Oh, crap! I was talking about race tubular but was very tired when writing the text so I forgot to mention that, I’ll change it immediately and hope that I won’t upset anyone with that… Damn, there is always SOMETHING that goes wrong…
1 Like
Makes about 3 horsepower difference on my car, which I don’t feel is worth really arguing over.
2 Likes
Team New Life
Kyle Schurz: 34, General Manager of one of his cousin Hank’s gas station/car washes. Life has been an improvement for him lately, having lost a lot of stress in his life by quitting his former job and going to work for his cousin. He is much happier, and has even gotten himself a serious girlfriend.
Hank Schurz: 37, Kyle’s cousin, and the franchise owner of two gas station/touchless car washes. His business is still the only thing going well in his life. He has recently gone through an acrimonious divorce, though his prudence in getting a prenuptial agreement saved his business from getting “parted out”. He is looking to do this run as an escape from his newfound isolation, and has his favorite cousin with him.
Ted “Fuzz” MacGregor: 26, avid trash-car run enthusiast. Recently moved from Washington state to take a better career opportunity as a sheriff’s deputy in Tolland County, Connecticut. Met the Schurz cousins through mutual friends, and talked (and bought) his way onto the team.
The Car
Amazingly, the cousins managed to find yet another Steel Moss colored car. This time, it’s in the form of a 1983 Ardent Chancellor DL wagon.
The odometer shows 231k+ kilometers on it. The radio was replaced at some point with a cheap auto-store special tape deck, and it’s rather hit and miss as to whether or not it works. Hank had to replace the throttle body when he bought it, as it had a tendency to randomly stick either closed or at WOT, and the original (completely worn out) ignition tumbler has been removed, bypassed, and replaced with a hidden push-button ignition system. Both front seats have covers on them now, masking the significant tearing in the original veloured fabric. But otherwise the boys seem confident in the car…
11 Likes
Team Mountain Pass vs the Meatball Rally!!!
Other races we’ve done:
The Team
Pierre Mountbatten, 55, is an Australian journalist who founded Mountain Pass, a magazine dedicated to cars that loved hitting the twisty “B” roads over bloated V-max queens and hyper expensive exotics. Pierre is looking forward to doing an illegal street race in Sweden and he’s also looking forward to taking in the sights of the beautiful Swedish countryside.
Andrew Morgan, 43, joined Mountain Pass just as Touge in Japan was gaining traction with Western audiences and became their patron saint in the Mountain Pass offices. Andrew is looking forward to the competition and taking in the sights of all those lovely Swedish ladies!
The Car
Purchased for $7911 off of a local Car Trader website, this 1985 Swedish spec Zealot Entice is stock standard and unmolested. Featuring a 70Kw 1.6L SOHC motor and 4 speed automatic, the Zealot is looking to favour stealth and reliability over pure speed. Hopefully the team won’t lose too badly but at least they’ll be comfortable doing it!
10 Likes
I am not 100% dedicated yet, but I am considering it. Apart from the visual mods the car was already finished.
Team Supreme Cream
(Team Two Mothertrucking Idiots was unavailable due to being in America)
Drivers:
Ulrich Reichenbacher
Former Helicopter Pilot with mechanical training. Responsible for the car. Used to be a hoon, now occasionally competes in slalom races (the german equivalent of Autocross) using a highly modified 1990 Barricada Solara Turbo.
Private Weapon of choice: Bonham Chaucer 2.0T Estate, 1999 Erin Scarlet Lex (Mk.III)
Klaus Kammler
Descendant of famous Architect and SS General Hans Kammler, Klaus Kammler means business just as his forefather, but not in quite such an evil way. He is in fact a former Kart racer turned Junior rallye driver turned insurance inspector. As a result he is a master at non-stop long distance driving and quite adept at handling a car on rough terrain. At least he used to 12 years ago. Basic mechanical skills.
