Rd. 4 RESULTS
Chapter 14: Consumer car segment 1975-1984 - Small sports
Left to right: Levante Grifo III 2.0 S+, Levante Grifo III 2.4 V6 @TanksAreTryhards, Swanson 125 PO @Ludvig, Levante Grifo III 2.0 TURBO, Niichi Dynema Aquila MT40 @MisterRocketMan, Grigory Sport Turbo @Admiral_Obvious, Swanson 125 SPC, Wolfram Wolfhound GT 3.6 @abg7
With the proliferation of sports cars in Letara, another new segment was created: the small sports car. These cars had short wheelbases similar to city cars, but had a distinct sporty feel to them. Due to their size, they were perhaps not as capable on the highway as their full-size counterparts, but they still packed a punch. To make up for outright brute force, they were expected to be more nimble and handle tight twisty stretches of road much better than the average car. Let’s see how the nine competitors did.
The first cars on the scene were the Swanson 125 PO, a small manual soft-top convertible, and the Swanson 125 SPC, a small ‘hot-hatch’. These cars promised to bring some of Swanson’s racing pedigree to the streets, especially the SPC with its hotter tune. The PO was the cheaper option of the two with a price tag just in the premium price bracket. It had 2+2 premium seating and a premium AM radio - perhaps a little outdated by the day’s standards. It showed its sporty side with magnesium rims, but also a more budget city car side with medium-compound tires, solid discs up front and drum brakes in the rear. Compared to city cars it was certainly a step up in performance, but for the price it was a bit under-equipped. The fact that it was a convertible did carry much weight with customers, though, who were willing to overlook some deficits elsewhere as long as they could feel the wind and sunshine on their craniums. The PO’s performance was not exactly stellar, but good enough to provide fun for the driver. Comfort was decent too, despite the drop-top and the smaller jump seats in the back. It was just a fun little car to drive, and for the price it provided some performance and a lot of smiles, and became a success among people who wanted a relatively cheap fun small car for some summer canyon carving.
The Swanson 125 SPC was a similar, but different beast. It featured the same engine, but with a hotter tune providing an extra 33 HP. In further contrast to the PO, it was a hatchback with four full size seats, and featured other upgrades including a clutched differential, premium 8-track, sports compound tires on larger rims, and upgraded brakes all-round. With all these upgrades, the SPC was objectively the better car: more comfortable, sporty yet easier to handle, faster, and even more reliable. And despite all these upgrades, the SPC was not significantly more expensive than the PO - and somehow cheaper to maintain - assuring that it remained very competitive, even if the PO had the ‘convertible’ desirability advantage. It was just too much of a fun small car to throw around, and could even transport four adults in relative comfort in a pinch if needed. With its decent off-road capability, it also suited those who wanted to convert it into a semi-rally car too - and that is what its long-term legacy became.
Three years later the two Levante cars were released: the 1978 Grifo III 2.0 S+ and the Grifo III 2.4 V6. Both were priced under the Swanson 125 PO, and were the only small sports cars in the ‘standard’ price bracket for the decade. Most interestingly, both cars had mid-mounted engines, hinting at sporty aspirations and a promise of excellent weight distribution and handling. Both cars had a forward-looking modern look, that was appreciated by customers. The Grifo III 2.0 S+ was the cheaper of the two. It had a smaller I4 engine with a relatively weak (compared to sports cars) 80 HP engine, but with its light weight still matched the performance of the Swanson 125 PO. It had two standard seats and a standard 8-track, and combined with the sports compound tires, it was not an overly comfortable car. But it had some major strengths in the handling, sportiness, and drivability department. It was a superbly set-up car that was a dream to drive. Not overly fast, but it provided much excitement, and had ample grip that could be broken in a controlled manner if desired by the operator. One could not get a cheaper car to have this much fun with, so it sold well among the enthusiasts of canyon carving.
Its more expensive sibling, the Grifo III 2.4 V6 had a - as the name suggests - larger V6 engine that provided 23 more HP to the rear wheels. The car was $2k more expensive, but then you did get a premium interior and premium 8-track and a healthy boost to performance. In fact, it matched the Swanson 125 SPC almost to a tee in general performance, speed, cornering - but was slightly more comfortable and easier to drive. While it did not have Swanson’s racing pedigree, it did offer the ‘mid-engine’ experience. And all that for $3.5k cheaper than the Swanson. So it is easy to see how the Grifo V6 stole valuable sales from the Swanson upon its release. So while the S+ was fan favourite among those preferring to stick to the weekend outing in the hills, the V6 option was favoured by those who wished a bit more power for the occasional track day, where the engine could be opened up more on the straights. For both of these cars, the only weakness was that they were restricted to the most pristine of paved roads. For rougher roads or gravel, the Swanson SPC remained the top choice.
