Yo it’s been a month already? Damn.
Okay so basically what happenned is, the LCV3 Beta launched, my game auto updated, all the mods packed their bags and went south and as a result, some (most?) of my cars I can’t open anymore, and… to be fair, with the new longitudinal FWD engine clearance issues I think some of my cars can’t even exist the way they are.
BUT
Nothing is lost (yet), I wrapped my database in a cute silk napkin waiting for the mods to be updated for Unreal 4.21 so I can keep on going with my lore.
AND
Well… Lite Campaign being out and all, I could make FAAL a reality! Well, kind of. I simplified the trims, didn’t build the wagon versions of sedans and stuff, and limited the number of engines to simplify the gameplay since I needed to note down the sales of each trim every month. But hey, it works!
So here’s FAAL Redux, with updated designs and actual sales numbers!
Sélestat, 1946
(okay this is not 1946 this is clearly from between the two world wars but hear with me, I mean ffs those buildings are still the same today albeit they’re all fucking handbag-chihuahua girl boutiques and shit)
Blah blah post war France blah blah economy fucked up blah blah need to put the country back on wheels ANYWAY
On the outskirts of Sélestat in Alsace was a recent medium plot, medium sized building with steel presses factory, built by the german during the war to build war supplies under the name AUTOMAZIONEN Gmbh or something, it’s not really important. The point is, after the liberation, and since the allies decided not to bomb the factory (a surprising decision, eh), the French started using the factory to build cars, with a fully alsacian team of engineers and builders, under the name FAAL (Fabrique Automobile d’Alsace Lorraine)
Mk1 Plebia (1948-1958)
Their first car, of course, would be a people mover cheap enough for most people to buy, whose base can easily be turned into an utilitarian, and most importantly very easy to engineer because the sooner we release it the better.
This project turned out to be the Mk1 Plebia. Steel everything, ladder chassis with solid axles coil in front and leaf in rear, absolutely no amenities except surprisingly plushy seats because even drained by a war, the French were all about that comfort.
The car was moved by a 780cc inline 3 (3CV) making 26hp and paired to a 3 speed manual transmission allowing the car to reach a 95km/h top speed.
Due to a lack of funds from both the builders and the buyers, the car was only offered in one color. Due to a lack of time for building brand image, the car just bore the logo from the old factory, with FAAL written in all letters above the license plate holder. Due to the same lack of time but will to make the people work, the car was planned to be almost fully hand built. But all those decisions led to a car being sellable on August of 1948, only two and a half years after the company was founded.
The car was on sale until december 1954 for the sedan, and april 1958 for the van (which is not pictured because I’m a dumbass and forgot to export it from the campaign)
The sedan mostly sold in family budget and city markets, whereas the van absolutely dominated the light delivery market. Speaking of, sales numbers:
A total of 467146 sold between 1948 and 1958 (224270 sedans and 242876 vans), with sales peaking in september of 1950 with 7540 cars per month.
Mk1 Foreia (1950-???)
Pleased by the Plebia’s final prototype and general reception, the French government allowed FAAL to extend their plot to build a second building, which turned out to be technically in the territory of the nearby town, Chatenois. A smaller building, for a car that was planned to be sold in smaller numbers. Still no automation in the factory for a minimal engineering time.
And what to build in that factory? Duh, a second car! A luxury sedan, on top of that! To “try and build ourselves a brand image and give hope to the people”, they said (translation: To sell stuff to rich fucks and try to gather their attention for when we make it to the top inshallah).
Though, a luxury car that had to be sold fairly quickly. Still on a ladder chassis but this time with independant suspension all around, and an engine that was totally not two stroked Plebia engine welded together into a 2.1L inline 6, no, not at all, move along. Anyway, the car, the Mk1 Foreia, would enter the market in december 1950, during the Plebia’s prime time so with very high visibility.
Posh chrome, posh leather seats, a posh AM radio, all wrapped up in a relatively nice and fancy looking package. The mk1 Foreia was moved by a 2.1L inline 6 making 69hp, nice, and a 4 speed manual gearbox. Being all hand built, not many were made each month… but not many were needed to be built.