Private Weapon of choice: Impakt SW200D, 2.0L Straight Six Diesel, 165hp, 8-speed Automatic transmission, split folding rear seats, 60mpg.
Car: 
A 1988 AMCC Gauntlet Quadtech, which somehow lived its first life as a Taxicab in Germany. How this canadian 3.0L Straight Six ended up in this situation is not clear. What is clear is that the engine once produced 165hp, mated to a 4-speed automatic transmission and simple FWD system. What is also clear is that the car has been meticulously maintained over its 542,466km life and just recently had its timing belt and brakes renewed. As a result the Team had to pay $10,328 for the car, some of which was returned by removing and selling off unnecessary bits and the A/C compressor, since most of these didn’t work anyway (Is this allowed? lol).
Driver’s impressions:
Ulrich
- Rust free, understressed engine, full service history, incredible straight line stability due to the heavy straight six over the front axle
Klaus
- It’s not particularly pretty, not particularly fast, fairly terrible handling thanks mostly to cheap tires and surprisingly inefficient for a relatively modern 24V engine with Multiport Injection. But it should be reliable.
Starting budget: $15,000
Car: - $9,635
Pre Race Balance: $5,365
12 Likes
Team Off Constantly
Danielle Lagerfelter and Melissa Merwood-Lagerfelter are newlyweds touring Europe for their honeymoon. Frankly, they’re getting tired of sightseeing, so when Danielle found out about this race, it sounded like a great way to experience Sweden. Mel hopes to see the Scania factory while they’re there. “Those big V8s are sexy!”
Dani and Mel have completed several rallies in their native Minnesota, but this will be their first time competing abroad.
The car is a 1957 Wisconsin Motors Tazio. Danielle convinced the curator of the Louwman Museum to loan it to them for the race. The car is mostly original, save for an engine swap executed back in 1985. In exchange for borrowing the car, Danielle has agreed to send the museum a correct period engine. Let’s hope there’s a car left to put it into!
8 Likes
Remember Lucas Nilsson from the 24 hours Clunker Challenge? Well, he’s back for more!
So, Lukas Nilsson is still 16. He still has his 3rd generation Kansai and he took it to his school. It’s now his daily driver. So one day, he finished school and saw a sheet of paper on his window. He took it and it’s says: “JOIN THE 2018 MEATBALL RUN NOW. WINNER GETS A MYSTERIOUS STUFF.” He seems interested. So, he went home and took a closer look…
And right when he finished that part, he seems excited. So he finds a local exotic cars dealership nearby and bought the car. He came back to the house and this is what he bought.
He called his brother John and asked him to come here.
Lucas: Look at what I bought.
John: What?! A TSR Tora RS?!
Lucas: Why?
John: That car is super rare! Only 10 of these are built. Furthermore, there may be less! Don’t tell me you’re gonna modify it for the Meatball Run.
Lucas: It’s you who send me the paper?!
John: Yeah!
Lucas: Whatever. Anyways, I bought this bad boy for $10583. It’s the cheapest one I could find on the lot. Even an NSX is more expensive.
John: An RS that cheap might have a rough life.
Lucas: Is that so?
John: Don’t act like you don’t know anything!
Lucas: Fine, fine, fine.
John: What are you going o do with it?
Lucas: I don’t know, swap the engine from the Taikan?
John: That might be a good idea. Let’s try it…
The next day…
Lucas: It fits!
John: And only for $1160! Let’s try tweaking it even more…
The next day…
John: Woah! It’s awesome! But do you really need to tune one of 10 Tora RS to this point? I mean, we spent a lot of money on to this only to find that the value dropped down.
Lucas: I don’t care. I just need a car for the Meatball Run and my Kansai is just not cutting it.
John: I know. But what I mean is that you could’ve bought the Tora Touring or even the Angel.
Lucas: Well, I want mid-engined AWD… Who knows, rough weather, snow, what could go wrong?
