Well, the current round goes to '63; it’s only 9 years long, just like last round. So if this trend keeps up, there will be as many if not more rounds than what you’re proposing.
'46-'54
'55-'63
'64-'72
'73-'81
'82-'90
And so on… Though I can imagine that some rounds will be longer or shorter based on the number and significance of technologies that are unlicked per period
These are just the main details, however, we recomend checking the revised letter we have sent you (ooc: check the new open letter). We hope you stand with Liberty Corp. and the citizens Letara by lobbying for this decision. We thank those who plan to contribute.
Liberty Corp. Advertising/Press Department, 1953
Floor 13, Building 420, 69th Avenue
Philidelphia, PA, USA
+1-215-xxx-xxxx
An open letter from Otto Frisch, Operations Manager for Kessel Werks
Guten Morgen fellow Industrialists,
Let me start by saying how refreshing it is to see so many manufacturers as genuinely concerned for the welfare of the Letaran People as we are. I can promise you any measure we have taken thus far has been for the benefit of Letara.
But let us address some issues. The Even Keel Proposal has always been exactly that; a proposal. My colleagues and I, after reviewing our own proposal, feel that the tax brackets are much too high, and would force other companies to try and compete in markets that we are also trying to carve out a niche in. We have revised the tax brackets, and removed any proposed taxes on utility vehicles. Here is the new breakdown:
CONSUMER VEHICLES
0 - 660cc = 0%
>660cc - 1.4 liters = 2%
>1.4 liters - 2.2 liters = 4%
>2.2 liters - 3.0 liters = 6%
>3.0 liters = 8%
*No tax for utility vehicles, and segments have been aligned with proposed racing categories for clarity with automakers who want to build dual purpose cars.
There have been some who have said that massive investments in infrastructure is the only way to improve Letara’s infrastructure. This is completely true, but I wonder where the money will come from for this massive investment?
Many are opposed to any taxes on the Letarans. This means NO money for the government to improve the country’s infrastructure. Some have noted that their building of factories will fix the country’s infrastructure. Our factories will look majestic, but they will not solve Letara’s crumbling roads or broken power grid. The Letaran people will earn paychecks, but the only way the government will see any of that capital is by taxing those wages. Some have suggested that the Import Tax will be enough to fund Letara’s rebirth, but since SO MANY of us have built domestic plants in Letara, the Import Tax will not bring in nearly enough money.
No, the ONLY way for Letara to properly rebuild is with sacrifice and determination… by all of us. Our proposal at least attempts to resolve the situation as logically and responsibly as possible. We encourage any automaker to join with us and help try to rebuild Letara with this (now far less crippling) tax. We now have a vested interest in the success of this country.
Warmly,
Otto Frisch, Operations Manager for Kessel Werks
I have no idea what you mean by three rounds there. Please read the rules again, carefully. For this question I direct you to point five in the OP.
Capable Motors Co. was founded on March 12th, 1924 by Idaho farmer Edwin Brummer. Edwin, born 1895, who had grown up on his family’s farm outside of Nampa, had seen the struggles of everyday farmers and workers in the Northwest. Farmers relied almost entirely on horse pulled wagons to transport crops to the city market. Workers couldn’t move to find better jobs, and were stuck in low-wage jobs. In 1916, Edwin enlisted in the US Army and travelled to Portland, to Los Angeles, and took the train to New York to take the ferry to France a year later. The Capable founder served as a chef behind the front lines, providing meals to the soldiers. After the armistice was signed in November 1918, Edwin decided to stay in Paris for a while. Paris was a bustling metropolis, completely different to his rural home town of Nampa. Within the years after the end of the war, automobiles became big in France, with cutting edge race cars being built there. Edwin studied these cars, learning the knowledge necessary to build his own cars in Boise. In 1921, Edwin moved back to Nampa. For the next few years, he worked in mechanic shops to gain the funds necessary to start up and build his own company. This was achieved on March 12th, 1924, when Capable Motors Co. was founded.
For the first four years after Capable was founded, Capable Motors Co. performed mechanical and repair work for a variety of cars. This made a small amount of money, however to due to the small amount of automobiles in the state of Idaho, Capable Motors Co. did not achieve the funds necessary to begin commercial vehicle production. In May of 1926, Capable Motors Co. negotiated a loan of $5,000 and bought a small plot of land in Seattle. A factory and repair shop was built on the plot, and machining tools were soon brought in. At this point in time, Capable Motors Co. consisted of 30 workers, including 20 mechanics, 6 engineers, 2 janitors, and 2 executives. Plans were drawn up for Capable’s first commercial vehicle: the Capable Carrier. With this truck, the workers and farmers of America would have a cheap, reliable, and capable vehicle.
The first Carrier rolled off the assembly line on September 2nd, 1928. Over its 8 year production run, 9,604 Carriers were built. Due to the market crash and recession that started in 1929, sales were below expectations. Because Capable Motors Co. was such a small company with little investments of its own, the company was able to survive the recession without many losses, due in part to its mechanical repair shops. Over the decade, many new engineers and mechanics were hired to build more Carriers, as well more machining tools and another plot of land.
While the Carrier was the first Capable vehicle, it was surpassed in the pick-up truck market by most other vehicles. It was an adequate vehicle capable of moving from one place to another, but its suspension was stiff, the interior lacked any comforts outside the seat, which was made with cheap materials, the sound insulation was poor, and the quality could only be described as adequate. Small improvements were made to the vehicle over the next 8 years, such as more finely tuned suspension, more detailed body panel cuts, and improving the shape of the seats.