At first everything was going well, with 1240 units sold the first month and sales going up steadily until they reached a peak at 2040 cars in november 1952… until the Big 1953 Economic Crisis of Central Fruinia (or Europe, whatever) combined with the competition releasing killer cars literally every month for half a year straight in the very segments the Foreia was playing in, led to a drastic drop to 739 cars in february 1953, and it was all downhill from here. So downhill in fact, that it reached a point where the factory literally couldn’t run any slower and was stockpiling cars, until FAAL decided to completely shut down the factory a few months before needing to re-tool the factory for its successor that was much more up to date and ready to trample the competition.
Interesting fact: by April 1954, FAAL attempted to revive the mk1 Foreia with a refreshed trim, the 213LS (for Luxury Secure), with updated safety features, but it was too late, and sales didn’t meet expectations. The trim was cancelled in august of 1957, two years before the entire car. As a result, the Foreia 213LS became one of the rarest FAALs ever built and a sought after collector car à la Citroën 15H.
Sales numbers:
To date (1970), 69648 cars sold (and only 4181 213LS). I absolutely don’t know how much stock is left because it happens than when the production of a trim pauses (either because the player paused it or the game paused it during the tooling of a facelift), the “months of stock” value freezes. Devs, next patch please? also, the possibility of selling cars for scrap or reduce the price? Because this is getting ridiculous T_T"
Mk1 Mesaia (1956-1966)
1950 was a year full of hope for FAAL, with their luxury car on the way and the Plebia who never sold better. Making relatively copious amounts of money (for the economic status of the country at least), FAAL was given a green light from the government to build a THIRD factory once they saw the prototype of the Mk1 Foreia. That third plant would be further north, in Obernai, a few dozen miles away from Sélestat.
This time, though, FAAL had… well, time. They had time to really gauge the markets, do research, actually planning their stuff and wanting to make something big. Get this: Monocoque chassis with independant suspension all around. Front wheel drive layout. 4 cylinder, twin carb engine. A middle ground between the overly cheap Plebia and the posh ass Foreia, to complete the lineup and sell to regular middle class families. Also, a car that could be built smart, with a more automated factory to cut costs and speed up production without compromising on build quality. After more than FIVE YEARS of engineering between december 1950 and its launch in february 1956, ladies and gentlemen, the Mk1 Mesaia.
Fun fact: You guessed it, but the big ass drop of sales of… actually the entirety of FAAL all happenned during the engineering of the Mesaia. The Plebia didn’t drop as drastically as the Foreia, and not because of the crisis, but it did drop, by the start of 1954, slowly but surely… probably because the people’s expectations were getting much higher as years went by. Needless to say by 1956 FAAL had lost 750 millions dollars, and both the Mesaia and the Mk2 Plebia were EAGERLY AWAITED FOR, something crazy.
It was worth the wait though, because it was indeed the amazing car it promised it would be. The front wheel drive layout made it incredibly drivable, though it called for its 1.5L engine to have a stupidly high stroke to bore ratio in order to fit it in front of the front wheels. But its 56hp were enough to move it at decent speeds, and people were happy. So happy, in fact, that the car turned out to be exactly the strong seller the company needed to get back on track, with steady sales from the day it was released to the day it was retired in june of 1966.
A facelift was released in 1961, along with… Oh? What’s this? A SPORTS TRIM?
Yes, a sports trim, with the 1.5L engine being beefed up to 86hp with two WEBER carburators and aggressive cams, on a car turned into a Coupe for the occasion, that also had lower suspensions, larger wheels with radial tires, and FAAL’s new trademark deer logo: the Mesaia 154S! Swimming in money again, FAAL built it on the cheap entirely on known tech just to see if people would like the idea of a French sports car. If they didn’t like it the money wouldn’t be lost since the regular Mesaia would still sell well.
Speaking of the regular Mesaia, it also came with new radial tires and a re-adapted 4 speed gearbox and an engine with like, one or two more horsepower and better fuel economy. Nothing crazy, but enough to keep people interested.
So how did people like the sports trim? Well, sales numbers time.
The Mesaia Mk1 was an amazing seller, with sales never reaching below 5000 cars per month, and peaking at 8870 per month in december 1956. Amazingly, the 154S sports trim did almost just as well as its regular counterpart, sometimes even out-selling it in some months.
