Well, Sinistra lore dictates that whatever I release this round must contain one of the big V8’s. I just need to decide whether to go 464 or 662.
2 Likes
Oh, also… Tomorrow afternoon I’m going out of town for the weekend. Should be back Monday, but until then I will have no internet access.
7 Likes
Lord Mach’s residence, Cardiff, Early 1968.
Zacharias and Mach I are once again checking the latest issue in their office. Mach smiles slightly.
Mach: “You improved the Thunder four years ago, good job. But we still need to clean the Type SC’s reputation. Where’s Brown when you need him?”
Zacharias: “He is at the workshop. Scheduled maintenance, sir.”
Mach: “I see.”
Zacharias: “Ah Sir, Mr Andrews should arrive any second now. I’ll go make sure he has an adequate welcome, if you excuse me.”
Meanwhile, Brown and Williams are checking parts very carefully.
Brown: “I knew there was something fishy. This damper was provided to us by ACA. It’s not built to specification.”
Williams: “So that’s how the Americans have been playing my father for a fool all this time.”
Brown: “Yes. I’ll make sure to have a word with your father later today.”
Williams nodded. Zacharias entered the workshop.
Zacharias: “Sir.”
Williams: “Hello Zacharias, any news?”
Zacharias: “Yes. It’s time to take over. Your father is about to sign a contract that will practically give ACA full control of our company.”
Williams: “He is going to…let’s go.”
Williams, Zacharias and Brown hurried towards the residence, rushing through the garden. Mach and Andrews are reviewing the conditions of the partnership, written in a contract.
Mach: “Hmm. With all due respect, Mr Andrews, I think we will have to rewrite the conditions. They are far from…optimal.”
Andrews: “We will have to extend the partnership one way or another, Mach. We wrote the conditions to be as fair as possible, keep in mind we are also running a bussiness.”
Williams, Zacharias and Brown slam the door open, catching Mach’s and Andrews’ attention inmediately.
Williams: “Well I think this is just too much.”
Mach: “Williams, what are you doing here?”
Williams: “There’s a few things you need to know, father. But first and most important, you have been played for a fool.”
Mach: “What do you mean?”
Williams: “Means you have religiously been accepting the conditions ACA put for the partnership to carry on, losing your company bit by bit, without ACA doing anything for you. Parts not built to specification, power grabs and budget cuts to prevent us from surpassing ACA’s flagship cars.”
Zacharias and Brown approach Mach’s desk by one step.
Zacharias: “We are taking over from here, Sir.”
Mach and Andrews frowned.
Mach: “What do you mean you are taking over?”
Brown gestured out of the door, with a few workers entering the office.
Brown: “Means we don’t like how you are doing things. You have to leave.”
Mach: “Come back to your sense. I am not giving my company up.”
Brown then approached Mach’s desk, taking the partnership contract and giving it to Williams, who ripped it into pieces as he looked at Andrews.
Brown: “Not voluntarily.”
Mach snapped out of his chair, approaching his son and trying to slap him, only to find himself held back by Brown. Williams looked at Andrews.
Williams: “We don’t need help from ACA anymore, so you have to leave, Mr Andrews. Zacharias, take him to the airport.”
Zacharias nodded, as Andrews put his jacket on and left through the office door. Williams sat in his father’s desk, smiling at Brown.
Williams: “We have a lot of work to do.”
(@Dorifto_Dorito your turn 
)
9 Likes
Exactly what I was going for and why it was entered in the Great Archaean Trek! 
7 Likes
TSR HQ Japan, 1964
Ryo: Oh man! Really, our Kansai is the lowest scoring.
Tomo: I thought I reduced the price!
Ryo: No you didn’t. Anyways, I think this operation needs to come true.
Tomo: What operation.
Ryo: You forgot?!
Tomo: Wait, that one?
Ryo: Absolutely!
Tomo: Engineers, roll out our prototype!
TSR Secret Testing Facility, 1965
Ryo: So, this is Kenji Nakamura, our test driver for today. Or shall I say this night…
Tomo: So Kenji, tell us about the driving.
Kenji: It was horrible and it has too much snap-oversteer. Damn this thing overheats quickly. Tires just aren’t sticking the road. And most importantly, it has too high centre of gravity…
Ryo: Wow. Pretty harsh words… But it’s for the best.
Tomo: Duh! We’re not even familiar with this setup. Kenji, Come back here tomorrow night with our newly tuned car.
The next night…
Ryo: Here you go.
Kenji: Right…
After driving the car around
Kenji: Still too high centre of gravity.
Ryo: We still need to tweak it.
Tomo: No. We can’t. We need to change the engine. It’s big and it’s heavy.
Ryo: What do you mean?! It’s ok for the Kansai!
Tomo: The LE6 engine will not work in this scenario.