Fun fact: The cost of the first Capable Carrier was $440. This was dropped to $420 in 1930. Due to the increased cost of the improvements made to the model in the 30’s, in 1933 the price had risen to $425. The last Carriers were built in 1937, when it sold for $370.
In 1934, it was decided to start the engineering process of a new pick-up truck. Much like the Carrier, it was a pick-up truck designed for farmers and workers to carry goods around. The new truck, called the Capable Pusher, was larger, more reliable, faster, and more capable than the Carrier in every way. It didn’t posses the stiff suspension of the Carrier, the uncomfortable seats, or the poor sound insulation.*
The first Pusher rolled off the assembly line on September 3rd, 1936. Carrier production was converted to the Pusher in quick manner. It was received by the public in a warmer light than the Carrier. It could carrier a good amount of cargo and could travel on dirt well enough. It still wasn’t as comfortable as other trucks though, part of which is due to cost-saving measures. The seats were lined with the cheapest linen money could be, the steering well was rough, but the gearbox was easy to shift.
Things took a turn for the worse in 1939 when Germany invaded Poland. War had started in Europe, and with the United States’s allies the United Kingdom and France declaring war on Germany, the government shipped large amounts of materiel to the United Kingdom and France. The United States government deployed many military contracts for vehicle manufacturers, and Capable Motors Co. secured a $4,000,000 contract to produce a light truck for use in military logistics and transportation. This new truck which was to serve on the front lines transporting military hardware, medical supplies, ammunition, and food would need to far outshine the Carrier and Pusher. Soldiers’ lives depended on this.
20 new engineers, most of which had a military hardware background, were hired. The planning and design of this new Capable truck was overseen with the greatest precision and enormity. During this time, new land near the Seattle factory was purchased, as well as upgrading the original Capable repair shop in Boise to produce spare parts and tools necessary for the war effort.
On November 13th, 1940, the Capable Puller debuted. It featured room for 3 in the front and 6 on the cargo bed, thick wheels, a 1.5 ton cargo capacity, and a powerful 45 horsepower engine. All construction of the Pusher was converted to the new military truck, and by December 1941, 3,500 were built. Until June 1941, 1,000 were sent to the United Kingdom. Following the German invasion of the Soviet Union, most of the Pullers were sent to the Soviet Union via the Pacific Ocean.
The trucks were only somewhat enthusiastically received. The Pullers were extremely uncomfortable, even more so than the Jeep, and there were reports of soldiers complaining of piles and back pain. In March of 1942, after receiving complaints from soldiers, the Puller was upgraded with softer seats. This increased the price per vehicle, and the Puller went over budget due to this. Overall it was adequate and capable of hauling military hardware and cargo. It was mostly used for hauling ammunition, guns, and uniforms from the factories in the Urals to the frontlines. It also pulled artillery pieces.
President of Capable Motors Co., Edwin Brummer, served in meetings with the War Production Board. As a trusted industry manager, he was consulted and gave out advice to the War Production Board in regards to automobile manufacturing for the war effort. During the war, 24,135 Pullers were produced. Many Capable Pullers assisted the Red Army in the siege of Berlin. Throughout the war, 12,000 Capable Pullers were sent to the Soviet Union. 11,135 were used by the United States Army and Navy, and served in North Africa and the Pacific Campaign.
With peace came a great feeling of joy to all people of the world. With the ending of the military contracts Capable Motors Co. had signed and the high cost of production of the Puller compared to civilian trucks, production of the Puller was stopped in November 1945. A cheaper version of the Puller, called the Puller C, was made from November 1945 to May, 1948.
In May 1948, three vehicles were introduced at the same time… The Capable Cruiser, Capable Heaver, and Capable Hauler.
*sound insulation guidelines vary by company.
(Still catching up, I guess this is my contribution to NaNoWriMo…)
Previous post (chronologically)
17th September 1951, Brospyne, Letara
What a contrast this third day of the 1951 Cannonball run was to Rodyn Gumprov, one of the three Mara drivers, compared to the previous two years. In both these years, a cheerful atmosphere had prevailed within the team, the other participants, organisers and spectators.
For him, Mara’s first year in 1949 was characterised by excitement about their first-time participation, culminating in his surprise event victory. These feelings were replaced by anticipation and concentration for the second run in 1950 where they suddenly were cast as favourites - and delivered, with another victory, improving his own 1949 victory time by 40 minutes overall, and a 3rd place for Henri Nordhov, Mara’s Comrade Executive Director. Largely this had been helped by several of the other contenders having larger or smaller reliability issues while the - admittedly overengineered and tested - P47-1 protoypes again ran like Hetvesian clockwork.
In that 1950 event, their spirits had further been boosted by excellent sales numbers by the Companion Sedan upon its market entry in Letara. While the sales numbers for the panel van and pickup were more modest, they still were helpful in selling off excess production that their main factory in Archana was producing and was not able to sell immediately on their home market (and Dalluha).
The 1952 event, however, was marred by a much gloomier atmosphere all round due to the natural disasters and the slight haze that still seemed to linger on the horizon from the volcanic eruption and the extensive fires. This mood seemed to extend to the crowd due to the economic downturn that had befallen Letara. Mara’s sales numbers of their Companion sedan were also somewhat down from last year.
The three Mara racing team members themselves had, however, kept their concentration up, and were seen fighting hard with the three Zephorus and Vizzuri teams right from the start. One Vizzuri team had to had to exit the race during the first stage, however, as had the Zephorus Red team during the second stage. The third Vizzuri team and Zephorus Green and White were still up there in or close to the lead at the start of the third stage.
