Seems like the Mara-Swanson rivalry will be written down in the Letaran history books, lol.
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Damn it, trouble in every race, that’s really bad luck. However, a Podium shows that the car wasn’t as bad as it looks overall.
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Chapter 10: Consumer car segment 1964-1974 - family pt. 1
Left to right (back row):Popas Rushba 1700-4 @Mikonp7, Mara Irena 2.0 SK @AndiD, Suma M312 Selecta @Banana_Soule, Stellar Dragonet @donutsnail, Niichi Dynema M30 Standard @MisterRocketMan, Resuki Karazon Base @Repti, Torshalla Kattunge 1600 @Maverick74, Swanson 217GF @Ludvig, Saeta Albor @Petakabras, Zephorus Deagle @Riley
Left to right (front row): Zephorus Deagle Convertible, Alira Stafford @HelloHi, Garland Valiente @ChemaTheMexican, Seata Albor Viajante, Mitsushita Royale 2000 DXi @conan, Anhultz Dione I-2000 @Elizipeazie, Martinet Castor III 1800 CS @Ch_Flash, Martinet Castor III 1800 GS, Stellar Demosielle, Torshalla Kattunge 1600 Turbo
Ah, family cars: the bread and butter of any car market. Ranging from mid-size sedans to large land-yachts, these cars are designed to transport the family in the city, between cities, and anywhere else where the road may lead. Many variations on the theme exist, from bare-bones transport to the most opulent luxury vehicles, and from those that barely meet highway standards to those that melt your face off with their performance. This segment expanded quite considerably in this era, with 20 cars just in the budget and standard price categories. Let’s see how they did.
The cheapest family car to be released in 1964 was the Mara Irena 2.0 SK. It was obvious the everyone that this was just a minor update from the previous generation Irena 1.3, and there the older generation’s looks were deemed forward looking, now the car seemed a little dated in comparison. A major improvement was the car’s larger engine, which gave drivers more confidence on the highway. Other than that, it was still firmly a budget offering with the staple Mara reliability and cheap overall upkeep. The car was not very comfortable, made even worse by its hard cross-ply tires, but at least it was not outright back-breaking. It featured five standard seats and a standard radio, and well… it was a car that could get the family to any point in Letara. At this price point its only rival was the Mara UK, the wagon version of the same car, so it was the car for those who wanted the most basic transportation with some good reliability, and could not afford anything else. Sales were also bolstered by the brand’s reputation gained at the race track, where its road-legal cars showed remarkable reliability too. But with the recovering economy there were fewer and fewer buyers who could only afford the barest minimum, so over time sales did start declining as more comfortable and capable cars regained their market share.
The next cheapest family car in 1964 was the Stellar Dragonet. This car too had five standard seats, but despite being more expensive than the Mara, it only had a basic radio. This car did have some other more expensive features, such as a newer advanced 60s safety package (as opposed to the Mara’s standard 50s), radial tires, a five-speed gearbox, and a more modern boxer engine with aluminium OHC heads. It was also significantly more comfortable than the Mara, and in long-term testing it proved to be even more reliable. To make it even more enticing, its modern front-wheel-drive system made the car handle much better too and easy to drive. All this meant that no matter the Mara’s immediate reputation, the Stellar simply overshadowed it in the long run with even stronger sales. Looking at it in a different light, one could say that the Mara simply faltered as the economy picked up, but the Stellar could hang on better, retaining some sales even as people had more and more disposable income.
Slightly higher up in the price bracket was the Torshalla Kattunge 1600. This was quite a different beast than the previous two: it was a four-seater midsize hatchback with a premium interior and premium radio. It had a slightly warmer tuned boxer-4 under the hood than the Stellar, also with an aluminium OHC head. Other premium features included a semi-clad bottom, medium compound tires, and disc brakes all-round. It was by no means a performance machine, but it pretended quite well. It ticked many boxes: it was quite comfortable for its size, reliability was not the worst, and it was quite drivable too. With its hatchback design it was quite practical too, almost like a wagon, but not quite. That Torshalla did quite well at the racetrack did help this little almost-sporty-pretender too, of course. In the end, it was a large enough deviation from the norm to make it interesting, and while the “hot-hatch” craze was still a few years off, this car might have been its earliest hint at it. It was not an overwhelmingly great seller as it didn’t quite suit families that wanted five seats, but it found a small niche among people who wanted something relatively small and comfortable, and were looking for a wagon-that-was-not-a-wagon.
The Zephorus stable mates, the Deagle and Deagle Convertible were priced toward the upper-middle side of the standard price bracket. True to their brand’s pedigree, these were more sporty oriented sedans with four premium seats, a premium radio, semi-clad undertray, and a relatively large I6 engine. But perhaps also true to the Zephorus lineage, they were sporty-oriented, but were actually not all that fast when the pedal was pushed to the floor. Comfort was no improvement over the Torshalla or even the Stellar. They had about average reliability - much better than Zephorus’ reputation on the race-track, but a reputation that is hard to shake off. What cannot go unmentioned is that - also true to Zephorus pedigree - these were really lookers. Indeed, the designers at Zephorus really know how to come up with gorgeous, forward looking designs that Letarans appreciate. So while the cars were not objectively good for their price, they still managed to capture people’s imaginations, and for those who shopped with their hearts rather than their brains, these were a very attractive proposition. This car sold a dream rather than a product. Especially the convertible - the cheapest convertible on the market - sold well among the 40-something male demographic.
Released in 1965, the Stellar Demosielle was the more upscale sibling of the Dragonet. It featured an updated, more premium fascia, five luxury seats, and a class-exclusive phonograph. Although the car did come in at an almost premium price, it was still in the standard category. And it was quite impressive what other features Stellar managed to cram into this car: it also had an automatic gearbox and hydropneumatic suspension. But some corners were cut too that undid some of the more luxurious aspirations: it ran on hard compound tires and hand single-shoe drum brakes all-round. For its weight it was also under-powered and was slower than the Dragonet - and much slower than other cars in this price range. However, it was superbly comfortable. It won Letara’s “most comfortable family car” award in its launch year, and continued to rival and beat many premium and even luxury cars throughout its production. Just like the Dragonet, the Demosielle was superbly easy to drive. So with all these features and its rather attractive price, it became the de facto retiree’s car who wanted something comfortable, easy to drive, had a good prestigious presence, but didn’t mind it to be a bit slower and came at a reasonable price of course.
In 1966 the Resuki Karazon Base was launched as a direct competitor to the Dragonet. It was slightly more expensive, but did feature five premium seats and a standard radio, but had a similar FWD drivetrain. Despite a smaller boxer-4 engine it still managed to equal the Dragonet in performance. In other ways it was also very similar too: it was a hair more comfortable, a tad safer, a tiny bit less reliable, a minuscule amount less easy to drive… it was almost as if looking at the same car in many ways, except that the Stellar was a slightly larger car of course. With very little to separate the two cars it often came down to personal taste: did the buyer want a slightly larger Stellar with slightly more stylish and aggressive looks, or the smaller Resuki with more exotic looks and the pretty metallic paint job? Spread across the market it was a toss-up as the Stellar split its market share with the Resuki pretty much evenly.
That is if we don’t immediately consider the Swanson 217GF that hit the market the same year. This was a much anticipated car representing the brand that just won twice in a row at the track. The car’s yellow colour even seemed to hint at its golden winning streak. It had some great exotic looks too and its liftback design was practical too. Yes, it was slightly more expensive, and ‘only’ offered five standard seats and standard radio, its overall statistics were just about another mirror image of the Dragonet and the Karazon. There was just so little separating these cars that Letarans could be forgiven for being torn three ways here. Compared to the other two cars, the 217GF was slightly faster but harder to drive - befitting its racing reputation and appreciated by Letarans. So objectively speaking, it didn’t offer anything extra over the two cheaper options, except for its winning reputation. So considering that, its slightly higher price was forgiven by Letarans, and this small segment was split three ways…
Or was it? In the same year the nearly identically priced Saeta Albor was also released. Priced just a tad higher than the Swanson, bit offered five premium seats and a premium radio. This car was even faster, had disc brakes all-round, and ran on medium tires. So the fight was on… It was slightly less comfortable than the others, despite its more premium interior and softer tires, and it was harder to drive and was less reliable as it pushed its engine more. But it was more sporty and had a leg up in the prestige department. And this car too looked nice and modern, this time with a definite sporty flair to it. So again, it presented a small dilemma for Letarans, offering another slightly - very slightly - different choice. Indeed, this became a quite saturated market segment now with very equally matched cars, each taking away a smaller portion of the pie as more cars entered the (due to economic upturn, shrinking) lower end of the standard family market.
A further car was released this year, the Anhultz Dione I-2000. This car set itself apart a little with a higher price tag, closer to the Demosielle. This was a slightly larger hatchback with five premium seats and a standard radio - which was a bit of a disappointment at this price bracket. And given its price Letarans expected it to stand out from the lower-end crowd. But when push came to shove, its performance was rather lacklustre. Not bad by any means, mind you. Setting price aside, it had similar speed performance as the Swanson, almost identical comfort as both the Swanson and Torshalla, was on par in terms of drivability; and had slightly higher reliability. Its standout was its superb safety rating, which would to unbeaten in this segment for the rest of the era. But factoring in its price, it under-performed - and while people were overall increasing their spending power, they still don’t want to pay more for something than it’s really worth, especially in this segment. So the Dione I-2000 never managed to make a big splash in the market.
In 1967 we move back to the budget price point with the Suma M312 Selecta. This truck-based sedan offered five standard seats and a standard radio, but only the more outdated standard 50s safety package. It was a worthy competitor to the Mara Irena, being a bare-bones family transport unit. It was uncomfortable (just a tad better in this regard than the Mara), but otherwise very little separated the two. Except that the Suma did come with a locking rear differential, so it was slightly better at getting itself out of sticky situations. In the end it did fall into the same trap as the Mara - the market for such bare-bones cars was shrinking, and by the time the Selecta came around it was shrinking fast. That said, it did find a small niche in the poorer remote areas of Letara, where village roads were not yet paved, so the low price and its locking differential did come in handy for families that wanted a more traditional sedan rather than a wagon such as the Kessel Sperling Tradesman or the Resuki Karazon Traveller.
The Garland Valiente was released the following year. This was the largest car in this segment, yet only had two doors and 2/+2 seating, making it a bit of an anomaly. It had a large I6 engine that propelled this large and heavy car confidently, but not quite at the level of a sports car. That said, it did have impressive top speed partly facilitated by its semi-clad undertray. It featured a premium/premium interior. It was quite comfortable - not nearly at the level of the Demosielle, but very good indeed. The automatic gearbox certainly helped in this regard. The car wasn’t the easiest to drive, but that can almost be expected from such a large, heavy and imposing vehicle. So where did this beast fit into the market? Well, it was not really an outright family car. Neither was it a sports car. Nor was it a luxury barge. It borrowed from all three, but became neither. It was a novelty; perhaps a novelty that would’ve done better if it were more luxurious, more sporty, or more practical. But it just didn’t quite hit the right strings, so sales never quite took off.
The Saeta Albor Viajante was released in the same year. This was the more up-market variant of the Albor. This car offered more practicality and space with its hatchback, and more comfort with its automatic drivetrain, but sacrificed its sporty nature along the way. Otherwise it was quite the same car as its older sibling. So was the extra money worth the changes? Well, quite so. The car competed extremely well against the other hatchbacks that were slightly cheaper - such as the Torshalla Kattunge and Swanson 217GF, successfully taking away their remaining market share, and shifting more sales toward Saeta. In that regard the Saeta did manage to capture the upward movement of the economy by providing more for more.
Only one car was released in 1969: the Popas Rushba 1700-4. This was the cheapest family car money could by this era, and disregarding the Aero microcars, almost the cheapest car period. This car only had four standard seats, and offered a standard radio. Aside from a offroad skid tray, it was a pretty bare-bones offering on par with the Mara and Suma cars. Its reliability wasn’t quite as good as the other two budget cars, nor was it as easy to drive. Its comfort level was in between the two - barely acceptable by most standards but not outright a recipe for a visit to the chiropractor. It was also not quite as good on rough roads as the other two, so it had relatively lower utility in rural areas too. So in the end it entered a market that had all but disappeared, and didn’t manage to capture that sliver which still existed either. The Popas sedan, then, was a pretty rare sight on Letaran roads.
In 1970 the Niichi Dynema M30 Standard entered the fray smack in the middle of the lower-end of the standard market already saturated with cars. Letarans who remained in this part of the segment - who just wanted to reliable means of cheap transport - saw a car that immediately blended in with the others. Its looks, its performance, its equipment, its statistics were by this point everything they have already seen and experienced. It had five standard seats and a standard radio and well… if you wanted to make the most generic reasonably priced family sedan, this is what you’d come up with. Its most distinguishing - and unfortunate - characteristic was its relatively frequent break-downs. And since otherwise didn’t offer anything better or new compared to the crammed and shrinking market segment, it was mostly passed up by Letarans.
Released in the same year was the Alira Stafford. Priced slightly higher in the market - between the Zephorus cars and the Garland, this hatchback offered five standard seats and a standard radio; this was by this time considered below par at this price point. It had some interesting quirks in its design, such as the centre headlight. But were such quirks enough to entice Letarans? Well, considering the rest of the car, it had good performance on the road and was exceedingly easy to drive with its FWD layout. It was quite practical too with easy luggage space access - and a lot of space it had too. But the car had one major flaw. Its comfort was quite poor - more in the league of the cheapest budget cars than its nearest competitors. So test drives in the Alira were commonly quite painful and short, and not followed by the joyous signing of papers.
