QFC58 - A Headful of S-s-s-sugar!
America had an addiction, and that addiction was octane. Then came the Seventies… and took the drug away. American sports cars became staid. Muscle cars, for all intents and purposes, died. Pony cars became punchlines. And as the average American was left navigating the five stages of grief and the twelve steps of tetraethyllead teetotalism, those with greater ways and means find a different path.
As of 1979, there’s been yet another oil crisis. Domestic and international cars alike are still choked to death, and are all fitted with those unseemly huge bumpers - even if you remove one or import a grey model, you’ll still be haunted by what your model now represents. No, as it stands there’s just one way to truly get a hit of that fast stuff: Import a supercar.
With a supercar, you enter a closed and exclusive society of pure speedheads. You will need to sacrifice your money, your expectations for some amount of technological refinement and reliability, and even your concept of ergonomics: after all, those Italians tend to prefer a much different seating position. However, they all possess a je ne sais quoi - one absent from luxury American barges or even the new wave of European compact executive cars - that is essential to attaining the ultimate automotive high.
STATEMENT OF INTENT
For this challenge, I am trying to simulate build conditions slightly more similar to those encountered by low-volume manufacturers of the 1980. Under cash-strapped and research-poor conditions, these automakers would have to compensate by charging high prices for handbuilt products. Wealthy consumers would take that hit, however, due to the dismal and regulation-battered status of the industry as a whole making mass-produced excellence difficult.
The ET restriction is unusual, as is an open price envelope and a tight techpool limit; In the couple days of rules deliberation, feedback, suggestions and mule testing are very welcome. However, I am committed to putting you in the shoes of a low-volume manufacturer here.
RULES
Game Build: Stable.
Car Model Year: 1965+.
Car Trim and Engine Variant Year: 1979.
Body: Types: Sedan, Coupe, Hatchback allowed; Hatchbacks must be of a coupe-like, liftback variety - no V8 Golfs, in other words. 3 doors maximum. If unsure about a body - ask.
Convertibles: Prohibited. We’re still in that regulator “All rollovers are fatal” mindset here.
Seat Count: At least 2 full seats.
Engineering Time: Max 100 for Engine, Max 70 for Trim.
Aspiration: Max Boost 1 bar/14.5 psi.
Fuel Type: Premium Unleaded, 90 AKI/95 RON.
Exhaust: At least a single muffler required.
Emissions Standard: WES 6 or higher.
No racing parts - including tires.
Techpool: $20M (Your value is the sum of the 2 underscored values below; keep that below $20M).
Negative values are prohibited. Note that $20M is below regular techpool.
Style Guide:
Make sure your car has lights (headlights, taillights, turn signals), wipers, side mirrors - that is, make sure it looks like a car that could exist.
You are not required to hook up every light properly with automation’s lighting feature.
Do not make the car look like something it isn’t, either via fixtures or advanced trim settings. If you lose the roof, use ATS to raise the suspension by 10 whole inches, or somehow manage to have your car only have 2 visible doors - you’re out.
The above point applies especially to making “fake” convertibles; T-tops are allowed but the spine should be believable. Again, if in doubt - ask.
PRIORITIES
Looks
If your supercar doesn’t turn heads, is it even a supercar? You’ll win a lot of favor with a design that’s high-quality, distinctive, and aggressive.
Prestige
Recognition, respect, reverence. Those three "R"s are more central to supercars than even racing or roadholding. Like a timepiece or a mansion, your car communicates your status.
Numbers talk; a reputation confirmed by professional drivers and magazines talks. When the public sees you pass in your car and starts murmuring about what it did on this test or that track, or about which professional racer enjoys it on the weekend, you’ve bought something special.
A 9000RPM screamer with a regular automatic and open diff. A spartan interior behind a lazy big V12. These are party fouls which the clientele will not abide by. Try to make your care a complete package; consult what actual cars of the time did. Despite this being a high priority, this is not too easy to fail, and I will not be very harsh about enforcing every little inconsistency - but take the time to think about your choices.
Likewise in terms of accommodations - and especially for the price - most people expect some actual luxury from a car like this. This isn’t 2000 with its freakouts over car purism - “spartan” really just means broke.
Evaluated with only the front row in the interior.
Drivability
Most people buy supercars for clout; some have hip replacements. While you can make sacrifices for your reputation, it’s best if the car doesn’t abuse you too much.
What good are your riches if you’re not around to enjoy them? More and more, car owners are concerned about road fatalities and safety, and the rich speed junkie ones aren’t actually an exception. We’re all mortal, after all.
Purchase Price
While people who buy cars like these tend to shell out a lot of money - and, as a matter of fact, may sneer at something that costs too little - a car that costs a lot but doesn’t deliver on its promises will fare poorer. This is what separates “the waiting list was a who’s who of high society” from “this forgotten supercar just didn’t attract enough attention” in the history books.
While gobs of power and grippy rubber on their own are probably more important, a car that’s nice to drive on your resident canyon road will be better regarded than something that’s a veritable chore to drive near the limit. Just ask the people 45 years into the future pretending they like their new 5700-pound M5.
Running Costs
Even a macho pretending “he don’t want no fuel economy” has to admit at some point that the piling-up bills don’t feel good. Classic muscle cars run cheap now, and for good reason. To add to that, all of the new systems in cars are making maintenance ever harder, as are the fancy new types of tires.
Speaking of maintenance: Standards are also rising for how often your car is going to leave you stranded. Even in the strange world of handbuilt, hi-po monsters, once per season is probably too often by now.
Believe it or not, but even people with deep pockets and irrational priorities care about being able to bring cargo and friends along. A car you can use all the time is a car you can show off all the time - and in detail, at that.
INSPIRATIONS
Maserati Khamsin
Ferrari 308 GTB
Lotus Esprit
Alpine A310
De Tomaso Pantera
Porsche 930 Turbo
Lamborghini Jalpa
BMW M1
Aston Martin V8
Jaguar XJS
SUBMISSIONS AND DEADLINES
Submissions Open: 05/14/2025 11:59 PM CDT
Submissions Close: 05/27/2025 11:59 AM CDT
All-reviews-out Commitment: 05/30/2025 11:59 PM CDT
Extensions: None.
Name Convention: QFC58 - [yourname] as the Engine Family and Car Model name.
Engine Variant and Car Trim are free.
Submission Method: DM your .car file to me on this forum; Make a reply on this forum post with at least one picture of the car.
Resubmissions: Unlimited until the deadline, provided the same DM thread is used. Note that I will use the last resubmit - even if you introduce an illegal part that a previous resubmit didn’t have.
CHANGELOG
-
05/13/2025
Re-shuffled priorities: Look for price, comfort, practicality.
Added “Coherency” metric.
Upped trim ET to 70.
Filled in gaps. -
05/26/2025
Updated submissions window