As Rodyn had lost some time on the first stage, he was back in a support role, now for Mara’s Comrade Director of Engineering, Fedor Piechov, who was putting in a very spirited drive, keeping the pressure on the Zephorus and the remaining Vizzuri cars at the front. Unlike in the previous years, Fedor was awake early on the third day and joined Rodyn for breakfast. The third driver, Henri Nordhov, was again nowhere to be seen.
“Is there anything else on the last stage except going flat out?” Fedor wanted to know.
Rodyn thought about the answer for a few seconds. “Not really, especially not at the pace that the Zephorus teams are showing. It’s basically about who ever cracks first.”
“Or which car”, Fedor adds.
Rodyn nods. “True.”
Fedor looked at the wall clock and signalled Rodyn that it’s time to drive to the starting line. As they approach the parked P47-1 (now known as Companion, but they had not been able to change the official registration) prototypes, Fedor’s hand glides over the fender and door panels. “These are so much smoother than the actual production versions”, he muses to himself. “Hardly any panel gaps. This must be worth a couple of kph top speed at least.” Rodyn meanwhile has already entered and started his black #99 car, waiting for Fedor to drive off.
**
The third stage basically starts identical to the first two - the two Zephorus Green and White teams as well as Fedor and Rodyn quickly pass the other cars, with the leading Vizzuri and Henri Nordhov in the third P47-1 hanging on.
Suddenly, after the first two hours, Rodyn has to look twice to be absolutely sure that he just passed the green Zephorus stranded on the side of the road. Judging from the extent of steam billowing from the engine area, Rodyn concludes that that would most probably be the rally for that team. “One down”, he mutters.
He looks repeatedly in the rear view mirror when the road situation allows, and after a while he is fairly sure he can neither see the leading Vizzuri nor Nordhov’s bright yellow P47-1 anymore either. “So it’s down to the three of us, or two, rather: Zephorus White - or Fedor.”
Thanks to the bright red colour of Fedor’s #42 car, Rodyn is still able to catch a glimpse of him in the far distance on longer straights, but he supposes that the Zephorus would be ahead of Fedor, similar to how things played out in the two days before.
**
A couple of hours into the stage, Rodyn has again to look twice to confirm that he just saw the Zephorus White Team on the side on the road, just as they were getting ready to close the hood again, after what looked like a quick emergency fix. “Since I am a couple of minutes behind on aggregate times… this means that Fedor is now leading?!” Rodyn was unsure and was not in the mood or shape to conduct any mental calculations.
Instead, he concentrated on not losing sight of Fedor in the distance, and also making the Zephorus White folks’ life not too easy to pass them once they would have caught up to him. Despite having run the same stretch of road twice before he was unsure how long it was until the finish line.
**
They had made it to the finish line without further incident, and the leading three cars had indeed all finished while being in barely visual distance from each other. It took again until the last of the three Itals had finished that the officials announced the official results. Again, everyone was sure that the three Aeros would make their way to the finish eventually, and as the last times, the organisers counted from the lowest place upwards.
Henri was confirmed 4th, Rodyn, as expected in 3rd, and they started celebrating nonetheless as Zephorus White was announced as 2nd, as this meant that Fedor had won the race for the 3rd Mara win in a row. In essence, that last minor breakdown had cost Zephorus White the victory…
**
Long after the final Aero had made it to the finish line, and in the midst of the post-race celebration Rodyn manages to catch Fedor in a quiet moment on the side of the festival venue. “Will we keep doing this in the future?” he wonders.
“Yes, of course!” is Fedor’s immediate reply. “This is the best yearly holiday I can wish for! Far away… for a week.”
“If so, then we probably have to refurbish the three prototypes quite a bit for next year to keep them at peak performance. Shall we ship them back to Archana?”
Fedor thinks for a minute. “Shipping is expensive, see whether you can start a closer collaboration with one of the larger local dealers. Given our current solid sales figure, we might establish a more permanent presence on Letaran shores anyway…”
VAUGHN REVUE LETARA
The magazine that goes out to all of you Letarans driving a Vaughn, Wraith or VCV
Autumn 1954
EDITORIAL
"One of the hot topics at the moment is the subject of taxes on new automobiles. At Vaughn Corporation we are of course fully aware that this country is in a deep crisis at the moment. However, we feel like taxing automobiles in the proposed manner is the wrong way to go, and if it passes through, the government might regret it, when it unfortunately will probably be too late. We also understand the worries among you, our customers, because the proposed taxes.
To rebuild this country, what it needs is utility vehicles. Most of the utility vehicles on the market aren’t built for its purpouse, but is merely converted passenger cars. The small engines means that they not only wear out quickly from the hard work - it is also unsafe for highway use. Imagine what might happen when a tiny engine originally made for a compact city car struggles to get uphill with a fully loaded truck or van that also may be towing a heavy trailer. We know that the huge amount of, to put it harshly, worthless utility vehicles have been a disappointment among most of the customers.
Our VCV trucks are something different. They are built with beefy frames, solid axles and are built to take a beating. That also means that we won’t even offer them with a smaller engine than a 4.1 litre inline six, with the new Vaughn V8 being optional in the new range of trucks coming out this autumn. That is the utility vehicles the Letarans will need.
With a tax based on displacement, that will tax a sturdy VCV truck out of reach for many small business owners, meaning that they have to keep holding on to their old, tiny, slow, and harshly put, unsafe, utility vehicles. How are we going to build up this country again if that’s how the government wants it? As they say, good tools are doing half the work. An utility vehicle is not an unnecessary luxury for the working man - it is a highly necessary tool.