In the same year the Martinet stable siblings were released: the Castor III 1800 CS and GS. These cars were slightly larger hatchbacks with segment-exclusive transverse FWD engine and drivetrain layouts. Price-wise they slotted in near the top of the family-standard segment, just under the Stellar Demosielle. These cars were quite literally the same car with one difference: the CS had three doors, whereas the GS was a five-door variant. Otherwise they were identical in every way: the same five standard seats and standard radio (below Letaran’s expectations at this price point), hydropneumatic suspension (very nice in this class), but hard compound tires (mediums probably would’ve been a better choice). It was interesting for Letarans to see that seemingly very similar cars are released at the same time and again. The Martinet was quite similar in nature to the Alira - a relatively large and practical hatchback with good drivability, decent performance, decent reliability… but poor comfort. Although not quite as shocking as the Alira, the Martinet was still well below par for its price point - indeed only the three budget cars and the Alira were less comfortable to sit in. Given Martinet’s questionable reliability reputation from the race track, it is no wonder that Letarans didn’t stand in line to get one.
In 1973 the Mitsushita Royale 2000 DXi was launched. Its price slotted in between the Albor and Anhultz, and slightly cheaper than the Martinets. This was a more traditional looking med-sized sedan with some new and unique features not yet seen in the segment. It had five premium seats and a premium 8-track player, which instantly raised people’s interest. It also featured the latest advanced 70s safety features, which only the Martinet cars offered. Another relatively novel feature on the engine was the fuel injection unit; and this was the only car in the segment with a functional 160 km/h speed limiter, which was appreciated by more safety-conscious buyers. This car had a decent amount of comfort too and was relatively easy to drive. The Mitsushita, then, did manage to take off where the Seate Albor left off - capturing the steady upward movement of the market by indeed offering more for more. It was a small market capture, but a steady one.
The last - and most expensive - car released in the standard family segment was the 1974 Torshalla Kattunge 1600 Turbo. As the name implies, this was a special car. But let’s get to that later. First, the more mundane aspects. It was a four-seater hatchback with premium seats and a standard 8-track player in the dasn. It had a semi-clad undertray, ran on medium compound radials, and had disc brakes all-round hinting at its sporty nature. So far nothing too out of the ordinary, but why then was this car so expensive? For that we have to look under the hood. It sported a relatively small boxer-4 engine, but did have a more modern fuel injection system and… oho! The first turbo in Letara! In fact, the only turbo engine at this time. With this hot-air spinning gadget it was a solid answer to the Primus Publica ST, just outperforming it despite being larger, heavier, safer, more practical and more significantly comfortable. The Torshalla even managed to be slightly more reliable, despite having such new technology under the hood (and in the dash), which is quite a feat. So while objectively not the most practical or comfortable car among its closest rivals, the Turbo didn’t have to be. It was the flag-bearer now in the ‘hot-hatch’ rivalry, and was quite a success among the young petrolheads who wanted sportscar-adjacent performance in a cool unassuming package and a still attainable price point.
…to be continued…
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Chapter 11: Consumer car segment 1964-1974 - family pt. 2
Left to right: Saeta Albor Sprint @Petakabras, Anhultz Dione I-2400 @Elizipeazie, Swanson 225 PO @Ludvig, Liberty Civilian @FidleDo, Swanson 225 PF, Anhultz Dione I-3000 automaat, Walkenhorst 1600 PREM @Fayeding_Spray, Liberty New Yorker II, Levante Nuova 130 - 3.0 Lusso @TanksAreTryhards
Moving up in the family segment we come to the premium cars. Yes, there were enough premium and luxury cars in this era to make two separate chapters about them. With the growing economy this can only be a good thing, right? Let’s explore.
The earliest premium family car in this era was the 1964 Levante Nuova 130 - 3.0 Lusso. Its price nearly breached the luxury price point - and cost nearly twice as much as the Zephorus Deagle Convertible, the next cheaper family car on the market that year. Needless to say, it was a significant step up. For this near-luxury price you did get four luxury seats and a luxury radio - quite a bit more prestigious than in the lower market. It was if course quite significantly more comfortable than the cheaper cars, as it should. Comparatively, it had really good performance too, at this time only rivalled by true sports cars. So it can be said that you really did get your money’s worth. If only it had been a little cheaper. At its price, it left a very large gap from the mid-standard price point of the market to the very top of the premium, almost luxury price point. And while the economy was recovering the people were starting to be able to afford premium prices, this was still a large stretch. So for those who were able to move up the economic ladder slightly quicker, it was the only premium option - but for many it was simply still out of range at this time. The gap was just too large. And one year later it got another blow from the release of the Stellar Demosielle, a car with a more practical five seats and even more comfort - at 2/3 of the Lusso’s price. So unless you wanted the performance of a sports car, that was a more logical choice. So the Lusso was a good car, just unfortunately priced for its time.
The premium market had to wait another two years before any new cars were released, resulting in quite a vacuum in the market. But then in 1966, all of a sudden five new cars were released, saturating the market instantly. The cheapest of these was the Swanson 225 PO. This was a hatchback convertible with four premium seats and a premium radio. It was offered at a reasonable price in the premium category and had a promise of decent comfort and performance for its price too. On paper it was just the car to fill the void between the premium and standard family markets, and it was a convertible too! But not so fast. In their haste to fill the market gap, but keep costs down, Swanson simply chopped off the top of their monocoque chassis and basically called it a day. Sure, they applied some reinforcements, but these were just rattly bits that shook loose over time. So while on paper the car looked like great, customers very soon found out its flaws in practice. Even Swanson’s racing pedigree could not save this car from certain doom. (OOC: you know what happened here…)
Moving up in the market a little bit came the Liberty Civilian. This was a proper large sedan with five full luxury seats and a premium radio. It had some other luxury-oriented features, such as an automatic gearbox and hydropneumatic suspension, making it a very comfortable car - more comfortable than the Levante even, but not quite on par with the Demosielle. It was another of the few cars that made use of the electronic speed limiter, and it also had exceptional crash safety ratings for which it was praised by customers and insurance companies alike. The car did suffer from reliability issues and it was a little on the expensive side in the long run. But still, it was a large and comfortable car in the middle of the premium price category, and as such it filled a large gap in the market. So in spite of its flaws, it did quite well for itself.
Just slightly more expensive was the Swanson 225 PF - a more sporty version of the 225 PO. It was a very similar car to its cheaper sibling with four premium seats and premium radio and semi-clad undertray, but it had two more doors and was sport-tire shod. It also featured a more powerful engine that gave it exceptional performance in this class, rivalling many sports cars and beating everything that is cheaper than it. It was not the most comfortable of cars, but given its performance it was quite reliable and with the hatchback body it was quite practical. It was a true performance premium car unrivalled in this segment, and it was not plagued by Swanson’s misstep with the convertible version. So, bolstered by its racing image, the 225 PF did quite well among those who wanted a sporty car, but also had a family and luggage to move around - practical speed, as it became known.
Moving up the price ladder one more step was the Walkenhorst 1600 PREM. This rather unassuming looking sedan featured five premium seats and a premium radio, and some notable cost-cutting features such as its four-speed manual gearbox, hard compound tires and standard springs making for a relatively rough ride. Indeed, it was not a very comfortable vehicle for its price - even less so than the Swanson 225 PF - but there it could be forgiven for the car’s sportiness. But the Walkenhorst was not particularly sporty or fast. The car also suffered from terminal oversteer at any speed and was exceptionally hard to drive as a result. There were just too many issues with this car and the Letaran customer was not kind to it as a result.
Taking another large step up the price bracket, the Liberty New Yorker II slotted in next to the Levante Lusso at the top of the premium market. Just like its cheaper sibling, the New Yorker was a large sedan. But, according to its price, it was more exclusive with only four seats - hand-stitched too! It also featured a phonograph, so Liberty really went all-out with the New Yorker. It retained the other premium features too, such as the automatic gearbox and hydropneumatic suspension. With these features it became one of the most comfortable vehicles on Letaran roads, only outclassed by a few luxury vehicles that would come out four years later. Indeed, as the Demoiselle was the king of comfort at the top of the standard bracket, the New Yorker was the king at the top of the premium bracket and even of the luxury bracket for a few years. It was, of course, also a quite prestigious car, especially considering its price. It was not very exciting to drive, but considering its size, it was easy to drive. The only downside of this car was its reliability as it broke down with quite some regularity. But if you could afford it, and didn’t mind spending some time at the garage, this was the best bang for your buck if you wanted ultimate comfort and a hint of prestige. So in a way, it became one of the symbols of the growing economy and the upward movement of the middle class.
Three more cars were released in the premium segment, all three in 1968. Right at the bottom of the price bracket came the Saeta Albor Sprint. This medium-size sedan had five premium seats and premium radio. This car had similar sporty aspirations as the Swanson 225 PO with its sports tires and relatively hot engine with DCOE carbs and performance intake. It was quite nimble too and had an acceleration that matched the Swanson, but its top speed was just slightly lower. The car did lack a certain refinement and was not comfortable. In that sense, it was closer in set-up to a true sportscar than a premium sedan. It also had a rather brash yellow-black colour scheme, allowing no illusions about its true nature. So this car was more for sportscar enthusiasts who still wanted that added practicality of a sedan and four seats, but it was not really regarded as a family car. Indeed, its nearest rival was the Garland Valiente, but where the Garland was a large ungainly car that went fast in a straight line, the Saeta was smaller and more nimble - more of a drivers’ car. So the Saeta was appreciated by the rebellious youth who were also into the emerging ‘hot-hatch’ phenomenon, and the Saeta was often seen tuned-up and revving at red lights alongside its equally tuned-up hatchback friends.
Slightly more expensive, but still at the bottom of the premium bracket, was the Anhultz Dione I-2400. The more expensive sibling of the I-2000, the I-2400 featured five premium seats and a premium radio - an upgrade here. It also had a larger V6 engine compared to its cheaper sibling’s I4, giving it a definite performance advantage. It was nowhere near the Saeta Albor Sprint in that regard, but it was more on par with the other ‘regular’ premium cars. For its price bracket its comfort was perhaps a little on the low side, but it was quite easy to drive, and it was exceptionally reliable. Indeed, it became known as the indestructible car, requiring very minimal maintenance throughout its expected lifespan. So it was regarded as a very good long-term investment by families who just managed to ‘escape’ the lower economic brackets and move up into premium territory, but were still leery of having to spend much in the long term on premium items. So while not exceptional in other ways, it did provide a safe platform for the people who finally had more to spend, but were still risk averse with their money.
The Anhultz Dione I-3000 automaat was another step upward. Priced in the middle of the premium bracket, this car offered more upgrades to its siblings: an automatic gearbox and a larger V6 engine. So it offered more comfort and more performance for an appropriately higher price, but at the cost of some reliability. But, comparatively, this was still a very reliable car, so the drop was only relative - compared to other cars in Letara it could still boast of a very good reputation in this regard. Given that price-wise it slotted in between the Swanson 225 PF - a sporty sedan, the Walkenhorst - which was not well liked, and the New Yorker - a most comfortable boat of a car, the Anhultz seemed like the most down to earth, normal premium family sedan. So for that it was quite well liked by the upward mobile growing upper-middle class of Letara, and did quite well in its segment.
…to be continued…
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Chapter 12: Racing results, R1 class
1964
The weekend following the R2 races was reserved for Letara’s premier event: the R1 class. Cars in this class were virtually unrestricted and were the pinnacle of power, speed, and handling. These were truly awe-inspiring machines that made people’s hearts thump faster. The sights, the sounds, the smells… it was all an overwhelming cacophony of sensations for those attending the race weekend, in the best way possible. Masses of people attended each race weekend making use of all the new facilities around the track. The camp sites were fully booked months in advance, the stands sold out, and the line outside the Ferris wheel was never less than two hours long - except during the race itself of course. To say that auto racing was a success is an understatement. In this era the R1 class was closer than ever, and the fights for victory were even hotter contested than in the R2 class, which made for truly exciting rivalries, unexpected twists and turns, and unpredictable results. Here is how the racing went.
The first race of the era was off to a good start for most teams, only the Zephorus bogged down a little at the start. After some initial squabbling the teams settled into a rhythm with the pack in a relatively tight formation. On lap six the Rhania pulled into the pits for some repairs, but managed to get going again trailing the field. Then the Knightwick had a few smaller issues and fell behind the main field, but then was embroidered in a battle with the Zephorus as they trailed the main pack at a small distance. On lap 11 the Rhania gave up the ghost and retired at the side of the road in a cloud of smoke. At the rear the Zephorus encountered another issue and fell behind the Knightwick, which in turn had issues around lap 11. The two cars traded places a few times until the Zephorus’ retirement on lap 19, leaving the Knightwick to finish last. At the front of the field the Benetsch managed to take the lead on lap 11, which it held onto for many laps keeping a steady lead until lap 20. Behind, the Vizzuri fell off the main pack with issues around lap 13 and another major mishap on lap 19, taking it out of contention and giving it a sixth place finish. The Wolfe and Mocabey cars also had their own reliability woes in the second half of the race. After swapping places a few times, the Wolfe did manage to out-pace the Mocabey for fourth place, giving the Mocabey fifth. At the front the last five laps were quite an exciting affair. The Kamaka caught up to the Benetsch on lap 20 and the two were in a tight battle for a few laps, allowing the Mons to catch up by lap 22. Then the Kamaka made some minor mistakes and fell behind the other two. The Benetsch driver kept his cool and fought off the offensive, and despite a small issue on the last lap came in as the victor. The with a last-lap dash the Mons managed a close second place and the Kamaka finished in a solid third, well ahead of the rest of the field.