In total, 850985 Mk1 Mesaias were sold. 392270 pre-facelift, 458715 facelifts, 221892 of them were sports trims. So yeah, amazing seller all around.
You know who’s an even better seller though?
Mk2 Plebia (1956-19??)
Yep. Just as the Mk1 Foreia hit the shelves and the greenlight was given to start engineering the Mesaia, FAAL decided to think about the future of the Plebia too. Which turned out to be a great idea because… see above.
The car would run on exactly the same technology as its sister project Mesaia. Monocoque, independant suspension all around, FWD, etc… except it would still be running on the 780cc unit of its predecessor.
Cutting short on history since y’all already read it in the Mesaia part, anyway by january 1956, one month before the Mesaia, the Mk2 Plebia hit the shelves right in the middle of FAAL’s worst crisis ever.
So yeah, it’s built on the same technology as the Mesaia but… It’s still cheap. I mean, “crappy door handles, exposed hinges and external lock for the hood because it’s the same door handle as a regular door and it’s way cheaper than an internal release” cheap. But hey, it’s a Plebia, what do you want?
Despite its two door setup, it’s a five seater. A tad cheaper to buy than the old generation Plebia, too. And despite the engine having the same power (26hp), it’s much more fuel efficient, because now coupled to a 4 speed gearbox, and in a much lighter car. The top speed was barely better (98km/h), but the car was a decent replacement for the markets the original Plebia was meant for. Speaking of those markets, of course there’s also a van version, and this time I exported it!
This van though, was sold with a beefed up engine, stroked to 1040cc (4CV) that made 35hp to ensure the proper grunt necessary to carry whatever load you would put in the back of this.
The Mk2 Plebia had a first facelift in may of 1963 and… honestly, given there’s currently (1970) no visible drop in sales, there’s probably gonna be another one later on. Very probably, in fact. Since it’s in my lore… heh.
As for the sales numbers? Well:
Overall the car seems to sell just a tad less than the Mesaia, though paradoxally with a higher sales peak at an amazing 11070 cars per month in August of 1960, right in the middle of the re-tooling of the Mesaia’s factory during its facelift when, victim of its own success, it was completely out of stock and some people bought Plebias instead, not wanting to wait any further.
As for now (1970), the total sales have reached an amazing 1103751 cars. 310934 pre-facelift regulars, 269550 post facelift regulars, 280907 pre-facelift vans, 242360 post facelift vans. Again, steady sales and very good numbers. It is predicted (and hoped) that the car will reach its second million before going off sale around 1985-ish.
Mk2 Foreia (1960-???)
So yeah, this one was much, much needed too if FAAL wanted to keep relatively rich people interested. The re-tooling of the Chatenois plant wasn’t much of a problem, they kept the small building they had, automated it, and engineered a monocoque RWD sedan with a new, three carburator, version of the original 6 cylinder, stroked and bored to 2.4L and making 86hp. Engineering started right after the Mk1 Mesaia and Mk2 Plebia went on sale and finished four years later, giving birth to the Mk2 Foreia.
Again, posh leather seats and posh stereo but wrapped up in a much more modern package that is widely regarded as the most gorgeous classic FAALs. With a similar suspension setup as the Plebia and the Foreia (except much better since it’s now known tech), and wider tires in the rear than in the front, it was surprisingly stable for a RWD car of this era. It was comfy as heck, on top of that, and so easy to drive with its hydraulic power steering (standard!) Everything that could be chrome was chrome, from the lower grilles to the window trim to the goddamn wipers, and it was offered in a wide range of fancy colours, just like this metallic Deep Green, which the hubcaps are also coated in. With a top speed of 156kmh it was also a very good highway cruiser.
By february 1966 the car had a facelift, leading to an even more beautiful car, a much better equipment and… Oh look, another sports trim! And oooh man, what a sports trim it is.
Following the success of the Mesaia 154S, FAAL decided to make more. And make it for real, with a dedicated engine and all. The Foreia Facelift was offered in a regular trim that had a new 2.1L DAOHC inline 6 (formerly pushrod) making 90hp and pushing the car to 160km/h, on top of an even better equipment. The sports trim also used this engine, but stroked to 2.3L, with three Weber carbs, a tubular exhaust header and a bigger exhaust, and cams that were just slightly more aggressive. Because that was this car’s party trick, unlike the Mesaia who was all about sports, this car also kept most of its luxury amenities and had the driving feel that went with it, with just enough sportivity to make it sell in the bloody GT category!
and like, not just sell a little, downright dominating the entire fucking market. I shit you not I spit my Jägermeister when I noticed this.