Another two years down the line, in 1980, two more small sports cars hit the market, both priced between the Swansons. The cheaper of the two was the Niichi Dynema Aquila MT40. It was one of those cars that defied classification too: it was a small city-size wagon with four full-size seats, but with a distinct sports package. The wagon body shape suggested that it was a practical family workhorse, but only four seats meant that it was not actually practical for most families. Its AWD system suggested more grip and perhaps off-road capability, but it was in fact only capable of traversing only the best of the paved roads, restricting its practicality in a similar way as the Levantes. It had a sports interior and premium 8-track player, but had comparatively lower comfort than the Swansons and the Levante V6. The turbo on the engine was an interesting option for consumers, but its performance trailed behind the competition. The car was easy to handle, though, and with the wagon shape it had more than ample luggage space. And with the stiffer suspension, it could even hold a good amount of weight in the boot. But who would buy such a car? For family and wagon shoppers it didn’t quite have the practicality, for sports shoppers it didn’t have the performance, and in general it didn’t seem to be a good cost-benefit proposition for anyone. But, it was a very unique and interesting car, so just based on that it did mange sales among those who just wanted something different: the small sleeper wagon.
The 1980 Grigory Sport Turbo was just a little cheaper than the Swanson SPC, but was quite a bit more expensive to maintain. It was a small hot-hatch with 2+2 sports seating and a premium 8-track. In terms of performance, it was not too bad, roughly on par with the Swanson SPC and Levante V6, and it was relativley easy to drive too, although the handling wasn’t quite as precise. But unfortunately this is where the good things end for the Grigory. Some issues with the car were readily visible even when looking at it on the dealer’s lot: it was missing any of the required side markers. Dealers attempted to rectify the situation with reflective decal stickers, but peeling would always be an issue with these. Then there was a much larger issue lurking under the hood. The engine was tuned to 103 RON, so even with the best grade fuel available, the engine was prone to excessive knocking, and thus reliability of the units was severely impacted. The car was quite noisy too. Not illegal, but unjustifiably so when looking at the performance. To top it off, it was also by far the most uncomfortable small sports car on the market - only ‘outdone’ by the basic Aero and Popas cars. So needless to say, the Grigory did not make a great impression on the Letaran market.
In 1982 the Levante Grifo III 2.0 Turbo was released. With this release Levante tried to put the feather in the cap of the Grifo III line. The 2.0 Turbo had, as the name suggests, a 2L I4 turbo that put out the most power of any small sports car thus far: 205 HP. With its mid-mounted engine it had ample grip for acceleration, and a low weight allowed for a superb 4.7 0-100 km/h acceleration that beat any full-size sports car in the same price range, and was only beaten by much more expensive luxury-priced options. Top speed was just shy of 240 km/h too, making it the fastest small sports car and competing well with full-size sports cars. Its other statistics were impressive too, with better comfort and sportiness than its predecessors, and knife-sharp handling and better cornering too. It did compromise in a few areas, though. It was not as forgiving and harder to drive than its competitors - significantly so compared to the older Grifo IIIs. It was also quite a bit less reliable. Its suspension set-up was quite extreme, something you’d find more on a track car than a regular road car - and the car was indeed quite useless on anything but the most pristine of tarmac. And upkeep was quite expensive - about $10k more over its lifetime than the other Grifo models, and ~$6k more than any other small sports car. So it was no surprise that the Grifo III 2.0 Turbo was not a very hot seller among road users, but it was a hot item for track day - best to trailer it to the track, though. Not many sales in the grand scheme, but a fan favourite nonetheless among the most dedicated enthusiasts.
In 1984 the last and most expensive small sports car hit the market: the Wolfram Wolfhound GT 3.6. Despite appearances, it had the same wheelbase as the Swanson cars - but with much longer overhands and a low wedge shape, it looked bigger than it was. It was quite a looker too, with nice and tasteful design inside and out. This 2-seater coupe was nearly $10k more expensive than any other small sports car with a proportionally larger upkeep cost. It had two premium seats and a premium cassette player - the only of its kind in this category. But with a price that was literally $40 below a luxury tag, it still felt a little disappointing. It was the most powerful small sports car with 300 HP, and while it could not quite match the Grifo 2.0 Turbo for acceleration, it did have a top of the class 264 km/h top speed. It had other extras too compared to its competition, including a class-exclusive ABS system. It had excellent comfort for its size and price, was quite easy to handle even when pushing its superbly tuned cornering to the knife’s edge, and it just felt so sporty and responsive to drive. It was, however, not the most reliable of cars, but also not horrible by any means - just what you’d expect from a top-tier performance car. Best of all, it could also handle a few small bumps, so you could drive it to the track rather than put it on a trailer. For the price, you could not get a faster car, even in the full-size sports category, and it beat all-but-one in comfort too. In short, it was simply the best cost-to-performance ratio sports car in the premium price bracket, and as the economy improved it was a logical purchase for anyone wanting to upgrade their Levante or Swanson for something better, and even stole sales from the full-size sports buyers.
…to be continued…