1965
In 1965 the race was again off to a good start for most teams. Only the Rhania had issues right from the start requiring it to come into the pits almost immediately. After several attempts to repair the car, it retired on lap 8. It was pretty clear running for most cars at the front with cars swapping places in the main pack. Just the Mocabey fell behind a little, joined by the Knightwick on lap 9 for a battle in last place. Zephorus was having a good race at the front, even leading the race a few times until its retirement on lap 11. On the same lap the Vizzuri had to peel into the pits with a major issue, which made it fall to last place. This didn’t last long, as the Mocabey had its own problems a lap later. For a few laps the Mocabey, Vizzuri, and Knightwick cars were in a race together, but one by one all three retired from the race. At the front the Kamaka took the lead on lap 12, closely followed by the heavily fighting Benetsch, Mons, and Wolfe. On lap 16 it seemed that the Mons would pull away from the fight and join the Kamaka at the front, but then it had an issue and fell well behind the lead pack. Despite heavy battling, the Wolfe and Benetsch duo slowly reeled in the Kamaka and overtook it on lap 20, but then disaster struck both cars - the Wolfe on lap 22 and the Benetsch on lap 23, leaving the Kamaka with a relatively easy victory. The Benetsch came home second, followed by the Wolfe and the Mons at quite a distance.
1966
1966 saw one of the cleanest starts to racing thus far; only the Mons encountered some issues on the first few laps putting it in last place. The pack settled into a steady rhythm with some minor squabbling up and down the main pack. The first signs of trouble for Rhania started on lap 8 and it fell back to join the Mons at the rear, but then the issue escalated and it retired on lap 11. It was joined at the side of the road by the Knightwick. After these two retirements the main pack was slowly pulled apart, but most cars ran with relatively no issues. The Wolfe and Mocabey were in a fight at the very front until the Wolfe encountered some issues around lap 14 and 15, and it fell to last place. This left the Mocabey up front, followed at a small distance by the Benetsch, Vizzuri, and Kamaka. The Zephorus had slowly fallen behind the leading pack, and was overtaken by the Mons car, which was slowly reeling in the leaders after its early setback. On lap 19 the Mocabey team had a major issue to fix on the car, and they fell to last place and were now fighting the Wolfe. At the front, the Kamaka and Benetsch duo were fighting hard for first place between laps 18 and 21, with the Benetsch slowly pulling ahead, leaving then the Kamaka battling with Vizzuri for second. Behind, the Mons was pulling away from the Zephorus and slowly reeling in the front runners. The last lap saw some more drama, as the Benetsch, Vizzuri, and Zephorus slowed down, allowing the Kamaka to clinch the race win, and the Mons to sneak by for second, leaving the Benetsch to limp home in third. The Wolfe and Mocabey duo, who were fighting for last place until then, blew past the Vizzuri and Zehphorus to claim fifth and sixth.
1967
After a clean start for the entire field, the Benetsch and Zephorus cars had some minor issues on lap two and fell to the back of the pack, but both managed to fight their way back to the main pack quickly as the other cars squabbled and jostled for position. The race was mostly uneventful with the lead pack in tight formation until lap 12. Then the Rhania retired unexpectedly from seventh place. The Zephorus and Knightwick were bringing up the rear of the field, but on lap 12 the Benetsch fell behind them following a major technical issue. However, eventually the Knightwick retired on lap 18, and after many lengthy repairs the Zephorus retired from last place on lap 22. The Benetsch had a woeful race of its own at the rear with a myriad of issues, and had its worst race finish well behind the rest and several laps down. At the front of the field the Wolfe was looking to be running away with the race, building a sizable lead for itself. Behind, the Mons and Kamaka were in a heated battle for many laps for second place, followed by the Vizzuri at a small distance. The Kakama started to show some problems around lap 21, though, making it slow down and allowing the Mons to escape. Then on lap 24 the Wolfe encountered a major issue, and it fell behind the three chase cars, leaving the Mons to take the checkered flag. Kamaka’s issue slowed it down enough for the Vizzuri to overtake it, giving the Vizzuri second, Kamaka third, and the Wolfe limping home in fourth.
1968
The Benetsch had a slow start this year, but the rest of the field got away well. Again, there were very few issues in the opening laps and the field was battling in a tight formation and only slowly getting stretched out. The first issues where for Zephorus, initially pushing it to the back of the field, where it was quickly joined by Rhania as they also encountered their own issues. Then the Rhania fell well behind after a major repair job, and ultimately retired on lap 11. Meanwhile, the Knightwick was slowly being shaken off the rear of the field, but then the Mocabey had an issue and fell well behind the pack on lap 11, joined by the Knightwick on lap 14 after a series of smaller mishaps. Just in front, the Zephorus also slowly fell behind the lead pack. On laps 14 and 15 the Benetsch had some major issues to contend with, and it fell to last place again. This left four cars in a very tight battle for the lead: the Kamaka, Mons, Wolfe, and Vizzuri. On laps 15 and 16 the Mons and Vizzuri made mistakes and fell behind the leaders’ fight, leaving the Kamaka and Wolfe to battle it out. But then on lap 18 the Kamaka also started showing some reliability issues, leaving the Wolfe to run unopposed in first place. In fact the Kamaka fell behind the Vizziuri, Mons, Zephorus and Knightwick even, and was running in sixth on lap 20, after being in the fight for the lead just a few laps before. But then on lap 21 the Vizzuri retired from second place, the Mons had a major issue on lap 22 setting it back behind the Kamaka. Then the Zephorus retired from its inherited second place on lap 22, and on the same lap the Knightwick retired from third. So the Wolfe ran to a clean and dominant victory, and due to some luck (or rather, uffortunate retirements from others) the Kamaka came in second and the Mons third. The Mocabey had more issues of its own at the rear of the field, allowing Benetsch to come home in fourth.
1969
This time the Mons completely bogged down right off the start, and its second lap was also pretty slow, so for the first four laps it was well behind the rest of the field, which got away quite well. On lap four the Rhania joined it at the rear for a short and intense fight, however. Then they were joined at the rear by the Knightwick. In the end the Rhania fell slightly behind, and the Knightwick had the measure of the Mons for a good number of laps. Until both the Rhania and Knightwick retired on lap 12, leaving the Mons to run in clear air, still well behind the main pack. In the main pack the Wolfe and Mocabey were leading the Kamaka and Benetsch duo, followed closely in fifth by the Vizzuri and Zephorus. Until lap 12 that is, when the Kamaka had an issue and fell behind the pack a little, and due to continuous small issues with the car it was forced to slow down and was slowly reeled in by the Mons. The Zephorus had its own issues closer to the front, but retired on lap 15 with a terminal failure. The Mocabey and Wolfe duo were fighting hard until the Mocabey had to let the Wolfe go on lap 15, falling behind the Vizzuri and Benetsch. This left the Wolfe race ahead in clean air, and the chasing trio in a tight fight for second. This battle lasted until lap 20, when the Benetsch encountered a major issue, and it fell behind the fight between the Mons and Kamaka at the rear. Drama ensued for the Wolfe team as their car encountered a major problem on lap 21 and it fell to third behind the Vizzuri an dMocabey. But as fate would have it, they themselves also had some issues on lap 24, and fell down the order and mixing the field for the race finish. So in the end the Wolfe did manage to clinch a surprise victory, followed by the Kamaka and Mons cars who were running in last place just on lap 20. The Vizzuri just fell to fourth, followed by the Mocabey and Benetsch came home last after a slow last lap of its own.
1970
The race was off to a good start for most teams, just the Rhania had some issues getting off the line. But it too was back in the fray by lap three and fighting among the main pack of cars. The Knightwick fell behind a little on lap 5, which was the start of its reliability-plagued race. But the Rhania started to show major issues first, and it fell well behind the pack on lap 6. At the front the usual suspects were battling for the lead: the Wolfe, Benetch, Mons, Kamaka**, and Mocabey, closely followed by the Zephorus and Vizzuri, the latter two slowly falling behind the leaders. The Knightwick encountered a major issue on lap 11 and joined the Rhania at the rear, with which it was in a tight battle until the Rhania’s retirement on lap 16; a lap later the Knightwick also retired. There was also some drama at the front as cars slowly started showing some reliability woes. Only the Wolfe seemed to be immune this year to any issues, and it peeled away from the pack by lap 12, and never looked back taking a very comfortable victory. After the mid-race dust settled, the Mons emerged in second place, and despite losing time on the last few laps to chasing cars, it managed to come home in second. The Benetsch, in a fight for third with Kamaka since lap 16 and swapping places a few times, managed to pull away on the last few laps for a third place finish. The Kamaka, then, finished fourth. THe Vizzuri and Zephorus had some major issues in the second half of the race, both forced into the pits for long repairs. After swapping places a few times, the Vizzuri team managed to get their car home in front of the Zephorus.
1971
This year the first few laps of the race proved to be quite messy for many teams as the pack fought hard. It was hard to call who was where, but notably the Rhania was in the fight for the lead until lap three, until it again had to go to the pits for major repairs and it fell behind the pack. Wolfe and Kamaka were leading the race from Knightwick, as all other teams had minor mishaps on the opening laps. The running order on lap five was Kamaka in a clear lead, followed by the **Wolfe and Knightwick duo, then the Vizzuri, Benetsch and Mons trio fighting for fourth place. The Mocabey and Vizzuri were slowly getting dropped by the pack, and the Rhania was lapping a ways down in last place until its retirement on lap 9. Near the front, the fight for second place was settled as the Wolfe pulled away from the Knightwick and slowly caught up to the Kamaka, while the Knightwick fell down the order until it retired from seventh place on lap 12. The Kamaka managed to hold onto the lead and the Wolfe had some technical issues around laps 12 and 13, so it fell to fifth place behind the Benetsch now running in second, Vizzuri in third and Mons in fourth. But then the Kamaka also started to show problems, and it fell behind the Vizzuri, Mons and Benetsch, which was also slowing down a little and was overtaken by the Vizzuri and Mons. Near this time two more retirements occurred from the rear of the field: the Zephorus on lap 17 and the Mocabey on lap 20. The Wolfe encountered a major issue on lap 17 to, setting it well back in to last place, where it would finish the race. At the front, the Benetsch managed to re-overtake the Vizzuri and Mons, and ran in first until lap 24; the Mons itself overtook the Vizzuri for second and was trailing the Benetsch at striking distance. But both drivers pushed their cars too hard, forcing them to limp home on the last lap, and relinquishing the victory to Vizzuri and second place to Kamaka; Benetsch took third and Mons fourth ahead of the much-beleaguered Wolfe.
1972
Once again it was a slightly messy race start for many teams. Early on the Benetsch, Mons, Zephorus, and Mocabey pulled away nicely, giving them a slight lead over the rest. The Mocabey had the worst start and was relegated to the rear of the field, where it was joined by the Knightwick on lap 4; eventually the Knightwick did manage to break free, leaving the Mocabey at the rear. On lap 8 the Rhania came in for its by now almost customary large repair, setting it back to last place in the standings. The car ultimately retired on lap 14, once again leaving the Mocabey carrying the red lantern. At the front the Benetsch was pulling ahead of the field by lap 10, followed by a fighting Kamaka, Zephorus and Wolfe. The Mons fell behind a little and had a short fight with Vizzuri on lap 11 and 12, but then managed to rejoin the fray up front fighting for second by lap 13 and 14. Then on that lap the Benetsch and Zephorus had some bigger problems with the car, both falling to the rear of the lead pack, just in front of the Vizzuri, and leaving the Wolfe and Mons duo fighting at the front. The Zephorus never fully got their car problems under control, and after falling further behind retired the car on lap 20 from last place. The fight for first place between Wolfe and Mons raged on from lap 14 to 21 with many swaps of position, but a small mishap for Wolfe left the Mons in the lead by lap 22. The Benetsch had fought its way back to the leaders’ fight on lap 20, almost overtaking the Mons on that lap, but then had another major issue which set it back to the very rear and fighting with Mocabey. The fight for third between Kamaka and Vizzuri was decided on lap 22 when the latter car was forced into the pits for major repairs and setting it well behind the rest into last place. In the end the Mons managed to hold off the Wolfe at the front giving them the 1-2, then came the Kamaka in third, itself almost caught by the now charging Benetsch who managed to overtake the Mocabey.
1973
This year the start of the race was a very clean one with remarkably close racing until lap 4. Then some teams started showing some reliability issues: the Rhania slowed first, followed by the Knightwick and Zephorus as these three cars fell behind the main pack. The Rhania continued to slow down until it retired on lap 11. The Zephorus and Knightwick duo fought hard at a small distance behind the main pack, which was so tight that it was anyone’s race. Small chinks in the armour started to appear for Benetsch on lap 11, and Kamaka and Mons on lap 12, as they all fell to the rear end of the main pack. At this time the Knightwick was being dropped by the Zephorus, which found itself fighting with the Benetsch, Kamaka, and Mons. At the front the Mocabey and Wolfe were very slowly pulling ahead. On lap 16 the Knightwick retired from last place. There was quite a bit of squabbling and place swaps in the midfield during the third quarter of the race, with the Mons slowly pulling away from the Benetsch in third place and reeling in the front two cars by lap 19. But on lap 21 the Mocabey was forced to retire, leaving the Wolfe unopposed in first place, where it remained for the remainder of the race to take another dominant victory. Behind, the Benetsch had some major issues on lap 20, sending it to the back of the field behind the Zephorus, and Mons and Kamaka also had major issues on lap 21, which sent them to the back of the field. This left the Vizzuri to finish an unopposed second and the Zephorus - despite a last-lap slow-down - third. Behind the Zephorus, the Mons and Mocabey fought hard till the end, but but Mons managed to clinch fourth. The Benetsch continued to have issues and very slowly limped home in a distant last place.