Its 136hp mated to a brand new 5 speed manual gearbox (!) allowed for a top speed of 187km/h, a 0-100km/h of 8.94s, and a quarter mile of 16.62s, which was, frankly, fairly decent for a 1966 european carsfrom a brand widely recognized for its shitboxes.
Sales numbers:
Okay so we how have a different sales problem with the Foreia than before: It sells too fucking much. The factory is running literally at full steam, three shifts all year, from the moment the car started selling to now, 1970. Around 950 cars per month in average, peak at 1140 in august 1964.
So far in total 105502 cars sold, 58938 pre facelift, 24279 facelift regular, and 22267 facelift sport trim 234S. … So yeah, further proof that FAAL is really good at building sports trim, they both sell as good as their regular counterparts.
Mk2 Mesaia (1967-19??)
The Mesaia clearly didn’t need to be refreshed, but it just so happenned that the market was shifting more and more towards hatchbacks, and FAAL wanted to keep its lineup fresh at all times not to repeat 1953. By this time, money was flowing and they were researching everywhere they could and managed to have kept 4 billion dollars after popping up level 4 or 5 dealerships in the entirety of the automationverse minus Gasmea, not yet unlocked. So yeah, right after the 1961 facelift went on sale they started planning the new Mesaia.
A transverse engine layout so bigger stuff would fit, a very practical hatchback, and… yeah that was mostly all the technical differences with its predecessor. Anyway, six years (!) of engineering later, there it is!
the Mk2 Mesaia in its regular trim (152M) came with an updated 1.5L pushrod inline 4 from the previous generation, now making 60hp. And if the transverse engine caused a little torque steer when slamming down the throttle, the driving dynamics were mostly improved, with new wider radial tyres and disc brakes in the front.
So if the car was mostly known tech why did it take so damn long to engineer? Well for once because the factory was further automated, and because it was launched with a sports version!
The 164S boasted a brand new 1.6L DAOHC engine sending 100hp to the wider front wheels through a 5 speed manual gearbox. Which meant a top speed of 163km/h, a 0-100km/h in 9.9s and a quarter mile of 17.58s, which is about on par with a real life Renault 8 Gordini. Does it sell as good as a Renault 8 Gordini, though? Well…
Sales numbers:
Holy shit it sells well. Between 1966 and 1970, 264487 cars were sold, and 129347 of them were sports trims! It peaked at 9980 cars in february 1968, three months before France went apeshit with vintage yellow vests going out to protest, and… given the curves, it’s probably gonna peak even higher somewhere in early 1970s if sales keep rising up.
Standings in january 1970
Well we’re researching turbos, we’re researching AWD, we’re making plans to make the Coupe a reality and make it compete in Group B in time, and also we’re eagerly waiting for people to adapt this body to Unreal 4.21 because I got two cars based on it and I have to stop the campaign right now because now’s the time I need to start engineering the Mk3 Mesaia on that body.
As for the Mk3 Foreia and Mk1 Klinos they’ve been in the pipes for a year and scheduled to be released in January 1974, in a factory that has bloomed up to its full level.
I forgot to build the sports Plebia 102S, that’s gonna have to wait for a third facelift in the early 70s.
The Mk1 Foreia is still selling in very, very small numbers because I have an unknown amount of stock and the game is not willing to let me drop the prices so I would just get rid of them… this is getting kinda awkward tbh.
Gasmea just unlocked and right away I bought level 4 dealerships so I’m expecting things to be great.
As for money well we’re at like 4 and a half billion right now so I think we can safely say that FAAL is a commercial success and everything I wanted to do, I’ll be able to do. Which is great! 
Coming next, probably the rest of FAAL Redux, as soon as the Delta body and derivatives gets updated
TCC with a version of FAAL’s historic Group B 2.1L 5 cylinder except naturally aspirated and downgraded to 2.0L to fit regulations, I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves, here’s the race prototype before the Nescovfefe livery:
