Sanda Motor Corporation - Le mans 🇫🇷 RPC-88

Cheap car with 49hp named “GT”. Would drive very much :smile:
I like the design. It looks very real :slight_smile:

1 Like

@szafirowy01 Well, if you like japanese underpower sport cars, you might like the next one ;D (still in the cheap-ish side of things)

Nah. It’s not about being underpowered, I just like cars that include a bit of nonsense :stuck_out_tongue:

PS Or are surprising in a way. Or at least not something one might expect.

The term “GT” is so vague that there is no irony to be found here.

1 Like

Well, for me GT is gran turismo - a car that combines speed and comfort, good for long travels for one or two people. And I thought it is quite common interpretation.

PS Although as a trim name it’s like “slightly more power, a bit of fancy equipment”, which makes some sense.

For us petrolheads, but for must people and specially marketing people, GT equals to sportier than normal version xD, so with the right justification, you can badge any car with a GT insignia :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:
But here is another silly take on a sport car.


1968 - 1971 Sanda Proton

After the presentation of a prototype in 1966, 2 years later, the official project came to the light, and this time, looking better.
The Sanda Proton was the take on a sport car, taking the characteristic small engine design of sanda. It was powered by a tiny 1.3L flatplane V8. Since the parts were so small, you don’t had to worry about vibrations, and the engine could rev up all the way to 7,800 rpms. All of that, plus a futuristic alienish design.
Sadly, there were some crocks with it. The fuel economy was one of them, it was rubbish for such small engine and power output. Also, due to the dependent rear suspension, and poorly tuning, it was unstable at high speeds or in bumpy surfaces.
It only remained in production 2 years and it took 3 years to sell every car, and to this day are considered collectible cars. It also founded the seed for some of the characteristic sports cars with small displacement that Sanda will manufacture in years to come.





Market price: $10,507

1 Like

The 1968 Archer. Welcome to the Danger Zone… :stuck_out_tongue:

That car looks so… 70s, but not the good Escort 70s, more like very cool but a challenging experience Fiat 70s :smiley:

1 Like

1970 - 1976 Admiral

After the good way the Archer was received, Sanda decided to produce a new car, specially targeted to premium buyers that wanted a coupé, with a little extra power than the Archer.

The admiral was slightly smaller than the archer, but it was equipped with a brand new L4 SOHC engine pushing extra hp to the front wheels. The car although was basically a 2 door version of the Archer Lxi received pretty good critiques, and it made some of other car makers turn the head around to the Sanda M. Corporation, such as the mexican company ADM that was thinking in actually take some of the japanese models and re-brand them for the american market.

Market price: $10,680

NOTE: Crap, I didn’t notice I actually copiede my previous design D’uh xD

4 Likes

#1973 Archer Facelift

The economy was growing and so were the cities and the roads. By '73, the old archer was considered too slow (even the GT trim) so in the next iteration, with a new facelift, Sanda gave the cars a better and brand new engine.

Made of iron, the A1 was the biggest engine offered at the time, ranging from 1.4 to 1.6L. The valvetrain was a simple direct acting overhead cam instead of the complex 3 valve per cylinder used in the '70 Admiral.

###Coupe GL




###Sedan GL




###Sedan Deluxe




###Coupe 1.6





7 Likes

It looks unassuming, but the Archer is shaping up to be a great entry-level compact car from what I’ve seen so far. It finally has the engine it deserves!

2 Likes

Love the looks, properly 70’s cool

3 Likes

Gosh darn that is a pretty little car!

2 Likes

Thank you :grin: Now that my company is in the mid 70s I’m finally reaching a more fun era for the Japanese domestic market :smiley: Good things to come!
(in the meantime I need to make sure this company’s models don’t compete with each other).

2 Likes

Easier said than done.

Following some of the other companies here, this one will be on hiatus until the next update, I need those turbo L3!

2 Likes

Sanda announces new engine family series for '75 models

After a quiet time, Sanda has an announced a new line-up of engines for upcoming models, the K series

The K series is comprised of 2 families, the K3 and the K8. Both have block and heads made of steel iron, 3 valves per cylinder and to compensate for their small size, both use 1 or 2 turbochargers.


The K3 is designed for FWD use for kei cars, with a displacement of 549cc, 3cylinders feeded by a single barrel carburetor and a single turbocharger. It generates 40 hp and 41 ft-lb.

The K8 on the other hand, is derived from the original engine of the 1968 Proton, a small V8 designed for longitudinal RWD. It displaces 1702 cc, plus it has a flat crankshaft, 2 turbochargers and 2 single barrel carburators.


6 Likes

Will they have head gasket issues in later years of production? :stuck_out_tongue:

5 Likes

Probably… new tech is not 100% reliable

1975 Majime Second generation

https://i.imgur.com/wWrxIaG.jpg

Majime in a classic Sanda Brown + cream color.

https://i.imgur.com/KRZNR3e.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/8vsHBs6.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/QZh54sT.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/ffzgKHw.png?1

https://i.imgur.com/Hter2mA.png?1

6 Likes

1975 Sanda Ridge

After 4 years in development, the fruit of Sanda’s engineers was the 1975 Ridge. Based in the concept of the '68 Proton, the concept was fairly simple, light weight car with a tiny V8 (thanks to its small size, it avoided the 2 liter tax) conceived as future flagship of the company for years to come.

Designwise, it had pop-lights and some details that are in line with the '75 Majime. The engine was the k8, a small 1.7L turbo V8 pushing 130hp at 6100 rpm, while weighting less than a ton (133.33 hp per ton for the curious), giving a nimble and dyanamic driving…

…while being in the power range. One major flaw of the design was the lack of power below 3,000 rpm, making it’s driving in town quite tedious. Even so, Sanda engineers firmly belive the future of the company and future cars is linked to turbocharging.

SPECS:

12 Likes