Flug automotive [complete revamp coming]

[squidhead]

Flug automotive was created as a division of Kraft Haus Technik, producing comfortable and efficient non sporty cars. By 1968 it became apparent to KHT that producing exclusively sports cars is not a viable strategy for growth, so Flug automotive was founded in 1970, on a lucky bid in a Galt automotive auction, where Viktor Kruger has bought and entire ironworks, mould presses, forge and CnC machinery and complete design documents to 1960 Galt Communitasia. In late 1970 first ever Flug automobile saw light. Success of Flug A25 helped the factory grow twice the size in 1971 and twice the size again by 1975. In 1978 a factory was opened in Cincinnati Ohio, USA, and by 1982 was fully capable of producing cars without outsourcing components from local manufacturers. The history and tradition of comfortable, reliable and economical automobiles has been upheld to our days, where Flug is a serious competitor on the market.

Company’s notable cars

1970 Flug A25 Combi Small city car
1971 Flug K-series Full size sedan
1973 Flug W-series Mid size sedan
1974 Flug A-series II Small city car
1975 Flug Stolz Full size sedan
1978 Flug K-series MkII Full size sedan (US Market only)
[1982 Flug L-series] (Flug automotive [complete revamp coming] - #41 by squidhead) Full size sedan
[1983 Flug Alpha 15] (Flug automotive [complete revamp coming] - #48 by squidhead) Microcar
[1984 Flug Tau 27] (Flug automotive [complete revamp coming] - #53 by squidhead) Mid size sedan (US Market only)
[1985 Flug Epsilon] (Flug automotive [complete revamp coming] - #57 by squidhead) Small city car

[2016 Flug Series R Prototype] (Flug automotive [complete revamp coming] - #47 by squidhead) Small coupe prototype

Company’s notable employees

1970 - 1972 Viktor Kruger - Founder and owner
1971 - 1972 Artur Skala - Managing director
1972 - 1985 Viktor Kruger - Founder, owner, Poland factory managing director.
1973 - xxxx Vladimir Yakubovich - Chief designer
1973 - xxxx Peter Drake - Chief engineer
1978 - xxxx Henry Jameson - USA factory managing director
1985 - xxxx Patrick Kruger - Owner and Poland factory managing director

[cpufreak101]

can’t wait to see how this turns out

[squidhead]

##1970 A25 Combi

Kraft Haus Technik was in a tight spot for 1969, when Galt automotive have slowly stopped support for the Communitasia Mk1 model, of which many part KHT cars shared. It was evident that a solution to the financial problem was needed, and luckily such a solution was found. As Galt re-spec’ed their factory to produce 2nd generation of Communitasia, the old equipment was first moved to storage and then auctioned off. Viktor Kruger, KHT Marketing officer has seen this opportunity, and outbid the competition for all the entire ironworks, mould presses, forge and CnC machinery and complete design documents to 1960 Galt Communitasia. Funnily enough his was the only bid, and a room full of confused people had to see a grown man dance-walk out of the bidding hall. The man had bought an entire future megacompany for the price of a few sandwiches and a beer.

Having moved all the equipment to a new lot in Poland, near a port town near the German border Szczecin, the mostly unemployed Kraft Haus Technik team has started work on designing, engineering and modifying the equipment to build their first car, based off a Galt Communitasia. The result? By 1970 the first Flug A25 Combi has seen the light of day.

Working off the 1960’s technology, KHT team has changed little. Pistons were replaced to a higher C:R ratio units, the carburetor setup now was a twin carb Eco, and working with ignition timing and new camshaft profiles combined with a now available 92 and 98 ron petrol, the power barely increased, scoring 77hp and 200nm out of a 2.5 liter i4 engine. The fuel consumption for the 5 seater, however was phenomenal for the time - 10 liters / 100km, which was met with a grand cheer from the buyers, who had to wait less and pay less at the petrol stations where queuing was a normal thing

Continuing the idea of the KHT Alpinestrasse, the designers re-worked all of the body, leaving it in cheap steel, but giving it a bit more flare with chrome and new design choices. No longer a 4 seater coupe, but a 5 seater 2 door hatchback, the model was named Combi, although it never really combined anything. The general suspension was left unchanged, but used different settings for springs and dampers. Drum brakes were replaced by a new system of 2 piston calipers and disc brakes all around. Interior included standard seats and basic radio. Unlike the Galt Communitasia, the A25 used Power steering and an all new 3 speed automatic transmission outsourced to GM, which also proved a hit with the drivers as ease of use increased marginally. The dynamics of the car mattered little both to the Flug team and the buyers, but 0-100 was reached in just under 17 seconds, while top speed was around 150 kph.

Pricing was a bit high for the beginning, as a small factory was aggressively expanding, and thus needing all the extra funds to grow, but in a few years dropped significantly. Initial price for the A25 Combi was $15,000, later dropping to $12,000

As well as building their own cars, Flug automotive now could produce replacement communitasia Mk1 parts which also provided high income, keeping the little communist sibling marching on well into the mid 80’s in some countries.

Few key stats
Drivability - 46
Practicality - 74
Utility - 47
Comfort - 22
Safety 29
Fuel economy - 10l/100km
Sportiness - 0, and that’s the way Flug does things!