1974
The last race of the era was off to a good start, just the Kamaka got stuck on the start line a little bit; nevertheless it was back in the fight quickly. The Rhania started showing reliability issues on lap 4 with several costly trips to the pits in the next few laps until its retirement on lap 11. The rest of the field was very close together until lap 10, when the Zephorus and Mons both started to encounter some reliability issues. The Zephorus in particular had large issues; first it fell well behind the main pack, then out of the race on lap 13. At the frong the Wolfe was slowly pulling away, followed closely by the Benetsch and Mocabey. The Kamaka, Vizzuri, Mons and Knightwick were fighting amongst themselves for fourth place. Around lap 13 and 14 the Benetsch slowed and joined the fight for fourth, while the Knightwick fell well behind the rest of the field**. Now the Wolfe really started to pull away from the Mocabey up front, establishing a clear 1-2. Over time the Wolfe did start to show some reliability issues, making it periodically slow down, and the Mocabey was slowly catching up between laps 17 and 21, when the Wolfe had to finally pull into the pits for major repairs, sending it to the rear of the field (after the Knightwick retired on lap 21). This left the Mocabey in the lead. Unfortunately for it, the glory didn’t last long as the car was forced to retire on lap 21. relinquishing the lead to the Kamaka, now followed in second by the Mons, then Vizzuri and the Wolfe and Benetsch pair fighting for fourth. But then on lap 24 the Kamaka also pulled into the pits for last-minute repairs, leaving then the Mons with the race victory, Vizzuri second, and as the Wolfe slowed on the last lap, Benetsch in third. Wolfe’s slow-down was so severe that in the end the Kamaka managed to finish ahead in fourth.
With the last race finished, the track was quiet once more. Letarans clearly enjoyed attending and watching the races that unfolded in this decade of steady rules, but was a change perhaps in order? Has the track become a bit stale? Would different cars make for even better racing? These questions were popping up with increasing frequency as Letarans started looking toward the future of car racing in their country.
@happyfireballman @Texaslav @mart1n2005 @SheikhMansour @Aruna @Riley @karhgath @LS_Swapped_Rx-7
…to be continued…
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Mara goes Letara, Ep. 3-9: Politics, sales and rivals
12th January 1970
Boardroom, Mara main factory grounds, just outside the town of Mara, Archana
It was a sombre mood with which Mara’s comrade directors entered their boardroom this year for their usual meeting at the beginning of the year to discuss whether any modifications to the most recent five year plan had to be made.
In the late autumn of the previous year, Mara’s long serving and well-liked Comrade Executive Director (CED), Henri Nordhov, had unexpectedly died of a heart attack and Fedor Piechov, Comrade Director of Engineering, had taken over as an interim CED for the time being.
Personnel changes and Letaran sales review
The first agenda item was the confirmation of the new permanent CED as appointed by the Archanan State Planning Commission. Afterwards, the board would continue to review the previous year sales and any necessary adjustments in production that had to be made.
Sitting in the - for him - unusual position at the head of the table, Fedor Piechov open the meeting with his sonorous and gravely voice. “Good morning comrades. You should all have a sheet with today’s agenda in front of you. As you can see, the first item is to announce the new CED.”
After a short unceremonial pause Fedor continued. “I’m happy and proud to announce that the State Commission has appointed me as the new permanent Comrade Executive Director of Mara.”
Another pause. “This of course means that we have to appoint a new Comrade Director of Engineering as well. I’ll sort out the details with the State Commission and then inform you of the results.” He looked to both Yenna Bielicka and Rodyn Gumprov who both knew that they are where the ones in line for the coveted CDE position as Mara’s most experienced engine and car design engineers, respectively.
Fedor continued In the most business-like tone he could muster. “Next agenda item: foreign sales. Let’s start with Letara.”
Inna Horyova, Comrade Director for Letaran Operations began. “As most of you know, our Irena sedan, wagon and panel van has been on sale for the last few years in Letara as well.”
She paused for a second and then began, in line with Fedor’s well known preferences, with the worst news. “Sales of our van started quite well but also dropped off quite quickly after some competition arrived. The Knightwick K45 Courier was a bit smaller but more drivable, the Kessel K-20 van a dedicated heavy hauler and the TIV Mungo an all-round better similar sized van.”
Alexandra Koroleva, Comrade Director of Sales, chimed in. “Ultimately, this was no real issue, however, because the Irena van has been selling well - or, as Comrade Inna would say, like sliced bread - especially in Fruinia. The three competitors mentioned are not for sale there.”
Fedor shot a disapproving look towards Alexandra. His own memory was as good as hers on the sliced bread tangent he had gone off in a board meeting a decade ago or so, and he wondered why she needed to refer to this now.
Inna continued. “Irena wagon and sedan sales have been quite low but rather steady over time. Again, we got some competition their over time.”
Alexandra chimed in again. “While not fantastic, our Letaran exports helped us to smooth out peaks and troughs in sales across all markets.”
Inna started again. "For the wagon, it was Kessel again, with their Sperling Tradesman Wagon which turned out to be even better off-road than the Irena wagon, and also the Stellar Dragonet Estate, slightly better on paper but with worse driving characteristics. Guess they need to sort out their new fancy FWD drivetrain.
She quickly took a look at her notes, then continued. “There is a similar story for the Dragonet sedan, and also the Suma M312 Selecta which again is even better off road than the Irena sedan due to a locking diff. Popas also tried to compete, mainly on price, but ultimately wasn’t successful.”
Now was Alexandra’s turn again. “As you can see, we can say that we have two main rivals in Letara: Kessel and Stellar - but there are also other different competitors in different market segments.”
“It was quite odd, but also intriguing to watch new competition unexpectedly appear at seemingly random times”, Inna concluded. “Something we don’t have on our home market. Guess other companies in their free market need to react more quickly then us with our long planned production cycles in a stable market.”
Fedor’s eyes had repeatedly shifted between Alexandra and Inna during their reports. He asked them: “You two would make a good tag team, wouldn’t you?”
Inna and Alexandra exchanged surprised and insecure glances but did not say anything in return.
It was hard to tell from Fedor’s stoic outward appearance whether he felt a little smug about his comeback to Alexandra’s earlier side remark.
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Rd. 3 RESULTS
Chapter 13: Consumer car segment 1964-1974 - family pt. 3
Left to right: Levante Nuova 130 - 3.0 Li @TanksAreTryhards, Benetsch Kralewitsch @Texaslav, P&A Sportsman Mk.III Flat 6, Planar Danazine F6H @lotto77, Mayland Meteor @TheYugo45GV, Wolfe E320 2+2 Roadster @karhgath, Planar Danazine F6S, Benetsch Lerance 8000ZR, Benetsch Kralewitsch Imperator, Wolfe E540 V12 396, Capital Monarch Liberitas, Capital Monarch @Prium
At the top of the family segment are of course the luxury cars - the most expensive and opulent family vehicles on Letaran roads. In this decade there were more luxury vehicles on offer than premium vehicles, so the market was quite saturated. Only the best or most unique could stand out from the crowd. Let’s see which cars made an impression on the most discerning buyers.
The first - and only - luxury car available for three years was the 1964 P&A Sportsman Mk.III Flat 6. With a price tag about $10k over the next cheaper car, the Levante Nuova Lusso, it was firmly in the price range of the elite at this time. It was quite an elegant looking car, but the tacked-on reverse light did seem like an after-thought, especially at this price range. Interestingly, it was a more practical five-seater, but with beautiful hand-made interior and a luxury radio. It was the most comfortable car on the market until the release of the Liberty New Yorker two years later, as a luxury car should be. Its performance was not earth-shattering, but more than adequate in this segment. It was hampered by some reliability issues, but nothing catastrophic - just what you’d expect form a car with the most advanced and intricate features. It made cars from the previous era seem quite outdated, and with half of the upkeep costs compared to any of the older models, it was a significant step in the right direction. As it had zero competition for three years, it rightfully claimed its spot among luxury buyers for a few years.
After a three-year hiatus, three cars were released in 1967. The cheapest car was the Planar Danazine F6H. It was priced slightly higher than the Sportsman, and for all intents and purposes it was just an update to the previous trim with a different name badge. It had slightly updated fascia (but retained the tacked-on reverse light), a two-tone paint job, and the mirrors moved from the door to the front fenders. It also had an upgrade in the dash with a built-in phonograph, and mechanically it was upgraded with rear disc brakes compared to the drums of its older sibling. It also ran with a different boxer-6 engine that was updated for running on E-fuels. Overall, its performance remained about level with the older car, but in about all aspects the car was a bit better: better drivability, comfort, reliablility, and efficiency leading to slightly lower long-term upkeep. So it was a successful replacement of the P&A, displacing its older sibling in the luxury market and becoming the new ‘comfort’ option for luxury car buyers.
The other two luxury cars were more performance-sedan oriented and were direct competitors. The cheaper of the two was the large and boxy Mayland Meteor. Priced just a little higher than the Planar, this car also had a full five seats, but of the luxury variety. It did have a phonograph in the dash, similar to the Planar. It had more aggressive yet luxurious looks, more reminiscent of cars you’d see in a diplomatic convoy (or in the garage of the nearest mafia boss). In any case, this car was more performance oriented than the P&A or Planar. It had a clutched limited differential to keep the power manageable from its large V8 engine. The car had some sportscar-like performance, but that came at a cost of drivability and reliability. It was also not the most comfortable car, more akin to a premium car than a luxury car. Most luxury buyers wanted more comfortable transportation, but those that wanted a sporty sedan, this was a good option.
The other car was the Planar Danazine F6S, the ‘sporty’ Danazine. It was priced slightly higher than the previous car, but not significantly so. In most aspects it was very similar to the F6H with the same interior, similar two-tone paint job and overall looks, it even ran the same engine. The engine did receive quite a performance boost with a 10 Hp gain, putting this car’s performance on par with the Mayland. It also had a more sports-oriented manual gearbox in contrast to the previous three car’s automatic ones. While it did lose comfort to the F6H, it was still more comfortable than the Mayland, and also more reliable and drivable. So on paper it seemed like a logically it was a better choice for those who wanted a sporty luxury sedan. But it ended up splitting the ‘sports-sedan’ corner of the market with the Mayland, simply because that car was more unique; the Planar F6S just looked like the other Planars and P&As (in other words - all* other luxury cars) that were already on the luxury market, and in this segment being different is usually a good thing.
The following year the Wolfe E320 2+2 Roadster hit the market. This luxury convertible slotted in between the Mayland and Planar F6S price-wise, further crowding the ‘mid-luxury’ price point. It did have significantly higher upkeep costs, but still much lower than anything from the previous era. This car had a 2/+2 seating arrangement with smaller jump-seats in the rear as the room was taken up by its automatically retracting soft-top. The interior was of luxury quality and it had a phonograph. Despite its seating arrangement, a large all-aluminium V8, a decent 0-100 km/h time, a semi-clad floor and sports tires, it could not be considered a sports car as it had a very sensible 160 km/h speed limiter. As could be expected from a convertible with jump seats, it was not the most comfortable car - but still on par with the Mayland and Planar F6S. It was quite easy to drive and had good handling too. To top it off, it was really good looking too with quite modern features. So it immediately captured the luxury-convertible market - not only because it was completely unopposed, but because it was a good car for what it intended to be.
All other seven luxury cars in this era were released in a single year: 1970. This was the largest launch year in Letaran history for any segment, and it instantly flooded the luxury segment. Given that no other luxury cars were released hereafter, it was a ‘make-it or break-it’ moment for all manufacturers. The cheapest car was the Levante Nuova 130 - 3.0 Li - an updated version of the 1964 Lusso. This car just broke into the luxury market price bracket, and by all rights bridged the gap with the premium market. In many respects it was similar to the Lusso - it had four full luxury seats and luxury radio, automatic gearbox, and the same I6 engine albeit with updated components. Performance wise it was actually slower than its predecessor, but it was a bit more comfortable (on par with the P&A) while being easier to drive and more reliable. So overall the Li took off where the Lusso left off. However, it was better situated now to take advantage of the upward mobility of Letarans. It would’ve done exceptionally well taking the lower end of the luxury market by storm, had it not been for its close rival released concurrently, the…
Benetsch Kralewitsch. The Kralewitsch slotted in next to the Nuova Li at the bottom of the luxury market. This was a much larger and angular sedan, reminiscent of the Mayland, but even more imposing, aggressive and refined. It had two full bench seats - a segment-unique feature - of the luxury variety and luxury radio. It was not a very agile or fast car, naturally topping out at 180 km/h. It was slightly more comfortable and reliable than the Nuova Li, but was not quite as easy to drive - not unexpected from a much larger and heavier car. It was simply a solid car all-round that exuded prestige and luxury, but under the skin delivered just enough to rival its competition. The two bench seats seemed on paper to be an outdated feature, but considering all other cars in the last two decades, they were in fact a quite unique and interesting feature that became a selling point for the car rather than a detractor. So it managed to outcompete the Nuova at the bottom of the luxury segment, but it could not attract people ‘downward’ from the more expensive option that were objectively better cars.
