but they did make it to the market. I loved the in depth description of both cars and how thier flaws were given out. Frankly I would have prefered the Luxe be put in the luxury cars segment if there was one, but oh my god I am stimming like a teen right now, thank you so much for hosting this
I wanted to thank you cuz you deserve it lad, your a legend for this, so I will never ever look down on you. I cant stop thanking you
A quote from Vausse
âWe at Vausse are aware that the Rainier Duo did not make a big splash on the Market. That is fine. Vausse are not meant to sell perfectly, they are meant to be what is said on the tin. We provide big power, big engines, and big joy, and that is exactly what we have given. Vausse are a conversation starter, we are unique, we are simple and we are brash. We will not promise that we will make cars that sell better, however we will promise to be ourselves. We may not fit into this market, but whats the fun in fitting in anyway?â
The last remaining segment in Letara: the luxury sports cars. Perhaps the most coveted cars on the market, they are the fastest, loudest, and (hopefully) best performing cars of all. Not meant to be practical by any means, these are fully focused on performance and some comfort too. And their price shows exactly that no corners were cut in the chase to be the âtop dogâ in Letara.
There were no cars in this segment in 1955 - so the Wolfe Cerberus 250 partially filled the void for a year. In 1956 the Walkenhorst 5p3 Roadster was released. It had a real luxury price tag too, matching the Ariete S if we look across to the luxury family segment, or the Daniloski KimiQuattro wagon. It was, however, more expensive to maintain than either. It was a medium-sized, 2-seater convertible coupe with light aluminium panels, manual folding soft-top, and a slightly disappointing premium/premium interior. But this car was all about performance. It had a 3L V8 with aluminium head, quad-Weber carbs, and performance intakes and headers. Wheelspin was kept in check with a clutched differential and sports-compound tires. It had the best acceleration of any sports car thus far at 7.5 s 0-100 km/h, and a top speed of 227 km/h - both marginally beaten by the Daniloski only. But it was a really difficult car to drive, and it was superbly uncomfortable - worse than the Popas in fact. At this price point that was simply unacceptable. And to top it all off, it ran on Ethanol-enriched fuel, but the engineers reversed the timing map, making the car supremely unreliable. So even though this car was very fast in a straight line, and looked quite cute, it never managed to sell in Letara.
In 1958 the Vizzuri Laonda Prestazione hit the market alongside its truck sibling. It was immediately regarded as one of the most uniquely good looking cars on the market, further accentuated by a nice metallic paint finish. The Vizzuri was quite expensive - one of the more expensive cars on the road - but it had very reasonable long-term upkeep, making it a nice value proposition. This car too had a light aluminum panel exterior reducing the weight despite being a pretty large coupe. It had more of a GT feel with four full luxury seats and a luxury radio. Sports tires made sure that the power from the large V8 made it to the tarmac. It was superbly fast too, just marginally slower than the Walkenhorst or the Daniloski - but still under 8s 0-100 km/h and over 222 km/h top speed. But in contrast to the Walkenhorst, the Vizzuri was quite easy to drive, and had pretty good comfort too. It was not nimble in the absolute sense, but for its size and weight it did quite well in corners. Just like its siblings, this was just an all-round solid car with exceptional performance at a decent price. Perhaps not quite as unique as the Vantaggio, it still captured the hearts of many with its looks, and claimed a good portion of the âluxury sportsâ market, and even filled a small role in the âluxury sedanâ market for those buyers who wanted even more performance than the Laonda Special had.
In this same year the Capital-Pegazzo Grand Emissary was released. It was by far the most expensive car car to buy in all of Letara. Yet, its upkeep was also quite reasonable - for this price bracket of course. This car was about the same size as the Vizzuri, but only had a 2/+2 seating arrangement. The interior was an exceptionally high-grade hand-made affair with a phonograph. Slightly taking away from its sportiness was the ladder frame under the shell, however. The V12 engine was unique in the sports segment and a huge selling point - only the Chupacabra could also boast having such a prestigious engine. Performance was not earth-shattering, but still pretty decent if we look at the âby the bookâ numbers. âBy the bookâ, because the true statistics of the car were greatly inflated due to the fact that the car shipped with illegal radial tires - and the performance reported was with those radials mounted. People were forced to swap to cross-plies before driving off the lot - and on these tires the car was a little sluggish for the segment, and comfort was nowhere near the claimed âriding on clouds experienceâ that was advertised. But donât get us wrong, the car was still pretty damn comfortable - the let down was only in comparison to expectations. So how did it do? Well, given that it was the most expensive money could buy, some rich folk bought it simply for bragging rights. But realistically, everyone knew that it was a pretty bad value proposition, because you could get more comfortable or better performing vehicles for cheaper.
The Wolfram Wyvern 3.5 was released in 1959. Its price came in at the bottom of the âluxuryâ segment, also straddling the âpremiumâ and âluxuryâ line as the Wolfe. Interesting how two cars with âwolfâ in their name ended up next to each others⌠but we digress. Where the Wolfe also straddled the âfamilyâ segment, the Wyvern is solidly a performance-oriented sports car. It had two premium seats and a premium radio, sports tires, and four-wheel disk brakes. Power came from a 3.5L I6 with a DOCH aluminium head. Performance-wise, it was very solid in deed. 0-100 in 7.5 secs and a top speed of 215 km/h: this was the cheapest way to get these kinds of numbers. When we said that the potential Vausse buyers who wanted to go over 200 km/h could just save a little more and buy something else? This is what we meant. They would go for the Wolfram. Being a true sports car, comfort was not as high as some others, but it was still quite acceptable. The car was also very nimble and relatively easy to drive. So it also satisfied those who wanted some more excitement on the twisty roads. Itâs only Achilles heel was its price point - not quite expensive and prestigious enough to entice the truly rich, but too expensive even for most premium sports car buyers (not that there were many of those either). So it only sold to those who absolutely had to have a car going over 200, because this was the cheapest way to do so.
