the way the exhausts looks like a aircraft gun made me fall in love
perfect for a dictator…
Submissions are closing in approx. 18 hours.
As I have only 5 cars to judge yet, I allow entering for those who did not take part before. But please understand that I have to make a cut at 10 cars taking part, because I don’t have that much time and I came with the intention to keep my promises.
Did a serious re-style of the Turból Loncil Statesman. The previous design was back when I didn’t use mods yet, and overall felt more 60s than 70s and a touch simplistic.
5 Likes
Deadline is closing soon - approx. Four hours to go.
CLOSED
The King is calling for his consultants.
lets hope this break doesn’t last as long as previous.
I think they said above a couple of weeks to get it done, I think there is only half a dozen cars so hopefully not that hard to look through them
2 Likes
THE PRELIMINARIES
Semyonovia, 1974
The king had an appointment, but due to some pirates doing their business, the cargo ship with all the fancy cars was hit by a torpedo and sank.
All cars were gone and some manufactors considered it as too risky to send their cars again, like the popular Sisten company from Gasmea.
Now a second ship arrived and - to everyone’s surprise - it got through and the cars were standing in a row in front of the palace.
KING: "Wow, a CMT. Now that is something we are familiar with!
CONSULTANT: "Well, the public drives the Familia CS, the intellectuals can order an Astrona, all in all we think we should not stick too much to one and the same company. The more variety on the roads, the more we do not depend on a company.
KING Yes, roll away the CMT. Although it’s a nice one, but no CMT this time.
THE CMT EXCELSIOR REGENT IS OUT
King: What is this? It looks… strange.
Consultant: This is the Endgola Linguo. I know it’s only a two-door… but we should at least drive it.
While the test drive the car felt interessing. With a 4,4 boxer-6 mounted on a small truck monocoque with 4x4, it felt great on bad terrain at surprising comfort. The small size made it light and very nimble and not too thirsty.
VERDICT I have seen many shitty cars from @Enderjed. This one is not shitty at all and I really applaud at the progress you made. It is rule compliant, shows good stats and the fine tuning of engine, gearing and suspension that was often weird has improved greatly. The king was fond of the car kept it for the secret service as it was stable, fast and convincing on uneven terrain. But it lacks rear space and is not even a four-door, so it’s not doing well as a chauffeur car despite good comfort. And the look is too crude for a king car, but threatening enough for a secret service car.
The Endogon is out, but it was kept for the secret service.
Next is the DHB DJ772G from @Rk38 .
The king likes the looks, somehow classic and sovietic but not outdated at all. It is actually chinese and over there many communists swear on it, so it must be a good one. This car even served as president’s vehicle in many soviet countries and therefore has great presige. The looks were approved at the first glimpse. While the test drive, everything felt solid like a tank. But the chauffeur complained a low drivability and yes, it is hard to maneuver and so soft that the king vomited on the fine leather seats.
Despite acceptable economy, the car was a lot slower than the Endogon, although still fast enough. but the comfort suffered from the wallowy ride.
VERDICT: The DHB is a popular executive car for a reason. It looks brilliant and is rather affordable. While slow and calm driving, everything is fine, but the king always has to fear a revolution and the need to escape quickly - and there the ridiculously soft suspension kills it. The test car was purchased and given to the propaganda minister as he considered his CMT Astrona 3000GL as too small and bland, but it’s out as the king’s car.
Next is the KGB Tourer XII from @Kyuu77.
It is also a rather small and light car, and it looks nowhere representative but expensive enough. The rear doors are large, and the space is sufficient but not great. Still closer than the Endogon to what the king wants. If the chauffeur could decide what car to take, it would be this one - fast as a bullet, road manners are good, and the handling is a dream compared to the usual fullsize boats. The handling is perfectly predictable and even a little sporty, with few body roll and responsive behaivour. Gorgeous V12 sound, fine materials and pefect agility paired with very sporty looks made the boss of the secret service give it a look when he gave the Endogon to his staff.
After a few minutes, the king decided against it. The rear seats are good for a sport sedan, but not for a king’s car, and the great handling is the other extreme of the DHB and also pretty much over the top. The comfort is rather low in the field, so the enemy of the good are the better.
VERDICT: The test car was also purchased and given to the secret service thanks to great performance, but it will not be the vehicle of choice for the king and the majority of his ministers.
Next to it was the Popas Tachanka by @Mikonp7 .
Close to the DJB and now a “real” russian car and similar to the DJB in many aspects.