John: Everything! You’re still 16!
Lucas: But I did well in the 24 hour Clunker Challenge. Anyways, here’s what I did… Medium compound tires, Watanabe rims, rear canards, custom wing, a roof scoop just in case our AC breaks down and a custom twin-turbo to our K6 motor (the engine family of the Taikan).
John: But why is there a bag in there?
Lucas: To put all of the snacks when we buy them at the supermarket.
John: You can put it on the frunk right?
Lucas: The frunk wouldn’t open…
John: Oh. The spare tires in there?
Lucas: Yeah. Why?
John: If we’re stranded then how are you going to open the frunk?
Lucas: I don’t know. Don’t ask me. You’re the TSR fanboy!
John: And why are the taillights painted?
Lucas: I’m not a fan of the taillights.
John: Ahhhhh men. You brake suddenly and people are going to crash you from behind!
Lucas: Oh, I didn’t consider that when I painted the taillights.
John: Oh my god! Now that’s just a new level of stupidity! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!
Kicks table…
Lucas: Are you done?
John: Fine.I’m done. I don’t wanna be with you anymore.
Lucas: But it says here that you need to make a team.
John: You could do someone else like your friend or your girlfriend!
Lucas: I don’t have a girlfriend and all my friends are non-car guys. The car-guys in school are the bullies.
John kicks the table again
John: ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! YOU HAVE NO FRIENDS?! AND NOW YOU WANT ME IN THIS?!
Lucas: You’re my only hope. You helped me in the 24 hour Clunker Race.
John: WE’RE NOT GOING TO SURVIVE THIS! YOU’VE SPENT $12774 OF YOUR $15000 ON YOUR CAR ALONE! THE HOTEL ROOMS, SPARE PARTS, FOODS AND PROBABLY SPEEDING TICKETS ARE NOT EVEN INCLUDED.
Lucas: Relax. Let’s name our team The 2 Lone Wolves.
John: SUCH A STUPID NAME!!!
Lucas: No, it actually makes sense. We fight with each other right and so, 2, LONE, WOLVES!
John: Oh yeah, you’re right. Sorry. We’ll just have to see and pray to God if we actually making it alive.
Lucas: I’m actually more focused on beating Team S**tbox…
John: Oh god please nooooooooooooooooooo! They’ve got a Caliban. A mid-engine V8!
Lucas: Well guess what? We’re making 390HP.
John: Wow! Well, we’ll see about that…
7 Likes
I edited my car a bit.
Now it has 404 hp instead of the 303 hp of the old version and now it is awd instead of the old rwd.
I also made some cosmetic changes.
(for some reason the bottom grille doesn’t show up in the pictures)
2 Likes
RIKSGRÄNSEN, ONE EARLY MORNING
MARIE: Look, there is a Caliban! That’s what they look like!
Kicking Janne in the butt
ANDREAS: Yeah! And there’s another Caliban! See and learn!
Giving Janne another kick in the butt
JANNE: Stop kicking me, it’s not like the two of you haven’t done anything wrong, ever!
ANDREAS: Well, I agree that it was strange to wake up and find a reindeer in the garage that I appearantly had stolen the night before…
MARIE: Yes, and do you remember the incident with…
ANDREAS: DON’T EVER MENTION IT, BECAUSE IF YOU DO, I WILL TELL EVERYBODY ABOUT WHEN…
MARIE: DON’T YOU DARE!
JANNE: Shit, I’m glad that I’m not the first one to drive, it’s like if the moonshine from the weekend still has some strange side-effects, I see some kind of android…
MARIE: But I see it too, so it must be real…
ANDREAS: Are the two of you stupid or something? We were all drinking from the same can so of course it’s not strange that all three of us has the same hallucinations! But I am sober enough because the fumes from my mouth did not ignite when I lighted my cigarrette…
JANNE: Look, there is some finns there, should we st…
MARIE: NO, WE SHOULD NOT START A FIGHT!
