3) Mara Irena (since late 1960s)
Sedan, Van, Wagon, Coupe, Hatchback, Ute, Convertible - Konyk I4 1.3, Perspek I4 2.0 & 2.5, Progress I4 2.0 & 2.3– CSR135 - The New City (1st round): 1967 1.3 EXL Sedan (non-canon version with automatic gearbox and power steering): CSR135: "The new city" - #47 by AndiD
– The Grand Tour 79 (8th overall, 3rd after stages, 2 stage wins): 1975 2.5 GTC Coupe: International Gran Turismo Rally - The Grand Tour 79 [FINAL RANKING] - #33 by AndiD
– AGC17 (car not selected): 1976 2.0 Hatchback (cabrio taxi, brand GTA-ified as Rama Rena): The Automation Gamer Challenge [NEW THREAD] - #923 by AndiD
– Virtual car meet 2021 (1990s theme): 1997 Van as pizza van: Automation Virtual Car Meet (AVCM) @ 2021 - #21 by AndiD
– Cult of Personality II - Battle for Supremacy 1967-1973 (2nd in Counter Culture - Spiritual Classics; 3rd in Counter Culture - Jalopy Culture): 1972 Mara Irena 5-door Wagon: Cult of Personality ][ : The Boogaloo [LORE][RD 5 FINAL RESULTS] - #120 by AndiD
– Cult of Personality II - Re-Emergence - 1987-1992 (6th in Counter Culture - Spiritual Classics, 3rd in Counter Culture - Jalopy Culture): 1990 Mara Irena Kabriolet Freedom Ed.: Cult of Personality ][ : The Boogaloo [LORE][RD 5 FINAL RESULTS] - #323 by AndiD
– Cult of Personality II overall (18th and 21st in Counter Culture - Spiritual Classics, 10th and 16th in Counter Culture - Jalopy Culture)
– EABL Unofficial Automation Gacha (1st season car): 1979 Mara Irena SX GTR79 Edition
– Budget Police Car Challenge (ongoing): 1990 Mara Irena Karavan Militsiya Prototyp : BUDGET POLICE CAR CHALLENGE (deadline 1st October) - #18 by AndiD
– Trafikjournalen SCCR3: 1969 Mara Irena Van 1.3: Trafikjournalen: Cars that influenced Swedish car culture (The end!) - #144 by AndiD
If you think the Tovarish had a long, rich and checkered history, you haven’t heard the Irena’s. Conceived by Mara Motor in the mid-1960s as a reaction to calls for a ‘proper’ 4-door family car with a large boot as well as increased safety legislation in their most important export market Fruinia, the Irena is actually one of the longest running nameplates across all five countries of the world, and also among those with the most body variants over time (eight). The first Irenas were available as sedans and panel vans. Later, hatchbacks, wagons, coupes, pickups and even a (comparably) short-lived convertible were available as well. It also had a limited production (and limited availability) wannabe-GT spinoff based on the coupe body in the 1970s.
The Irena was Mara’s first unibody car but it carried over essentially the same suspension layout as the Tovarish (double wishbones at the front, coil-sprung live axle at the rear). While Archanan infrastructure had substantially improved over the 50s and 60s, many especially rural roads were still partially gravel and usually not-well maintained. Hence, off-road capability still played an important role in the initial project brief, as did load capacity thanks to the Irena’s predecessor’s success as panel van in Fruinia. The 2L ‘Perspek’ engine was a new construction at that time but also followed the same principles as the Konyk I4 in the Tovarish.
A common sight in front of the Lenagrad train station… in 1969 as in 1989.
The Irena debuted first in the late 1960s in sedan form (as an upmarket alternative to the Tovarish) and as a panel van with expanded cargo space. Initially, the Perspek engine produced a mere 40 kW and was available only for the sedan; the first two panel van generations kept using the Konyk I4 1.3. The panel vans boasted 600 kg load capacity against a dry weight of less than 800 kg and over 2300l of cargo space, the latter more than double that of the Tovarish van. The Irena van became an instant runaway success in Fruinia. Due to its interior and boot space, the Irena sedan also became a mainstay in Archanan taxi fleets.
The Irena panel van played a key role in launching many small businesses in Archana and abroad
At first unbeknownst to the Archanan public, a V8 version of the Irena was developed as well, but only as an interceptor for special police and security purposes. The V8 was essentially two Perspek I4s mated together and was thus called Blyz (‘twin’). Its initial version displaced 4 litres and made about 115 kW (so about three times as much power as the initial Perspek I4). This was enough to overwhelm the cross-ply tyres and drum brakes that were in use back then in careless driving, so driving a V8 Interceptor Irena required special training by its drivers. The Blyz V8 also needed more than three times the amount of cooling compared to the Perspek I4, so despite an extra pair of lower vents the issue of overheating after longer drives was never really solved.
