And also, from my view, it looks like the Project Karve really does look like a base sports trim!
Hej allihopa!
I’ll be dropping one more chapter for 1976 this weekend, then I’ll be heading offline to take care of some work duties for a few weeks.
Thank you all so much for following along with Njord’s story so far! It’s been fun making this thing and reading your comments and feedback. In the meantime feel free to check out the car download files attached to some of the chapters: drive them, crash them, customize them, use them in some of your own stories.
I also recommend checking out some of the other campaign playthroughs the community has been making. @Dan’s Citizion Ltd, @David_Herrera’s Kurosake Motors Ltd, and @Aruna’s Mamushi Motors Ltd has some great content to check out if you haven’t already, or if you’re interested in something old school that inspired me many years ago before making my own playthrough I recommend @MAG’s Nassau Motor Company.
Once I get back the story will continue, and the next chapters are going to be extra chaotic for Njord Automobile. So stay tuned!
Yeah, I can see some 900 in the design. Maybe even a little Talbot 1510 or Opel Manta but with a nice interior.
Nice catch. Always something new to learn, haha.
When playing the campaign I chose to use 4bbl carbs to to help make the ND-5204 pass emissions (it’s a very stinky car without it); 4bbls are also a decent way to gain to gain some familiarity so the swap to single-point injection goes smoother.
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Modified image from Wikimedia.
A series intense shocks shook the Southern Archana coast, with two shocks in particular bringing the most damage. The first shock occurred on July 18 at 09:34, recording a 7.2 Mw in the town of Movesna. On that same day at 18:47 a recorded 7.8 Mw earthquake decimated the city of Yelta. Seismologists determined the earthquake to be caused by tectonic plates slipping at the Meridies Fault.
The natural disaster - dubbed the 1976 Yelta Earthquake - has been reported as the deadliest earthquake in modern history with current death tolls reaching over 250,000 Archanan citizens. An estimated 85% of buildings have been rendered unusable, and public infrastructure has completely failed with destroyed power and sewer lines. Disaster response has also proven difficult with highways and rail bridges collapsed.
In a controversial move, the Archana Communist Party has refused all foreign aid for disaster relief, instead relying on a strict policy of self-sufficiency and anti-globalization with the Western nations. Instead the party has deployed over 100,000 Archanan troops to the disaster zone to aid in relief efforts, some being forced to march over 1,000 miles on foot.
In a response to our reporting team's inquiries on the situation in Archana Hetvesian Prime Minister Paavo Jokelainen wrote, "Archana's decision to refuse aid is going to hurt their own citizens. We have modern medical response teams at the ready that could save hundreds of citizens who are in critical condition." PM Jokelainen also noted that the offer for aid still stands "should the Archana Communist Party reconsider."
The natural disaster - dubbed the 1976 Yelta Earthquake - has been reported as the deadliest earthquake in modern history with current death tolls reaching over 250,000 Archanan citizens. An estimated 85% of buildings have been rendered unusable, and public infrastructure has completely failed with destroyed power and sewer lines. Disaster response has also proven difficult with highways and rail bridges collapsed.
In a controversial move, the Archana Communist Party has refused all foreign aid for disaster relief, instead relying on a strict policy of self-sufficiency and anti-globalization with the Western nations. Instead the party has deployed over 100,000 Archanan troops to the disaster zone to aid in relief efforts, some being forced to march over 1,000 miles on foot.
In a response to our reporting team's inquiries on the situation in Archana Hetvesian Prime Minister Paavo Jokelainen wrote, "Archana's decision to refuse aid is going to hurt their own citizens. We have modern medical response teams at the ready that could save hundreds of citizens who are in critical condition." PM Jokelainen also noted that the offer for aid still stands "should the Archana Communist Party reconsider."
1976 - Two in the Family
Over the past year auto journalists had been ranting and raving over Njord’s compact car, praising the sporty styling shown in Real Shift’s leaked photos. The car’s marketing campaign was the most expensive in Njord’s history costing over $20M in 12 months. Despite Jensen Newman’s best efforts to redirect the public’s hype for the new car towards its reliability and safety, auto journalists were itching for Njord’s supposed “sports car” and consumers swamped Njord’s dealerships with thousands of pre-orders. Surprisingly the hype around the new car did not impact sales of the ND Series as Jensen feared, which was still selling about 15,500 cars a year.