JANNE: You can really be boring sometimes…
ANDREAS: Hahahaha, and somebody must have taken the wrong route, look, a granny in some blandmobile, I wonder what she will say when she realizes she’s into a race…
MARIE: Well, it will probably turn up like most of your folkrace laps…
JANNE: But there’s grannymobiles everywhere… Ardent, Bogliq…haha, and there is always that stupid kid that buys an exotic without being able to afford to run it…no I think our IP is a sane choice compared to the other crap here.
MARIE: But I would gladly change it for that Wisconsin, imagine that one, flat black, roof chop, flame throwers, angel hair in the roof…I’m drooling!
JANNE: Are you sure it’s just from your mouth?
MARIE: Whatever. Are we race ready?
JANNE: Of course we are. The tank is full and I have wired up the dixie horn, the fuzzy dice is hanging from the mirror and the stereo is loaded with Eddie Meduza tracks. So what could go wrong?
ANDREAS: Absolutely nothing. Or everything. But at least we will have fun all the time until this POS will catch fire or something…
9 Likes
Team Shitbox Brothers!
The tale of two twins and an 80s track car.
(Any line said by any of these two, read them in a thick Spanish accent).
As the Hillbilly Rollers had a bit of a verbal brawl, Ana and Alejandro exited their Caliban, stepping back a couple metres.
Ana: Did you…really…have to paint it in that colour?
Alejandro: C’mon, don’t look at me like that. I had a can laying around the paint shop and I thought it could be a good idea…
Ana: Don’t try to justify it.
Alejandro: Look, it’s not the end of the world if our car is pink, okay?
Ana: Yeah you got your good taste stuck up your arse.
Alejandro: Well that’s another story. Let’s check who we are up against.
The Shitbox Brothers then walked around the parked cars, taking a look at people, recognizing some old faces…particularly those of Team Mountain Pass, the V6 Vandals, ThunderStruck…but mainly, the faces that caught their attention the most were those of Team Harcourt-Entwhistle. Ana saluted Elizabeth and the team briefly, grinning from ear to ear.
Ana: Ayy! Hope you race a bit harder this time around!
To be continued.
7 Likes
Team Bakewell Tart
Mandy Carter - 23 years old conceived in Greece at 5:46 PM on the 9th of October 1995. She’s the main driver of the two and is competitive and won’t back down without a fight. She has experience in the thick action of motorsport driving her lightly modified 1990’s Contendiente Ataque in low-class rallycross and to be honest her ‘normal’ driving could be considered racing in her 4 cylinder Baltazar Quasar.
Connor Jackson - 22 years old ( only 2 months younger than Mandy). He’s along for the ride : one, so he can provide guidance, two, so he can reign Mandy back in to stop her going to hard and crashing the car and three, Mandy needed a friend along for the ride and the one she’d grown up with seemed like the best option. He drives a 2012 1.5 Maesima Prova.
The two friends hopped out of Connors Maesima and walked up to a big set of barn doors in the middle of Derbyshire.
“Well I guess this is the place” muttered Connor unconvinced looking around the side of the barn at the tree that was leaning on it with the face of ‘Oh God what are we doing’.
Mandy pulled the door ajar and they both slipped in treading carefully over ivy and fallen beams.
“Well I guess that’s it” said Mandy to Connor as they walked to the back of the barn “No wonder Dad said we could have it, it’s borderline a right off.” “Apparently the bloke who had owned it crashed it and gave it to Jackdaw to fix and tune engine, never payed them so they left it in the barn and he left it to them when he died they just haven’t been arsed to getting round to it”
Connor scanned the surrounds of the car and peeped inside at the ripped and scratched seats “it’s interior is ruined aswell and the door is falling off it’s hinges, rusted away and there’s no glass”
“Well Dad and his mates called it the Videographers Car so I wouldn’t sit in the seats if I were you, I’ll leave you to imagine what happened” called Mandy from underneath the car.
