THE WOLFE DYNASTY
History of Wolfe Motors, Chapter III
Lore alert! Beware.
December 1974 - Tokyo, Japan
(narrator) The land of the rising sun and of the awakening son. Noel was still quite jetlagged after 2 days, still barely awake. It was already afternoon.
In addition to overseeing the Letaran market, he was now in charge of all expansion project overseas. His dad was getting older, as was his children. Hid oldest son was 8 years old, but that was just a fact for him, he cared more about the company than them. If they are lucky tho, they’ll take over some day.
He was much more interested in the age of his father. He was already 64 years old, there were talks of him retiring. While Lewis remained president, the board became very powerful and was controlling the company with an iron fist. That is why he was in this strange country, against his wishes.
He fell in love with Letara and wish he was back there. He even bought a beach house there.
Noel - “Back to the harsh reality…” he said to himself, taking a sip from a stainless flask.
He was to meet with a struggling car and previously aircraft company. Wolfe was mostly looking for oversea assets like factories and the like. They decided to get back in the premium and sport markets and needed competitive advantages with all kinds of different regulations popping everywhere.
Their first Letaran Factory was to be unveiled in January - it would allow to build and assemble cars locally and dodge many import restrictions. With the Wolfe Letaran expansion being a huge success, now was time to acquire or build factories in strategic markets.
This Japanese company was hit the hardest by the oil crisis this years and price plumetting. Not the most well known company, even locally, but they have many interesting assets Noel was to appraise. They failed to be acquired about 10 years ago, and barely survived since.
He got up and did his away-from-home routine. He had trouble finding good coffee around, he was lucky to have a Tim Hortons near the Wolfe HQ back in Canada, but here he had to follow his interpreter to some weird youth cafe to get a good sip of coffee if he did not want some canned stuff.
He got downstair and his interpreter was waiting for him.
Interpreter - “Konnichiwa” he said, bowing slightly.
Noel bowed back. Let’s get some business done he thought, as they were driving to the Suginami ward. This will be quite a challenge.
BACK TO PRESENT - February 2023, the great white north*
She woke up suddently and jumped out of the bed.
Husband - “Get back to bed honey, it’s just your dad… Zzzzzz”
She ignored him and went down the stairs to find her dad rummaging through the bookshelves.
Granddad - “Where is it, I remember it was here…” he muttered to himself.
Mother - “Dad, are you ok? What are you doing at this hour, you’ll wake him up.”
Granddad - “Just looking for that damn photo album… ah! there it is”
He took out an old crusty photo album. JAPAN was writtent on it. He sat on the sofa and ignored her for a while.
After a few minutes…
Granddad - “This was the beginning of the end you know. Back when the name meant something great here.”
Mother - “I know dad, I know, those damn japanese…”
The old man looked at his daughter with lucid eyes.
Granddad - “No. It was that damn board. And him.” he paused, a glint of sadness in his eyes. “My father fought them for so many years. He lost the last half of his life in this useless battle… he did not even care about us, it was always about the company.”
She got up, sat down next to him and put her head on his shoulder.
Mother - “I know dad.” she kissed him on his forehead.
Granddad - “I miss him you know… Noel did such a great job expanding to Letara that it would be his downfall… the late 60s and 70s were a renaissance for Wolfe. They correctly assertained that the premium market was going to stay low, and went full luxury. The roadster proved to be the best selling car for Wolfe over there and was going to come back in 78 with what they hoped was another success. You remember I was still driving one when you were little?”
Mother - “Dad, I was 3 years old.”
Granddad - “You were so cute when you were young…”, he smiled at her. “Wolfe and Benetsch were at the top of their games back them, a great rivalry in Letara - on the track and on the street. My dad really thought he could outmaneuver them and focus on the more premium luxury market and high value affordable cars… That is why he expanded agressively with local factory and expanded the dealerships… I mean, I mean…”
He was lost in thoughts and started muttering to himself. She knew what that meant.
Mother - “Good night dad, I love you” she said softly as she left the room, a tear running down on her cheek. He did not even look up, rambling to himself.
Granddad - “I remember at the racetrack, the Razor speeding by, the weather was so hot, but the woman beside me was not well, she had tw daughter you know, I told you this before…”
No one was there to answer.
THE END
Letara 1977 - Wolfe Racing Razor GTR
The last decade was the golden age for Wolfe on the Lerance Raceway. They won 4 races and were extremely successful with the Razor. Thanks to all the R&D investment and focus on racing.
Now the second generation of Razor was to drive accross the dirt on the brand new rallycross section. The GTR, for GT Rally, was and much improved machine with a higher stance, specially built tires, some basic offroad component and a lot of power - nearly 760 HP thanks to a twin turbo that was added to the original 60 degrees V8 used for the last era.
