Steinmann AG - A Hetvesian luxury campaign

[icrafter]

Steinmann AG

Gunther Eike Steinmann is the founder and head of a coachbuilding workshop in Karlstadt am Strand, Hetvesia. Being part of a family of industrialists, it was natural for him to enter the manufacturing business. The idea to start a business specializing in upgrading and/or rebodying luxury cars seemed low ROI to his family.

Due to the advantageous location of Karlstadt, some wealthy customers from Hetvesia and Gasmea alike did end up crossing paths with the startup coachbuilder, which lead to a steady business - not too bad, not too good. One thing that Gunther Eike noticed is that having bespoke components made for each customer required taking up space on the shop floor, as well as time and effort to develop them. There were some body styles that were produced multiple times, but they ended up being changed whenever the next high roller wanted a new one. Sometimes the new line was requested by multiple customers, other times only a second one got made. Furthermore, adapting everything to different chassis knocked everyone out of their routine.

This culminated with the decision to develop the first Steinmann chassis, which would standardize everything, helping to increase output and reduce costs. A common body was also thought of, which had aerodynamic inspired design, but reserved styling, so that it was easy to customize to a customer’s liking. However, this came to a halt when the great war began.

Preamble to the future posts:
This campign is a series about which I make videos, but I thought of the forum posts as an addition to the videos: the videos will have the major (and maybe medium) lore details covered, but also focus on the technical part of playing campaign mode. Having too much lore in a YouTube video may bore people, as even the most lore heavy playthroughs still show more action of how the game itself is played + BeamNG testing. The forum posts will be an opportunity for me to also add in smaller pieces of the lore. In the posts, less details about the game will be provided, as company threads here focus more on the story. I’ll try to make both the forum posts stand on their own and not need the videos in order to understand the story.
TLDR: You don’t have to follow both the forum posts and the videos.

[icrafter]

January 1946 - March 1950

The dream seemed to be over - all funds had run dry, and the car wasn’t presentable enough to sell to anyone. However, from the ashes of “it’s over”, “we’re so back” rose: bakns left and right were reaping the rewards of peacetime, with loans handed to any enterprise capable of producing something. Add to that the mostly intact Hetvesian infrastructure, and Steinmann AG seemed like a prime candidate for an injection of returnable funds.

Thus, work resumed on what was to be called the L6 - Luxury 6 cylinder. The engine’s cutting edge overhead cam design allowed it to extract 102 horsepower from its 3 liter displacement, which was adequate for propelling the 1.3 ton vehicle. While not an 8 or 12 cylinder heart, the SR6 managed to clear the bar in important metrics, with production costs and complexity being kept low, as Steinmann never made an engine before. It was obvious that a 3rd party would have to manufacture it, but the fact that Gunther Eike went on a trip to Fruinia, who would become the antagonists of the war in the eyes of the winners took the team by storm. Would the dirty secret under the hood slow down sales of the car, especially in Gasmea? One this was certain: the cheaper labor in Fruinia meant $1500 would be saved on every engine.

In March 1947, at the Berlau Motor Show, the Steinmann L6 makes its debut, as both a luxury sedan and convertible. The integrated front fenders and smooth aerodynamic design manage to drum up interest and orders. The number of orders was sufficient for the factory to keep running as soon as the final touches were put on the car, but the company still had a long way to go to be recognized as a fully fledged manufacturer.

Over the next 3 years, the business was steady, and the sales allowed for the cost of the loan and development to be recovered, plus make 2 million in profit. By March 1950, 1180 sedans and 1480 convertibles had been sold, making for 2660 units. However, all growth had stopped, with the same number of sales being made every month, and factory workers having to slow down their pace. A man of lesser ambitions would have rode into the sunset with the stumbled upon success, but not Gunther Eike Steinmann - it was time to innovate more.

[abg7]

A solid start to the Steinmann story, and a sign of even better things to come.

[Knugcab]

Nice logo!

[icrafter]

I made it to be timeless. (Although it may get smaller tweaks because even the timeless logos change between simple and complicated)

[icrafter]

March 1950 - June 1954

Thankfully, Gunther had come up for a solution to improve Steinmann cars - touring the country in his own L6, and attending trade shows. The car’s presence helped cement the company as a serious partner, and with key investments, supplier partnerships and research, two mechanical breakthroughs had been acquired: a two speed transmission that did not necessitate its gears to be changed by the driver, and improved front brakes, now with two shoes. The automatic transmission was making waves in neighboring Gasmea, where it became clear that any luxury car that dared challenge for the top spot needed to have it. As for the improved brakes, the more lead footed drivers complained about the suboptimal stopping performance, so this improvement was worthwhile to aid in commanding the large automobile.

In terms of design, the streamlined look was improved upon: the headlights got recessed into the fenders, meaning that any observer looking from the side only saw the pure, basic lines of the body. Per popular demand, fog lights were included, to help with visibility in Hetvesia’s many mountain roads.

By March 1951 the improved L6 was ready to be sold, and Steinmann AG experienced something it never had - the order books were full, and the workshop was busy at any hour of the workday, which now happened in multiple shifts. Clearly, the unique automatic transmission had taken Hetvesia by storm, despite its suboptimal driving dynamics due to only two gear ratios being available.

