Archibald Stone founded Stone Motors in 1921 in Ellisbury, Gasmea for servicing airplanes and motorcycles. Several years later he purchased the tooling to begin building his own engines. He was fascinated by automobiles and hoped to someday make his own.
1925: Archibald built his first ICE prototype, a 345cc Straight-3. Stone Motors went on to produce and continuously improve on that engine for the next 20 years successfully. Local builders praised their strength and durability which made them suitable for race modifications.
1946: A fellow countryman by the name of Roderick Silver came to his shed with an old jeep like car which he’d transplanted one his his SM3’s into and it needed servicing. At first, old Archie was skeptical. But, upon further inspection and seeing how the talented young man who came with the project had built it all, Mr. Stone offered him a job in his factory helping redesign his next big project.
1950: After years of research and development Archibald and Roderick began production of their first jointly developed ICE, a 4-cylinder unit called the SSF, to be employed in their first production automobile, the Valor. The company was renamed Silver Stone Motors.
This thread is dedicated the cars and history of Silver Stone Motors, a work of fiction inspired by real history and events. It is one of a few Automation car companies I’ve created in my time with the game. My original thread was dedicated to Bronx Motor Co. as an engine supplier to various other carmakers in that universe, but I decided to reboot that thread and spinoff each company with their own dedicated thread inhabiting the same universe.
After nearly a year, I finally regained access to my account so I can go back to posting again. Unfortunately, the car files seem to be broken and I can’t download them to pick up where I left off. So, instead of starting a whole new thread, I’m just going to start all over again on this one. The lore for this company will remain the same, save for a few changes to keep in like with some of the new features added to the game.
Looking forward to sharing new car builds after all the awesome updates the game has gone through!
Back at it again, rebuilding the Valor and all its variants. I wanted to download the old car files and pick up where I left off but I couldn’t download them from the links on here, nor could I find them anywhere in my computer.
I’ll have to log in to my Microsoft cloud tomorrow to see if I find them there…
I must say, even a featureless body looks pretty sweet with some mildly traced rays.
I managed to find my old save files on the cloud, so I could re-engineer the car once again. I did have to build a new ICE for it, since the old engine file is apparently not compatible with the new version of the game and failed to import.
Future posts will be more detailed and include a good bit of lore, but first we’re playing catchup.
I’ve been trying to get a grasp of all the new information available in the markets tab and how I could implement it into the lore of my cars.
Also, the new game map is to beautiful and detailed to not take advantage of.
Considering this is a soft reboot of the company, I would be willing to ‘relocate’ the companies too the Automation Universe as opposed to making them fictional manufactured based on real world locations; this would open up a lot of new possibilities, including but not limited to participation in other events held on these forums where I could enter these cars.
What would be the Automation equivalent to the UK, France, and Italy on the map?
The Red Label was a very niche car, even for the company. The body was showing its age, the the competition was getting better by the year, and this car was a cry for help of sorts. The people behind Silver Stone set out to make the superlative, not just exceptional machines - they had fallen behind and the Red Label showed that.
It made 80hp, a great deal more than the other trims in the line, and weighed only 975kg. Nearly 100lb-ft of torque made it feel even lighter. It was zippy around town but never imposing. The 1.8L isn’t impressing much anymore these days and its days were numbered.
It didn’t offer much new in terns of comfort but it handled sharply for what it was. It was trying to be something it wasn’t though, it was made in the middle year of the development of the company’s upcoming new flagship… it was built in the shadow of the DS. And that car would go on to define what the company stood for.
It sold only 62k units to the base and special edition’s 238k and 506k, respectively.
I’m cooking up some lore to go with the campaign playthrough, as I’ve been keeping notes during notable events in the campaign. That way I can give a bit more character and breathe more life into these companies! They would have stories to go with the designs.
I’m thinking I’ll be going the way of my old threads where the main posts were in chronological order detailing releases in those years, as opposed to full lineups and history of one model per post.
This was the car the company wanted to make but couldn’t afford to when they set out on this venture nearly a decade ago. Having sold nearly 1 million cars by 1954, and with continuous R&D investments, they could set their sighs on their next goal - to produce the premier Grand Tourer on the market. It would prove to be not so easy a task, but it’s what the boys Silvers and Stone wanted, and the company they built believed in their vision!
Two camshafts moved 24 valves so three carburetors could feed twelve cylinders and make 200hp at 5700RPM on their way to a 6K red line. It also made 200ft-lbs of torque at 4600. No, this wasn’t the Valor’s 25MPG, this only made 12… but it could go 100mpg with ease and break 130. All on regular gas and costing $30k
A luxurious interior draped in leather and flanked by natural wood. It was insulated, the sound the cabin made at high speeds was that of a higher class of car, or higher weight. This was under 1,250kg… it wasn’t superlative. though.
It sold well, 83k cars in three years! It wasn’t yet a world-beater but you got more car than you paid for.
The first major update to the DS (which stands for Deluxe Sport) came three years after the initial debut and it would bring much needed changes to the car to address its biggest criticisms and bring out the ‘Sport’ in the name.
The 60-0mph braking test went from 150ft to 131!!. It pulled 0.1g more on the skidpad even with more body roll.
Added 15hp/30ft-lb and 10mph faster, while only gaining 25kg
This year brought 4-wheel disc brakes, power steering, and improved safety features.