But the car was still based on a ladder frame, therefore the safety suffered, although better than most civillian cars. It consumes more than the DJB and feels a little less comfortable, and the slightly better handling and reliability not enough to let it pass the DJB.
VERDICT: It’s good but lacks comfort and safety, while the rest is just fine. It was sold to a famous local artist to keep him in the country and to make him write some pro-governmental literature and poems. But for the king’s fleet: Sorry, but next
So, remaining are @mart1n2005 , @donutsnail and @NiuYorqCiti
6 Likes
this is the most encouraging thing I have heard in 3 months.
THE TOP THREE
So, three cars are remaining - one of them will be for the king. You obviously ask yourself why I do not include pictures, this is caused my me not having photos of all entrants, a CSR rule obviously there for a reason.
The next round is a very hard one - every car has it’s pros and cons and they end up at approximately the same score. After a consideration of all stats, at the end of the day the SR1 by @NiuYorqCiti rolled out of the gates and headed towards the ministery of defense.
Plesktoktwicz Lubomirktiolous, current minister of defense, begged for almost a week to the king until he was permitted to akquire it, because it was simply too expensive, but remembering the king how important the faith of the military is in a dictatorship was a helpful plan.
The car was ugly by no means, but it lacked that little extra coolness and authority in design a car for the king needs. The comfort was noticeably lower than in the other two cars, but the drivability was on the green page of the portfolio, offering good handling also pleasing the chauffeur.
The king’s mechanic was astonished by the incredible reliability of this very conservative-engineered car, so you can always trust it. The safety is good but not among the highest, in contrast the environmental resistance is well above average even for a luxury car.
Being resistant, reliable and handling solid, it survived the very strict preliminaries, but the high price, the (in this price range) medium comfort and looks let it roll out of the palace.
Remaining are @mart1n2005 and @donutsnail for the final.
It’s causing me grey hair already because it’s so damn close and I am always fearing to make the wrong descision.
4 Likes
Are you going to flip a coin to decide the winner?
Idea: put both cars in beam, and use the AI tool to essentially make the AI demo derby each other, car that still works wins.
No no, I already made a decision but I was unable to post it as I totalled my car and the laptop inside was broken. I braked at a yellow light and someone smashed into me with 70kph. Laptop was in the trunk…
1 Like
Oh wow that’s really crappy. Hope your ok though.
I am driving… Eh… I WAS driving an S-Class. I’m fine. The screen of the laptop broke but now I am unboxing an external monitor, so it won’t take too long.
SECOND
@mart1n2005
Knightwick Solace
It has been a tough descision. The King slept very, very bad. He compared both cars again and again.
The Solace drove better, said the chauffeur. The Solace was thriftier, said the Minister of Finance. The Solace safer, said the minister of defense.
All in all a very solid package fighting for the victory. Why does it head for the soviet union then, serving for the embassy of Semyonovya?
The reliability is only medium, lower than the Turból, and the car looks like it had been approved by Winston Churchill - it looks dated, which also might be part of the British identity.
@donutsnail Turból Loncil
The king grabbed the Turból keys. The design is by far superior to the Knightwick, so are reliability and prestige. The car is also more comfortable and spacious in the rear than the British challenger.
The terryfiying consumption is something the king does not have to care, same for the service bills. It looks powerful, it is powerful and driving in it is like a wheeled living room.
@donutsnail Its up to you to to host HHD5. Congrats! Now break the curse. 
Now I have to admit I won’t buy a king car again. I am currently looking for a Camry or a Legend to replace my S-Class. The Merc was very safe and comfortable, but I am tired of the reliability issues my Benzes had. I have been driving Japan cars before and they were much better in reliability. So far so long, I hope you enjoyed the competition.
4 Likes
Woohoo!
Thanks for hosting @CMT! I’m glad the king chose the decadent American boat.
I am happy to try my hand at hosting the next chapter. I have not hosted a round here before, so please bear with me. I have a couple ideas though, and I will leave which one up to a vote before mocking up some cars to create the ruleset.
- Building Semyonovian Greatness: Medium duty commercial vehicle with emphasis on costs, utility, and reliability.
- Exporting Semyonvian Sensibilities: Family car for export markets with emphasis on costs, reliability, fuel economy, and short engineering time.
0 voters
1 Like
The poll will remain open for 12 more hours. It’s nearly 50/50 right now, so get your votes in!
EDIT: I’m hoping for a wider margin of decision, so I will keep this open for another 12 hours.