… CBC laughs at the idea of this race and suggest to keep it to horses”
CBC MK12 owners club:
“Hallo! We wish to bring our modified 47’ MK12 cars to race in the dirt. Pretty please, we think we made good improvements to our car. we love it, we love racing on budget!”
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“We have no problem with the dishplacement limit. –hic– As the shaying goes, two litersh of bourbon ain’t th’ shame ash two litersh o’ ale –hic–”
S(h)igned,
Dr. Eng. Liat al Shakir, Executive Research Engineer, Dalluha Coach & Motor Works
(DCMW is in either way, but would prefer at least one racing class with few to no budget, technological, or fuel restrictions)
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TRANSMISSION -KIMIGARU INTERNATIONAL TELEGRAPH-
-Transmission from- : Kimigaru People’s Yorukan Hall : Office of Hinayo Makisho
-START-
Good afternoon Doctor Liat al Shakir and those from Carsten Berg Coaches,
We have recieved your interestingly worded message Dalluha, and your rather rude one Carsten Berg Coaches, and to be utterly truthful, I don’t think many people in Kimigaru care an awful lot about the displacement rule or anything like that. If possible, it would be nice to enter some sort of hopefully sober dialogue about how we can set up this race, preferably with other participating manufacturers as well.
Please return a telegraph as soon as possible if you have read this and are willing to enter talks.
(We were asked to deliver a message from Igayakaye Akarinya to Doctor Liat al Shakir, - I’d strongly recommend trying some strong Kimigaruan Kaiya if you really want something that’ll get you bouncing off the walls. I drink that glorious liquor before I sit down to do preliminary design work, and it always works.- it’s pretty much vodka)
(And to whatever smart-ass came up with that press release at Carsten Berg Coaches, our horses are the fastest in the world, they’d completely embarrass Ernstland’s, and I swear to you, we’ll make those Dai-kanas so fast that they blow you all the way to the moon and back. This is directly from Hinayo Makisho, to you.)
Many thanks,
Hinayo Makisho
Supreme People’s Representative of Kimigaru
-END-
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To The Supreme People’s Representative of Kimigaru
Thanks to the success with our ‘Fox’ model as a light sports car, we wish to put forward our candidacy for motorsports using a specially modified version of our vehicles. We look forward to what you and other manufacturers put forward for the rally.
Signed
Emil Hofmann, Director of Public Affairs
H&L Motor Werken GmbH
Hamburg, NKE
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TRANSMISSION -KIMIGARU INTERNATIONAL TELEGRAPH-
-Transmission from- : Kimigaru People’s Yorukan Hall : Office of Hinayo Makisho
-START-
Telegram to Emil Hoffman, Director of Public Affairs (H&L MW GmbH)
We have received your message, and we would be delighted to have your sprightly ‘Fox’ participate in the Kimigaruan Derby. We’d advise fitting some sort of rally suspension, and possibly increasing the displacement of whatever engine you decide to put in. It has been advised to us that there is little need to restrict engine sizes or other such things. May we have a fair match.
(Note: Some of the people in our Transport Ministry have bought Foxes, as it seems to be a relatively fun car that doesn’t attract too much attention, and they only seem to have good things to say about them so far.)
Many thanks,
Hinayo Makisho
Supreme People’s Representative of Kimigaru
-END-
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Transport for the People: 1946-1948
Part 3: September, 1948
1948 saw yet more worsening relations with the Soviet Union in Ernstland, leading to the famed Berlin Airlift in which NKE trucks carried some 2,326,406 tonnes of supplies to border towns which had been blockaded by Soviet troops. The result of this was the beginning of taxations and the eventual ban of supplies and goods for the USSR, most notably being vehicles from the ADAZ group which had gained quite a good reputation in the harsher areas of Ernstland. ADAZ lots were vandalised, broken into and even firebombed. Seeing as Ernstland relied primarily on the USSR for it's oil and fuel imports the price of gasoline started to gradually creep upwards, and whilst diplomatic talks with the US mentioned the idea of imported American oil nothing came of this.
Populations in towns and villages East of Berlin dwindled, and cities in the East performed regular air-raid drills preparing for war. Military trucks became commonplace on the roads connecting major Eastern cities and compulsory training was issued to men aged 18-25. Nobody wanted another war, but Ernstland was preparing anyway.
Due to the rising cost of fuel disrupting rebuilding efforts, developments were put in place into the research of alternative propulsion, namely Electric motors developed from hydroelectric powerplant generators, Turbine propulsion and small-scale Nuclear reactors. In 1948 these groups were just starting research and testing, and it’s yet to be seen if anything will come of them (wink wink nudge nudge).
On the automotive side 1948 was a quieter year, having just 4 new entries to the Ernstland market. A delightfully beige hatch from the Swedes, two small hatches from SSD (a trend is appearing) and the first of the iconic IP Lily family appeared in NKE lots.