P.S: This is probably the best design I’ve ever done…at least in the classic era

[Awildgermanappears]

You know what is funny? Getrag doesn’t actually make any automatic transmissions, only manual, sequential and dual-clutch. Try ZF or a GM Hydramatic next time. (Hint: The GM TH180 was manufactured from 1969 onwards and was pretty popular with european cars, particularly Opel for obvious reasons)

[squidhead]

Whoops. Fixed

[cpufreak101]

nice

[Sillyworld]

In my Country “Combi” means “old VW hippie buss”, so I was expecting something completely different when I read the title And when I saw the pictures and read about the car, something remained me of Top Gear’s episode where they compare a Rolls-Royce and a Mercedes to a Yugo in Albania.

[Awildgermanappears]

In my country it means KOMBINATIONSKRAFTWAGEN aka car that combines elements of a Sedan with elements of a Van aka Station Wagon.

[Oskiinus]

Artur Skala… Is he meant to be Polish?

[squidhead]

Yep, factory is in Poland

[Oskiinus]

@squidhead

Yep, factory is in Poland

Airborne’s like here

BTW. My company can’t open a factory in PRL (communist Poland, from 1945 to 4.06.1989, did you include that?) due to politics and first factory of Airborne Automotive in Poland was open in late 1989 in Warsaw and produced the Synth, first fully polish car Want to do some co-op with Flug at this time?

[squidhead]

So, I’m here first?! well then!

Also yeah, we could do a co-op, but note that all flugs are slow, and comfortable. There’s a rule of people to be fired when they say “handling” or “sporty” when designing a new car

[squidhead]

##1971 series K

Aggressively expanding Flug automotive managed to come up with a new car by the second year of their operation. Still based on a ladder chassis and communitasia components, a new body was introduced, the K series. A premium sedan was available with only 1 trim, but 2 engines. A 2.5 liter economical engine from the A25 and a de-tuned typ850 from Kraft Haus Technik’s Brooklands, manufacturing of which has been restarted in house by Flug. New economical carburettor setup, cheaper exhaust manifolds and seriously re-worked ignition and fuelling, as well as as pistons for different CR numbers resulted in a v8 with 300nm of torque and almost half the original power, scoring just 145hp. Both versions came mated to a 3 speed automatic transmission, and sported a high quality premium interior and a luxury stereo system. Much attention was given to the safety, which also proved to be a good choice as it cemented Flug’s name among the “reliable, safe and comfortable” cars.

5 liter versions of the Flug became popular in America and Australia, where second hand cars were easily swapped with a performance v8 for cheap hot-rodding. The K chassis remains popular to this day among the modern tuner scene, both in stance, and track day around the world, as well as drag racing, powerskid and burnout competitions popular in Australia.

one of the now rare K-chassis modified by the mid 2010’s tuners

K25 specs
Engine : FL4-25C-70 2.5 liter found in the A25 combi
0-100 : eventually
top speed : nobody cared
Fuel economy : 12 l / 100km
Price : $19,500

K50 specs
Engine FL8-50c-71 5 liter pushrod v8
0-100 : 11.8 sec
top speed : 173kph
Fuel economy : 13,5l/100km
Price : $22,600

[TurboJ]

Very nice stuff once again!

I really like the idea there’s also that tuning company on this community because those are always exciting in real life.
Maybe I should send you one of my cars to be tuned as well…

[squidhead]

[quote=“TurboJ”]Very nice stuff once again!

I really like the idea there’s also that tuning company on this community because those are always exciting in real life.
Maybe I should send you one of my cars to be tuned as well… [/quote]

That would be done through Kraft Haus Technik. Flug’s are slow and comfortable, no sportiness allowed

[cpufreak101]

if the K series was real, tbh i’d buy it and LS swap it

[squidhead]

Go right ahead, it’s open source now.

[squidhead]

##1973 Flug W15

With the new company firmly on it’s feet, it was time to expand the operation, and there was no better time to do so, as the fuel crisis hit. A demand for an economical cheap car was high as ever, and Flug was already well known for their value for money, so a new chassis was in order, as well as new engine. But having a sober look at previous adventures with Kraft Haus Technik, the CEO Viktor Kruger, now working on Flug exclusively, having left KHT, figured that only one of those was to come.

Once again the old and cheap Galt communitasia was summoned to donor the chassis, starting with the ladder frame and ending with the coil spring solid rear axle, but that’s where the similarities ended. Having set aside enough funds, a new sub-facility was now operational, capable of producing complete engines. The facility was given the task to mass produce the newly designed FL4-15C-73 engines. The 4 cylinder pushrod 1.5 liter engine made of cast iron used a twin single barrel eco carburetor setup, and reached the redline of 4500 rpm, while reaching 46hp and 109nm of torque.

A 4 speed manual transmission delivered the power to the fist time ever for Flug the front wheels. Front brakes used were a 1 piston solid disc units, while using drum brakes in the back. A lot of thought went into safety. For the whole life cycle of the w15, this was considered an advanced car for the 70’s in terms of it’s safety. The interior, however had little to give to returning Flug customers.
The car seated 4 in a basic interior that did not include even a radio or power steering. This was not only making the car cheaper, it also was a cost cut on behalf of Flug automotive, to compensate for the design of a whole new engine and drivetrain.

The resulting W15 series was a hit, and scored highly in terms in reliability, practicality, drivability and economy. With the combined economy of 7.4 liter / 100km and a price tag of $8500 it was an instant hit with numerous markets which needed a budget solution for the whole family.

[TurboJ]

I can almost smell all the suede and velvet… And hear disco music! That car is the very essence of 70’s Europe

[ArtyomRanger]

the w15 does look quite nice, defintly would buy one if they existed in real life