The Benetsch Gwesda 38SK was introduced in 1960. It was a little more expensive than the Wolfram, but was perhaps more a competitor for the Wolfe as it also had 4 full seats - albeit in a smaller unibody car. It had premium/premium interior, sport tires, and all-round disk brakes. Its engine had some modern touches like the aluminium head, it still retained some older technology, such as the pushrod design. The car was quite the looker too, especially enhanced with a nice metallic paint job. It was also quite unique in the segment with its engine in the rear. Performance-wise, it was roughly on par with the Wolfram - a little slower top speed, but a hair faster acceleration. In terms of comfort and ease of driving you could not split the two. However, the Benetsch was more comfortable on straights than in corners. In the end, it fell into the same price-desirability vacuum as the Wolfram. And due to its comfort and prestige deficit compared to the Wolfe, it also didnât quite manage to bridge into the âfamilyâ segment like the Wolfe did.
Speaking of the Wolfe, they released the Cerberus V8 313 Sport this same year. It was priced quite a bit higher than the Benetsch, and in contrast to its Executive Convertable sibling, this was a lot more solidly aimed at the sports market. This one was a 2/+2 seater coupe with a luxury/premium interior. Medium-compound tires and solid disk brakes were on all four corners. The car had a brand new, all-aluminium V8 block and head, but retained a pushrod design. It had good straight-line performance with under 8 sec 0-100 km/h acceleration and a top speed of 222 km/h, but unfortunately thatâs where the good things ended. It was not a nimble car and a handful to drive under even the best conditions. It was also not overly comfortable - not quite back-breaking, but in this segment people expected a little more comfort anyway. Perhaps if its performance had been exceptional, then this could be forgiven - but cheaper cars could do what the Wolfe could, do it better, and keep their occupants more comfortable. So the Cerberus V8 never really took off.
People had to wait for two more years until the next sports car on the market was released, the Edgewater Silverstone GT. Now here was something not seen before! A small 2-seater coupe with monocoque construction, fibreglass panels and the engine mounted in a central position! This was a pure sports car if there ever was one. Curiously, it did have a premium/luxury interior and medium compound tires; one mightâve expected sports? It did of course have solid disk brakes all round. It had a small but modern all-aluminium I4 engine with a DOHC head. However, the engine was perhaps a little too small, as the car was not actually that fast. It accelerated 0-100 km/h in 8.7 seconds (at least a second slower than its nearest rivals), and only managed 172 km/h. This was certainly a disappointment for such a sporty looking car. Additionally, it was not that easy to drive and it wasnât even that nimble. What it did have - also perhaps surprisingly - was good comfort. So it was a little bit of an odd-ball⌠a super sports design with good comfort but lacking performance. As such, most people considered this whole âmid-engine fibreglassâ concept a bit of a failed experiment, and the car never caught on. Of course there were the few eccentric rich folks with a mind for quirky engineering who still bought one to brag to their equally engineering-minded friends.
The last sports car on the market was the Mayland Mark 5 Estate. This was another unique and interesting entry on the market. The window-sticker advertised it as a âshooting brakeâ - a fancy name that basically meant that it was a 2-seater coupe, but it was also a wagon in a weird way. Price-wise it slotted in between the Wolfe V8 and the Walkenhorst, so with those two not really in contention on the market, it found itself in a bit of a lonely place between the lower-end of the âluxury-sportsâ segment, and the true upper echelon. Now, the engineering of this car was also interesting. It had a modern monocoque chassis and light aluminium panels, a more traditional large V8 with pushrod head that was strangled a bit, an automatic gearbox and clutched differential, and the only car with some bottom cladding to reduce drag. It had a luxury interior and a phonograph. As for the other characteristics of the car, it also ran into the same issue as the Capital - namely that it shipped and was advertised with radial tires. So customers had to switch tires immediately, which was a bit of a drag. Nevertheless, consumers reported a decent (not good, but decent) rate of acceleration and a very high top speed rivalling the fastest cars in Letara. Comfort was reported as acceptable in this price range, but nothing special. As far as driving characteristics go, it was decent in a straight line, but fell apart in corners. So in the end, this carâs main draw was its uniqueness more than anything else. It saw much the same popularity as the Edgewater - bought by a few who wanted something unique and wanted to stand out from the crowd, but wasnât an overall desirable car to own.
This concludes all the results of Letara 1955-1963. See you soon in the Preface of Round 3!
1959 - Well the car almost finished in a good position, we are sure we were just unlucky and next year will get a top-3 finish
1960 - Another DNF in the 18th lap??
1961 - Lap 19, we are certainly getting better.
1962 - Call the PR department, the racing program has been an absolute disaster.
1963 - God has heard our pleading.