The gas guzzler tax is even more silly. On paper, a VCV truck can’t even compete with the puny little passenger car based utility vehicles. But try them in everyday traffic when loaded to max! Once again, the little 3- or 4-cylinder engine will work hard enough for the fuel economy to drop to shockingly low levels, while a VCV with its powerful 6- or 8 cylinder engine will continue to run like nothing have happened, with a barely noticeable increase in fuel consumption. That’s nothing new for us that has experience with utility vehicles - we hope that the government will learn the lesson too.
Finally, the luxury tax. We understand that it causes worries, because probably it will strike hard against cars having even the slightest amount of extra equipment.
What some voices are calling “excess” is something we at Vaughn are calling “safety”. Powerful engines giving you extra resources can help you avoid tricky situations in everyday driving. A good heating system keeps the windows from fogging during bad weather conditions - again, a matter of safety. Power steering makes for improved maneuverability in crowded city traffic. And frankly put - bad car seats can give someone health problems for life. You can’t put a price on your back - because you can’t buy a new one. We have recieved letters from people with back problems praising the coil sprung quality seats of our Wraith cars - will the government force them into driving around on something more resembling wooden benches again?
At Vaughn, we feel that it is our responsibility to help rebuilding the country - it should not go out over the man on the street. We have funding that will help our industry. We have funded rebuilding of our roads. We are even setting up assembly plants giving work to Letarans that otherwise would be struggling in their everyday life.
We are not expecting anything in return, but we would prefer to not be punished out of the market by taxes when we’re actually trying to help rebuilding this country, and we promise you as a customer that we will do anything that is in our power to stop the proposed legislations that will strike too hard against the people deserving it the least."
Looks like things are getting interesting! Can’t wait to jump into next round.
This letter is directed in response to the Editorial in Vaughn Revue Letara
Having read your editorial on displacement based taxes recently, we are impressed with many of your ideas on vehicle taxation, and agree with many of them. However, some of the points in your proposal, seemingly directed towards the Even Keel proposal, seem based on a fundamental misunderstanding of what the proposal is and what it does- or perhaps, your editor was just unaware of the recently proposed revisions to the proposal. Either way, We think the Even Keel proposal aligns with your views much more closely than you realize, and would like to explain why.
First of all, we noticed that the vast bulk of your arguments concerned the importance of displacement to utility vehicles. This alerts to us that you may not have heard about the recent amendment to the Even Keel proposal, which includes no tax on utility vehicles; largely for the reasons you enumerated above. In a more prosperous Letara, we would argue a small utility tax might make some sense, but not in the country’s current state- not when these utility vehicles are so crucial to the reconstruction of Letaran infrastructure.
Secondly, we must address that the original tax figures we proposed were far too strict; the numbers were decided upon quickly due to their easiness to calculate- and because, it turns out, many of us forgot to take the import tax into account. But closer inspection of the figures made us realize that they had the potential to price many cars out of Letaran’s reach, and drive entire automakers out of the market- which is not what we wanted at all.
Those who buy larger, more expensive cars generally have less financial worries, and the point of light displacement-based taxes is to collect a little bit of money off of the those more fortunate, to help fund the government in rebuilding the economy- in coordinating aid from foreign entities such as yourself, in processing the import of vital goods, and in providing assistance to the hardest hit individuals and industries. And that is what the revised Even Keel proposal does; with taxes not exceeding 8% even at the highest extreme, the tax will never prohibit a buyer who needs more power or more size from getting it.
So we strongly urge your editors- and many other companies -to take another close look at the current state of the Even Keel Proposal, and really think about what parts of the proposal actually conflict with your views and needs; you may find, as we did, that most of the worries and fears you had aren’t actually present in the proposal’s current state. Perhaps, you may even find that you support it.
Thank you,
The Aero Company.
5-chōme-325 Komaki,
Aichi 485-0041, Japan
+81 568-XX-XXXX
(This letter was later published in the winter 1955 issue of Vaughn Revue)
@cake_ape, what’s the average income of a Letaraian of this time? In AMU of course.
Another question I have is if we use an inflation calculator to see the price of a vehicle of its era: Like if the car costs 11,000 units, could we see what it would be in 1960 for example?
The thing is that inflation is not accounted into the game and that vehicles have their price in relation to the modern day. So could we do this to see what the vehicle would have sold of that era?
For the second question, you definitely can do that. The in-game currency (AMU) is equal to the 2012 United States Dollar. So to account for inflation, convert the price from 2012 to whatever year your car is. Doing so won’t affect anything in the competition, but can be a lot of fun if your curious.
Excellence Through Rigor
The Benetsch brand is new to Letara, having only established itself on its shores three years ago. We have been given a warm welcome, and are proud of having enabled Letarans to chase their dreams by providing durable and dynamic premium transportation. Our objective with the Peninsular region is to expand the brand’s appeal to a broader audience.
The Letaran market has become dear and important enough that no amount of regulation or taxation would make us cease offering our product line; we are happy to adjust to the needs and wants of the Letaran consumer. That being said, we are an engineering company first; and we have concrete evidence that adjusting our engine line-up to comply with Even Keel would detrimentally affect the performance and economy of our vehicles.