“Lovely” breathed Connor taking a few steps back, shaking of his hands and took a long look at the ivy covered mess. “Tell you what though, your Dad is going to have to help with this we can’t do it on our own I mean it’s got hallf of Derbyshire’s plantlife in it”
“I think you’re right, i’ll look forward to that phone call later” said Mandy shutting the drivers side door and walking over to Connor.
2 Likes
Team Revero Racers
The Car:
An ex-BTCC touring car CCi V6, 1999 with 28,000 miles on the clock.
(Styling not finalised, design may change)
The Drivers:
Driver 1, Kyra Hofmann- 26 years old, Formula Ford driver looking for a more light-hearted way to race. Her interests include: Racing, rap music, Revero Racing sports cars, anything with an engine.
Personal cars- Amuna Mauricio GTS, Sofa 200 (why?)
Driver 2, Anonymous (for, erm, security reasons)- somewhere in the range of 30-40 years old, we don’t really know, ex-MI5 agent who wants a more risky way of getting a kick. His interests include: Amunas, Touring car, rugby and biology.
Personal cars- Revero GL V8 7.4, Amuna MTS V12 SuperLuxe, Caliban Thunder Infinity
5 Likes
I know it is there for a purpose and to stop people entering wildly OP vehicles by exploiting, but I really don’t like how the depreciation mechanic limits the cars that could possibly enter (without wildly modifying the original design). For instance I can’t enter a 1994 V6 Premium-Luxury Coupe , but a much faster, more economical 2001 WRX/Blitzen hybrid is well below Budget, and what should be a highly desirable and expensive 1960s Muscle Car too is cheaper. Just examples, but you get my point. All prices are including the respective mark-ups for the era.
What is the point of a road rally when there are no cheap 500hp luxobarges that outrun most everything while simultaneously being on the brink of total electrical failure at any moment?
6 Likes
I agree that it didn’t turn out very well this time either, just like it failed the last time… but if I should try to come up with something better I have to do it for the next competition, changing it in the middle of everything when people already have sent stuff in is not really a good idea…
Learning by doing, I guess… 
some things turn out better in theory than they actually work for real.
But if someone has any good ideas for the future, I’ll gladly take a constructive discussion about it on PM.
2 Likes
Team V6 Vandals
Pre-Race, Storm Automotive HQ, Chicago
The quiet rasp of the 3.9 liter V6 suddenly filled the garage as Cody arrived, with Jake in the front seat, looking excited. Seeing that Amy and Luke weren’t paying any attention to the new arrival, Cody put the clutch in, then banged on the rev-limiter, causing the twin-cam V6 to unleash a wild bellowed roar, followed by popping and clapping as Cody lifted his foot off of the gas pedal. The strategy worked, as Luke poked the camera-on-a-stick over his shoulder, while Amy turned and said, “Why don’tcha do a burnout in here next time? Car’s got a horn, use it.”
Luke disconnected the inspection camera harness, packed it into a box, and walked over to look at the new-used car they had for the Meatball Run.
“Well, it’s a Sinistra, so it can’t be that bad. V6, 3.9 liter. HPO… Sinistra’s mid-to-late 80’s High Power Output stamp. Means it’s making at least 200 horsepower. 5 speed stick, so one of us is going to have to be extra careful with this car. Got it in the Sweepback, too, so it’s one of the less-desirable models. Old Man Sinistra tried really hard to make the big-hatchback work, but had to accept that Americans just weren’t in the right mindset then for sporty, sleek cars. No turbos, but then again, they were unveiled on the 1990 Turbo Sunbolt anyway.” Luke said, looking over the car carefully. “All in all, not a bad example of the 1987 Sinistra Swift. Shame it’s not an '88, though. VVT really changed how she performed overall. Not much more power, but… Gas mileage was better.”
“So, you like it?” Cody asked.