Bahastu 9W FT @Hilbert
Quintessentially Swedish, the Bahastu prides itself on being completely and utterly average. Average drivability, comfort, although it did feature a surprisingly high sportiness and prestige score, the lot. With most arriving in Ernstland in a wonderfully drab beige, the 9W gained the slightly unfair reputation of being an old person's car. Nothing about it really screamed "pick me, pick me!", so people looking for something slightly more interesting or intriguing tended to avoid Bahastu lots in 1948.
This does not mean of course that the 9W is without it’s good parts. For one, it was remarkably safe, the safest car on Ernstland roads at the time, thanks to it’s Swedish heritage, advanced safety features (with some even being optioned with seatbelts!) and generally bubbly design providing excellent protection for both occupants and those outside the car in the result of a crash. Paired with the second highest MPG rating for any car in Ernstland in '48, the Bahastu was actually picked by many families conscious for their safety and those looking for a comfortable hypermiler (the other option for great MPG was the IP Lily, which we’ll look at later.)
Power was supplied by a rather large albeit malaise 1.7 litre 4-cylinder OHC engine, sporting a single economical carburetor, cast headers and a single baffled muffler. From new the Bahastu could muster 36 horsepower, resulting in a rather tidy top speed of 73mph, making it quite amicable for driving the Autobahn.
The Bahastu was also rather prestigious, which is somewhat surprising given the company’s rather short and utilitarian history. No doubt the result of the luxurious amounts of chroming and generally classy design, also helped by the large (for it’s class) engine.
An interesting note is the 9W was actually designed with a 4x4 drivetrain in mind, (see it’s sister the 9W LB 1T), though due to the strict taxation surrounding 4x4 vehicles Bahastu opted to strip out the front axles prior to import. This lineage is seen in it’s surprisingly excellent performance off the beaten path. Naturally, whilst many of the 9Ws were purchased for the prior reasons of drabness and safety, many others actually saw service on the rally stage, competing with the Fulgur Fenris and the H&L Fox. The big, boaty 9W was typically slower on the straights than the two smaller cars but more often than not it turned on a dime, particularly if the driver had done the less-than-legal modification of taking 9W LB 1T front axles and adapting them for use in the FT.
Looking back, the FT excelled in auto sports despite it’s reputation, and it’s become somewhat of a cult classic among rally fans. The Swedish old man that could. Examples are still relatively commonplace today, thanks to the mechanically strong design and rather endearing appearance. Though, don’t be surprised if any examples you find feature a flat cap and a packet of Werther’s Originals in the glovebox…
(October’s Notes
I like the design of the 9W FT a lot, even if it looks like something my nan would have driven back in the 50s. It’s charming and endearing, it looks cute, maybe I’m biased as it’s almost the exact shade that my Beetle is but it’s genuinely grown on me massively since I first saw it. Mechanically it’s, as mentioned, quite drab but the 1.7L does have potential for some quite interesting horsepower figures. I like it. 9/10 for design.)
RPAB 65 Basis/Delux @missionsystem
Following the trend from 1947, RPAB comes in as the local SSD manufacturer and provides two models to NKE citizens: The 65 Basis and the 65 Delux. Functionally they're both pretty much identical, so the devil lies in the details.
Both 65’s sport an interesting feature: the majority of the chassis components and all the glass used in the 65’s are all made via recycling, primarily of scrapped military vehicles (damaged or outdated tanks underwent a major scrappage scheme post-war in the SSD, which whilst providing the basis for the RPAB 65 also meant the loss of vehicles that today have no surviving examples.) for the basic chassis frame, as well as cannibalisation of springs and other suspension components. Glass was taken from any source realistically possible- bottles, shards and panes taken from destroyed infrastructure, which were all melted down and reshaped to form the 65’s windows.
The powertrain was borrowed too- a 1.6L cast-iron 4 cylinder taken from older utility trucks. This block afforded the 65 some pretty impressive performance for the time, with 50hp and 78nm of torque at 3100rpm. Paired with a long-ratio 3-speed gearbox and even the Basis could get to 60 in roughly 20 seconds, with a top speed of 78. Fuel economy is rather good, achieving 29.5 UK mpg.
The interior was pleasantly plush, featuring stitched cloth seats, a body-coloured dashboard and a floor-mounted gearstick. The dashboard was basic, featuring a speedometer, temperature, oil and battery charge gauges and, notably, a clock. In the centre was a large chrome trim piece, hiding small air vents. Below this trim piece were the controls for the vents- very simple knobs, that when turned would either open or close the vent to the exterior of the car.
The differences between the 65 Basis and the 65 Delux were fairly minor, and mostly surface-level. The Delux featured a two-tone paintjob, available in an array of colours, whereas the Basis could only be ordered in a drab grey, yet more surplus put to use. The Delux sported high-end hubcaps and whitewall tyres whilst the Basis made do without. The Delux’s boot was entirely different to the Basis, featuring an indent for a spare wheel and moving the handle to the top, in the process changing the hinge mechanism to swing downwards instead of upwards. A roof rack was standard equipment on the Delux, as well as revised front and rear bumpers and a driver’s side mirror. Inside, a radio was installed above the air vents, and the seats were given more padding.