The Preface of Round 3 will determine the starting condition of Letara in 1964. For a summary of what happened between 1955-1963 economically and politically, see this post. In short, the countryâs economy has collapsed even further and is in full recession. The austerity-focused government was rapidly replaced by a new government that is more willing to invest in the country - and the first signs of a recovery as evident.
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 overcame (or didnât) the natural disasters and subsequent economic woes.
TIMELINE
Round two will span 1964-1974 inclusive.
CAR CULTURE - TAKE-AWAYS FROM 1955-1963
The car market in Letara saw an overall expanded offering and wider palate than in the previous era. The city segment compressed a little, but that was OK. The cars on offer did satisfy the need of this segment, with mostly cheaper cars. With cities now being designed with more space in mind, the city cars are less and less relevant, and are perhaps even considered a little âold fashionedâ. They also feel a little restrictive with many not being really safe for highway use. That said, there is certainly still a market for them, but perhaps a less enthusiastic one.
The family market expanded quite significantly, especially on the more expensive side of the segment. A few manufacturers have shown that being cheap does not necessarily mean bad or uncomfortable, which really put the poorly-made âwooden benchesâ in perspective. So although the general population is still frugal, they do expect a modicum of comfort and quality. And with most cars getting faster overall, there is zero reason to buy a car that is not at least a little capable on the highway too.
The utility segment finally saw an influx of dedicated vehicles that had the capability to get all the real work done. Pick-up trucks came in all sizes and price ranges, neatly covering the market. Although a pure workhorse is still the norm, the market has shown that this does not need to come at the expense of a modicum of comfort. With the economy still in the dregs, having two vehicles is still hard to justify for many, forcing them to choose between a family car and a work truck - a truck that can function as both was seen as a huge step toward meeting their real needs. Now, on the van side of things, there is not much to say. The market is still largely empty, with one larger transport van available, and one smaller delivery van. With hardly a comparison to be made here, people simply buy the one that is avaiable.
The sports segment expanded to over twice its size from the last decade. Given that the economy hardly allowed anybody to have just a âfunâ second car, most sports car buyers were single people or childless couples, or the rich who could afford a second car. Needless to say, the market was simply oversaturated, and only the cream-de-la-creme could rise to the top. Some manufacturers showed that with more traditional engineering choices you could still make really good performing vehicles at reasonable prices. The more experimental engineering choices and designs seemed to be more expensive without actually offering more - so they were mostly relegated to the rich eccentric collectors rather than the general-use population.
The luxury segment (looking at it as a whole including the family, sports, wagon and utility segments) was a little oversaturated, giving the rich quite a smorgasbord. There were luxury offerings in all segments except for city cars. There were expensive and sporty trucks, wagons, and of course large sedans and various sports cars. It was truly an era that if you wanted too stand out and have something else on your driveway than your neighbour, you had plenty of choice. You could buy something more traditional, stately and comfortable for the family, or just an expensive toy to show off. The rich had it all. So they still expect to be able to show off and have something unique. But the car still does need to have something special to offer - if itâs just an expensive car for the sake of being expensive, it will hardly be noticed.
COMPANY SPENDING AND LOBBYING
In total 39 people submitted consumer cars in Round 2, 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:
The people in this list currently have an assembly in Letara, and thus have the following options:
The people in this list currently have a factory in Letara, and thus have the following options:
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 governmentâs funds. Spending items proposed by the Letaran Government include:
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 itâs 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:
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. However, I do not want to see what happened last round. To be clear, absolutely no threats against another person or company, real or fictional is tolerated. My stance was made clear in a previous post, so I donât wish to repeat it again. I trust that you will all play nice with each other.
IMPORTANT NOTICE PART 2
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.
Please submit short point-form items only. I donât want to have to read an essay and try to decipher what you actually want.
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 23:59 ET on Tuesday, December 27.
EDIT AND CLARIFICATION: 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 ELSEâS INITIATIVE. JUST SAY WHAT YOUR LOBBY SUBMISSION IS MEANT TO DO.
Immortalle humbly wishes to propose to the government of Letara a new Luxury tax on vehicles on a sliding scale of a cost in excess of $16,000 automation dollars in an effort to more evenly distribute the wealth of the country to the workers at our prestigious factory and around the country. We are against a displacement tax in this regard as we believe that a sliding luxury tax compounded with a displacement tax will hamper growth of these new markets.
Kim Heavy Industries would like to publicly lobby for the protection and restoration of the historic sites around Mount Modred. Secondarily, the Company stands behind the aforementioned change to the safety regulations, with the stipulation that no cost cutting measures may be taken.* Third and finally, due to the popularity of the small-displacement and street-class racing, the Company would like to propose a rally series in the Mount Modred historical areas.
*Knugcabâs suggestion for safety regulation changes, with the caveat that companies may not use negative quality sliders on the safety.
Letter from The Aero Company.
This letter is directed to all automakers in Letara, as well as the current Letaran government, on the subject of the nationâs critically flawed safety regulations
In 1954, an intense lobbying session was held to decide Letaraâs road law going forward. As one of the results of said debate, the administration of the time declared a focus on safety; a stance that had been pushed by many automakers, and was supported by many more (including ourselves).
However, The government must have failed to consult anyone in the industry when actually writing said legislation, because the law they ended up implementing was terribly flawed, appalling even those who had initially supported improved safety regulations.
We tried to explain the problems with the legislation to them, but they refused to listen to reason. Now, a different government is in power, and a new session is coming up; perhaps, together, we could work to fix the previous administrationâs mistakes, and create a far more effective safety legislation.
