1991 Hinode Lucent (VIP Style)
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Thats nice!!
A properly menacing sports saloon, and one that would look just as good as a 2-door coupe. I’m guessing that it’s powered by a V6 engine, as its badge suggests - that would go some way to justifying the quad exhausts. By the way, is it front-, rear- or all-wheel-drive? I’m expecting it to be either of the latter two of those.
V8 or I6?
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V8
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yes, its a v6, and rear-wheel drive
The IP Lily got a heavy makeover for its sixth generation in the 1980 model year. The USA inspired body that the predecessor had was replaced with a more “international” look, and it actually also shrunk somewhat. Technically it was still based on the same concept as the fourth generation Lily from 1968. Rear wheel drive, strut suspension up front, semi trailing arms in the rear, four cylinder cast iron, alloy head engine with overhead camshaft. What was new, however, was the introduction of a single point injection system which improved the fuel economy. The IP 4L engine had always been criticized for being thirsty for its size.
This was the last of the rear wheel drive Lily models. In 1985 the model switched over to a front wheel drive platform, that of course had nothing in common with the underpinnings of the 4th, 5th or 6th generation.
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The 6th Gen Lily is a nicely styled sedan and suits the Eighties well. Is it a conceptual competitor to the BMW 318 (E21 or E30) or is it aimed at the Volvo 240 series?
My inspiration for very much of the Lily series is the Bluebird so this would have been a 910 competitor, so well, sort of a “budget BMW” maybe, as the 510-910 models kind of had that reputation in some markets, with their similarities in the engineering to a competitive price.
(I am not cluttering my own thread down until the revamp of the game, where I will do my final revamp of the company, I hope. I will post some of the cars I try to make here for future reference when rebuilding though)
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Today, the 1973-77 IP Celestia has its fair share of enthusiasts, but it has not always been like that. In hindsight, the third generation carried over some of the sporty flair from the second generation, that was watered down very much until the sixth generation was launched in 1989. But when it was released, its larger size, its Detroit-esque styling and somewhat more comfort oriented setup was a disappointment for the enthusiasts coming from the second generation. Today, we view it in a different way, for example it was the last generation that offered the GTX-H coupé (“H” as in homologation) which is a very sought after model today. And with the prices of second generation Celestias rapidly rising, people are starting to view the third generation as a more financially viable alternative.
But most of the cars were of course regular 4 door sedans, available with various 4 and 6 cylinder engines. And they recieved some criticism for being squeezed in between the 6 cylinder Lily “America” and the larger, more luxurious Vagant. And many reviews back in the day also said that “There is not much that the Celestia can do that the cheaper Lily America can’t do as well”.
Technically it was not a very big leap from the second generation. The suspension (Mc Pherson struts / Semi trailing arms), the engines, gearboxes etc. were the same, it was still rear wheel drive and built on an unibody platform - the ideas that formed the basis for most of the larger IP sedans (and coupés, wagons) for many years.
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I get Datsun 240K vibes from this classy yellow saloon. I’ll take one with a six and a stickshift, thankyou very much!
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Is it ok to post SUVs here? Not the Coupe ones but the lifted estate ones
A pity then that the current generation is only a shadow of its former self then, lol. 
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Usually I’d say no but I haven’t made a thread for them yet so sure, I’ll let a couple slide
1980 IP ICARUS
Not only the Lily was updated for the 1980 model year. Another model that got an update was the flagship, the Icarus (not counting the “Royalist” limousine then, handbuilt in only a couple of examples every year), that dropped the now obsolete “coke bottle” styling that the Icarus had since the 60s for more modern, crisp lines.
Engine wise, the old all-iron pushrod “4H” gasoline 4-cylinder in the base models gave way for the new “4Z” alloy head SOHC engine, the 4 cylinder pushrod diesel stayed the same as in the predecessor, but was now joined by a 6 cylinder SOHC diesel. The gasoline inline 6 alternatives, however, still were based on the old “6L” SOHC unit from the 60s. Another new thing was a (for its time) very advanced computer controlled automatic 4-speed transmission that was available as an option.
Naturally it could be ordered with about any comfort option that was available in 1980, and safety was upgraded with for example 3 point inertia reel seatbelts on rear outboard positions, more advanced crumple zones, a safe placement of the gas tank and side impact beams in the doors.
The fourth generation IP Icarus was a short lived story. The fifth generation was introduced already in 1985. Competition in this class quickly got tougher during the 80s and cars got older very fast
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