Ryo: So?
Tomo: We need to switch the engine out.
Ryo: All we have is inline sixes and some broken V8s.
Tomo: Well… Then make a phone call with other companies to borrow their engine.
Ryo: You think so?
Tomo: Yeah… How about borrowing an engine from… I don’t know!
Ryo: I think I know someone who can help us. Come to the office.
Meanwhile at the office
Tomo: So, you’re Daniel Chase?
Daniel: Yeah…
Tomo: Nice to meet you.
Daniel: You too.
Tomo: Errrmmmmmm… I need an engine. Just a normal V-shaped engine.
Daniel: Which V engine. I mean I can build any V engine…
Tomo: Anything as long as it can fit to that car.
While pointing at the prototype car
Daniel: Sure thing. Looks space-age though.
Tomo: Needs to be compact.
Daniel: OK.
Bought an Erin Lagana GTS engine
Tomo: An Engine from Erin?
Daniel: Why not?
Tomo: It’s too big. Anyways, how could you fing a Lagana GTS in Japan, how do you even find an engine?!
Daniel: There’s a junkyard… Probably the best junkyard I’ve ever been in. Now we just need to chop half the amount of cylinders. It’s a 3 litre V12… Let’s do the math… That would be 1.5 litre after the cutting. Just divide it by 2.
Tomo: Well… Just make it work. I’ll give you 3 weeks.
Daniel: OK…
3 weeks later…
Ryo: I always knew you’re the magician.
Daniel: Yes. And in return I gave you this Erin Lagana engine. I mean half of it.
Tomo: Wow. Ok… What a surprise! Anyways. Everything done?
Daniel: Yep. Fuel system, transmission, drivetrain, internals, everything!
Ryo: Let’s install it shall we?
Daniel: Yep!
Many hours later after installing the engine…
Ryo: Let’s give Kenji a call.
After calling Kenji
Kenji: New one huh? Let’s get right to it!
As the screaming half Erin Lagana engine, Kenji comes back to the workshop
Kenji: It’s perfect now Tomo-san and Ryo-san!
Daniel: V engines have lower centre of gravity. Making it better handling.
Ryo: Right!
Tomo: Wow! I still have so much to learn.
Ryo: Didn’t your father, Akira-san taught you that?
Tomo: No.
TSR HQ Japan, 25 December 1965
Daniel: Its nice working with you guys. By the way, I need to go back home to England. I have big plans. Bye, Ryo-san and Tomo-san.
Ryo and Tomo: Bye. Good luck on your project.
Daniel goes into the taxi and headed to the airport to go to England. Meanwhile, in the TSR HQ…
Ryo: Let’s do this!
Tomo: Let’s create a V8!
The 1966 Geneva Motor Show
There, stood a car covered. With all the people in the Lamborghini stand for the Miura, TSR is waiting until several people went to the TSR stand. There, the car was revealed just by taking the cover off. Exposing the shiny Pure White TSR Ultra.
-TSR Ultra Base shown in Pure White
The car also had a Rally Safari edition and that car raced in the 1966 Great Archanian Trek.
The 1967 North American Motor Show
There were more crowds than ever. Normally, crowd are small at the TSR stand. Now, hundreds of people are at the TSR stand. The covers were taken off and there stood the TSR Ultra GTS, wearing the same colour scheme as the the TSR Kansai GTS, Gloss Black body and Sandy Gray wheels.
-TSR Ultra GTS (the only TSR Ultra available for the US) equipped with R-Package (basically an aero package)
The advertisement as of 1969 for the US:
(clearly rushed advertisement from one of the TSR dealership)
Lore thread is here!
9 Likes
Sakura Head Office, Kurashiki, Japan. Late 1968
Takeiji Hikado is sitting alone in the board room, waiting… waiting for the news, bad or good. He was - is - afraid. His job is on the line. The door opens, and he flinches at the sound. He keeps his gaze facing forward, but knows who has entered the room. KHI CEO, Kabeno Takanaguchi sits opposite, with Subaki Meijidora standing beside him.
Kabeno: “You know, don’t you, Takeiji. You know deep inside what I’m about to say to you.”
Takeiji: “Yes. Yes I do. I…”
K: “Collect your things, Takeiji, and leave this company.”
T: “Sir I-”
K: “Hush. It was a mistake to put you in charge of this company. Almost ten years in America - TEN YEARS - And you have us selling one single model the entire time. The market is dying, Takeiji. We’ve sat on the Duchess for far too long.”
T: “Who is my replacement?”