The other two Benetsch cars, the Lerance 8000ZR and Kralewitsch Imperator were priced higher than the Planar Danazine F6S, so were priced above the midpoint in the luxury segment and aimed at a slightly different audience. The Lerance 8000 ZR was the performance luxury sedan of the decade. It had a huge V8 engine that propelled this beast off the line with supercar acceleration (indeed, only one sports car got to 100 km/h faster than the Lerance 8000ZR), and it reached a top speed no other car could match: 286 km/h. Its sporty nature was further accentuated with its manual gearbox and sports compound tires. Despite this, the car retained its luxury sedan characteristics: four luxury seats and a luxury 8-track in the dash. It was surprisingly comfortable too - not ‘riding on a cloud’ level, but quite acceptable considering the sporty nature of the car. It was remarkably reliable too, and relatively easy to drive again considering just how sporty it was. Given the racing pedigree of Benetsch at the Lerance Raceway, it is then not surprising that this car with its face-melting performance took the sporty-luxury-sedan by storm, virtually making all other rivals disappear overnight. It even attracted the attention of luxury-sportscar buyers, as it was indeed faster than all of them, albeit less nimble.
The Benetsch Kralewitsch Imperator took a completely opposite tack to the Lerance 8000ZR. It was priced about $6000 higher, but had a much lower maintenance costs (saving much on the **8000ZR’s engine upkeep and fuel costs - all that speed comes at a price!). In any case, where the 8000ZR aimed (successfully) to be the sporty luxury sedan, the Imperator aimed to become the comfort luxury sedan. It had a capacity-reduced V8 with a more comfortable tune, automatic gearbox, hand-made interior with four seats, luxury 8-track, comfortable steering assists, hydropneumatic suspension, and comfortable medium compound tires. The Benetsch engineers saved no expense in making this the most comfortable on Letaran roads - and that is not hyperbole. It was the most comfortable by some margin. All this comfort did not come at a cost to reliability or drivability either, making it quite an attractive proposition. This car too, just like its siblings, had great looks, this time with a rich two-tone paint job. Although not the most expensive luxury car - it was quite ‘affordable’ in comparison to the most expensive ones - it was simply the flagship of what a comfortable luxury car should be, and the rich and famous ate it up.
Priced slightly higher than the 8000ZR, the Wolfe E540 V12 396 aimed squarely in between the two Benetsch cars. It had a hint of sportiness with its class-exclusive V12 engine that pushed the car with ease. It also had more comfort-oriented choices, such as the hand-made four seats, luxury 8-track player, hydropneumatic suspension and medium compound tires. Its overall comfort was second-highest in Letara, just beating the Liberty New Yorker - but significantly lower than the Imperator. On the other hand, it was faster and more nimble than either, and had better reliablity and drivability too. Overall, it was a very good car indeed, but it only really stood out in one way in the luxury market: it had a V12 engine. So when there started to be too many Benetsches on the driveways of Fiegheni’s villas, this was where luxury buyers turned, because objectively it was the next best option, and you could still show off your 12-banger to the neighbours.
The two most expensive luxury cars were the Capital Monarch Liberitas and Capital Monarch. The Monarch Liberitas was a further $7k more expensive than the Wolfe E540 and had an upkeep closer to the Benetsch Lerance 8000ZR than anything else in the luxury segment. So needless to say, it was quite an expensive car - the second most expensive to buy, but nearly the most expensive factoring in upkeep costs. It was a rather large wedge-shaped convertible car with high-quality four full-size luxury seats and a luxury 8-track. Similar to the other cars at the top of the luxury segment, this car too had hydropneumatic suspension, but was running on sports compound tires suggesting some sporty aspirations. The automatic soft top was a prestigious addition to the car. It have a large boxer-6 engine that gave it a small hint of performance, but the car’s top speed was limited to 200 km/h, leaving not much to brag about at the end of a highway straight. Considering its price tag, it was not the most comfortable car - basically on par with the cheapest luxury car: the Levante Nuova Li. It also was not the most reliable or easy to drive car among its peers. Then, it seemed that while not a bad car, it simply didn’t offer anything better than its rivals, while being significantly more expensive. Its most unique feature was that it was a rather unique looking convertible. Just for that fact it managed to find a small market for itself among those who had money to throw around and wanted something that looked very unique - and being a convertible always helps, especially when there aren’t many convertibles on the market period.
The Capital Monarch was a very similar car to its cheaper sibling, but adding another $8k to the price tag, making it by far the most expensive car on the market in any segment. It was a closed-top sedan version of the same car, but with a nice hand-made interior. This car had decent comfort, but still lagged behind the Wolfe E540 and even the Liberty New Yorker. Otherwise one was left to wonder where all that money went in this vehicle, why was it so expensive? Why could other cars be objectively so much better for so much less cost? It was a small mystery. One thing cannot be denied: this car too had amazing and unique looks, albeit without the convertible top it was less desirable even. So who bought it? Well, not many people, that’s for sure. In a simple cost-benefit analysis, it was a very bad decision indeed. But every country has a few people with more money than brains, and think that they simply need to have the most expensive thing available and that will make them appear more … well more something. So a few Monarchs ran around on Letaran roads, but they were a very rare sight indeed.
…to be continued…
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Rd. 3 RESULTS
Chapter 14: Consumer car segment 1964-1974 - sports cars pt. 1
Left to right: Resuki Ligera GT-Special @Repti, Vaughn Silverbird Coupé @Knugcab, Kinnister BL22 @ldub0775, Niichi Dynema Aquila MT30 @MisterRocketMan, Mitsushita Royale 2000 GTCi @conan, Vaughn Silverbird Rallye Convertible, Garland Valiente Prancer SR, Lombard Tenerife @ChemaTheMexican, Mitsushita Royale 2500 GT-RS, Vaughn Silverbird GTC, Zephorus Deagle 150 @Riley , Walkenhorst 2000 SPRT @Fayeding_Spray, Kamaka Draco 2500GT @LS_Swapped_Rx-7
Sports cars, where segment where the rubber hits the road; or rather, is supposed to. These cars typically are two-seater coupes or sedans, but as always there exists a grey area between segments, making some cars harder to classify - the segment benders. Regardless of how a sports car is classified, this segment held steady with 22 entries, maintaining a very healthy if not over-saturated market. From the small and nimble to the large and fast, every type of sports car is represented. Since there were no outright budget offering in this era, let’s see how the standard and premium sports cars did.
But first some unfortunate housekeeping...
I am terribly sorry, but I just noticed that there is one more bin. @Riley - the Zephorus Deagle 150 uses functional aero bits, which are banned for road cars. I’ve also already taken the group shot and retaking it would take too long, so it is in the line-up. Again, my apologies for only noticing this now and that I didn’t include it in the overall bins post.
The first sports car on the market was the 1967 Walkenhorst 2000 SPRT. This 2-seater coupe was on the more expensive side of the segment, almost breaching into the luxury price category. It had a sport interior and standard radio, sport compound tires and all-round disc brakes. It had a relatively small I4 engine, but because it was rather small and very light (only 831 kg), it had very good acceleration. Its top speed was not the best for a sports car (for some inexplicable reason it was gear limited to 165 km/h, despite the car capable of nearly 200). Just like the majority of sports cars, it was not the most comfortable ride, but chances are you probably wouldn’t be spending too much time in one anyway. Its brake set-up was also questionable with undersized rotors, underpowered front brakes and overpowered rears. And this car had one other major flaw: it catastrophically, fatally oversteered at any speed, which made it neigh undrivable. So despite being the only sports car on the market at this time, most people stayed away; for less price you could buy for example a Swanson 225 PF, that had better performance, more comfort, superb drivability and a racing pedigree to boost.
The Vaughn Silverbird Coupé was released in 1967; this car aimed straight at the lower standard segment and was the cheapest sports car on the market for a few years. It was a more practical car with 2/+2 standard seating and a basic radio, and definitely a more budget-minded offering with hard cross-ply tires and drum brakes on all four corners. So while on paper it might not have evoked the image of a fire-breathing monster, its styling was quite aggressive and hinted at a more aggressive nature. Indeed, it had a larger I6 engine with plenty of power. Its tires smoked rather that provided grip, so it was not the fastest off the mark, but it had excellent top speed at nearly 200 km/h; just about the cheapest way one could get to that speed was in a Silverbird. It was a one-trick pony, however. It was not comfortable and quite hard to drive, but reliability was decent. So really, it was only suitable for one thing: going fast in a straight line. And the youth who wanted to smoke their tires loved it too, and it became that nuisance car - parked in the strip mall parking lot surrounded by leather jacket wearing teens boasting about the latest skid mark they left two blocks away and leaving behind a pile of empty beer cans when they finally left the scene.
The Silverbird Rallye Convertible, released the same year, was a more… serious… car by Vaughn. Its price tag just put it at the bottom of the premium price point, splitting the difference between the Silverbird Coupé and Walkenhurst. It had the same 2/+2 standard seats, but improved the entertainment with a standard radio. It was a convertible with a removable top, which instantly made the car more desirable. It had an automatic gearbox, disc front brakes, and medium compound radial tires, which kept more of its large V8’s power on the road. But it was a very heavy vehicle, certainly the heaviest sports car in Letara, and overall in the top 5 of all cars - so it was still not very fast off the line. Top speed did break 200 km/h though. And similar to its cheaper sibling, it handled quite poorly and was most suitable to go fast in a straight line. It was slightly more comfortable and more prestigious, of course. Where the Coupé found a niche among the relatively poor and rebellious youths, the Rallye Coupe was seen as a slightly more mature offering and more often seen around college campuses driven by slightly older youths.
The third car by Vaughn, the Silverbird GTC was the most expensive of them, aiming for the upper half of the premium segment. With its styling including hood-scoops and a decal stripe it aimed - and succeeded - to look the most sporty of the line-up. Upgrades included a larger displacement and much more powerful V8 engine, clutched differential, sport compound tires, but retained the standard/standard interior. The GTC sacrificed some comfort and reliability, and was indeed quite hard to control at times, but it did have proper acceleration and top speed numbers (6.4 s 0-100 km/h and 247 km/h), beating other sports cars in the category at this time - indeed it was the cheapest way to go this fast in 1967. So it could be said that for each individual price point, the Vaughns were simply the fastest cars at release. The GTC, then, attracted a similar clientele as its cheaper siblings: the slightly rebellious buyer who just wanted to kick and then smoke tires, go fast in a straight line. But with its price point, it attracted the older crowd: still donning leather jackets, but with less hair at the top of their heads, and not hanging out at the strip mall, but drinking beer in front of each other’s suburban garages. Yes, it was the staple car of that obnoxious recently-divorced neighbour.
The most expensive premium sports car was also released in 1967: the **Kamaka Draco 2000GT. This small car was much more sleek and nimble than the others on the market. The coupe had two premium sports bucket seats and a premium radio. Rounding out the sport car image, it had a clutched differential, five-speed manual gearbox, semi-clad bottom, sport compound tires, and four-wheel disc brakes. It didn’t have the most power from its relatively small I6 engine (in fact only about half the Hp compared to the Silverbird GTC. Despite the power deficit, it was still just as quick 0-100 km/h as the GTC, and its top speed was still a very respectable 225 km/h. Despite its smaller size, it was more comfortable than the GTC and it was comparatively a breeze to throw around bends and corners. With a superb track record at the Lerance Raceway in the R1 category, this car also benefited from from the brand’s positive image. So overall, it did quite well in the premium sports car category, but being on the cusp of the luxury market, it didn’t do quite as well as as it might have due to some of the cars on offer there (namely, from its stable mate the 2000GT Convertible - but more on that in the next chapter).
Two sister cars were released in 1968: the Garland Valiente Prancer SR and the Lombard Tenerife. These cars were priced nearly identically and both between the Silverbird Rallye and Silverbird GTC; the notable difference was the Prancer SR’s very high long-term upkeep due to high service costs. The Prancer SR was the more sports-oriented car, starting with its more aggressive fascia and blacked out hood with scoops. It had 2/+2 sports seats and a basic radio (a bit of a disappointment at this price point), manual gearbox, clutched differential, and sports compound tires. It had a large all-aluminium V8 engine with nearly 380 Hp, making it one of the most powerful cars seen thus far. Its sporty nature did bring one issue with the car: the single simple muffler was inadequate to bring engine noise down to legal levels, so buyers had to install an aftermarket muffler before driving off the lot. Was this worth it? Well, it was by nature a similar car as the Vaughn cars: fast in a straight line, but don’t try to turn. In the case of the Prancer don’t try to turn at all at speed, because the back-end will overtake you in a hurry. So while it was indeed a very good price-speed proposition, it didn’t quite manage to displace the Vaughn cars. The issues it had didn’t quite overcome its shortcomings.
The Tenerife aimed to be a more reasonable and comfortable offering. It looked less aggressive and more prestigious than the Prancer. It had four full size seats of premium quality and a luxury radio. It featured the same engine as the Prancer, but downtuned to 310 Hp; thus an automatic gearbox, open diff and medium tires sufficed to keep the grip levels acceptable. It was indeed quite a comfortable car, rivalling the premium and even some luxury sedans, while maintaining good performance figures. It was then a segment-bender, being cross-shopped by family buyers, but was considered more of a sports cars with its two-door design. Nevertheless, it still had one major flaw - similar to the Prancer, it had terminal oversteer issues at speed, giving it a dangerous reputation that kept safety-conscious family buyers away. So while it did get a warmer reception than the Prancer, its sales never really took off.