When we were designing our current entry-level offering, the Zipp, early testing of the vehicle revealed it had a critical safety issue: a propensity to terminal oversteer. It means that the car has a tendency to lose control and spin out suddenly and unpredictably, inviting severe crashes and injuries even at relatively low speeds.
Of course, we immediately made it a priority to correct this problem, and by the time our cars made it to market the issue had been resolved. But, out of curiosity, we took some of our old prototypes that still had this issue, and ran them through the Letaran safety tests. It turns out, the test failed to notice this problem; the prototypes achieved almost exactly the same score as our production models.
This is the main issue with the current safety law. The governmentâs current rating system is focused on how likely an occupant is to survive a crash, especially a front end one. What it entirely fails to account for is other aspects of car safety, such as how likely a vehicle is to crash at all, or how capable it is of avoiding crashes.
Because the law only cares about what happens once a crash does happen, it fails to account for qualities that could cause crashes, such as terminal oversteer. In addition, our testing shows that the law fails to assess the quality (or even presence) of brakes, which are obviously a vital part of crash avoidance.
As well, the law places far too high an emphasis on vehicle size- larger vehicles score much better. While it is true that cars with more momentum tend to fare better in crashes, this advantage only applies in crashes with other vehicles and small objects, and not with fixed, immovable objects like walls and buildings. Plus, that protection does not extend to whatever (or whoever) the vehicle runs into; If anything, the larger a vehicle is, the greater a danger it poses to the unlucky pedestrians or cars it may hit.
As the current law stands, a large enough vehicle (and we tested this by modifying a used limo) could pass the 35-safety tax threshold solely by being big and heavy, despite having deadly handling characteristics, inadequate tires, entirely lacking brakes, and lacking safety features as basic as safety glass! Yet it does not take an expert to realize that such a vehicle is a death sentence for anyone in or near it!
Meanwhile, our cheapest entry-level offering only barely passed the legal threshold, despite including the most advanced safety features available. And we should point out that this is a vehicle with a top speed of about 70km/h; it canât even reach high-enough speeds to warrant most of these features in the first place!
After extensive research into automobile safety, we have drafted a replacement law that should fix the problems with Letaraâs current safety law, while better adhering to the lawâs original intent. The following proposal addresses not just crash safety, but crash prevention as well, and is easily attainable in all segments. Additionally, the law was written with futureproofing in mind; once implemented, it should not require significant updating or modification for decades to come.
This document is a draft; we readily invite other interested automakers to contact us, to help us refine, expand, and optimize this law further.
Law
All road-going vehicles must use no less than the most recent available âstandardâ safety at the time of release.
1.1. In order to qualify for exemption from the 5% safety tax, a vehicle must use âadvancedâ safety equivalent to or newer than the most recent available âstandardâ safety.
1.2 Vehicles with a top speed lower than 100km/h are exempt from the 5% safety tax, and may use âstandardâ or âadvancedâ safety no less than one decade below the most recent available âstandardâ safety.
All road-going vehicles must come with brakes on all four wheels, that can each fully lock at all speeds.
All road-going vehicles must not have a tendency towards terminal oversteer.
All road-going vehicles may not travel on any road for which the posted speed limit exceeds the vehicleâs top speed.
4.1. In addition, vehicles with a top speed lower than 100km/h are banned from any and all limited access highways and roads, regardless of speed limits, as well as from any road with no posted speed limit.
All road-going vehicles must be equipped with side marker lights, consisting of 2 pairs of lights on the side of a vehicle, below the height of the windows; one amber pair on the front fender, forward of the front wheels, and one red pair on the rear fender, rearward of the rear wheels. These lights must illuminate with the headlights. They may flash with the turn signals, but do not replace any turn signal requirements.
5.1 Any vehicle with an unloaded weight over 1800kg must, additionally, include a set of 3 amber marker lights, facing forward and situated no lower than the front window, and 3 red marker lights, facing rearward and situated no lower than the rear window. Each group of 3 will contain one marker light in the center vehicle, and one towards each side.
Explanation
This law focuses on crash safety, requiring that automobiles use a certain level of proven safety features- methods which have shown to be far more effective than the size and chassis designs encouraged by the previous law. It also maintains the previous lawâs tax, encouraging the fitting of more advanced safety features. Slow vehicles have looser safety restrictions, since crash safety is not as much of a concern at low speed; though section 4.1 implements other restrictions that pertain to them better.
OOC: Say youâre building a 1969-model car. The best available standard safety would be Standard 60âs, so youâd need to have that, Advanced 60âs, or Adv. 70âs to be legal. If you donât use Advanced safety, you get the 5% tax. If your car canât reach 100km/h, youâre exempt from tax, and also get access to Standard or Advanced 50âs safety.
The first part of crash avoidance, this section ensures that all cars have powerful enough brakes to effectively stop them in case of emergency.
This section makes sure to prevent the accident-prone handling characteristic we mentioned earlier, and make sure all vehicles are safely controllable.
This prevents vehicles from being taken to highways too fast for them, as on highways, variation in speed between cars is often more dangerous than speed itself.
OOC: Lore-wise, this would reduce demand for vehicles with too low a top speed, and restrict which markets can buy them.