We do not produce large-displacement engines - such as our current 3.2 to 4.2 Liter V8 and our upcoming 2.3 to 3.1 Liter V6 - in order to flaunt wealth or provide excessive and reckless power, contrary to the claims of Even Keel proponents. We produce them because a robust, low-speed, single-camshaft engine is invariably a boon for smoothness, drivability and economy - and more displacement makes up the difference. Only the best for our consumers, be they Soresian, Letaran, Somundser, or American - and limiting displacement due to taxation would betray that promise.
The Even Keel proposal fails likewise to provide true relief to the economy, as taxation will discourage automobile purchase. Benetsch Auto Works has already made a far more sensible contribution: Starting in 1955, Benetsch vehicles sold on the Peninsula will undergo final assembly in Letara itself. The new plant we are constructing will contribute well-paying, full-time manufacturing jobs to Letara. Jobs have always been a better driver of progress than have taxes.
Finally, Benetsch condemns the reckless discourse that has taken place at the industry level, without regard for the voices of Letarans themselves. We are sorrowful at the suggestion that brands such as our own are robber barons and enemies of the people - and likewise, we cannot overstate our outrage at certain manufacturers’ talk of political violence against Even Keel supporters. Letara, a democracy, ill needs vitriol such as this.
- Thedor Wartha, Benetsch International Sales Lead
Vizzuri’s Proposal '54
–
–
With the success of two victories and few podiums at the Portunis Cannonball Run, moderate but declined sales into early 50’s for the Vizzuri Special, and total failure with the Vizzuri National AT01-G project, the brand had a lot to ponder when it came to their next years in Letara.
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The Vizzuri Raceway Costa Lerance
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With early success two years running in 1947 & 1948, the Scuderia Vizzuri continued racing, though not doing so well versus much newer machines. This inspired Dante Rizzo to plan a brand new racing circuit/testing facility between the capital city Lerance and the Lerance airport: Costa Lerance Circuit.
The new complex would have the peripheral track and short track, as well as a skid pan, kart track, testing facilities and a Vizzuri assembly plant too. It would be built entwined with the highway, involving a segment of it for the track. To avoid angry Letarans having to take a detour, the highway segment would be partially closed only on race day, plus having a single lane for traffic flow on the offside.
The design was sent to different brands also invested in Letara, and improvements made until the final blueprint was made:
The track would be built within these rough estimations:
Additionally here is the render of how it may look:
With the Potrunis Cannonball Run still likely ongoing, Rizzo had a new proposal for a 24hr racing series held at the circuit to boost desirability.
Classification:
Class 1 (C1): <=1300cc
Class 2 (C2): 1301cc-<=2000cc
Class 3 (C3): 2001cc-<=3000cc
Class 4 (C4): >3001cc
Though there was also an idea to scrap classes & go with road legal & prototypes which were unlimited class.
Rules:
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Caring for Letara, the Vizzuri way
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As a brand known to the Letaran public for its sporty saloons and road-legal race cars as seen in the Potrunis Cannonball run, we strive to provide Letarans with prestigious premium cars which deliver a vigorous sporty driving experience.
However, additional taxation towards luxury cars, thirstier, often times larger engines, is a displeasing thought to us. We understand less of the public would be happy to pay these extra taxes which would ruin their dreams of a lovely, comfortable sports car. The taxation would be better done elsewhere but the consumer car market on a country in recession.
Make the sporty premium car dream real: Vote against extreme taxation!
At Vizzuri we believe that leaded fuel is the past: Ethanol (E70) is a renewable source and can be produced right here in Letara, providing a boost in jobs and economy. Not only is it a fuel of the future, but is much more beneficial to your health: Less toxic fumes are released by an engine running on Ethanol which would make for a much cleaner and renewable Letara.
We care about your safety at Vizzuri, as all our cars produced since our company was founded have a single driver’s wing-mirror, allowing the driver to be more observant in their driving. In hopes of even safer roads and highways in Letara we are proposing wing-mirrors on both sides of the car. This will double up the awareness of all drivers on the road.
We believe that you should be allowed to open the throttle on open stretches of public road away from pedestrians and busy towns: Speed limits should be lifted on highways and countryside for a much more exhilarating journey. To coincide with this regulation, we will urge a ban on cross-ply tyres: with their higher rate of degradation, rigid uncomfortable ride quality, worse fuel economy, and deadly high rolling resistance which can lead to increased risk of cracking, tearing, or blowouts. Radials are the tyre of the future!
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We hope other car marques can aid Vizzuri’s efforts for a market free from high taxation, with a focus on a safer, healthier, renewable, and more sport-car spirited Letara!
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Dear Fellow Executives,
See the attached letter for a description of the steps I will propose our company take the following years. By the time you receive this, I will be defending the contents to our Board in our Windsor headquarters. I have instructed my secretary to forward any communication by wire should any immediate concerns be raised. Some items may be amended before official announcements.
Letter of Intents
Disclaimer: The contents of this letter are not yet approved by the Board of Swanson Aeronautical & Automobile Propulsion Limited. Any promises, claims, or descriptions in this letter shall be considered void unless approved by the Board.
.
Important Policy Advocacy Points
.
Implement stricter safety regulations:
For - at least “contemporary industry Standard” should be required, including seat belts for all occupants - Letaran lives are no less valuable.
.
Ban “obnoxious” car colours:
Against - what is this ridiculous pearl-clutching, brighter colors are safer - do you really want fellow motorists NOT to see you?
.
Ban radial tires altogether.
Against - in our testing, radials are reportedly simply superior, at a negible cost. To the contrary, radials should be made mandatory in new vehicles.
.
Implement emissions standards.