“Would’ve liked a Turbo Sunbolt more, but we can work with it. Can’t turbo it up, though, sadly. Sinistra’s HPO tended to run rather high on the compression, high enough that turbocharging would need an engine rebuild.” Luke replied.
“Wait, we’re not giving it boost!?” Amy asked, seeming outright shocked. “Luke, need I remind you, we did a run with a naturally-aspirated Minerva Midnight, and we didn’t even finish!”
“You want to blow the engine up, and drain our wallets fixing and fueling the beast, be my guest, but I’m not running my pumps dry so you can eat.” Luke said. “If it were the '88 model, yeah, I’d say to go turbo, but it’s the '87.”
“The engine computer’s really weird, too.” Jake said, looking at Luke. “There’s an adapter in the glovebox, converts from this really funky Sinistra standard port to an OBD-II harness. Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but… OBD-I wasn’t official until '91, right? And OBD-II wasn’t around until '94 in California, and '96 all over the US? Because this seems to indicate Sinistra was OBD-II compliant with an '87.”
“How’s it reading?” Luke asked.
“Like I’ve plugged it into an ‘04 Surge. Same ordering, same codes. It’s like he fuckin’ copied your mind before you were built, Luke. I know you were the one who did the coding for the Surge’s DynamIQ project, the fully-integrated-computer-system. This is exactly the same. I’d say there were differences, but… I just checked your Surge over, and I refreshed the data three times already, this isn’t an anomaly.” Jake said. “She’s OBD-II compliant, before OBD-I was even required. Loaded with sensors, too.”
“Any codes?” Amy asked, before sitting in the car.
“None. And no, it wasn’t recently cleared. There’s actually a counter of hours since the last reset.” Jake said.
“No shit? This thing’s futuristic, then.” Amy said, admiring the digital dashboard, the simplicity of the 80’s and early 90’s, hiding the true nature of the Swift behind a sea of dark gray plastic. “And it’s not hot-rodded, right? This is actually a Sinistra ECU you’re looking at?”
Jake turned the screen of the diagnostic unit to face his mother, scrolled down the list until they found a code labeled “Authenticity” and pointed to the output: “GOOD_SIN”
“If it’s hot-rodded, it’s with Sinistra parts. But I don’t think it’s hot-rodded. Cody picked it up for a steal, after all, and the owner was some old lady who bought it off the showroom floor when her Sinistra Senator’s V6 split apart. And she made headlines, because Old Man Sinistra paid for her new car, honoring his statement that if any of the early cast-iron V6’s failed at the weld-seam, well, he’d replace them out of his own pocket. She even had the bill of sale with Luke Sinistra’s signature on it.”
“Guess that settles it, then. It’s official Sinistra, to the core.” Amy replied. Jake nodded, then said, “I’d love to crack the ECU open, see what mess of mid-80’s tech is stuffed in there that so expertly talks to modern equipment. Seriously, a state-of-the-art engine computer, and he’s hooked it up to something that looks… Normal for the 80’s.”
In the parking area at Riksgränsen, Early Morning.
The Sinistra Swift was sitting there, loaded down with a few days of supplies and tools, a few spare parts that they could find, even including a modern Storm Automotive ECU after the discovery that it would fit and plug right in, and a second discovery that it also would run the car quite fine. This seemed to drive Jake to the brink of insanity, before Luke stated, “There must be a simple explanation for all of this. You’re overthinking it.”
“Well, unless you went back in time, Luke, and did all this, I can’t bloody explain it.” Jake said. “Seriously, who would have known those exact pin-outs, the right voltages, everything needed for your current-generation ECU to just plug right in and work?”
“Stop overthinking it.” Luke said, before getting out of the car. Which is when he noticed Team Hillbilly Rollers pointing and arguing about moonshine, androids, and hallucinations.