Kabeno lets the question hang in the air as he stands, and leaves the board room with Subaki in tow. Takeiji’s head falls into his hands. All my work, gone. All due to one misstep. He slinked away to his office, careful to avoid any contact with staff
Mathews-Sakura Dealership, New York City, New York. Late 1968 (After the Firing, though)
Emerton is meeting with the current COO of the New York Dealership, John Newport, to converse about the future of the Mathews-Sakura partnership. As Emerton arrives at the Dealership in his Duchess 25x P, he spies a few competitors sitting in the staff parking lot. Emerton walks up to John’s office, calmly. He knocks at the door, and is let in.
Emerton: “Whose cars are those sitting in the staff parking lot?”
John: “Well, that’s my Erin, Duke’s Pollux, Emelia’s Athena, and Luke’s Victory. Why do you ask?”
E: “Because it doesn’t shine well on the brand when its own staff isn’t driving their cars, does it John?”
J: “Hey, I’m sorry, but it seems that you didn’t notice what cars were sitting there, did you Emerton? My Lagana is much fancier than the Duchess, Duke’s Pollux is a family car, Emelia’s Athena? Family car. Luke’s Victory? Family Car. They don’t want a two door Sports car, Emerton, they want a Family Car.”
E: “Sakura didn’t give us Permission to Import their Family model yet.”
J: “Well then, don’t come ranting and raving at me for my staff filling their needs with a car that our partners won’t fucking supply to us! Send them a fucking letter, do fucking anything if you feel this way!”
Emerton glared at John, and stormed out of the room, no care or calmness this time. He was heading back to LA to make some complaints.
9 Likes
Sinistra Motors HQ, Nevada, May 1969
Mark Jasper returned to the headquarters after a lengthy vacation, and after making a slight detour through Ohio for a spot of fun with the new Savage sedan.
“Have a nice trip?” Luke asked, hanging up the phone and looking at Mark, an amused look on his face.
“Oh, it was a good bit of fun. Thanks for letting me borrow one of the sedans.” Mark said, grinning.
“Don’t tease me like that. What’s the distance?” Luke asked. Mark gave a quizzical look in return, though had a light smirk breaking through.
“No clue what you’re talking about.”
“Andrea mentioned you had bald front tires. You passed through Ohio. Come on, do I have to flat out tell you that I know you were doing burnouts in front of the Ardent headquarters?”
“Oh, fine. Yes, I was, and I left several stripes in the parking lots, and a good one right in front of their main doors. Sadly, I don’t have your skill for laying rubber, or I’d have written in scrubbed rubber “Sinistra Was Here” in front of the building. Still, won’t take much for them to figure out who did that. After all, Bog-lick or however you pronounce them, well, they can’t do burnouts, I’m sure of it.” Mark said.
“Bogliq. As much as I know you don’t like them, at least show them some respect. As for Ardent, well, I can’t say for certain they know we’re considering them as rivals, but they sure as hell know now that someone’s out to cause hell.” Luke replied.
8 Likes
Folks, I had a question PM’ed to me about the round 6 rules, and I felt it might be best to post the answer here:
"Hey, just a quick (and possibly stupid) question.
The rules for round 6 say “If square headlights are used, there must be two pair instead of one.” Just want to double check these count as square, since they have the curved edges."
The headlights were basically rectangles with curved corners. These would be considered square. Headlights are only considered round if the fixture, at least before morphing, was a circle. No flat or flat-ish edges.
This comes from an odd, obscure bit about the early NTSB and lighting regulations. While dual-filament round headlights had been around forever, square was a new shape in automotive lighting. And they hadn’t conducted “extensive testing” yet, so to err on the side of caution, the NTSB mandated quad headlamps if they were square up until the late 70’s, when the regulation was relaxed.
And now, off to finish packing…
7 Likes
Was it not a thing about dual large lamps or quad smaller lamps, just like the round headlight regulations in place since sometime in the 50s? Or did the dual large square lamps simply appear in the late 70s? I know both were allowed in 1983 when the regulations were removed, and square was first allowed in 1974, but I don’t think I’ve seen anything about whether or not dual lamps were allowed that early.
Little bit of stats:
Car ratings throughout the rounds. Entries marked with green background are best cars of their class in the round.
Overall rankings throughout the rounds.
7 Likes
In a garage, somewhere near Suzuka, 1968.
AKA the Keika Automotive HQ
Daniel Chase, founder of Keika, is reading through some mail. After the 1968 Monte Carlo Rally win, he attracted the attention of some Motorsports outfits. A few wrote to him, asking about various specifications and whether new engines would fit. He threw those out. Anything that went against the advanced V6 he built went in the trash.
He came across one letter that peaked his interest, coming from San Francisco.
Dear Sir/Madam
As an American, I find your vehicles fascinating. A low displacement 6 cylinder, with multiple camshafts, mounted behind the driver is truly ingenious. I have also noticed you lack any market share in the US. As a racing driver and performance car dealership owner, I think your vehicles would attract a lot of attention with me. I also carry a reputation around local circuits, so other drivers will certainly have an interest in your cars if and when I drive them.