The Kinnister BL22 was released in 1969, slotting in to the middle of the standard sports segment price wise. This was a little bit of an oddball car in many aspects and Letarans didn’t quite know what to make of it. It was a midsize sedan with two doors, two premium seats and a premium radio, hinting that it is a premium sports car. But then it had an under-powered yet torque-y I4 engine, a three-speed manual gearbox, off-road skid tray, and all-terrain tires, hinting at a more utilitarian vehicle. For its size and price it was quite comfortable, but it was quite hard to drive with terminal oversteer at speed. And with its 77 Hp, it was quite slow, especially in the sports segment. It had reliability issues too, not the least due to its engine being tuned to 96.2 octane fuel, leading to common knocking issues. So what was it? Well, Letarans decided it was best to just have some slow-speed fun with it on dirt and gravel roads, and countersteer it around corners. So after initial trepidation and uncertainty, it did find a small niche among the emerging rally crowd who just wanted something cheap to throw around in the dirt, and didn’t mind to tinker on their own cars. The pushrod design made this easier, and most surviving examples now have replaced heads that allow for lower compression in the combustion chamber.
The cheapest sports car of the era was released in 1970, the Resuki Ligera GT-Special. The Resuki was relatively well-equipped for its price: it had two premium seats and a standard radio, a five-speed manual gearbox, medium compound radial tires and four-wheel disc brakes. Its small boxer-four made just 100 Hp, but that was enough to propel this small sedan 0-100 km/h under 10 seconds and a top speed of 173 km/h. This was of course not Earth-shattering performance, but it did it without sacrificing comfort too much, having really good reliabilty and offered an easy driving experience not seen in any other dedicated sports car. Indeed, the setup of this car was top-notch from the factory, giving its owners zero headaches at any time of ownership. So for those that wanted a cheap sports car that handled well and was fun to drive on the twisties, and were willing to sacrifice some straight-line speed, this was the car for them.
The Resuki’s main competitor was the Niichi Dynema Aquila MT30. It was slightly more expensive, but still in the standard price category. It was a larger and more practical car with two doors, four premium seats and a premium radio - so in that sense it was also similar to the Tenerife, being cross-shopped by family car buyers. But it was a more sports oriented car with a coupe body style and sports compound tires. Similar to the Resuki, however, it had a relatively small I4 engine making just over 100 Hp, thus this car too was not the fastest among the bunch. But similar to the Resuki, it too was superbly set-up, had good cornering ability and a delight to drive on twisty roads. With its four seats it was overall not as comfortable or reliable as the Resuki, but it made up for it with its family-friendly practicality. So those who didn’t have a family yet could opt for a Resuki, and those who did could try a Niichi. And with that there emerged a split in the sports segment: those cars that were exceedingly powerful and went fast in a straight line, and those that weren’t as inherently fast or powerful but were much easier to drive and excellent at cornering. Over time two rival camps started to emerge among the sporting-plebs: the ‘straight-liners’ owning Vaughns and Garlands, and the ‘twisters’ owning Resukis and Niichis.
Two cars were released in 1973. In the standard sports category the Mitsushita Royale 2000 GTCi slotted in between the Niichi and the Silverbird Rallye. It was a mid-size coupe with four full-size standard seats and a premium 8-track player in the dash. It had sports tires and discs all-round. It’s I6 engine was not the most powerful at 122 Hp, but due to its light weight under one tonne it still accelerated faster than its nearest rivals. Top speed was electronically limited to 200 km/h. So it was also a more practical family-oriented car, similar to the Niichi - but it was slightly more comfortable, and slightly more reliable. It wasn’t quite as nimble as the Niichi, but was still very well set-up from the factory. So while not quite as pure of a driver’s car as the Niichi or the Resuki, it was still miles more fun to drive than anything in the family segment at the same price point. So smaller, younger families thought the Mitsushita Royale 2000 was a worthy upgrade from a Niichi if they were in the family-friendly sports-car business.
The same year the more expensive, premium Mitsushita Royale 2500 GT-RS was released. This car had a larger, more powerful I6 with more advanced features, providing 218 HP and giving this car an appropriate performance boost. It was the fastest car in this segment off the line with a 0-100 km/h time of 5.47 seconds and a very fast top speed above 250 km/h, helped with a semi-clad undertray. It managed to keep this power down and in control with a clutched differential and sports compound tires. But for all this extra money, you only got two standard seats and a basic radio, which was well below par at this price range. And in the pursuit of speed, the engineers forgot to also think about comfort: they build a proper race car (it almost looked it too!). But with a comfort as bad as the Vaughn Silverbird Coupé (on cross-ply tires and solid rear-axle, and $9k cheaper), it was just a hard sell, because as much as it wanted to be a pure track/race car - for which such low comfort would be forgivable - it did not measure up to them either. So while the Royale 2000 was mostly a hit, the 2500 was mostly a miss on Mitsushita’s part.
…to be continued…
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It had a wing yes but I believe it didn’t produce any downforce? I thought that was fine? Bit of a shame but there we are. This was the one I was looking forward to
Unfortunately they effect stats even when set to 0. It’s very misleading, I know
It did produce quite a bit of downforce (was not set to 0), but like doot says, even at 0 it provides some downforce. In any case, again, my apologies for not noticing it while doing the initial bins - sometimes things can slip through when dealing with 150 cars.
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Rd. 3 RESULTS
Chapter 14: Consumer car segment 1964-1974 - sports cars pt. 2
Left to right: Kamaka Draco 2500GT Convertible @LS_Swapped_Rx-7, Nerucci Motors Corp 220 Spyder, Nerucci Motors Corp 220 GT @04mmar, Wolfram Wyvern 5.0 V12 @abg7, Kamaka Draco XS-R, Nerucci Motors Corp 220 GTR, Wolfe E420 GT @karhgath, Vizzuri Laonda Special GT, Vizzuri Laonda Cabriolet Special, Vizzuri Laonda Prestazione @Aruna
Moving to the top end of the sports car line-up: the luxury sports cars. These cars are expensive for a reason: they are simply the best of the best automotive technology can offer. Be that the ultimate performance machine, or a combination of speed, comfort, and prestige, there are many ways to break into this market segment. One thing is for certain: owning one of these cars will make one the envy of many.
The first four cars in this segment were released right in 1964. The cheapest - ‘cheap’ used in a relative sense - was the Nerucci Motors Corp 220 Spyder. The name of the car was perhaps a clever but slightly misleading marketing ploy by the company, as the 220 Spyder was in fact not a spyder at all - it was a solid-top coupe. In any case, the small-body coupe came with two premium seats and a phonograph, medium tires, a five-speed manual gearbox (most cars in this segment had one), and disc brakes all-round (the latter an ubiquitous feature on luxury sports cars). It had a 200 Hp V8 engine with an unusual 60-degree block that gave it a sporty performance in a straight line. It was the cheapest true sports car in 1964, but its long-term upkeep was quite high, mostly due to high service costs. Despite its cost, it was not a comfortable car and could at best be considered ‘track-comfort’. The car’s looks were a little bland for this class, and especially the rear was deemed a little odd by Letarans. For the price all this could’ve been forgiven still, but there were two more major flaws in the car: one, it catastrophically oversteered at speed and was quite dangerous to push at highway speeds; two, its engine was tuned to 96.6 octane (the engineers probably reversed their pluses and minuses), giving rise to reliability issues. So despite very little direct competition outside its sibling cars, the 220 Spyder didn’t really make a big splash in the sports market.
The Nerucci Motors Corp 220 GT was in many respects the same car as the 220 Spyder, but it did have a luxury interior and a hotter tuned engine with 248 Hp. It also had a sportier look with a black stripe down the middle of the car, a hood scoop providing more air for the engine, and more classy rims. So the car was a hair more comfortable than the 220 Spyder and also a tad bit faster in a straight line, but had even bigger issues: the engine was tuned to 98.8 octane giving rise to very significant knocking and reliability issues, and it not only oversteered at speed, but also at slow speed, making it very difficult to handle. It was no wonder then that sales never took off.
A bit more expensive to buy, but a lot cheaper to maintain than the Nerucci cars was the Wolfram Wyvern 5.0 V12. This was a much sleeker and refined looking car. It had two luxury seats and a luxury radio, and in contrast to the Nerucci cars it was on sport compound tires. It had a slightly larger and quite modern V12 engine that put out 300 Hp. This car was faster than the Neruccis, significantly more comfortable, reliable, and easier to drive. In fact, it was really well set up from the factory providing solid cornering ability in stock configuration. Indeed, it could beat anything cheaper than it, and it could handle well. So while not cheap by any standard - it was in the luxury category for a reason - it was still a very good cost-benefit proposition and dominated the sports market as a whole for a few years until competition finally caught up.
The most expensive sports car of 1964 was the Nerucci Motors 220 GTR. This car was quite a significant jump up in price from the Wolfram, especially its long term upkeep was exorbitant. In fact, its long term upkeep would prove to be second highest of all cars this decade behind the Benetsch Lerance 8000ZR. For this price you got a nearly identical car to the 220 GT, but with some visual enhancements (mostly in the form of chrome strips), and a 275 Hp V12 engine that aimed to compete with the Wolfram. In a straight line this car did manage to keep up with the Wolfram, no complaints there. But, despite it being more comfortable than its siblings, it still trailed the Wolfram by a long mile in this regard. And it too suffered from the same issues as its sibling cars: a knocking and unreliable engine and terminal oversteer. So this car too failed to attract Letarans to the Nerucci showroom.
Released in 1967, the Kamaka Draco 2500GT Convertible was a small two-seater with a manual soft top - a true spyder this time. This car had sport seats and a premium radio, but to add sportiness it had a semi-clad undertray and sports compound tires. Just like its coupe sibling, it featured a smaller I6 engine with 166 Hp, so it was not a straight-line monster by any means, but it could still provided exciting speed. Where this car shined was on the twisties: it was small and nimble, well set up for corners. Price-wise, it bridged the gap between the premium and luxury markets, so it was a significantly more affordable car than the Wolfram, but quite a bit more expensive than the Vaughn Silverbird Rallye, its nearest convertible competitor. But comparatively, the Rallye was a large lumbering beast, whereas the Draco was a small and fun to drive car. Of course Kamaka’s success at the race track helped to get people into the showrooms too. So while the regular coupe version did all-right by most measures, it was the Draco 2500GT Convertible that people really wanted, and it found a nice niche for itself as the ‘affordable luxury small-and-nimble spyder’ of the decade.
One year later came the Wolfe E420 GT. It was a slightly larger coupe that had two luxury seats and a phonograph in the dash. Powered by a large V8 it had 350 Hp, giving this relatively heavier car equal acceleration to the Wolfram, but a much higher top speed at 277 km/h. Indeed, for two years it was the fastest production car on Letaran roads, until it was eclipsed by the Lerance 8000ZR. It was quite significantly more comfortable and reliable than the Wolfram, and despite its weight and size, was about as difficult to drive. It had a good setup from the factory, so while not as agile as the smaller cars, it could still hold its own around turns with a little tire squeal. So while more expensive than the Wolfram, the Wolfe successfully capitalized on the recovering market and ‘offered more - for more’, and took over the upper echelons of the sports market quite successfully upon release; of course also helped by its success and reputation around the race track.
All four remaining luxury sports cars were released in 1970. The cheapest of the four (but still more expensive than the Wolfram, was the Kamaka Draco XS-R. This car was squarely aimed at the weekend track crowd. It had a larger V8 with 274 Hp, and it did its ultimate best to shed weight with its sports interior and no entertainment options. Its comfort was not any better than that of a dedicated race car, so it was wholly unsuitable as a regular road car, but that was not its intended purpose. It was quite reliable for a track car, which was appreciated by potential buyers. Its acceleration 0-100 km/h registered at 4.8 seconds, which was a record-breaking time in Letara; the Benetsch 8000ZR came within a tenth, but the XS-R was king. Its top speed was just shy of that of the Wolfe E420 GT at 275 km/h. So it was fast - very fast even. It only had one chink in its armour: in contrast to the perfectly set up Kamakas that came before, this car tended to terminally oversteer in fast corners when pushed. This made it quite a handful to drive, especially around the track. Given its unique character as a track car, it did find its tiny niche corner of the market and sold to those few people; and of course the bragging rights of the 0-100 acceleration test were a huge selling point. But it did put many people off that they had to re-do the suspension to counter the car’s tendency toward oversteer, but the few truly dedicated (and rich) individuals found it worthwhile.
The last three cars were the Vizzuri siblings, the Laonda Special GT, Laonda Cabriolet Special, and Laonda Prestazione. All three cars were large luxurious sedans with a distinct sporty flair that were cross-shopped by the luxury family buyers as well, and while in the sports category here, their real rivals were the Benetsch, Wolfe, and Capital cars. This just shows what in Letara at this time, the very top of the luxury family and luxury sports categories had an extremely blurred line and almost interchangeable. As for the similarities between the Laonda cars, all had luxury interiors, a luxury 8-track, and hydropneumatic suspension. Also, all three were very nice looking cars with excellent details front to rear, and had a rather brutal or aggressive style. The Special GT was the most family-oriented offering with four doors, and featured a powerful V8 with 295 Hp. As such, it was the one most at home among the luxury family crowd. In terms of performance, it was a well set-up car with a speed somewhere in between the Benetsch 8000ZR and Imperator, and also slightly faster than the Wolfe E540 V12, so while not face-melting, it held its own among the large cars. Its comfort was also about in between the above cars: much higher than the 8000ZR, but below the Wolfe E540. Reliability was a tad better than these, and it was also a little easier to drive. Price-wise, it was also smack in between the 8000ZR and the Imperator. So it was similar, but also did just enough to set it apart from the others. In was no match for the Benetsch cars, just like the Wolfe E540 was, but it competed well against the Wolfe; where the Wolfe sold to those who were sick of seeing Imperators, the Special GT sold to those who were sick of seeing the another 8000ZR.