But just four months before the new compact’s launch in July the company gave journalists press cars - revealed to be named the NC Series - which returned scathing reviews. Real Shift magazine was especially critical of Njord’s new car.
“One year ago we shot one of the first looks of the NC Series. On first impressions we were impressed. Njord Automobile - a car brand well liked by my grandmother - surprised us with an attractive sporty fastback. Had Njord finally learned how to have fun?” wrote Real Shift auto journalist Jonathan Cole. “From my drive of the ND-2202, no. Njord has made a disappointing parts bin special.”
The magazine continued, “The car shares multiple parts from Njord’s ND Series: the rear trailing-arm suspension, powertrain, and many interior components are nearly identical. Despite the car keeping one sporty aspect from the ND Series - sending power to the rear wheels - there are multiple areas of the car with questionable cost cutting. The rear taillights for example are just undervolted sealed beams with colored lenses for the taillights and turn signals.”
“Driving the car was even worse,” wrote Cole. “The car’s fuel system is overly complicated and unreliable, making cold starts near impossible and in some cases the engine died while idling. Take the car into a corner and it just wants to understeer into the outer ditch. You could sooner brew a cup of coffee before the car hits 60 mph, and that was with the 2.0 L. Njord says they’re going to offer a 1.5 L as well which we suggest to avoid.”
In the article’s conclusion the auto journalist wrote, “The NC Series is still a great looking car, but unless you only intend to stare at the bodywork holding down your driveway we suggest to look elsewhere if you want a car that doesn’t just look cool, but is cool.”
The critical flop of the NC Series had a drastic impact on consumer sentiment. Many of the thousands of pre-orders Njord had received were now being cancelled and refunded, costing the company nearly $10M a month in lost revenue. Just when refunds started to subside a month before launch the car’s price reveal kickstarted another round of refunds. Despite best efforts to keep the car’s price down even the most affordable trim of the NC Series was more expensive than any of the ND Series; dropping the price further would mean Njord would start losing money on every NC Series sold.
With the company on fire and already losing money on the new product it was time for Njord to reveal the lineup’s second car - the NC Series - for the 1977 model year.
'77 Njord NC-Series
The '77 model year NC Series: Njord’s first compact liftback for the young bachelors and small families fresh from the newly constructed Njord Automobile plant in Zellhof, Hetvesia.
Sharing many parts with the D-segment ND Series, the NC Series is one of the safest and most reliable C-segment automobiles you can buy, featuring two doors, a premium interior, and modern styling from Heimo Pietilä.
Heimo Pietilä’s design studio has done it again. The stately styling of the ND Series has been translated and tweaked to fit the compact body, with a long hood and low roofline giving a sporty, premium appearance. 5 mph bumpers front and rear will ensure the body panels remain unblemished along with plastic side trim preventing paint chips from door kickers.
The interior gets the premium touch all around. 6-way adjustable seats with lumbar support adorn the driver in Hetvesian comfort, and the well-insulated cabin features high-quality plastic with wood trim on the dashboard and door cards. The car is capable of seating four full-sized adults; folding front bucket seats provide access to the rear bench.
In car entertainment takes a massive leap forward, introducing a Hetvesian-engineered 8-track AM/FM radio with four high-quality speakers placed throughout the cabin. Now you can both enjoy the crisp radio airwaves in premium sound as well as listen to your own programs at your leisure. And if it’s hot out not to worry, every NC Series comes with air conditioning standard.
Electronics have also made an introduction with the NC Series with the Njord onboard telemetry system. The telemetry is a series of indicator lights used to identify any minor faults with the car before they become a problem. Did a brake light go out? The telemetry panel will tell you. Is a door open? The telemetry panel will tell you. The panel will also light up if the car’s onboard computer identifies issues with the powertrain, helping you get your car serviced before small issues become big ones.
