Gasmea, 1975
“So, you did do some kind of… industrial espionage?”, laughed Lionel Lomax, managing director of Globus Motors.
“I even drove their new model”, anwered Frehse. “Typical Gasmean stuff, very cheap to buy and run for what it is, but the handling… nah. And the fuel consumption is quite high, but we do have the same problem, still. Even if our engine is quite new. And the looks! I told everyone how the Vaughn prototype looked. Nevertheless, we got this dead donkey here! Where were our best designers? On vacation?”
They stepped towards a sedan parked outside. “Thanks again for giving me all your resources to have the car ready more than a year ahead of schedule. But what’s that color? Diarrhea?”
“Desert brown”, insisted Frehse. “Your concept is quite risky. It is almost everything a Gasmean car is NOT. Except for the styling Nobody would buy it in Hetvesia or Frunia. I really don’t know if Letarans do. If you ruin me with that lemon, you’ll drown with me. My engineers flipped the bird at the blueprints!”
Frehse opened the driver side door. “However, it’s not a cathedral like the Grand Cruiser, but yes, that’s really different from an Astrona. But why is the steering wheel so small?”
“Ludger, this car has power steering!”
“For that price? It’s a lot cheaper than the Astrona 2400! But it has power everything. Let’s give it a chance.”
The car felt not as refined as the Astrona, but it was significantly lighter than the other Globus models, even than the smaller Comet, as did not have a ladder frame. Being light, it came with a lowtech V6 instead of the V8 that was typical for the brand. “Globus means V8”, said Frehse, “not sure if the Gasmeans want that change. And FWD in such a large car, well at least large for my habits, is crap.”
“Trust us, it’s what Gasmea wants and I guess the Vaughn won’t be much different from this.”
“Well, Lionel, I have more for you. We are currently building a coupe version, because your muscle cars were dropped except for the Comet Fastback you gave me.”
“Which comet?”
“That purple shitbox last year. It was so bad, despite the powerful engine, that we’ll make a better replacement. We will implement the more hightech engine from the RT320, tune up the suspension, and mount wider tires.”
“That sounds like a plan!”
Frehse steered next to a Globus Grand Cruiser.
“That old V8’s emission control really drags it behind, and it’s spacious, but this one isn’t too bad, really, at least in that aspect. I think your and my engineers have just reinvented the Gasmean Car! I’ll get in my landyacht and hand it back at the airport, I am in a hurry.”
Lomax waved grinning. “Yep, I wish you all the best, if this car strikes in, Globus is saved, if it fails, we’re both doomed!”