TEAM FRIENDSHIP! :D 
Character Explanation
(Don’t have time to roleplay their entry/arrival, so I’ll just explain the characters.)
Team Friendship! :D is a pair of ever-cheery 
anthropomorphic cars , whose only goal is to be your friend! 
With the unshakable joy of a small puppy 
, and the emotional depth & attitude of a NickJr character 
, these docile little microcars are ready to take on any challenge with the power of friendship, persistence, and 
their 
unshakable 
positivity! 
The car bus:
A 1989 Bazard E-Series bus; though, at least in the interior, it’s barely recognizable, having been turned into an RV for cars! 
it’s modifications include: controls specifically designed to be operated by a car, a retractable garage/ramp for entry and exit, an in-depth radio/speaker system (which is almost always playing super-cheery, kidz-bop-esque music 
), and individual sleeping quarters for each car.
The exterior of the bus has been deliberately left undecorated, because they plan to search for decorative materials as they travel, and build a beautiful 
collage of their trip by the end of the rally!
Riley 
Full Model: Yellow 1949 Bazard Rikkett (IRL counterpart: Crosley CD-Four).
The Navigator of the group, Riley is the music lover of the group 
, and the one responsible for all the speakers on the outside of the bus 
(and the massive collection of CD’s in the cabin). As well as her own internal CD player, she’s been fitted with a modernized engine and some offroading equipment, that makes her actually pretty capable on a hard dirt trail on her own. 
Freddie 
Full Model: Green 1973 Aero Free (IRL counterpart: Peel P50).
The Driver of the group, Freddie is a bit more into visual arts than audio, though he still enjoys the music! 
In addition to driving, he’s the one with plans to decorate the bus as they go along. 
He also has some similar modifications to Riley; while not much of an offroader, his improved engine is capable of some shockingly impressive fuel economy.
Other OOC notes to help explain how this team works (will be kept updated as a reference):
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To clarify how they move/express themselves with others: the characters don’t have any visual “mouths” or “eyes” (though the “face” coincidentally made by their grilles/lights is usually an accurate representation of their emotions). The only physical/mechanical difference between these guys and a non-sentient car is their suspensions, which move dynamically like in the cars universe (so they can nod, “look around,” and otherwise express with movement).
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They do talk aloud, and as they do their headlights flash on/off in sync; they will also maneuver/adjust their suspension to “look at” who they’re talking to. Their voices are very high-pitched, (though not enough so to be intrinsically annoying), and have a very childish, whimsical tone. Between the 2, Freddie’s is slightly higher-pitched than Riley’s, reflecting their size.
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On pronouns/gender: while they do have preferred pronouns- “she/her” for Riley and “he/him” for Freddie -they are still cars, and therefore completely (intrinsically) androgynous & aeroace. By extension, they’re also good with “it/its,” which is what most people they meet assume anyway.
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After I submitted, the hosts informed me about an event from SR22 which will strongly (and negatively) impact how their characters may view mine. To clarify, my anthropomorphic cars have no relation to or knowledge of it, and I won’t be referencing it on my own any further; but if some of the host’s characters seem to be treating mine unfairly harshly, that’s the reason, and I’ve already confirmed I’m good with it.
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I promise, any resemblance to any other brightly-colored speaker-covered busses in this challenge is entirely unintended.
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The question of how or why these 2 cars came to be anthropomorphic will never be answered or addressed. And actually, this team is going to require a lot of further handwaving throughout this challenge to make work, so as not to make life harder for the rally’s hosts.
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My team’s name contains an emoticon, which isn’t straightforward to write on the forums; because whenever you put together an emoticon simply, the site automatically replaces it with the equivalent emoji. To write the emoticon itself, place an invalid formatting tag between the colon and the rest of the emoticon (for example:"
:<g>)" becomes " :) " )