For - Lead additives in fuel should be banned. Lead is poisonous to all lifeforms. If lead in paints is banned, how can literally throwing poison into thousands of fires be allowed?
.
Tighten noise regulations.
Against - combustion engine music is a boon for the ear; the song of Progress and Virility.
.
Implement a displacement tax & luxury tax
For - a simplified tiering, avoiding the complications of other proposals. To not affect “normal” vehicles while not incentivizing possibly dangerously underpowered cars.
5% for 2500-5000 cc,
10% over 5000cc,
commercial vehicles exempt.
A luxury tax of 1% added, for every 1000 over 30.000 pre-tax vehicle price.
A 35.000 car will with this have a small additional 5% tax on top of the normal tax and any displacement tax. Please, think of the Children of Letara.
2,5 liter engines ought to be enough for anybody, offering adequate performance for family sized vehicles. And look to Mara, dominating the Cannonball field (ourselves included) year after year with a 2.5L engine. If anything at all is to taxed in a destitute economy, we believe vehicles offering far more than “a little extra” is it - not basic transportation, food or other bare necessities. Let me remind the Boston Tea Party attendants that the government already offers very generous tax rebates for domestic-built vehicles.
Investing in their own country through a small tax tithe should be a point of pride for any responsible citizen of a Free Nation, and cannot simply be left to the whims of foreign interests and occasional philantrophists. Failure to do so may lead to the breakdown of society and the rise of Communism, or worse.
.
Alternate mixed surface/dirt race/rally event.
For - a similar annual event as the Cannonball, but expanded with one or more sections on gravel roads.
Class 1 (C1): <=1300cc
Class 2 (C2): 1301cc-<=2500cc
Class 3 (C3): >2501cc
Tied in with this we propose that entries in class C1 and C2 must be based on a consumer vehicle, including the engine, to keep the races relevant to Letarans and keep costs down.
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Dedicated track racing (traditional circuit)
For - We are also in favor of a a permanent, expandable circuit area for year-round use. This could be used for driver training, R&D and weekend races, building a community for developing local racing talent. As traffic increases, racing on public roads will become untenable. Start with a simple network in one of the areas destroyed by eruptions and/or near the airport, away from residential areas and fertile soil, ideally with some sections being existing roads, with generous room for expansion. Co-location with automotive assemblies/factories would be a plus. See attached sketch for the an ideal layout, with the possibility of having two simulataneous races, and different surfaces on the two sections (and building it in two steps)
Vizzuri’s proposal is also compelling, on the condition that it does not become a Vizzuri exclusive facility.
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Investments
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Assembly plant
Pending final approval from the Board, we are prepared to set up an assembly plant by 1956.
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Alumina processing plant
Simply exporting the raw materials seems wasteful. If Letarans instead process their own alumina, they can instead export a valuable product which has soared in price internationally. Swanson is prepared to fund and support such endeavours, including through hiring consultants with experience from an industry-leading company.
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Petroleum Industry support, including petrochemical engineering
If the economy is to improve, energy balance will soon be a concern. Importing fuel is burning cash for energy. We have made arrangements with a undisclosed partner to conduct a comprehensive survey of possible oil fields, and the setup of small-scale extraction and refinement facilities. [if this is already “in the game”: expansion of said facilities] In this, trainees from a Swanson-supported Petrochemical Engineering Programme will be included. If the University wish to pursue research of ethanol additives,as per Vizzuri’s proposal, we are not opposed to this, merely skeptical of the short-term viability.
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Letara Raceway, as described earlier.
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Future investments - Tourism
The beautiful, warm country with its equally beautiful and warm citizens would be the place to go for anyone on vacation. I see great potential investing in hotels and other amenities. As much as I have come to love Letara, sadly the Board is unlikely to support funding. Perhaps in a few years, if travel becomes cheaper and less of a hassle.
I remain ready to at Any time, Any place, race Anyone on my return to Letara.
Regards,
M. Swanson
Acting Foreign Operations Supervisor, Letara
Capable Motors Co. can not support any tax on utility vehicles. It has been said that a tax on high displacement engines would bring tax revenue to the government of Letara. This would negatively impact sales of utility vehicles Capable Motors Co. produces. Utility vehicles generate revenue for the government by providing delivery services, material transport, and goods for sale in the markets of Letara. Taxing utility vehicles would therefore harm the economy.
Capable Motors Co. has seen certain companies denigrating the rightful government of Letara with insults and many suggestions on how to govern their own country. Automobile manufacturers should not attempt to control the government of Letara as it seems some companies are attempting to do with various messages aimed at directing the political features of Letara.
Capable Motors Co.
Early morning, 14th January 1952
Boardroom, Mara main factory grounds, just outside the town of Mara, Archana
On a cold Monday morning in January 1952, Mara’s comrade directors came together to discuss the larger plans and issues for the upcoming year and beyond. They were joined by development and testing engineer Rodyn Gumprov and production engineer Inna Horyova.
Henri Nordhov, Mara’s Comrade Executive Director, opened the meeting from his position at the end of the table and went over the agenda of the day.
After the initial matters of business were taken care of, the Comrade Director of Sales, Natalya Suddya, reported on Mara’s sales figures of the past year.
“Domestically, we finally managed to fulfil all Tovarysh pre-orders. The TR panel van seems to be particularly sought after, SR and SK sedan sales are stable slightly below expected levels. Only the PR pickup struggles, but mainly because there are still some of the now two years old larger Konyk pickups on sale”, she reports. “On our main export market in Letara, the Companion SK sedan sales are dropping, surprisingly, despite being the cheapest car on offer. TR van and PR pickup sales are holding steady on initial levels. The levels are not terribly high, but help selling off some of our excess production especially in terms of pickups.”