It was a planned run of 200k cars but downturns in the economy put a slight hamper on those plans.
Sales were slow, and after producing 100k trims in 3 years, only 91k were sold to dealers at a $32k each after 5 years.
They diverted funding from manufacture to research for those two years. Kept afloat by the success of the Valor’s consistent sales and they were still moving the DS.
There was one year where Silverstone produced and made only the Deluxe Sport 420GT. Factory construction and tooling had begun on the Valor’s replacement and there were no more Mk I’s left to sell. In that one year without a new Valor in showrooms there was a point when the company heads were wondering if they’ve made a mistake in releasing the DS platform too soon. The success of the first trim proved it can be profitable, but they weren’t about to leave their loyal customers behind by not giving them innovation and value.
The new car had distinct styling while remaining recognizable and familiar. A 100hp V6 engine was now standard, as was a luxury-grade interior, progressive spring fully independent suspension, and 3-speed AT transmission.
The new Valor SE was just as special as the previous generation. Featuring bespoke wire wheels, higher level of interior materials, and a unique paint job exclusive to the trim.
The V6 put out more power and featured twin upswept exhaust pipes. Very special!
It had 4-wheel disc brakes like the base model, but hydraulic power-steering which the base model didn’t.
Even as sales of the original Valor were winding down and the DS was doing just fine, the company went ahead with designing the Lance alongside the second-generation Valor. What they really wanted to make were sports cars, and the Valor just happened to be their cash cow to let them do it.
The base model 2200/S had the same engine as the base Valor making only 100hp but was considerably lighter at 957kg. The suspension was tuned to handle which made it desirable as a reliable fun daily driven sports car.
Having only two seats, it wasn’t all that practical, but it had plenty of cargo space. It wasn’t cheap at $20,000 but you got a lot of car for your money, the interior, reliability, and build quality showed for it.
The 2800/s was to the Lance what the Special Edition was to the Valor. More power, a few extra features, and a more refined experience over the base model.
This version made 130hp and revved all the way up to 6000RPM offering a far more spirited driving experience.
Despite being more expensive at $23,000, this trim level outsold the base model to the tune of 70k cars in 2.5 years!
The DS2 was evolving, and with this iteration came a redesigned from fascia and bolder styling elements.
The engine now featured 6 carburetors and bumped power up to 250hp. Progressive springs and power steering made the ride supple, and thicker roll-bars kept it agile and responsive. The car was getting closer to finding its identity and its audience, but could it have been too little too late?
Sales were poor from the jump, even though the car was very profitable. With new competition in the true GT segment, the DS was scoffed at by wealthier clientelle and reliability was subpar for those who could afford the $35k car.
Despite having one of the best interiors in its segment, the overall experience left something to be desired. It wasn’t nearly as nimble as the company’s own Lance, could they have shot themselves in the foot by selling both cars?
The company felt there was indeed a place for both a 2-seat pure sports car and a 4-seat Grand Tourer in their lineup.
The Valor, which was Silverstone’s saving grace, was outselling them both by a lot so confidence wasn’t high in the sports car programs.
After 2 years of low sales, with only 33k units made, production was halted on the 450GT-S and funds diverted to R&D.
It would take 7 years for those units to actually sell, even after lowering the price to $30k when the subsequent update was released. It made the company a lot of money, but was did very little to raise confidence in or the prestige of the company.
With a 3-car lineup, the company was just settling into the rhythm of 3-year update cycles. The recent economic downturn was just making a turnaround and the company was poised to release updates to their remaining stack after a lukewarm reception to the DS 450GT-S
Their business model was that of a package system in which you have a base model car, and when ordering one you had alphanumeric check-boxes that designated certain all-inclusive options packages. These came with an engine, interior, and suspension upgrades usually. The Valor’s B25 package is what’s known as the Special Edition, and in late 1965 you were able to pre-order a new one simply named Red Label…
The car didn’t get a lot of press or much of a marketing push since it was difficult to describe at the time. It was really a Valor with some of the spirit and DNA of the Lance infused into it, the latter being a proper homoligated sports car.
What it did get was nearly 30k satisfied customers who gladly paid the high dealer upmarking on a $25k car, sometimes selling to customers at $30k.
It had been over 3 years since the last engine recall and reliability was no longer the company’s weakness, but the reputation damage was already done and so the Valor’s sales would continue to decline.
All three Valor trims would get updated safety features and suspension parts, with the Red Label getting quality upgrades in interior.
The base model went from 101hp to 114hp while remaining at 120lb-ft.
The Special Edition went from 117hp/136lb-ft to 130hp/140lb-ft.
While the Valor was struggling moving from the Family and Commuter classes to Family Premium category and the DS was still growing into a proper GT, it was becoming clear that the Lance was a hit in the Sports car segment with sales making their way towards Light Sport and Track customers.
It would take some careful planning and daring engineering, for this was an opportunity to build back the company’s reputation, gain valuable engineering, and sell lots of cars.
This year was the last update for the 2200/S, it got a bit more power and aggressive suspension tuning.
The 2500/S received design changes to its rear fascia, adding a distinctive chrome bar atop the rear, and new fender vent design with chrome accent.
For the first time there was a convertible variant, the 2800/S Roadster which proved quite popular.
Going forward, the 2500/S would be the base model with other variants being options packages for track and touring.