“Not a hallucination, guys. I’m as real as you are.” Luke said, as the rest of the V6 Vandals bailed out of the car. Luke opened the trunk and grabbed a sturdy cane, something he’d picked up doing because it reduced the fluid loss from his left leg hydraulic cylinder seals, even though using it gave him a bit of a limp.
Jake watched as Luke limped off to look at the competition, and in that instant realized Old Man Sinistra had the exact same limp. Sure, the old man never seemed in pain, it seemed more artificial for him than anything else, but he matched Luke almost exactly. He turned to Cody, then asked, “Could it be a habit?”
“What now?” Cody responded, looking at Jake as if they were on two completely different wavelengths.
“Luke Sinistra’s limp. It’s obvious nothing’s wrong with the old man, he’s as much as said so, but he walks with that limp and a cane.” Jake replied. “Could it just be a habit, something he’s done for so long that he no longer cares why he’s doing it?”
“Could be, but why fake a limp?” Cody asked.
“Call me crazy, but I think Luke Light and Luke Sinistra are the same. No, before you say I’m crazy, hear me out. Look, it’s obvious our Luke is falling apart. Let’s say in two more years, he calls in one of his favors, gets himself a new chassis. Except instead of just going back to running Storm Automotive, he finds a way to go back in time, looking like an old man.”
“You’re crazy, and there’s plot-holes the size of the sun in that, but I’ll listen.” Cody said, grinning.
“We know when Sinistra Motors was created, 1946, and they pumped out a rather advanced, for the time, inline-6 powered sedan. Single overhead cam, modest output, the Sinistra Swift. There were also rumors of aliens around then. Now, let’s say you wanted to go back in time, wanted to run a car company, and wanted to avoid the worst of the problems history has. When would you go back?” Jake said.
“Probably just before or just after the end of World War II. And I’d make sure I was old enough to avoid the Vietnam War Draft. Wait a minute… Luke Sinistra claimed to be 40 in 1946. Luke Light is 18 in 2018. If he goes back in 2020, that’s a 20 year discrepancy.”
“Yes, it is, but Luke knows age is everything, both visual and actual. A 40 year old man in 1946 wouldn’t be expected to have gone to war, after all. In 1986, he’s ‘80’ years old. Old, but he could claim plastic surgery for his good looks, and some form of a diet keeping him in excellent health. By 2006, he’s ‘100’, can still claim those two. So ‘Old Man’ Sinistra is 112, which is quite old but not quite unreasonable for someone in excellent health.” Jake said. He then caught Cody’s glance, turned, and saw Luke standing there.
“Enough gossip about Mister Sinistra. Seriously, listen to yourself, Jake. Time travel? A secret conspiracy from me to go back to 1946? Even if I wanted to, it’d take every favor I have to get a new chassis. And you’ve seen me in the Research and Development lab enough times to know I don’t have time to make a time machine.” Luke said. He knew it was false, plain as day, but he wasn’t going to let Jake spoil his plan two years early. He owed his future self that much.
“Seriously, let’s go look at the competition, Jake. There’s a couple Calibans, a TSR run by a couple of jokers, a '57 Wisconsin in beautiful condition, an AMCC Gauntlet that’s a year newer than our Swift, Mountain Pass brought a Bogliq Zealot to the party, and an '83 Ardent Chancellor. Plus a few others I haven’t seen yet.” Luke said, all-but-dragging Jake and Cody out of the back seat of the Swift.
“Seriously, you two, go meet some of the teams. And Jake, keep your conspiracy theories to yourself, okay? Talking about time travel makes you sound crazy.” Luke said.
(Sorry about the long post, but I felt it was a good opportunity to link Sinistra and Storm in story, as Jake Storm figures out Luke’s big secret over time.)
9 Likes
Long RP posts are half of the reason to host competitions like this one. 
I mean, you can make competitions when making the best car is what simply matters the most, and they may be more fair as competitions, but the stories that is being made from all the RPing involved is why I liked for example the grand tour or the last hurrah or for that reason my own clunker run that I had never thought would be as fun as it was.