The Cabriolet Special was a two-door convertible with manual soft top. It retained the engine from the Special GT, and being a bit heavier, it was a little bit slower. Its main rival turned out to be the Capital Monarch Liberitas, an even larger and more expensive cabriolet. But against the Capital, the Cabriolet Special showed its sporty nature as it was much faster. It was also significantly easier to drive and more agile, and more reliable and comfortable to boot. All that, while it was much cheaper to buy and maintain. So when it came to the upscale convertible market, the Cabriolet Special - while not an outright fire-breathing monster - showed that a sporty cabriolet can be a great car that matches the best in all other areas too. So it sold quite well among the richest in Letara, as it was the sporty convertible option for them.
Last, but not least, we come to the Laonda Prestazione. This was the performance-oriented Laonda with a hotter tuned V8 delivering 353 Hp. This car had a manual five-speed gearbox (in contrast to the other Laondas that had automatic gearboxes), and a clutched differential to help keep the power controllable, and sports tires to keep the power glued to the road. This car had the third-fastest 0-100 km/h time of 5.0 seconds and the fourth-fastest top speed of 259 km/h, so it was by all rights a properly fast car. Its suspension set-up was sporty and top-notch right out of the factory too, so despite its size and weight it handled very well. It did sacrifice some comfort to achieve these figures, but it was still more comfortable overall than the Wolfe E420 GT, despite the Prestazione having four seats, thus being a lot more practical. But did it sacrifice too much in the pursuit for speed? Many thought so. It was quite a bit more expensive than its sibling cars, and of course a lot more expensive than the 8000ZR, yet didn’t quite measure up in speed. It sacrificed too much in comfort to not quite achieve top status, and the other ‘secondary’ options behind the Benetsch were just a better value proposition. So while objectively it was a great car, it just suffered in a sea of other options that seemed more desirable or sensible. It sold, just not nearly as well as the Special GT or the Cabriolet Special.
This concludes all the results of Letara 1964-1974. See you soon in the Preface of Round 4!
21 Likes
I am pleased to hear that the Wyvern V12 turned out to be one of the best luxury sports cars of its time. It was great value for money as well - the only cars that could outperform it during this era tended to be even more expensive.
Mara goes Letara, Ep. 3-10: Racing, rivals and the future
After a short moment of inner triumph, Fedor continued. “Since these sales numbers are not too great overall, do we have good reasons to actually stay in Letara? I know that my predecessor has never asked this question, but I do.”
Future strategy and racing performance review
Inna replied. “I think so, yes. While the current sales numbers are not high, they are sustainable for our quite low key operation. We should keep the assembly plant, but it’s also not worth it to expand further to a factory, unless things dramatically improve.”
Mykhaylo Andov, Comrade Director for Production, added: “For us, it’s easiest to just manufacture and send CKDs over to Letara when too much stock accumulates here outside the main factory, or when we actually get specific requests from comrade Inna.”
Now was Inna’s turn again. “And if we get too much stock… the odd extra sale helps those Letaran workers to a new set of brand new wheels who could not afford one otherwise.”
“So we contribute to the betterment of the Letaran working class?” asked Fedor.
Inna nodded emphatically. “For sure we do. If not for us - and for Popas - more Letaran workers would have to take the bus or the bicycle.”
“Then we can say we are fulfilling a useful purpose over there.” Fedor seemed satisfied and allowed for another pause. “Before we move on to the state of our mission in other countries, there is of course one other topic for Letara.”
“Yes!” Inna’s face suddenly lighted up with pride. “By now, the Irena’s race car version has won twice in its class in the annual race in Letara and finished second four times. All four times it was beaten by our closest rival, Swanson.”
Fedor and the other comrade directors around the table nodded appreciatingly and applauded by knocking repeatedly on the table. “An impressive job I must say, especially comrades Yenna and Rodyn.” Fedor nodded again, and this time towards the two candidates for his own former job, Comrade Director of Engineering (CDE). Both had played an integral part in developing and testing the Irena race car. “And, of course, to our Letaran driver and mechanics, Please pass this on, would you?” He looked at Inna who nodded. “And isn’t it an interesting concept, a rivalry? As long as it doesn’t distract from the main job, that is.” He threw another glance at both Yenna and Rodyn. Neither reacted outwardly but Fedor was sure that they got the message.
Inna started again. “While our racing success certainly helped our Letaran sales in general, I think we could also sell a special model on the Letaran market. A slightly changed appearance, a bit more sporty etc. The Letaran economy is also improving, so this should help us further with that.”
Fedor leaned back, thought for a moment, and stated. “Paint job etc., is something you can do on your own, if you like. Otherwise…” - his voice got an ominous undertone - “I fear we won’t have much development capacity in the near future to change anything for the Irena production-wise due to a new special project that is to be made official soon.” He looked at everyone around the boardroom table. “I’ll let you know further details, once we have settled the question of who will succeed me as CDE…”
(to be continued in this Auto Convention post)
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Rd. 4 PREFACE: SPENDING AND LOBBYING
The Preface of Round 4 will determine the starting condition of Letara in 1975. For a summary of what happened between 1964-1974 economically and politically, see this post. In short, the country’s economy is rebounding and people are regaining hope as their spending increases. There were a few fluctuations toward the end of the time period, but the government is committed to continue to invest heavily in Letara to prop up the economy.
For those that are eligible and want to participate in the lobbying and spending mechanism, this is your chance to shape how Letara dealt with its many challenges, how its industry and infrastructure grew, and how to shape the future of the car market.
TIMELINE
Round four will span 1975-1984 inclusive.
CAR CULTURE - TAKE-AWAYS FROM 1964-1974
The overall size of the car market in Letara held steady in this decade. This round, the city segment tended to not just be small cars, but also cheap cars, with only one car breaching the premium price-tag. The city segment, naturally, gained the reputation to equal cheap. The majority of these small cars were hatchbacks, giving them a little extra practicality over the small sedans. Some cars shone, however, by showing that city cars can be quite capable too in terms of speed, handling, and even off-road! So being small doesn’t mean the car cannot be fun to own, but it does have to work just that little bit extra to overcome the ‘cheap’ stigma that this category seems to be developing.
The budget and standard family market grew quite significantly this past decade and was quite over-saturated. Many cars were quite similar and ended up stepping on each other’s toes, so even good cars were forced to share the market. There was a healthy mix of sedans and hatchbacks with no real preference for either yet. It was also between the city and family markets that the ‘hot-hatch’ phenomenon was born.
The premium family market shrunk quite a bit compared to the previous round, presumably a reaction by the car companies to the economic woes of the previous era and the disappearing middle class. But this round the middle class rebounded, and where the lower segment was over-saturated, the premium market had less choice than expected. Consumer could be quite choosy still, and those with some upward mobility started to look at the lower end of the luxury family market even.
The luxury family segment was an interesting one. The lower end of the segment is mostly what people would expect here: comfortable family sedans with a hint of luxury. But in the upper end of the segment things got a little wild with many segment-bending machines. There were sure still the overly opulent and comfortable cruisers, but there was a very significant overlap with the luxury sports segment, almost to the point that the two segments could be merged completely seamlessly. Letarans embraced this phenomenon, and would indeed expect the most expensive cars on the road not only to be driving waterbeds, but to have a little oomph too.
The sports segment lacked any true budget offerings this decade. Overall, there were a lot of cars with quite poor set-ups from the factory that required aftermarket suspension swaps, or at the least adjustments. Letarans hope that these firms hire engineers who can put safer and easier to handle cars on the road in the future. That said, there were some real gems too, and choices ranging from big boxy straight-line monsters to smaller and more nimble canyon-carvers, so everyone had their pick. Especially at the more expensive end of the spectrum, though, there were few truly dedicated sports cars; as mentioned above, most were easily cross-shopped with luxury family cars, and still left a bit of a vacuum for the real luxury sports vehicle.
On the SUV and Wagon side, the market held steady. There were still very few SUVs on the market, and two of them were mostly toys for the dirt for the rich; only one car could be said was a true SUV - emphasis on utility. As for wagons, it was a similar story as the family segment: there were no up-scale offerings on the market. In fact, none of the cars breached the premium price tag. So wagons firmly became embedded in people’s minds as capable but utilitarian family workhorses, nothing to show off with, ever.
Last, but not least, the utility market. This market segment shrunk a little and there was still not a lot of choice for Letarans. In terms of vans, there was slightly more choice than last round with a range of sizes covering the city to larger long-haul vans, but once one decided on size, that was it, that was the car you bought. Pickups were not much better off, but with an even smaller available size range. Given that nearly half of the available cars also suffered from engineering issues that needed to be fixed by the customer, it was not a happy segment to say the least. Also the loss of pickups that could serve as family vehicles left people buying older vehicles rather than look at the new ones.
COMPANY SPENDING AND LOBBYING
In total 38 people submitted consumer cars in Round 3, and are eligible for company spending and lobbying. Spending and lobbying is completely optional and not mandatory to participate in the next round.
The people in this list currently have no assembly or factory in Letara, and thus have the following options:
- Spend 10 tokens on spending items and 10 power on lobbying items; or
- Spend 6 tokens on an assembly plant for the next round, 4 tokens on spending items, and 13 power on lobbying items; or
- Spend 10 tokens on a full factory for the next round, and 16 power on lobbying items
@04mmar @abg7 @Ch_Flash @doot @Fayeding_Spray @IDK158 @karhgath @ldub0775 @lotto77 @LS_Swapped_Rx-7 @mart1n2005 @MisterRocketMan @Prium
The people in this list currently have an assembly in Letara, and thus have the following options:
- Spend 10 tokens on spending items and 10 power on lobbying items (you forfeit the assembly for next round); or
- Spend 3 tokens to maintain the assembly plant, spend the remaining 7 tokens on spending items, and spend 13 lobbying power; or
- Spend 7 tokens to upgrade to a full factory for the next round, spend the remaining 3 tokens on spending items, and 16 power on lobbying items.
@AndiD @Aruna @Banana_Soule @Elizipeazie @Happyhungryhippo @Knugcab @Maverick74 @Repti @Texaslav @TheYugo45GV
The people in this list currently have a factory in Letara, and thus have the following options:
- Spend 10 tokens on spending items and 10 power on lobbying items (you forfeit the factory for next round); or
- Spend 6 tokens on an assembly plant for the next round, 4 tokens on spending items, and 13 power on lobbying items; or
- Spend 5 tokens to maintain the factory, spend the remaining 5 tokens on spending items, and 16 lobbying power.
@admiral_obvious @ChemaTheMexican @conan @donutsnail @Edsel @FidleDo @GassTiresandOil @happyfireballman @HelloHi @Ludvig @Mikonp7 @Petakabras @Riley @SheikhMansour @TanksAreTryhards
SPENDING
Everyone on the above lists has their allocated spending tokens that you can spend in whole integers. How you allocate your tokens is up to you.
Note that the government has their own spending purse, so your spending will supplement the government’s funds. Spending items proposed by the Letaran Government include:
- Road maintenance - helps to rebuild and maintain the current road network so that roads don’t deteriorate.
- Road construction - will expand and improve the current road network. These might include paving gravel or dirt roads, continue construction on an interstate highway system.
- Supporting or expanding the current bauxite-to-aluminium processing chain
- Expanding and supporting higher education - in general, or in any of the following specialties:
- aerodynamics
- mechanical engineering
- petrochemical engineering
- materials science
- electrical engineering
- Building of improvements at the Lerance Raceway or changing the Lerance Raceway in some fashion (e.g., the planned but not built inner short track, more/less banked corners, surface changes etc.).
- Construction of a different racing venue, track or otherwise.
- Support for train infrastructure.
- Support for air infrastructure.
- Support the shipping infrastructure.
- Support for other industry - general support, or any of the following:
- Petroleum
- Coal
- Iron
- Forestry
- Agriculture
- Expand protected areas and National Parks.
- “Other” - feel free to spend on items not on this list. Provide a brief description what your company spends its tokens on and I’ll do my best to incorporate it into Letara’s lore. If you think your idea might be too far fetched, outside the scope or spirit of the challenge series, it’s best to ask; the Letaran government reserves the right to reject ideas, or they might simply fail.
LOBBYING
Depending on how you spend your tokens, you will have 10, 13, or 16 lobbying power. These can also be spent in whole integers, and it’s up to you how you wish to allocate them. You can lobby for or against individual items. Note that the government has their own ideas and direction they want to take, and some items they feel very strongly about. So lobbying outcome is not a guarantee - but your input might influence the government to make certain decisions.
Lobbying items proposed by the Government of Letara include:
- Mandate amber indicator lights on the front and rear corners of the vehicle.
- Mandate side indicator lights.
- Mandate double head lights - one regular light and one high beam.
- Mandate three brake lights on the rear of the car.
- Mandate two reversing lights.
- Mandate rearview mirror placement on doors.
- Ban a third centre headlight.
- Modify current safety regulations.
- Ban cross-ply tires.
- Implement emissions standards.
- Tighten noise regulations.
- Allow/disallow functional aero on road-legal consumer vehicles.
- Adjust and tighten speed limits on public roads.
- Change vehicle taxation; e.g.,:
- Implement displacement tax (state displacement in L or cc that would trigger the tax)
- Implement/change speed-related tax
- Implement/change safety-related tax
- Implement fuel economy tax (could be tax on inefficient vehicles or tax break for very efficient vehicles)
- Implement segment-specific taxes (e.g., extra tax on luxury vehicles, tax break for utility vehicles, etc.)
