I’ve been away from the game for the last several months, so I missed out on the chance to enter the design competition, but seeing the contest entries and being one for challenges, I made a few cars that fit the category requirements and figured I’d share them here.
Starting with Category A, the Rhodus V8 Special is an ultra luxury sedan with a super smooth 375ci V8 that doesn’t make much power, but generates a ton of torque. Getting it to fall into the luxury category was difficult, though, since the game seems to dislike anything more than 50hp in non-sport markets until the 60s.
In Category B is the Rhodus Helios. It’s a 2-door saloon style car with an economy-sezed V8 and luxurious styling. In the competition-spec trim, it makes 60hp and runs a 2-speed automatic giving it a 0-60 time of over 30s and a 0-100 time of well over a minute. This highlights the same odd choices as above with the early era preferences for specs. In a more real-world setup, the 2.0L V8 would be making more like 95hp and sending it through a higher ratio 3-speed manual gearbox to make its price and performance more in line with actual cars of the time.
Category C was my favourite, since muscle cars offer such a wide range of possibilities. The Iriquois Auroch takes full advantage of this with it’s 340ci V12 engine, providing and ample 1hp/ci to the rear wheels. It’s styling is stately, but aggresive, to back its performance capabilities, including a 145mph top speed.
My Category D car is the Rhodus Lynx, a light sport coupe combining elements of the Austin Sprite, Opel GT, and Triumph Stag. Not exactly a budget car, its 4.0L V8 and scarcely 1000kg build make it extremely spritely.
For Category E, I designed a super GT car, the Diamondback, somewhere between a Supra and a Trans Am. Its 5.0L I6 has enough grunt for a muscle car and runs smooth enough for a luxury tourer, and the subtle but stark styling makes it clear that this car is nothing to mess with.
Category F left something to be desired for me due to its lack of available body styles which resulted in the Autoneum Falcon (get it?) being a little on the supersubcompact side - proportions I don’t much care for. Performance-wise, on the other hand, hot hatches are fun to make. This one has a tiny 1200cc I3 cranking out 120hp to its 1-ton frame, placing it well within the appropriate performance segment, and far from slow.
My Category G car may be the one I’m most pleased with. Between soft, but distinct styling and a good mid range V6 engine coupled to an AWD system and off-road ready suspension, The Rhodus Trekker is a practical and attractive family SUV to appeal to a wide range of markets.
The last category I tried my hand to fill was H, with a Sypker-inspired design on a 1000hp V10 hypercar, the Regolith Hammer. On the high end of reasonable for the category in development time and price, it easily makes back those sacrifices with performance and luxury.
