The original 2002 version will be referred to as GT S1 from now on - the post-facelift version introduced in 2007 will be called GT S2.
that is…unusual.
Definitely.
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thanks. what did you use for '85 Ferret (out of curiosity)?
2.5m E90 Corolla body (the vanilla one found in the current version of the game).
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2013: All Trucked Up
Note: This post is dedicated mainly to my submissions for the final round of Generations II - further details on the rest of the range will be shown at a later date.
Above, left to right: Herculean 5.0 Prime, Brigand 3.0 Deluxe and Fairlie 2.0 Prime.
For the 2013 model year, Hampton decided to shake up its range, with the Ferret being replaced by a larger sedan, called the Heron. The Valiant and Vanguard were also redesigned, with the former using a stretched version of the Heron’s platform, and the latter’s two-door variants no longer being called Venator; they were simply referred to as the Vanguard Coupe and Drophead. Further down the range, there was another all-new compact. It was originally meant to be called the Ferret MkVI due to the preceding MkV being a heavy refresh of the earlier MkIV of 2002, before Tony settled on Hart, in reference to a light bomber biplane used by the RAF during the inter-war years.
More significantly, some of these cars provided Chairman Tony with an excellent basis for his truck and SUV product offensive; the new Fairlie, a compact crossover, migrated to the MkVI Fennec’s platform, and it would be joined by a larger premium crossover, the Brigand, which used the same underpinnings as the Heron and Valiant. They were joined by an absolute behemoth of a truck - the Herculean. Designed in tandem with the new MUD Ouray, it was the largest and heaviest vehicle Hampton had ever made or sold, and had a higher load and towing capacity even than the fabled Braemar pick-ups of decades past. Speaking of which, that nameplate was no longer used for the pick-up version of the updated Nevis.
The Vulture also got the axe in 2010; Hampton’s product planners realized that, in the aftermath of the Great Recession, there was no longer any room for more than one sports car in their range, and decided to replace both it and the Harrier (which had taken over from the Hawk as the company’s flagship volume sports car way back in 2002) with an all-new, two-seat, front-engined coupe - the Halberd. It was intended to be offered with six-, eight- and twelve-cylinder engines (although only the V8 and V12 variants made it to market), and aimed squarely at the premium segment.
All of these cars went on sale in early 2012 for the 2013 model year, and were notable for having radio antennas embedded in their front glass. Hampton’s decision to keep playing the premium game soon paid off - by decade’s end, it was enjoying its tenth straight year of profitability, thanks to Tony’s decision to allow American giants MAD to buy a majority stake in the company in the last quarter of 2009. While this brought an end to 60 years of British ownership, it ensured a greater degree of financial stability, and made platform-sharing between different models much easier (and hence more likely) than before.
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Yes, the Harrier (which replaced the Hawk back in 2002) and Vulture’s place in the lineup will be taken by the Halberd by the 2013 model year.
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Correction: The Halberd occupies the same market sector (sports car) in the 2010s as the Hawk and Harrier did in the 90s and 2000s, respectively.
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Addendum: Generations II Epilogue
(Click here for more info.)
Note: this post is meant to reflect the end of the Generations II tournament. However, this thread will continue for the purposes of fleshing out the company’s history further.
In 2012, Hampton’s all-new model range (for the 2013 model year) took the staff of Motor Review World by storm. The magazine’s rankings for all the manufacturers over the past 57 years bore this out: while Katsuro was better at making small cars and providing a high level of reliability, they barely managed to edge out Hampton in the large car segment, and lagged behind in all other markets. As such, it was Hampton, not Katsuro, that topped the import brand rankings, and in fact the British company was the second-highest-rated manufacturer overall in the lucrative U.S. market.
When news of this announcement reached Hampton’s employees back in Warwickshire, they were all filled with a sense of elation mixed with pride. As icing on the cake, all the new-in-2012 Hampton models, from the humble Fennec to the flagship Halberd, were available in a Diamond Jubilee special edition, distinguished by pearlescent Diamond White or Diamond Black exteriors, diamond-turned alloy wheels on upmarket trims, and light cream genuine leather upholstery with pale wood or aluminum accents, plus a Diamond Jubilee commemorative plaque on the passenger side. This was replaced the following year by an American Jubilee edition package which was sold exclusively in the United States, and was available in any standard color - it was offered to mark the 60th anniversary of the first Hamptons sold in the United States, albeit unofficially via a private importer due to Hampton not officially launching there until 1956.
In November 2013, Tony announced that Hampton was developing plug-in hybrid and purely electric drivetrains for use in selected future vehicles - a sign of environmental consciousness from a brand that had championed internal combustion for so long. However, he warned his staff and customers that although electric vehicles will become more popular over time as governments seek to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions, it might take far longer than expected for them to be as convenient and/or affordable as an internal combustion-powered equivalent. Moreover, he realized a purely electric performance car would struggle to be as exciting as one that ran on petrol (or diesel, or even ethanol). To that end, he made sure that any PHEV or pure EV drivetrains developed by Hampton would not reach the market before they were fully developed.