Production engineer Inna Horyova chimed in. “We have already shifted production away from the pickup and towards the van.”
Natalya continued. “Judging from some local automotive press it looks like especially the sedan is caught between two segments in Letara - city and family. Good thing we have a much more carefully planned nationwide model line-up domestically across all manufacturers, instead of the chaos on the Letaran market where every brand can offer whatever they deem suitable.” She is visibly irritated.
“Since we want to start planning improvements for our first revision of the Tovarysh after a year of consolidation - what are the key areas that customers think need improving?” Fedor inquired.
Natalya looked at her notes. “More creature comfort and carrying capacity for van and pickup, especially. And fuel economy for all cars. More space would help us being more clearly outside the Letaran city category. On the domestic market, more and more people are inquiring for a wagon, again with more space in the back. They all appreciate the affordability, drivability and reliability, compared to the competition.”
Rodyn threw a side glance to Inna who had been in charge in setting up and overseeing the Tovarysh / Companion production. Two years ago he had to fight tooth and nail with her to prevent the radical cost cutting they had to employ on the engineering side affecting the Tovarysh’s reliability and the driving experience. While the end result had left them both mostly pleased, he could vividly remember some of the more fiercely fought production planning sessions.
Fedor spoke again. “We should be able to produce a family wagon, based on the sedan and the van, no problem. The short wheelbase will limit the extent to which we can increase cargo capacity. Rodyn, advances in fuel economy will then be one of your priorities. What are our options for creature comforts?”
Rodyn responded. “Well, we could offer van and pickup with the same Komfort interior as the sedan. Thanks to some production efficiency improvements…” - he throws a side-glance at Inna again - “… they are actually not that much more expensive anymore. Plus, I think, we should be able to fit a simple radio with a speaker for just some extra cost - if we want to.”
“We should also think which trims to discontinue”, Inna advised. “We can probably fit a wagon on the assembly lines - especially if it is basically a van with rear seats. But we shouldn’t have too many variants - that will just drive up cost.”
Fedor nodded, satisfied.
“Anything else to improve sales for Letara?” Henri wanted to know.
“There is the option of opening an assembly plant over there”, Fedor said. “Shipping complete knockdown kits across the ocean will be much cheaper than shipping complete cars. And we can lower prices further.”
“If our goal is still to just sell some excess production… this could work”, Inna added. “We simply keep building parts, just skip the final assembly here if we have enough stock of a particular trim already. Essentially, a new assembly line 0 will just put together the CKDs and make sure they are complete and ready for shipping. It will also make transportation to Tuzgala harbour much easier.”
“On top of that, we’d also save 10% on their import taxes”, said Natalya.
Fedor thinks for a minute. “Initial investment should not be too bad if all they do over there is assemble Tovarysh… Companion CKDs for a selected range of trims. And we can do this with low-skilled workers. We have started with them here as well anyway.”
Inna decides not to share the various challenges she had faced over the past year in getting the output of all the newly hired unskilled workers in their main factory for the Tovarysh production up to a minimum of quality.
“Then let’s investigate this more closely.” Henri allowed for a few seconds of silence. “There is one more thing for Letara”, he started, and let the opening sentence hang for a few seconds for dramatic effect. “This may take longer, however, so let’s have a coffee break first.”
I don’t have a fixed number in mind as it’s mostly irrelevant to the challenge in the way it’s judged. What people can afford is simply scaled to the field of cars that I receive and the current RNG generated economy.
As for the inflation question - what Edsel said. It has no bearing on the challenge, but if for your own sake you want to do that, you can.
Mid-morning, 14th January 1952
Boardroom, Mara main factory grounds, just outside the town of Mara, Archana
After everyone had returned from the coffee break, Henri Nordhov continued from his position at the end of the table. “We were asked by our government to help sales abroad of an Archanan product, particularly in Letara.” He made another pause for dramatic effect. “Volkov Locomotive works’ newest model, the high-speed steam locomotive Class P36.”
The room was suddenly filled with puzzled faces. Of course, everyone were well-aware of the Class P36 as its recent entry into service was well publicised across Archana. So was the stir it caused in neighbouring Fruinia as it required them to maintain a basic infrastructure to provide water, sand and coal for the sole train in service between the two countries - the Lenagrad-Terso-Express - to be pulled by the sole type of steam locomotive still operating on Fruinian territory. Still, the P36 was faster than most Fruinian electric locomotives currently in service.
Henri continued. “They want to combine the offer to the Letaran government with assistance in repairing and enhancing their rail infrastructure as well as in exploiting the Letaran coal deposits in return for coal export in the future.”
Fedor Piechov was the first one to regain speech. “So we are now an instrument of Archanan foreign policy?”
Henri shrugged. “We are basically the only ones with contacts in the country, and ours are even in the Letaran government, and they also quite liked the Visim van over there, so someone thought it’d be easiest if we play messenger.”
Fedor was less than mollified. “I thought our core business is cars, not trains? And they are very much a capitalist democracy?!”
“First, there is nothing wrong with state spending on infrastructure, is there?” Henri retorted. “They also think after the recent natural disasters, Letara might be quite receptive for a boost of their infrastructure and industry investments. Moreover, technology sales to foreign countries and to receive raw materials in the future will help all of us.” He paused for a second, but this time rather to collect his own thoughts. Noone else voiced further dissent, or dared to do so. “When is the next time someone is going over?”