I do not write this letter without concern though. American buyers do not want the finesse your car provides, and a larger displacement, simpler V8 engine would make your car much more competitive in an already competitive market. I can supply an engine to you, if you make the changes to the car to make it US regulation compliant.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Yours truly,
Rachel Foust
While the idea of bringing Keika to the US intrigued Daniel, touching the engine he spent months perfecting was out of the question. That and he prefered to get the job done himself, he decided to at least have the decency to write back.
Dear Rachel Foust
While I appreciate your enthusiasm in my car, I do not support the idea of changing the engine. While this is a personal issue, since I spent several months perfecting that engine myself, the car is also very weight sensitive and even minor engine adjustments could result in lethal oversteer. I myself experienced this just from changing the headers on race variants, showing you just how finely balanced this car is. I wouldn’t want you to experience that yourself, or potentially ruin my reputation because of a lack of care.
As much as I am sorry to say, I think I will have to decline this offer, with the possibility of renegotiation at a later date.
Yours sincerely,
Daniel Chase
In a glossy performance car dealership, San Francisco Bay, 1968
Rachel Foust looked over the letter she received back from Daniel Chase. Disappointed, and slightly annoyed, she had hoped to help the Englishman understand that ¼ mile times get customers here, not lateral G. The little Japanese sports car had fascinated her ever since she saw the newspaper articles about it winning various racing events through Europe and Japan. Without the factory backing she had hoped for, she’d not be able to afford the custom V8s she was going to swap in to appeal to America. Still, even if only for selfish reasons, she ordered six Keika Katanas to test the waters, with the possibility of more coming later.
By 1969 the original six were all imported, and a simple advert was created.
I tried…
6 Likes
Dual rounds were allowed in '69. See the AMC Rambler, for instance. It was still common, however, for cars to have quad rounds then. Dual squares were available as early as 1980 (see the Subaru Leone), but it was still common to have quad squares then.
3 Likes
Yeah, up until 1958 (and a bit later in some states) it was dual round 7" lamps only. Then quad 5.5" round lamps were allowed and subsequently used on everything. I just didn’t know that with square lights being allowed in 1974 it was limited to quad lamps only.
1 Like
Single lamps are for poor people. 
(Chances are both would have looked different if it wasn’t for US headlamp regulations I guess…)
5 Likes
Bogliq USA HQ
Detroit, Michigan
Konstantin’s Office
Konstantin Bogliq sighed as he read the latest edition of Motor World, again the best in class positions were taken up by imports, doing USA style better than the home team! The Midsize segment in particular had exploded with competition; everything was faster, stronger and cheaper than Bogliq’s line-up.
He massaged his temples; another headache ws coming on. Maybe he was getting too old for this new, cut-throat competition. After all, Konstantin had formed Bogliq USA in the late 1920’s building the GPUV and the GPDV for local businesses to have access to cheap, reliable delivery vehicles. The war was a stress and the rapid expansion of Bogliq USA post-war was a rollercoaster ride that just wouldn’t stop. The only consolation was that the engine deal with Grehet Motors was worth the hassle, with the Gamma Eight being the main highlight of the Falmo GTL…
Suddenly there was a sound of screeching tyres and muffled shouts. Looking out his window, Konstantin saw a metallic blue sedan, smoke pouring from its front tyres, leaving a cloud of stinking tyre smoke throughout the carpark! Bloody Sinistra maniacs! Regular like clockwork, a suspected Sinistra employee would enter the carpark then peel off a massive burnout for as long as possible, before escaping the security guards via the smoke cloud that now enveloped their car and the parking lot! It was a different person each time, but without solid proof of association with Sinistra, Konstantin didn’t want to risk a defamation lawsuit. (OOC - @Madrias enjoy!)
Once the spectacle was over Konstantin eased himself into his chair and contemplated successors, retirement and returning to the home country…
9 Likes
In 1969 the new Z200 series was unveiled.
The new prodution plant, the most modern in Italy at the time, was capable to produce enough models to cover the European market and beyond.
Guess where the “beyond” is? Right on the other side of the Atlantic.
16 Likes
The Mk 2 Merna launched in 1968, and marked one of the most significant moments in the company’s history. After a decade of trying to establish itself, the Mk 2 proved that Erin could make a car that didn’t have to rely on banking on the company’s motorsport prowess to sell itself.
It was this generation that also cemented the Merna as perhaps the quintessential British compact hatchback, selling over 1 million units between 1968 and 1975 and becoming a household name in the country’s car culture. Major success in the BTCC as well as ventures into the European Rally Championship helped to further justify this car’s standing today as one of the best Erin’s of all time.
17 Likes