This section addresses nighttime visibility, by borrowing a proposed legislation from the US; marker lights would help drivers identify the presence and position of another vehicle in low visibility conditions, and also help people identify exceptionally large vehicles, which usually need extra space on the roads (especially for braking distance).
We thank you for your time and consideration. Again, this is still only a draft, and we invite any other companies with interest or similar ideas to contact us, so we can work together to refine our ideas and combine our efforts.
We also call on all able automakers to, at least briefly, show support in the coming session in favor of this overhauled safety plan, and help make sure the new government has all the support and guidance they need to properly fix this critically flawed law.
All the best,
The Aero Company.
5-chĹme-325 Komaki,
Aichi 485-0041, Japan
+81 568-XX-XXXX
In the early 1960s Mayland Motors was suffering from financial difficulties, and so they resolved to make a gamble that could very easily bankrupt them. But, that gamble paid off just not in the way they planned it. The Mark V was a sudden success in the home market, raking in eight times the projected profits as people wanted more European looking cars to own, but didnât want to give up the American flair of the domestic cars.
January 28th, 1963
1962 had been the worst year yet for the company, most notably the failure of the Mayland Mark 4 CoupĂŠ, which left Mayland Motors facing bankruptcy. Well over a million dollars had been allocated to fund the project, and despite an extensive marketing campaign, they struggled to break even. At this rate, Mayland would go bankrupt. No other words for it. Bankrupt.
Charles Mayland, founder and CEO, stood at the vast office window behind his desk, staring through the gently falling snow, watching the buildings as the soft white flakes fell from the sky. He was a tall man, roughly 6â 3" tall, in his early 40s, dressed in a simple, tailored black business suit.
There was a knock at the door, but Charles did not turn. âCome in.â
Entering into the room was Mayland CFO Marcus Williams. âUh, sir? Are you alright?â
Charles turned around, and placed his hands flat on his desk. âNo. Iâm not.â
âI can tell.â
Mayland sighed. âWhatâs the nature of your visit?â he asked motioning to the guest chair opposite the giant walnut desk.
The CFO sat in the chair and shifted around a bit to make himself comfortable. âWell, I want to know⸺.â
âWe canât afford to start exporting cars to foreign markets. Especially not with how many problems we have right now.â The CEO firmly stated.
Confused, Marcus gave a small nod. âOkay, but I was talking about the new Mark 5."
âOh. I see. What about it?â
âWell, weâve sunk well over 5 million dollars into developing it, and because of the loss of profits caused by the Mark 4Bâs failure, we wonât be able to recover financially if the Mark 5 fails.â
Rising from the chair, Charles sighed, and turned back to the window again. âTell me something I donât know.â
âWell, it appears the Mark 5 will be ready to go on sale come March, way ahead of the projected May launch date.â
âAnd?â
âWell, I think it makes the perfect opportunity to sell our cars in other markets.â
Mayland rolled his eyes. âDid you forget what I said?â he began.
âIâm not talking about Europe. Iâm talking about Letara.â
âLetara?â
Marcus nodded. âYes.â
âOh, right. Come to think of it, I just thought of that last night.â
âYou did?â
A nod from Charles. âSo, You may remember that during yesterdayâs board meeting, I said I would think about it, about having our cars be exported to Letara. Naturally, I did think about it, and I believe that Iâve put this off long enough. Itâs getting ridiculous that Iâm forcing myself to do something that might very well kill my company and my dream, essentially.â
Marcus grinned. âWell, Iâm glad you reconsidered. What made you change your mind?â
âI realized that not being flexible is not a way to run a company.â The CEO stood up, and returned to looking out over the city and the snow. âAnd the same applies for Mayland, and I honestly wonder why it was so difficult to accept change. Iâll be honest, it did work for the first few years but then it quickly went downhill. In hindsight, it is probably for the better that I made such a change. Anyway, Thereâs no time for personal musing, go tell the board about my decision and tell them to expect a meeting later today.â
"Alright. Will do.â
Finally, Mayland Motors had a way to pull up out of its nose dive, Letara would be what saved the company. However, he didnât know if this gamble would pay off. If it didnât, well⌠That would mean a lot of angry investors, and lots of upset employees. Still, it was a risk worth taking, taking no risks meant there was no chance that Mayland could prove itself.
May 19th, 1963
So far, the Letara gamble had not gone so well, less sales than projected came from there, but it didnât matter, the Mark V Coupe had suddenly become very popular as a luxury exotic looking muscle car in the home market, and thanks to that, there was no need to sell both the coupe and estate in Letara.
Even though the Mark V Estate had not done so well there, it allowed Charles to realize that it was his choice as to what Mayland would produce. If it could make luxury sports cars, then it could make luxury sports sedans as well. Yes. Mayland would make the finest super sedans alongside its Muscle GTs.
Letara would see just how willing Mayland Motors would be to accept change. Everyone would be blown away. Not only that, there were talks of building an assembly plant near Letaraâs capital Lerance, and maybe even starting up an auto show where journalists would go to report on the latest and greatest cars, the most futuristic of concepts, and the engineering behind some of the fastest racing cars.
Other RP and Lobbying letters will come soon once I decide on what to lobby for. But until then, enjoy this little bit of flavor text.
This vehicle was deemed a success.
It was affordable and provided a good value to consumers. It was economical to produce. It did not incur excessive research and development expense, and therefore the 1325 will continue production in a second generation.