As more customers came in, the offices of Gunther Eike Steinmann and the few other top personnel transformed from a few sectioned off rooms in the corner of the factory into an annex building, with nicer amenities and more space. Construction was finished in April 1952. The extra staff hired helped establish better importers into Gasmea and more dealerships and service centers, at least in the major cities.

With millions in the bank after higher than expected demand, research and prototyping began on various parts, the highlight being a steering mechanism that helped turn the wheels with hydraulic pumps. Early tests showed how the system lightened the effort applied on the steering wheel, and reduced driver tiredness.

Around the time staff left for their summer break in 1954, the heads of the now thriving company had a choice to make: add any new improvements on the existing car, or build a new one from the ground up?

[RingBurst120]

Hey, that looks like the Tatra 87! I love the detail and the work you put in there. Also, I believe this aero-like body isn’t controversial at all - It’s pure innovation, of its finest to the core.

I have a belief that this company will soon make official diplomatic transport cars.

[icrafter]

It would have been an unusual body shape at the time still, most German cars still had non flush fenders and squared off rear windows. I’m still debating what body to pick for the next car, I’ve narrowed it down to 4 choices:

[RingBurst120]

The '49 3.2m 4dr is perfect. It’s also period-correct. Others are fine but a bit futuristic. And the mod body is a bit…crude.

Apologies from me. I’m sorry if that was a bit too harsh. I was just saying about what could go well… from my point of view. But it’s your decision so go with whatever you want.

[icrafter]

Before telling this next part of the story, I’d like to thank everyone who voted for Steinmann AG as the best thread of September, we won!

June 1954 - November 1959

During his summer + business holiday in Gasmea, G. E. Steinmann made sure to visit places that had to do with automobiles, like some expositions, showrooms and clubs. His findings there were concerning, but also motivating: manufacturers up north were debuting cars which were now lower, wider and sleeker. With this in mind, the internal debate between improving the L6 or making a new car was settled.
At the core of the new car was to be a new designer Gunther Eike met in Gasmea: Pierre Allard, a early 40s black haired man with streaks of grey hair from Val-du-Mauve. He is a semi-renowned industrial designer with a reputation for being incredibly stubborn and pushing very forward thinking designs - for better or worse. He’s also an avid cheese connoisseur, which only helps build his attention to tiny details.

When the relatively still small top brass returned from holiday, work was started on the new car. From the start, a core requirement was to keep the size under control, in order to make the car manageable on the narrower roads of Hetvesia, while having the appearance of a long, wide and low Gasmean car. The 2.95m wheelbase was kept, with the new chassis benefiting from the now 8 years of expertise the company had. Under the hood, not much was changed: the 3L straight 6 gained a 2 barrel carburetor and reverse flow mufflers, with power increasing to 117 hp.
While the core components were roughly similar, the parts bolted to the chassis saw huge improvements - the tires were now fancy new radials, which helped provide a better ride and control of the automobile. The increase in ease of control was supplemented by hydraulic steering, while the suspension was improved with progressive springs.

However, the start of the show was the all new design, courtesy of Pierre Allard. As a man who embraced the union of Val-du-Mauve with Gasmea, the lines that he drew were representative of the country which had become the main power of the world. His own personal background blended with the jet age trend, giving the body a rounded and polished look, fit for a graceful luxury car. Thankfully, his stubbornness didn’t seem to clash that much with the Steinmann design staples, resulting in an automobile which was both effortless and imposing. Allard greatly improved the interior, making it feel more like a living room, and less like a raw machine. A feature of said interior was a phonograph, letting occupants choose their own music, rather than pick up what the airwaves had to offer, provided they had a record with them. Since a man from Val-du-Mauve can’t be without his quirks, the fin from the L6 was kept, but now gained the shape of one found on Gasmean high end cars.

The wildly popular convertible version was kept for the new model as well.

As a way to be appealing on a brochure, Guther Eike Steinmann made the call to name the new model L7 - it may not have had 7 cylinders, but he believed the extra power compared to the L6 was roughly the same as adding an extra cylinder to that engine, and the number increasing by 1 made it stand out as a clear improved successor.

While the L7 was underway, the demand for the L6 was still through the roof (at least before the new model was shown off). Thus, it was planned for the coachbuilding workshop to be expanded. This all culminated in March 1958, when the L7 was ready for production, coincidentally exactly 11 years after the first L6 was made and delivered to a customer. To continue the legacy, the L7 was present at the Berlau Motor Show, where orders flooded in.

With all pressure being off, the engineering department was free to experiment with a new engine, and a new material - aluminium. Making a powerplant out of this element seemed worth looking into, as tens of kilograms would be disposed of, and efficiency improvements being on the line. New 3 valve heads (2 intake, 1 exhaust) were also experimented with, further helping the prototype surpass the SR6 engine in all metrics. Flush with cash, Steinmann AG pursued this goal, and by November 1959, a fully working unit of the engine dubbed the SR60 was ready, now pushing 130 hp from the same displacement as the SR6.

Now that we’re at the end of this chapter, I’d also like to thank @Racetro for the character of the designer, Pierre Allard!

[RingBurst120]

Now the tailfin again! Looks really ‘Conoisseur’… Maybe as part of the lore, you can keep the tailfin as a distinct company design​