It was more driveable, had much improved aero, was more comfortable and was much, much more reliable this time around, as this was now an endurance rallycross event! Slightly slower than its predecessor, and a bit less agile, Wolfe was hoping it was going to be a rallycross monster.
Wolfe had high hopes and needed to show it can repeat it’s last era’s successes.
Letara 1978 - Wolfe E320 2+2 Roadster
It’s back!! Due to popular demand, the E320 Roadster was back with an all new model in 1978. The best seller from Wolfe was much improved this time around. It started with the Cerberus but was not firmly entrenched as the 2+2 Roadster.
Now, however, the cars would be built and assemble here, in Letara. Wolfe massively invested and opened a brand new factory this time around.
The platform was quite similar as last era, Wolfe still deciding to build their cars on a ladder frame as it was their coachbuilding roots that brought them success. Some were skeptical of this choice as most manufacturers in Letara moved to unibody a while ago. Investors were stressed.
Still, much was to be liked about the car. A much more boxy stance at the dawn of the 80s, a very classical styling based on the last model, plus a brand new modern interior, were all great seling points. The 244 all aluminium V8 was smaller than last generation by much improved, still running on mechanical fuel injection and producing around 200hp in a smaller package.
Some cost cutting was down, and the hidden top down, which was often breaking down, was replaced by a simpler manual soft top - With Letara’s climate, it was rare the rain would come unexpectedly. This was the start of Letara specific models as they could now custom build them locally.
It was also sportier than last generation, but you could not really say it was a sport car. Still, with 0 to 100 in under 9 seconds with a 4-speed auto transmission and a top speed still limited to 160km/h, it was super fun to drive.
Hopefully this generation will be as successful as the last one. While the 2 jump seats (now with more room) are back, this is their first model since the late 50s that was not considered a luxury offering.
Letara 1980 - Wolfe E450 4TRAC 3.2
Now this is different - Wolfe goes offroad.
This is the first 4TRAC model that Wolfe released to any markets. This allroad wagon was not just a family utility vehicle, it was a posh luxury offering seating 5 that could handle nearly all types of roads in Letera, short of goinf offroad.
With all the luxury components and amenities, it was also heralded as an incredibly rugged and reliable beast - only time will tell. It was also the only 5-speed manual offering from Wolfe this generation.
The 4TRAC all-wheel drive system with geared LSD, offroad capabilities and wagon model were not the only firsts for Wolfe. They built a specially rugged engine just for this lineup - a 5 cylinder 3-valves OHC. While not as powerful as the typical Wolfe alu V8, it was close to the E320 with nearly 180hp on 3.2L. It had plenty of torque as well, being incredibly undersquared (86x110mm). This made it very competitive despire only being 5-cylinders, thanks to the first introduction of MP EFI on a Wolfe engine.
This model was the brainchild of Noel Wolfe and his future leading the overseas expansion of Wolfe was at stake. Was this a good gamble, or are Letaran so used to see wagon as purely cheap utilitarian vehicles?
Only time will tell.
Letara 1980 - Wolfe ESi Pursuit
Answering Letara’s call for a new lineup of highway interceptor, Wolfe decided to use a model they had under development and make an interceptor model out of it.
This is how the E-Series interceptor (ESi) was born. With the same engine that would be released with the ESX later, but slightly tuned, this quick brick could reach a top speed of 280km/h, reach 100 km/h in under 6 seconds but also accelerates on the highway from 80 to 120 in under 2.5 seconds. With some handling, this made it a sight in any high speed chase.
This letaran edition came with power steering, advanced safety feature, the rear seats removed for some extra performance, a 5-speed manual and 390hp. Everything you need to catch bad guys on the highway.
Letara 1981 - Wolfe ESX
Unfortunately, the renowned V12 from past generation of Wolfe did not make it back to Letara this time, neither did the flagship trim line of the E5 class.
Instead, Wolfe released something different - a fully muscled up family car, the E-Series eXperimental.
With a bored out 307 ci all alu V8, based on the same E320 V8, this powerplant produced 360hp with a 6,600 rpm redline. The high tech V8 now used multipoint EFI and had a 12:1 compression ratio.
This was not a malaise era engine for sure, despite coming with a 3-way cat. It was everything a speed freak would want in a car - under 5.5s 0-100 time on a 4-speed automatic, over 280 km/h top speed, vented discs all around, and over 1g of cornering prowess, this was truly the first sport-worthy car Wolfe built for the street.
But it is not just built for speed - entirely practical and safe, it seats 5 despite its two doors, and provides enough trunk space for them. With reasonable fuel economy and not supercar-level service costs, it even comes with a price tag well under 40k - quite a departure from the typical 60k+ flagship Wolfe luxury car.
While not directly a successor to the 2-seater E4 GT line, this premium muscle is its spiritual successor but is offering so, so much more, while still being comfortable enough for the whole family at even lower prices.
Wolfe - it is your birthright.