The ladder chassis used to produce the 1325 series of vehicles seems to have, ultimately, worked against it. The most successful vehicles, the consumer trims, would have been better served by a unibody chassis, as evidenced by the Resuki vehicles and many other competitors. The ladder frame provides inferior safety, subpar comfort, limited suspension construction options, and overall is highly dated. As such, the unibody chassis will be considered in the future.
Overall, KHI feels success to be highly limited. The production of utility vehicles for the Letaran market will end, and KHI will focus on affordable consumer vehicles. Further experimentation and decision making will have to be made.
Planar History Files: Letara memos vol.2
When P&A first entered the Letaran market, P&A management began sending out ârecapâ memos to their Letaran dealerships and management to inform them of sales numbers and forthcoming plans.
Here is the second memo, sent out in 1963 after a successful 8 years in the Letaran market.
Once again I am overjoyed at our performance in Letara, which considering our mild ambitions is going from strength to strength!
Firstly, sales. While our predictions of a growing market for premium family cars didnât entirely pan out, we managed to essentially corner the lower end of the premium market for four years or so, establishing a small but solid customer base with a good reputation. The HW Paceman wagon also managed to fulfil its mission by cornering the upper end of the premium wagon market, however negligible that ended up being.
As for our racing operations, that is a sore spot. While the program ostensibly achieved its goals, showing issues with the development of our joint engine venture with Lyons that necessitated a rethink to a new, more reliable design, Letaraâs strict development rules meant that we had to languish broken down and in last place of every race we entered. There were flashes of brilliance, with the car able to fight with the lead pack when it wasnât broken, but at the end of the day we can only hope that our abysmal showing hasnât hurt our reputation.
As for the future, Iâm glad to announce that the development of that Lyons engine has finished, and youâll be seeing it in a quieter, smoother, and more reliable form in the next year. Alongside that, weâre working to expand our dealer network, and as a sign of good faith will be donating money to the government for road upgrades, the rail network, and the upgrading of Lerance Raceway to a truly modern international standard.
As always, best of luck for the future, and may we continue to provide quality luxury cars for Letarans for many years to come!
-James Ardent, P&A CEO.
In light of the recent recession in Letara, Wolfram Motors has decided to support the countryâs road building and maintenance program, as well as improvements to Lerance Raceway. In addition, the company is in favor of a ban on cross-ply tires throughout Letara; to this end, we plan to allow the introduction of radial tires in that market.
Given that Lerance Raceway is the main motorsports venue in Letara, we believe that it should remain that way for decades to come. On top of that, the current competition format should be retained, albeit with changes to the class structure - more classes to accommodate cars with smaller and/or larger engines wouldnât go amiss.
This concludes our spending and lobbying summary for Letara.
After ruling the company for the past 30 years, 55 year old William Peterson is retiring from his job as Liberty Corp. CEO and passing it down to his 25 year old son, Michael Peterson. Many people believe that someone of his age is too young to rule such a massive company. William had this too respond with: âI was 25 when I founded Liberty Corp. I was much more poor and dumb than my son, yet I was able to start a company that was incredibly successful. If I was able to do that, why canât my son continue this legacy?â.
Investors are expecting a major change in the brand in the next couple of years, especially after last yearâs major firing of engineers, and the unsuccesful lineup. Michael stated that he is planning on doing a minor rebrand, with putting a more heavier focus on luxury cars, and a lighter focus on family cars.
Liberty Corp. is planning to lobby for a car classification system. It is a fact that the current safety system in Letara does not fit the needs of companies and consumers. We found that when engineering the 1955 lineup, it was possible to sell a car that had no safety features implemented. Now, of course Liberty would never sell a car like that, but it shows how unsafe the safety system is.
Based on this and the complaints from other companies, weâve decided to do away with the points system, and replace it with a classification system with requirements, penalties, and bonuses for each category. The main focus of this system is currently safety, however, that doesnât stop it for being used for other purposes. Here are the current proposed classes:
The point of this act is to be fair towards everyone, and punish those who donât follow the safety guidlines. We want to try and bring safe cars to the citizens of Letara, but we also would like to try to keep it simple for the government and corporations. Please contact us (send a dm) if you plan on lobbying for this proposal.
Liberty Corp. 1963
Building 420, 69th Avenue
Philidelphia, PA, USA
+1-215-xxx-xxxx
The room was filled with some of the most important faces of the company. There was the chief engineer, Bruno Giordano, sitting just across the head of accountant. The chair next to him was occupied by the boss of the marketing division, Mr. Massimo Volpi, who was talking to the new chief motorist, Gianluca Lampredi. The head of production, Mr. Cattapan, was waiting for the man behind the moghany desk to finish reading his magazine.