Fedor answered. “That’d be Inna… and Rodyn at some point in the next weeks. Inna, you’ll be in charge of scouting out locations to build an eventual assembly plant and submit a more detailed plan for approval until the end of March. Rodyn can introduce you to our dealerships and other contacts we have made over the last years preparing for and running in the Cannonball. When you are there, you can also take a first look for this year at the state of our three Cannonball prototypes we still have in store over there. We should also see that we formally establish a local representative in Letara so that we do not have to fly across the ocean all the time.”
Inna and Rodyn nodded in unison.
“Let me know when you have finalised your travel plans to Letara”, said Henri. “I’ll make sure that you’ll get a package with some papers from our government to deliver.”
Lobby Scheme the Kamaka Motor Corportation Offeration
Our the upon Kamaka Motor Corporation strongly support imposing that tax in larger engines, our reason being having such that more than engine is don’t this necessary, taking it only adding more weight and decreasing efficientness fuel. Even to take of example that 3.3 liter Kamaka Chief winning 1st house on mostly recent cannonball ran ahead for cars taking even larger engines, such the to 4.7 liter Vizzuri. That is that prime example this it takes highly more than that more than engine to create that well car.
Speaking for racing, our also the support construction for racing tracks, such to Vizzuri Costa Lerance. Our belief motorsports am individual the for best ways to showcase that car true potential, and those can be very beneficial the to Letaran economy the taking potential to look such amazed racing on person. Our hope that idea becomes reality then our and other companies the have chance to take such strong competitiveness the in track conjunctionly.
To create upon of anytime inconveniences this might be cause to that result the for displacement tax, our would do also the support expansion the for mechanical engineering field to have mostly outward for smaller engines. Our believable this taking enough research onto that field, that smaller and lighter car the is potential to be only to speedily and more efficient than that larger individual.
we are in support of a displacement tax, construction of a race track, and education in mechanical engineering
Late morning, 14th January 1952
Boardroom, Mara main factory grounds, just outside the town of Mara, Archana
After another short break, Mara’s comrade directors continued with the next topic on their agenda.
Henri Nordhov began again. “Now that we sorted out our - and not only our - spending in Letara for the next years, we should also think about what we would want to see happening or not happening over there in the future. Especially with our considerable investment into infrastructure, the Letaran govenrment should be quite receptive to our requests.”
Natalya started again. “From our sales reports, our racing exploits over there certainly helped initial sales. So a priority should be to keep racing exposure.”
Rodyn chimed in as well. “We can’t run the prototypes forever - they probably need some bigger overhaul this year already and we have been lucky that the engines haven’t expired yet. Now that we got rid of most of our Visim vans, we are basically left with a few untuned and worn spares.”
“I’ve heard through some conversations at last year’s Cannonball that some manufacturers are thinking of other formats”, added Henri. “Everyone has different ideas though, rallying, circuit racing, etc. A few even want to build an entire circuit…”
“Can we ensure that we will have something to race, and that it will resemble what we sell?” Natalya again.
“It looks like what we need is a class system for Letaran racing”, Fedor proposes after a short while of thinking. “No pun intended”, he adds. “If the lowest class is around the Tov’s regular engine displacement, we can just tune the regular production engine for racing.”
“Would you say the actual type of racing matters?” Henri wants to know.
Natalya shrugs. “Probably not much. The important thing is that as many people as possible see the car, ideally winning. Or that you can tell a good story, at least, around finishing a gruelling event or something.”
“So then a class system it is what we want”, concludes Henri. “How about the other things they are inviting submissions about?” He points to a typed sheet of paper in front of everyone.
“From an engineering standpoint”, Rodyn begins. “Additional safety will be costly to engineer.”
“We also won’t get any domestic sales benefits from that, as safety has never come up as an issue locally”, Natalya adds.
Fedor weighs in. “More safety features will probably only encourage further reckless driving.”
Henri’s eyes lighten up. “That’s good, we need to include that. But they want their people to be safer, apparently, so what are other things that achieve the same goal but cost us less?”
“Simple physics”, is Fedor’s curt reply. “Brake distance increases at the square of a car’s speed, plus thinking distance.” Fedor has adopted his ‘lecturing’ voice. "So speed limits are the easiest thing to keep people safe, passengers and pedestrians. "He then points to Rodyn. “Think of some sensible speed brackets to propose - since we are one of the very few people to have driven the same roads under normal conditions in regular production cars and on race speed as well.”
Rodyn nods. “Some parts were scary enough at speed with our special sports tyres, knowing that there wouldn’t be other traffic…”
“What else?”
Rodyn and Inna have a quick look over the other items of the list. “The stuff around the headlights would probably be most difficult to reengineer, so we should be against those.”
“We would also have to at least prepare mounts and wiring for them for all cars, even though we won’t need them for the domestic markets”, Inna adds.
After a closer look through the list, Henri wants to know. “What are these radial tyres that are mentioned?”
Fedor answers. “A new tyre technology, probably not something that concerns us… except for racing maybe.”
“Do we care about the other points raised, such as education or additional taxes?”
Inna starts. “Not about education - we don’t need special skills for our assembly plant, and we don’t plan to do anything else over there, right?”
“And taxes won’t help us get out of the in-between position between city and family cars - which I think is one of our biggest issues for sales”, Natalya states. “Even if higher-priced cars will cost even more, I don’t think this will impact us much.”
“Alright. Anything else?” Henri looks around the table. “Then this meeting is adjourned until the afternoon where will discuss further issues concerning domestic production and sales.”