Gear ratios between the two differed slightly, leaving the Delux to get to 60mph in a little over 19 seconds and having a top speed of 80. The Delux’s suspension had been softened and tweaked considerably, making the car more comfortable and improving handling. Both cars handled considerably better than many of their competitors, being beaten out only by the Hexe Mildred and H&L Fox.
Both cars came in at under $10,000, which given their (comparatively) high comfort and driveability made them quite desirable. The 65 was a common choice for taxi firms, in both Basis and Delux forms, used to supplement older models. Among the common public, the Delux typically won favour over the Basis, being just that bit more comfortable. As such, paradoxically, a larger portion of Delux trims actually survived past their expected lifespan, with most Basis ending up scrapped, leaving them rarer and somehow more desirable in the modern day. Most people remember the 65 as a taxicab, the first of a lineage of dependable small cabs used to ferry people about the cities of Ernstland.
(October’s Notes:
I like the design of the 65 a lot, it has a lot in common with the E301 Valori and the upcoming IP Lily, which were exactly the type of cars I was hoping to see in Round 1 of this challenge. Design-wise I have no notes, I especially like the split-rear window that’s angled slightly, it’s a small detail but I think it really adds to the car. Engineering-wise I think that 50hp is probably a little much for the type of car it is, but it’s really not detrimental to the car’s statistics or the driving feeling. Overall, an excellent set of entries. 9/10)
IP Lily 720 DeLuxe @Knugcab
Finally for 1948 is IP’s first entry to the NKE market, an early version of their iconic IP Lily. IP’s flagship hatchback was only available in 1 trim in Ernstland, that being the 720 DeLuxe, which was sort of a budget-friendly version of the Lily platform. Stacked against it’s rivals, the Lily seems to fall rather short of the mark in most areas until you realise one crucial thing- the cost. The Lily costs a hair under $6500, making it the cheapest car available at the time, save for the VF1 9CV. For this price the Lily performs excellently, beating out the VF1 in almost every aspect. For only $6500 the Lily provided more than adequate comfort and safety.
Under the bonnet the Lily’s beating heart was a miniscule 860cc pushrod 4 cylinder, producing a rather measly 19.9 horsepower. This tiny powerplant firmly ruins any chance of the Lily being even capable of reaching 60 miles an hour, but speed is of no concern for the buyer of the Lily. Because, thanks to the Lily’s engine, it can achieve an astounding fuel economy of 44.2 MPG, nearly 10 whole gallons above the next best fuel miser, the Bahastu 9W FT.
Inside, the Lily is as barebones as expected, plain cloth seats, a simple air ventilation system and no radio. Despite this, the ride isn’t terrible, being helped significantly by the Lily’s low weight and suspension setup. Due to it’s small size, the Lily only has 4 seats, a feature shared by the E301 Valori. This somewhat limits it’s potential as a family hauler, though this ability was already hampered by it’s rather dire performance when loaded with more than 1 person. On the road, the Lily handles well, if a little slowly. Getting up to speed takes a little while, and hillstarts are a struggle, but once the Lily’s moving it handles well.
The lack of size doesn’t hamper the Lily’s safety, nor it’s practicality. Thanks to advances in safety technology the Lily is on par the larger Halvson BS1, or the Wulsen Boar despite being considerably smaller. Because it’s engine is so small, a part of the engine bay unoccupied by mechanical components is close off, to provide a small storage compartment. Typically, Lily owners stored a briefcase for work in this compartment, as it was almost a perfect fit.
Most Lily owners were those less wealthy, and it competed mostly against the Iris VF1, the DMK Arbeitspferd, and the VEB DMW Elbe Standard. The Lily was typically chosen by those with smaller families, though larger families had no choice but to choose the larger cars. The Lily also was favoured by those looking for high fuel economy, or those simply looking for a cheap car that wasn’t the Iris.
Now, the Lily is remembered very fondly, no doubt thanks to the incredibly legacy that it possesses. The Lily is an extremely popular classic, with thousands of example thankfully surviving in excellent condition. The Lily 720 has often had their engines upgraded, replaced with larger examples that could better handle modern driving. Most car shows found in Ernstland feature an entire subsection filled with examples of IP Lily’s, showing just how adored it is within the nation’s car culture.
(October’s Notes:
Much like the 65, the Lily is exactly the kind of car that I wanted to see from this challenge. I love the attention to detail, such as the small rear lights, the top-mounted wipers and the opposed-hinge doors. There’s not really anything I dislike about the design, though it could probably do with having a little more power. Excellent build. 9/10)
Sorry for leaving this so long, my Automation decided to shit itself nearly every time I tried to write for this, and I’ve been very busy in my personal life. I’ll try to get the next reviews out relatively quickly, and I hope to have Round 2 started by October. Thank you all for being patient. <3
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Welcome back! Hope things are fairing better now.
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Oh my, finally a car that makes my Dai-kana look like a rocket ship… 19.9 horsepower is a power number that not even our rather unique engineers at Akarinya could manage…
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A little spoiler for a somehow even more sluggish car than the first generation Dai-kana - get excited.
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