Giorgio Levante, owner and head of Levante Automobili, put down his copy of âGasolineâ, and addressed the small gathering of people in front of him: âSo, it appears our market entry in Letara has gone beyond our most optimistic expectationsâŚâ
âIt has indeed, Mr. Levante.â Massimo Volpi said. âDespite the shrinking market for sports cars, our Grifo has managed to outsell all the competition by a margin, and itâs turning quite a sizable profit for our company. Not to mention the excellent name Levante has made for itself in this five yearsâ
Giordano took word: âthe new unibody platform has proven far superior to the old ladder chassis, so i think itâs wise to proceed to move all our production to unibody chassis. Sure, the success of the Grifo is making a little hard to pension the old â1750â engine, but Mr. Lampredi has a plan for that. Itâs still a shame we missed the entire racing season for a typoâŚâ
âDonât remember me that debacle. I barely stopped myself from firing half our team right there. Least said, the betterâ
âSure, Mr Levanteâ -it was Mr Cattapanâs time to speak- âeven if we have to concede that the punishment for a mere typo was uncharacteristically harsh. Anyways, i have the production plans from the next 5 years of work in the Letaran plant. We should manage a 20% increase in production. More, if our integration with ITAL is confirmedâ
Giorgio Levante stood up, raising a glass of Verdicchio towards his men: âGentlemen, i think itâs time for us to celebrate our success in Letara. This is but one step towards the expansion of Levante, a leap towards our status of contender in the world market. Today, we drink to a future of success for Levante Automobili!â
The men cheered, plans and recriminations put aside for one day, one day to celebrate the small footprint that Levante had left in the history of Letaran motoring in the brief span of just five years.
Vizzuri review '55-'63
R2 Class Racing
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As the results came in year by year, Vizzuri was proud to display form with not a single DNF at all.
1959: 3rd place. 1960: 4th Place. 1961: 2nd Place. 1962: 4th Place. 1963: 3rd Place.
Three podium finished over five years of racing was a great feat, a success for Vizzuri! However, Scuderia Vizzuri were disappointed they couldnât truly keep up with the competition. Dante and Zeno were both able to put down solid lap times each year, but the Drago was all but too tame compared to the competition. The team are determined next time theyâll learn from this for the following race series.
Surprisingly the impact of the slow-but-steady Vizzuri reassured buyers not only in Letara but worldwide that their cars were not only well-made and just about fast enough, but reliable, something that is hard to find in sporty cars of this decade.
It was back to the drawing board for Scuderia Vizzuri⌠They would await for the government of Letaraâs 1964-onwards racing schedule to see how it all plays out.
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Vizzuriâs consumer lineup
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The old Vizzuri Special kept in production until 1958 when the newly renamed Laonda Special replaced it along with new unique ute & pillarless coupe trims to go alongside the pillarless saloon. In Letara it seemed to retain the crown of a luxury grand-touring super saloon. The upmarket swing towards high end certainly paid off, and paid off handsomely for the brand!
Sibling cars to the Special; the utilitarian Vantaggio, and sleek coupe Prestazione were also rather successful in Letarance. The Vantaggio gained a cult following towards youthful rich folk who wanted to stand out more then the aim at an upmarket workhorse such as it found in worldwide markets to have.
The GT car Prestazione was slightly slower than competition, but much more pleasing and comfortable to drive than the rest. The stylish flair and lathering of chrome captured a grand portion of the luxury sport market, though to keep up with the much more sportier-focused low-slung coupes a little bit more work was needed for next timeâŚ
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Letara Park Ranger vehicle
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Vizzuriâs engineers worked hard and wisely on the replacement for the AT01-G. The old 2.5L inline 4 was to cease production as the final AT01s rolled off the line: A brand new 3.0L inline 6 that provided a smoother, torquier delivery as well as being more thermal efficient from being larger, and producing less emissions which was suitable for a national park vehicle.
The AT01 may have been cheaper to run, little less prone to rusting, and done marginally better MPGs, but the AT02 showed vast improvements all everywhere else, especially in reliability and offroad capability.
Vizzuri was proud to gain the contract for the VN AT02-G, and the deal was made for a fleet of them delivered straight to the park!
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OOC: Thank you again @cake_ape for hosting this great challenge! Itâs so enjoyable to see all the different cars competing and see what happens to the playing field. I was meaning to get around to a post after your ones for individual bit on the Vizzuri lore but Iâm not in too great a state, and it took me some time to force myself into doing one big post instead! 
I was surprised that the AT02-G won the Park Ranger vehicle, thought Iâd maybe gone too premium with the price, but it was just right! Iâll have to consider what I did right and what compromises I can fix for LHC3, see if I can proved Letara with the good proposal once more!
Shame to see the Drago not be as competitive on the Vizzuri-designed circuit, ah well! I will see about improving this next time, but Iâm not so good at really getting the lap-times in on Automation as much as stats it seems!
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SAETA Official Annoucement
For the upcoming years, we´ll push for a legislation that helps the most affected people by the economy crash get their hands on a new car. A new safety law that doesn´t punish the much needed small cars is a must for Letara, as it is a gas guzzler tax for the bigger, more luxurious cars, keeping utility vehicles exempt from this.
As always, we are open to talk and negociate with other manufacturers who share our ideals of transportation for everyone.
We at Rhania have discovered the fact that lead[Pb] is dangerous for the public and so we have decided to use 3 power to spread awareness that the Letarian Government should place a ban or a tax on leaded fuel.
Another thing that this committee would wish for the the Letarian Government to do as well is to add an emission standard for all vehicles to help with the air quality of Letarians[7 power]. It was found that prolonged exposure to these deadly fumes cause a risk for cancer in the early life of a Letarian. So we ask that the government to place an incentive for car companies to reduce their emissions.
1000 pounds = 454 kilograms
[Emissions found at summary]
Additionally, if some car corporations continue their journey with leaded fuel, they shall be faced with a 60% tax to incentivize car makers to not continue with leaded fuel.
Those who are invited and accept will join in on the action to help the cause for better air quality regarding the Letarian public. They can discuss about what and how should we create vehicles fit for the roads on Letara.