There were other challenges in store for him. Dieselgate was the last nail in the coffin for Hampton’s diesel engine development program, prompting Tony to invest in more efficient and cleaner petrol engines instead while the EV program was delayed. Then Brexit was announced and all of a sudden, Toby was faced with a dilemma: with Britain about to leave the European Union altogether in three years at minimum, how could he avoid punitive taxes on components imported from the EU? The answer was simple - from 2017, more and more components would be domestically sourced and manufactured. But this was nothing compared to what came next.
In 2020, production was suspended for a few months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, throwing a monkey wrench into Hampton’s plans. With the company itself now on the brink of total meltdown, and millions of dollars’ worth of profits wiped out overnight, Tony ordered his staff to produce ventilators for patients who needed them the most until production could resume - which it eventually did. Even so, the shareholders at MAD were forced to assume sole ownership of the company. But Tony managed to convince his American overlords to retain their faith in him - for the moment.
As if things were not challenging enough for him, the UK government announced later in the year that it would be banning the sale of any new cars powered solely by internal combustion by 2030 (although their use would not be outlawed by then). However, Tony was unfazed; his all-new electric car platform, intended to underpin multiple models, was well under development, and early signs were promising.
To cap it all off, Tony’s father, Tony, who had founded the company way back in 1948, died of natural causes on December 9th at the age of 103. This pushed Tony close to rock bottom; how on earth would he pull his company back from the brink? After hours of quiet deliberation, he decided on a recovery plan for the Hampton Motor Group in which their next generation of cars would be delayed until the 2022/23 model years in light of recent parts and cash flow shortages.
The board approved his plan a week before Christmas, but it was the last thing Chairman Tony would do as CEO of the Hampton Motor Group. Now well into his sixties, he realized that he could not remain at his post for too long, having inherited it from his father 30 years earlier, and announced his retirement, effective one week after New Year’s Eve. But who would replace him? The answer was much closer to home than he thought.
On January 6th, 2021, Tommy Hampton, Tony’s now 42-year-old son, took over the reins of his grandfather’s company. He pledged to keep all the promises his father had made recently, despite the challenges Hampton had faced in recent times. Among them was accelerated development of a bespoke EV platform (which was not derived from an ICE-based platform) that had been in development for the past few years, with the rest of the range to be extensively redesigned for the 2022 or 2023 model year at the earliest. Meanwhile, he ordered the R&D department to develop carbon-neutral synthetic fuels for use in their existing internal combustion engines, to help ease the transition.
To accommodate all of these new technologies, the main factory in Warwickshire began installing tooling for EV development, testing and production, as well as a synthetic fuel research division. In addition to this, they commenced work on advanced autonomous driving software that could qualify for Level 3 autonomy or above. However, this large-scale overhaul of the whole company was going to be an expensive undertaking, and one that will only pay dividends later on if they get it right. Still, on previous form, there’s every sign that this plan will eventually succeed, especially since the newly appointed Chairman Tommy retains the one key attribute that made his predecessors such great men in their time, and helped the company get through the toughest of times over the past seven decades: endless optimism.
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2013 Hampton Heron
This car is not part of the Generations II competition itself, but I created it to fill a gap in modern company lore.
2013 Heron range, left to right: 2.0T Prime in Crystal Pearl White, 3.0T Supreme in Sapphire Metallic with Performance Package, and HPS in Ruby Metallic with Carbon Package.
This is the company’s current mid-sized offering, and while it may be getting on a bit, it retains a devoted following due to being designed with the driver in mind, without sacrificing too much comfort. It is the smallest car built on their scalable longitudinally-engined platform, and makes extensive use of aluminum and high-strength steel in its construction for improved rigidity without excessive weight gain. Fully independent suspension at all four corners (dual wishbones up front, multi-link at the rear helps maintain the ride/handling balance that Hampton has been renowned for since its inception. Two transmissions are available: a precise six-speed manual or a super-smooth eight-speed automatic.
Trim levels for the Heron are as follows:
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2.0T - Entry-level model powered by a 2.0L turbo I4, available in either Prime or Deluxe trim levels, and aimed at economy-minded buyers. Of note, this trim’s engine family is the only one to be shared with the compact Hart and the Fairlie crossover.
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3.0T - Mid-range spec powered by a 3.0L turbo I6, available in Deluxe or Supreme trim levels, and intended for executives who have a bit more cash to spare. The engine family for this trim can also be found in the Braemar off-roader, Brigand large SUV, Valiant full-sized sedan and Vanguard luxury sedan.
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5.4 HPS - The flagship of the range, powered by a direct-injected version of the 5.4L all-alloy DOHC 32V V8 Hampton has been using since 2002, developing a searing 500 horsepower in this application - enough to keep up with (mostly) German and Japanese rivals. Unlike other trims, an electronically controlled LSD is standard for maximum traction off the line.
All trims except for HPS can be ordered with AWD and/or an optional Performance Package (inspired by the HPS) that adds high-performance tires and limited-slip differential, plus sportier suspension tuning. Carbon Package (HPS only) adds carbon-fiber exterior and interior trim pieces. As with all other Hampton models built from the 2013 model year onwards, the Heron is covered by a 5-year/100,000-km warranty for all components.
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If the Heron HPS has 500hp, then the Valiant and Vangaurd HPS must be in the 600+ horsepower range, setting them on par with the fastest sedans in the world!
That’s quite probable - but they’re guaranteed to be very expensive as a result, and as such few examples of either will be built annually. Then again, part of HPS’ appeal is its exclusivity.
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