1969 Andron
For several years, Eugenio wanted Meliora to participate in international racing events, and in 1966 decided it was the time to enter, so he and his engineers got to work in a racing car. The first part was to get an engine. Instead of designing a new engine, Eugenio decided to use an existing OHV engine (to save money… and weight). The AEA engines were to big, so they took the Mastiff V8 engine from ADM and got to work. The design of the car took more than planed, and they skip the 1966 Le mans event, and by 1967 the finished car was too slow in comparison to other cars, so it went back in the designing board again.
By 1968 the car was finished, but the engine still was in the making. Since Eugenio was so determined in use a OHV instead of a multivalve set-up, it was pretty hard to squeeze the power, specially since the help of some forced induction. At the end, the valvetrain was pretty expensive, were valves made of titanium and magnesium with pneumatic pushroads. The engine was good for over 400hp, depending on the fuel and the configuration.
1969 came, and they still needed to produce at least 25 road legal cars to meet the homologation requirement. Originally, it was planned to build 5 race cars and 25 road cars, but the race version was so expensive that only 3 were made, and after the event, 2 were sold to gain some money back (not official sources say that Meliora was close to bankruptcy due to the project). All the 28 cars were ensambled in the HQ (although most of the parts were either bought or build in the Farm-factory). The racing returned in mixed results. Only 2 cars enter the race and both finished, but were unable to still the victory from Ford, but the good performance and reliability caught the eye of many and give Meliora recognition in the automotive world.
Some of the closest competitors for the '69 Andron Road car are the KHT brooklands and the Mulsanne, as well as the Dimension Paradox 410. Although They never were put to race against each other, “in paper”, the 4.6s 0-100 km/h and the top speed of 283 km/h made the mexican super car slightly quicker and faster. In fact, it was only surpassed by the AC Cobra 427 from '66. Not even the corvette c2, the mustang boss 429 or even the Ford GT40 road were quicker.
ANDRON RACE CHASSIS
000 — Never sold or raced. It remains in the private collection of the Quiroga’s family.
001 — Sold in 1970 to Gulf racing, then sold again in 1972 to a private collector. Bought back in 2002 and remains in the Meliora’s Technical campus in display.
002 — Sold in 1970 to Gulf racing, then sold again in 1972 to a private collector. In 2003 it was bought by DSD’s CEO (@Darkshine5)
ANDRON ROAD CHASSIS
L01 — Car collector in Texas, USA
L02 — In possession of Gunnar Racing
L03 — Missing
L04 — unknown
L05 — Owned by J. Leno
L06 — reported as stolen in 1973, never found again
L07 — Missing
L08 — Crashed in 1971
L09 — unknown
L10 — Car collector in UK
L11 — Private car collector, unknown location
L12 — Owned by the Sultan of Brunei
L13 — Recently found abandoned in a old farm in near Sttugard
L14 — Car collector in Israel
L15 — Car collector in Mexico City
L16 — Car collector in Brazil
L17 — Unknown
L18 — Lost in a fire
L19 — Crashed in 2007 in Nürburgring
L20 — Pimped by a rapper
L21 — Private car collector, unknown location
L22 — Recently bought by D. Letterman
L23 — Missing
L24 — Private car collector, unknown location
L25 — Sold at auction in 1998.
Added factories and facilities owned by Meliora to the OP.
'69 Andron LM Race Car
Lap times with +5 quality semi slick tires
1:08.03 — daytona nascar
2:13.59 — automation
1:20.54 — airfield
8:09.29 — Green hell
'69 Andron Road Car
1969 price: $10,700
Lap times
1:24.28 — airfield
2:19.66 — automation
1:12.00 — daytona nascar
8:36.51 — Green hell