Those who oppose this plan are those who oppose the Letarians. So choose the fight wisely.
The Rhania corporation would like to use 3 tokens to help invest in the agricultural sector to help feed the growing population of Letara. Itâs not a big thing that would be noticed, but it is honest work.
This plan is to increase the food supply of farmers and to support farmers with better technology to aid them in the goal of providing at least 250 million pounds worth of food so that the people of Letara would have enough to eat.
This would help with the economy as the increased production of food would allow for greater supply and would help to those who are miserable because of a food shortage. Farmers would all get a small loan to get started with their farm and crop of choice to help feed the increase of population that Letara is soon to be expected to have.
Rhania would use its last 1 token for a rally course that would include mud, dirt, gravel, and paved roads in its design. We do not have a design for this course, but we assume that others would take the initiative to make such a track.
Our plan for Letara is to make a factory to produce our cars, and thatâll be all [6 tokens]
As you can tell by our latest ad, we feel very strongly about lead in your motor-spirits. Not just do you poison your air and your people, but the very land around you that gives you life, when you run leaded fuels. There are better options out there, but some manufacturers cling to vain hopes of âhorsepowerâ and âperformanceâ to sell their vehicles.
To them, I ask this: âWho will you sell cars to when the whole world is dead?â
We have known for the last 30 years that lead in fuels is hostile to life. When we first arrived here with cars to sell, we were forced to use this accursed, foul, leaded motor-spirit, because no one sold fuels that did not contain lead.
You have lead-free motor-spirits now. We call for an immediate ban on leaded motor-spirits. We have run engines on what you call âKerosene,â and we run engines on alcohol. Both of these fuels, we use, and both of these fuels are safer than leaded gasoline.
In regards to those calling for a âgas guzzler tax,â would it not make more sense to tax the high-octane motor-spirits those cars traditionally run on instead? Then everyone pays for their fair share, in proportion to the amount they use. If your car is fuel efficient, the difference in the cost of a few liters of fuel will be minimal. If your car consumes fuel faster than a war-plane at full power, you will, in the end, pay your share of taxes. This might also encourage people to drive more economically. Remember, driving an âeconomically-friendly, fuel-savingâ car at wide-open throttle is more wasteful than driving a âgas-guzzlerâ sensibly with a light pressure on the throttle. Utility vehicles should be fine running on lower-octane motor-spirits, and thereby would avoid being taxed for consuming high-octane motor-spirits.
It is with that mindset that we request the allowance of Radial tires. They proved to handle the violence of racing with no major issues. Our testing has seen that a radial belted tire makes a car generally more fuel efficient.
As for the subject of racing, Lerance Raceway was recently created. As an act of good faith, we have decided to support it as being the primary race-track in Letara, despite not creating an actual racing vehicle.
With the construction of our factory underway, we hope to offer the Letaran people a cleaner, less expensive future, aided by technology. With the removal of leaded motor-spirits, new radial tires, and our latest in engine technology, we hope that the people of Letara will lead long and healthy lives.
-Vilzahir Jupard Rhuthan-Selgald
To whom it may concern,
At Mayland Motors, we are all about looking towards the future and as such we have developed an extensive action plan for our future in Letara. Included in this letter is a list of the items that we will likely be allocating funds for.
First of all, we wish to establish an assembly plant near the Letaran capital of Lerance, to cut down on the amount of time it takes to import our cars into the country and to reduce the import tax on our vehicles to make them more affordable for Letarans. (6 Tokens)
Second, we wish to support construction of new road infrastructure for everyoneâs benefit. We feel that having large capacity high speed roads will allow for better flow of goods around the country and make it easier for Leterans to get from one part of the country to the other. (2 Tokens)
The third investment we would like to make is the construction of an event center within the Letaran capital to provide a space to run an indoor automobile exhibition annually. We feel that this could bring benefit to car makers from anywhere by allowing them a place to display their experimental designs or show off their racing cars or even show off consumer cars they might bring to the market. (2 Tokens)
We at Mayland are fully in support of allowing the use of radial tires on Letaran roads. Radial tires offer better performance than cross ply tires, but despite this, we do not support an outright ban at this time. We have no further reasoning for our choices at this time. [6 power]
We also support a ban on leaded fuel. Recently, our R&D department began development on the next generation of Mayland engines which are being designed to run on regular unleaded fuel. The company board has ruled that if future Mayland vehicles will not use leaded fuel, then there is no point in continuing to use it. Furthermore, recent studies have concluded that leaded fuel produces toxic materials that pose a significant threat to the environment and we at Mayland do not wish to be the cause of irreparable environmental damage. We will try to establish contact with AMCW and ask them how they wish to approach this action plan for the environment. [4 power]
Alongside the ban on leaded fuel, we also wish to implement emissions standards to cut down on emissions that we cannot avoid. Burning unleaded gasoline might be less dangerous for the environment because of the lack of lead, but gasoline is still gasoline and it will produce other dangerous chemicals. Our current plan of attack here is to make it illegal (or a heavy tax) for vehicles with emissions above 6500 units of carbon emissions to be sold on Letaran roads. The number will stay at 6500 as no emissions control technologies have been created yet. [3 power]
Best Regards,
The Mayland Public Relations Team
@Madrias @TheYugo45GV have you sent in your lobbying yet? If not, HMU, I have some ideas concerning fuel.