Two powertrains are available for the NC Series. For the NC-2152 you can have the 1.5 L 4CCT-15B making 51 kW (68 hp) @ 5,100 RPM, an engine that brings both an economical 8 L / 100 km (29.4 mpg) and for Fruinian buyers lower displacement taxes.
If you need more power the ND-2202 provides the same 2.0 L 4CCT-20B engine found in the ND Series bringing 71 kW (95 hp) @ 5,100 RPM and 9.1 L / 100 km (25.8 mpg). For the ND-2202 this engine when equipped with the 5-speed standard transmission is capable of 0 - 100 km/h (62 mph) in 10.8 seconds.
With the NC Series as a second option in the Njord Automobile lineup, you now have multiple options to choose from depending on what you want from your car. The ND Series is still available if you need a large family car, but if you don’t need that much go with the smaller, sensible NC Series.
Trims and Options
Two trims are available for the NC Series: the ND-2152 and the ND-2202. Both cars come in six different colors: Svart, Vit, Havet, Rod Sol, Elfenben, and Smed.
The ND-2152 comes with the 1.5 L 12 V inline four engine and a 5-speed standard transmission. This particular model is shown in Elfenben (left) and Smed (right). Retail pricing for the ND-2152 is $15,799 MSRP.
The ND-2202 comes with an upgraded 2.0 L 12 V inline four with more power. The exterior gets “Crosshair” wheels, rear window louvers, and badging to show off the bigger engine. This model is shown in Rod Sol (left) and Havet (right). The ND-2202 can be had with a 5-speed standard for $16,299 or with a 3-speed automatic for $16,699.
Vehicle Downloads
Njord NC-2152 - Manual
NC_-2152(M).car|attachment (228.9 KB)
Njord NC-2202 - Manual
NC_-2202(M).car|attachment (228.9 KB)
Njord NC-2202 - Automatic
NC_-2202(A).car|attachment (232.4 KB)
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Lovely work!
Real mean looking rear on the NC Series compact, feel like it would absolutely slay with a rally trim, big foglights, mud flaps, little extra aero package…
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And god awful turbo lag.
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The Karve looks very sporty! Its fastback design gives off the impression of a sporty vehicle. Maybe a private tuning company would curate this vehicle into an affordable sports car.
Maybe if it were, I reckon an Inline-5 engine would be perfect. You can also make it a Twin-Carb DCOE, up to maybe 6800 - 7000 RPM.
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Excellent ideas y’all. You know what? Let’s do a mini event until I get back from my work trip in three weeks.
Prompt:
It is the late 1970s - Njord’s release of the NC-Series has sparked a mini renaissance from the car community as a blank canvas with high tuning potential.
Since the 4CCT engine the NC-Series uses has been produced by Njord since the late 1950s and it shares many parts with the ND-Series, the car had cheap and plentiful parts. The simple design also made modifications easy, making the car very popular amongst tuners.
Goal:
Whether you are a racing team, tuning house, or just a man with a garage, modify the NC Series and show off your designs in this thread. Try to keep the designs reasonable, realistic, and period correct. Bonus points if the photos themselves are also period correct (I suggest using the Gallifrey or B&W filter with lots of grain, bloom, and the “old photo” post processing effect turned way down).
I look forward to seeing what you come up with!
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Body: 1977 Njord NC 2152 Sedan
Chassis: Aluminium Space Frame, 3-Link double wishbone suspension overall, Front-engined, RWD
Engine: 1.8L Inline-4, SOHC 3-Valve, DCOE Race Carburettors, NA, 5-speed manual, 6300 RPM
Dynamics: Remove the front and rear bumper bars and the front bumper reflectors. Add small air pockets and an air intake to lead to air-cooling the brakes and the engine. Also add a small front bumper lip.
For the rear, we add a medium - small lip spoiler to help with stability. A small side air intake will help cool the rear wheels.
(Apparently, I do not have the Automation Game, so I can’t design the ND-series in-game and take the pictures. This technical overview is all I have to say. It is absolutely all right if this can’t be counted as part of the mini-event. I just wanted to participate. Thank you)