- For keeping the Lerance Raceway as Letara’s flagship racing venue (with or without changes to the lay-out).
- For alternate race location/series/type. For an alternate race series, specify:
- Alternate paved route/format.
- Alternate mixed surface/dirt race/rally event.
- Alternate dedicated track racing (specify what kind, e.g. traditional circuit, oval, drag etc.)
(OOC: I am making an executive decision now that only one race category will be available, whatever that is. Running two is 1. too much work going forward, and 2. it would guarantee a large field of cars making for more engaging races)
- “Other” - feel free to propose your own lobbying item. Same restrictions and caveats apply as for the spending tokens.
IMPORTANT NOTE REGARDING LOBBYING
I encourage light banter and chatter between companies in character in this thread to discuss their stance on the issues presented. But keep it civil and light-hearted please. To be clear, absolutely no threats against another person or company, real or fictional is tolerated. I trust that you will all play nice with each other.
Those people eligible for spending and lobbying, please DM me your responses in the same thread where you submitted your car. Please do not create a new thread. I WILL IGNORE NEWLY CREATED DM THREADS, IT IS TOO TIME CONSUMING TO CHASE PEOPLE.
Please submit short point-form items only. I don’t want to have to read an essay and try to decipher what you actually want. Leave the essays for your forum post, but I will not consult them - what you say in the DM is what I enter in the lobby spreadsheet. To reiterate: I WILL ONLY ENTER YOUR LOBBYING BY WHAT YOU SAY IN YOUR DM. DO NOT REFER TO A FORUM POST, DO NOT REFER TO SOMEONE ELSE’S INITIATIVE. JUST SUCCINCTLY SAY WHAT YOUR LOBBY SUBMISSION IS MEANT TO DO.
Submissions are final; I will not change your entry if you change your mind on a spending or lobby item. So think before you hit submit.
Spending and lobbying is open until 6:00 AM ET on Sunday, February 12.
28 Likes
LIBERTY'S SUCCESS
Distributed by Liberty Corp.
We Thank You
As our 1966 model lineup edges closer to the end of production, now is the time to thank all of you, our customers, for purchasing our wonderful cars. Whether you purchased the luxurious New Yorker, or the highly practical Familia, all of you made the correct decision for your car. As a thank you, anyone who has bought a Liberty from 1966 or later will recieve a coupon for your next servicing, something that you will definitely need you hopefully won’t need.
Liberty Corp. Advertising and Engineering Department, 1953
Building 420, 69th Avenue
Philidelphia, PA, USA
+1-215-xxx-xxxx
In the office (Lore)
Michael looked at his engineers that designed one of the most succesful lineups so far. “Wow, I am amazed by these sales, and I just can’t thank you enough.” He starts shaking the hands of each engineer. “All of these cars were amazing, good job to everyone! However…” As soon as that word came out of his mouth, the mood in the room changed very quickly. The engineers didn’t know what would happen next. They could end up being fired!
“There was a primary issue in all the cars produced. It looks like that you engineers were too focused on creating a unique car that you forget one very important thing: Reliability. A lot of our customers have been reporting breakdowns; we’ve had to issue many recalls, and it is starting to tarnish our reputation. I’d recommend that next time, focus on creating a car that doesn’t break down every 100 miles.” He saw the fear in the engineers’ faces. “Don’t worry. I’m not mad, just dissapointed.”
That’s not better.
6 Likes
Rhania’s Plan:
Rhania Lobbying
Corporation Health United Research Committee Help [CHURCH]
Rhania would like to introduce a new plan regarding emissions:
Since our discovery that lead[Pb] was dangerous for humans as the heavy metal would enter the lungs and cause asthma and would interfere with the brain, especially those who are still developing such as children.
Now, our concern are the tailpipe emission that are coming out of the cars that the people are driving. The health of people would be affected negatively because of the pollutants that would enter the lungs would increase the chances of asthma, bronchitis, heart attacks, and many more.
Those who are invited to CHURCH
- Capable Motors
- Canadian Motors
- Levente
- Liberty Motors
- Mara
- P&A
- Mayland Motors
- The Aero Company
- Vizzuri
- Wolfe
- Kessel
- Vaughn
- SUMA
- Vausse
- KHI
Automobiles Regarding Emissions Administration [AREA]
This new group started by Rhania was made in response to the increasing concern of emission coming out of cars. The solution that came out of this administration was simple: Incentivize car manufacturers to reduce their emissions.
A plan would be formulated to address such issue as tail emissions as they cause the following:
-
Smog, especially in denser areas of Letara
-
Death of many animals ranging from insects responsible for pollination to fish that is served to fellow Letaraians. Emissions at a high would affect the wildlife and would cause issue for the Letaraians.
-
An increase of pollutants leading to a harsh living environment
Those who are invited to AREA
- Capable Motors
- Canadian Motors
- Levente
- Liberty Motors
- Mara
- P&A
- Mayland Motors
- The Aero Company
- Vizzuri
- Wolfe
- Kessel
- Vaughn
- SUMA
- Vausse
- KHI
The Plan by both [CHURCH] & [AREA]
-
Cars must be under 2000 emission units, unless they wish to incur a 10% tax on all their vehicles.
-
Cars under 1000 emission units would receive a 5% tax cut
Rhania Spending
Rhania Spending:
Due to the lack of investment for aircraft cargo transportation last decade, we decided to invest into aerospace engineering to allow Letara to gain an economic advantage of being able to import and export goods much more faster.
Air infrastructure being invested would allow the advancement for aerodynamics and possibly other technologies along with airplanes.
The goods can be transported more effectively and people would be able to travel across continents quicker than before. The economy would improve with the increase of goods being transported and sold for a profit.
1 Like
VAUGHN REVUE LETARA
The magazine that goes out to all of you Letarans driving a Vaughn, Wraith or VCV
Winter 1974
EDITORIAL
Vaughn is one of the first manufacturers to turn down the offer to join the CHURCH and AREA programmes initiated by Rhania. This have spawned some controversy, some people even try to make it look like if Vaughn should not care about emissions or the environment. If you know your history, nothing could be further from the truth. Vaughn was one of the pioneers when it came to building engines for unleaded gasoline. Vaughn was one of the manufacturers pushing the hardest to introduce alcohol based fuels in Letara. Fact is, that without the support Vaughn has given the petrochemical research in Letara, it is doubtful if the cleaner burning E-fuels would even be available today.
But as the US based manufacturer we are, we have first hand information about how emissions regulations have caused lots of problems. Not only are many modern engines on the US market gutless and runs rough, they are also unreliable and consumes unnecessary amounts of fuel, which in itself is a less desirable thing for the environment. That is, because emissions technology is forced upon the car makers, and eventually the customers, before enough research and development has been done.
Of course, at Vaughn we spend lots of effort into making our cars run as clean as possible, but that should not be at the expense of the customer. With catalytic converters today, you get a fair amount of money added to the sticker price, for a technology that doesn’t really work, and gives you a car that’s significantly worse. We believe that in 10 years, the catalytic converter will be good and cheap enough to be added to a normal car without anyone even taking notice that it is there - but we aren’t there yet and should not be forced until the technology is ready.
Also, our research has shown one thing to us - to work properly, emissions equipment needs to be used on an engine with fuel injection. That’s not a bad thing in itself, since the technology is superior to carburetors in many ways. The drawback is that, at the moment we are writing this, we could justify the cost of fuel injection on a high end sports car like the Vaughn Torpedo, or luxury cars like the Wraith models. Adding fuel injection to an economy car like the Vaughn Firebolt or even the Vaughn Hierophant would price the cars way out of their intended customer base today. Again, in 10 years we believe that fuel injection will more or less have replaced carburetors - but we aren’t there yet.
That’s why we believe that emissions regulations should have to wait until the technology is ready for them. We’re of course not against clean air - that’s a responsibility all of us have. But we also need to build good cars and sell them to a price point, and if emissions laws aren’t written with the challenges we are facing today in mind, that will get very hard for us - and for other manufacturers, even those who pretend otherwise.
5 Likes
Mont Montelin, 1973
Onlooker A: "Hey, did you hear about that new Japanese driving style?"
Onlooker B: “What, where they blow out their tires after five minutes of driving? Who hasn’t? Morons!”
[Motor is heard in the distance.]
A: “Well, I’ve heard those guys at KHI- the ones who got banned from racing because they tried to cheat aero, with the whole mirrors thing- I’ve heard they drive like that.”
B: “Oh, I believe that alright. As if it could be fast, though. Remember how they did on the old Lerance?”
[Motor draws nearer.]
A: “Well, this isn’t a track, is it?”
B: “No. Is it even legal for them to test cars here?”
[Tires squeal, and the backfiring of a motor echoes through the woods.]
A: “Guess we’ll see if that tip-off was accurate, huh?”
A & B [Together]: “Four-wheel drift!?”
…LHC4 teaser aside, I’ve made a little fun thing for the handling sports cars to judge one another unofficially! How fast can you get down Mount Modred’s twistiest, craziest roads!? Covering over eight and a half kilometers, with grades sometimes as steep as six percent, this course will put your handling to the test.
The pictured car, a KHI developmental prototype, manages a 4:44.20. What about you?
Modred Downhill.zip (525.8 KB)
8 Likes
Mara goes Letara, Ep. 4-1: Back to racing basics?
Previous post (previous era)
Prelude to era 4 (carshow post, sets the stage for this ep.)
14 March 1974
Great Exhibition Hall, Lerance, Letara
Towards the end of the first day of the Auto Exhibition, Mara’s Comrade Executive Director Fedor Piechov visited the Mara exhibition stand located in a side room of the main hall. Inna Horyova, Comrade Director of Letaran Operations and Rodyn Gumprov, lead development engineer for both cars on display, approached Fedor and exchanged greetings. Fedor threw an appreciating glance at the prominently displayed Kavaler exhibition model.
The Mara stand at the Letaran Auto Exhibition
“Since I have you both here, let’s discuss whether there is anything to take care of in Letara for the next years”, said Fedor.
Inna started. “There should be no surprises for us in the ongoing public discussions and planned government initiatives. There is one manufacturer initiative to reduce engine emissions even further, but since leaded fuel is already banned, I don’t think that would have much impact on the people.”
“The only thing I could think of would be to ditch the antiquated rule that rear tail and brake lamps cannot be in the same fitting. Always annoying to have separate rear light clusters for the Letaran market”, added Rodyn.
Fedor nodded. “What about the future of racing here? I hear the current format is up for debate.”
Shaping a vision for a new racing format
Inna started. “If you ask me, racing should be more accessible and closer to what companies actually sell, not some wild fancy machines with little relation to what’s in the showrooms. By lowering the barrier for competitive entries we’ll also get larger fields.”
“So street legal cars without too many modifications or extra engineering?” asked Rodyn.
“Yes, and the format should obviously also allow us to enter a 3-door Irena in the same look as the current R2 race car.” Inna had good reasons for this argument.
“If the new course would be short and twisty, noone would not need big engines or fancy aerodynamics to be competitive.” Rodyn reminisced of his collaboration with the Aljoscha aeroplanes engineers to prepare the R2 Irena ten years ago. While this cooperation was certainly key to the string of podium finishes (and three wins) on the high speed race track, that exercise yielded little practical insights or implications for their regular products. He continued. “A mixed surface might further help to negate the advantage of excessive power. Just like on the long course on our proving grounds [BeamNG: Long race circuit on the Industrial map] where I recall that the V8 Irena interceptor a couple of years ago on cross-plies was hardly faster than the regular version and actually struggled more on the dirt parts.”
Inna added. “Prowess on loose surfaces would actually be well in-line with some of our future marketing which will be more geared towards farmers and others in rural areas where there still are dirt roads.”
Fedor stared at Inna and said only a single word with disdain. “Marketing?”
Inna shrugged. What did Fedor know of the struggles to run an operation in a free market economy? “I could also see the new racing event to be even more a spectacle for the general public where everyone can come together in one place once a year, enjoy the race together and celebrate the performance of what looks like what everyone has in there in their own driveway. Should help raise awareness also among the non-car enthusiasts. And those not liking the race can always go on the Ferris wheel or whatever.”
“Come for the event, stay for the cars?” asked Fedor.
Inna nodded. Rodyn picked up the thread. “This would mean a longer endurance event, but on a smaller circuit so that cars are passing - and lapping - each other regularly and appear frequently for all spectators. Reliability will be key here - which is something we have been good at anyway.”
“Sounds like you are talking about something like rallycross”, summarised Fedor. “There you can have a collective closely together around the venue for the duration of the entire event with lots of alternative activities on offer.”
“Of course we have to think in detail about the rules and the location, of course”, said Rodyn. “While we’re here we could check whether others at the car show like the idea as well, to build a short rallycross track inside Lerance raceway, and to propagate the introduction of a yearly big rallycross endurance event.”
Fedor nodded his curt approval.
OOC / TL;DR: Here is an idea for a rallycross extension (yellow: new tarmac, brown: new dirt, red - NOT part of this proposal: Aruna’s alternative plan for modifications to the big track - independent of the rallycross idea - as discussed on Discord and below).
The format would require low-ish budget street legal cars and emphasize handling (and off-road, to an extent) over power, aerodynamics and quality spam. See the 24 hour clunker run threads for a good inspiration for the proposed format (just with MY1975 cars). (The scale of the rallycross track is debatable, if it is a bit too short.)
If you like it, feel free to spend and or lobby for the rallycross extension (so just the yellow and brown bits) and racing format, and let me know if you have further ideas to improve the details of the racing format.
7 Likes