A parked dark Irena sedan with tinted windows - a sight you did not want to see in your street in Archana in the late 1960s and 1970s…
In 1972, a low-end version of the sedan with the 1.3l Konyk engine appeared, alongside a new 5-door wagon, a hatchback and a (somewhat) sporty coupe with an odd 2+3 seating layout. The latter (‘SX’) produced 57 kW instead of the modest 40 kW of the regular 2L Perspek engine. This first facelift also marked the beginning of unofficial exports into other countries.
The Irena wagon was positioned as a more upscale alternative to the diminutive Tovarish wagon
In the mid-70s Mara also produced a special limited production high-trim GT version based on the Irena Coupe. The GTC received an enlarged Perspek 2.5l engine producing slightly under 100 kW and a unique rear end with a double wishbone suspension instead of a live axle. This GTC variant was only available to selected members of the Archanan state bureaucracy and is thus very rare today. A specially prepared GTC was also entered in the Gran Turismo Rally across the world. It actually managed to win 2 stages and finished 3rd on time overall, but dropped to 8th after non-driving related judgments. The general interest (and unavailability of) in the GTC Irena lead to the development of the larger Kavaler in the mid 1970s (see below).
The Irena GTC outside a workshop on the Mara main factory grounds before its way towards the GT rally starting line
As all Tovarish variants had lost competitiveness even in the Archanan market, the next Irena facelift in 1980 added a ute version to the lineup, bringing the number of variants to 7. While the ute retained the RWD layout, it gained a proper manual locker at least in addition to off-road tyres, increasing its offroad capabilities over the Tovarish ute. The Konyk 1.3l engine was dropped from the entire Irena lineup.
This picture shows two peculiarities of the Irena ute: The large bed and the regular rear light cluster tilted 90 degrees sideways to make it fit…
In the 1980s, the SX got a revised 2.5l Perspek engine based on the one that had been developed for the 70s GTC, now fuel injected and producing 93 kW. This engine was also put into a new convertible coupe version, bringing the overall number of variants to 8.
Advances in technology and increased competition did not pass by the Irena and the 1990 facelift brought for the first time features such as fuel injection (bringing the 2L Perspek up to 46 kW), hydraulic-assisted steering, a 3 speed automatic or cassette players to the Irena lineup.
The Irena Kabriolet - an earnest attempt at revitalising an ageing platform, or just an 80s folly?
However, the release of this facelift coincided with the global market liberalisation, and Mara hastily had to adopt the Irena to Hetvesian and Gasmean emission regulations, and the first 4th gen Irenas - now with a catalytic converter - went on sale in these countries in early 1992. Incidentally, the most powerful regular production Irena (the 1990 2.5 SX without a catalyst, producing 91 kW, only seven less than the special 2.5 GTC from the mid-70s) had only been in production for about two years and only in small numbers, and is thus among the rarest regular Irenas ever made.
A snapshot of the most powerful regular production Irena - a 1990 Irena SX coupe.
By that time, however, most variants were relegated to the low end of the market. The van and utes were the exception as their utilitarian value was still going strong and their live rear axle actually proved to be an advantage over the commonly independent-sprung competitors in terms of load and offroad capability. For all other variants, the writing was on the wall, and Mara set out to engineer a new state-of-the-art car model.
However, budget versions of the Irena sedan, hatchback, coupe, pickup and wagon continued to be produced alongside the van and ute (receiving the then-new Progress engine in 2000), with sales figures - especially for the ADM (Archanan domestic market) - continuing to be surprisingly healthy throughout the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. Next year in 2021, the Irena will finally overtake the Tovarish as Mara’s longest running nameplate, having eclipsed it in terms of sales figures already in the 90s.
However, despite its clear superiority over the Tovarish in almost all aspects, and despite its longetivity, variety and worldwide availability, the Irena has never met the same level of appreciation by its buyers or the general public. It’s actually easy to forget that the Tovarish was only available for about 8 years outside Archana and Dalluha. The Tovarish has rarely been mocked or ridiculed - unlike the Irena, which especially during the 1990s and later has become a symbol of excessive engineering conservatism and stagnancy.
While there have been a few at least half-serious attempts over the years to take it into competitions (esp. rallying), it never proved quite fast or nimble enough, even in SX tune. The only area where it is still competitive is folkracing or banger racing due to its sturdiness and virtual indestructibility, and rumour has it that there are virtually no base L sedans in any scrapyards left with a functional gearbox, since the L’s manual 5-speed box is often swapped into the SX (and even the regular hatchbacks), replacing the factory 4-speed slushbox automatics. All in all, hardly a coda for the Irena that its engineers would have wished for.