3 Likes
“So, you’ve bought a touring car then?” says the shady character as the CCi burbles into the garage, leaving no neighbours asleep on its way.
“Correct, and what a bloody awesome car it is at that, had great fun on the drive back, and I picked the whole lot up for just a shave over $12k.” Kyra replied briskly.
“Any modifications?” The shady character, who we shall now refer to as anonymous, inquired.
“Not that I can see, the intake manifold may need a checking over and the Vapour oil separator may need replacing as it coughs out Steam on start-up, but aside from that it should just be standard maintenance.” Is the reply.
“These were Rear-wheel driven, am I correct?” Asks anonymous, admiring the gleaming engine bay with the 314hp V6 nestled inside.
“Yes they were, and for the first half of the season they used open diffs. They were a nightmare to drive without viscous Limited Slip Diffs.” Kyra said.
“I did notice one thing as you drove in” anonymous adds “the axleback section of the exhaust pipe looks a little loose.”
“I can check that over, it’s fine.” Kyra brightly responds with.
“Also, this car doesn’t use ReveroTronic EFI does it? I’ve heard some horror stories, and my GL has suffered with injector failure before,” anonymous points out.
“It does but it’s one of the very late systems with all the issues ironed out since this is the last year they used EFI. Well, it’s the last year they were still Revero for before Amuna Performance bought them out,” Kyra says wistfully, peering over the bonnet at the strange-shaped wiring loom on the bootlid of anonymous’ SuperLuxe.
“Alright then, I’ll take it for a spin” anonymous quickly states before hopping in, blipping the 3.5L V6 into life with a roar, and proceeding to do a burnout before leaving.
To be continued…
5 Likes
Team KANSEI DORIFTO creative, right?
It’s a hot afternoon in Sunny California, (true story, it was 105 F today,) and a boxy sports car pulls up to the driveway.
“James why are you in a shitbox CMV? Weren’t you going to get that FR-S I found online?”
“Jess, you have no clue what I just found.”
“A fourth-gen C series with a ricer front splitter? Wow, what a find.”
“Ugh, maybe if you see whats under the hood, you’ll change your mind.”
"Sure, a 142 HP I4 with some ‘TURBO’ stickers, what a- WOAH. Is that a, is that-
“What, a 1.5L Turbo I6 making 285 HP and goes to 9500 RPM stock? Indeed it is, now what do you think?”
“An '89 C15? Those are homologation models! Magnesium wheels! 5-speed manual! Ventilated disc brakes! What did you have to spend to get this?”
“Uhh, let’s not worry about that, wanna go for a-”
“How much?”
“Ugh, 11,9.”
“ARE YOU JOKING? WE HAVE TO GET THIS TO EUROPE AND BACK AND PAY FOR HOTELS AND GAS AND REPAIRS!!!”
“I know, I know, but just, take it for a drive.”
“A $12,000 drive? You better beg whoever you got this from to take it back!”
“285 HP and less than 1850 lbs. means nothing to you? Come on, I know you too well.”
“Fine, I’ll go out for a bit 
”
Team KANSEI DORIFTO consist of James and Jessica, a couple with a love of cars and an unhealthy Initial D addiction.
6 Likes
Team Redneck
The family is out on the back porch having a get together Otis and his wife are snuggled in a single reclining lawn chair watching the grand children play in the sprinkler, which involves racing the power wheels through the mud. The oldest two boys are cooking at the grill, their wives are sitting at the patio table talking. Jake is sitting in another reclining chair teasing his mom and dad about being too old for all of that lovey dovey stuff in public when Suzie comes up and climbs into the chair on top of him.
Jake’s phone chimes with the announcement of a new message. Jake and Suzie read the message which contains the invitation to the race.
Suzie sequels “Lets do it, I love the stories you and your dad tell about your crazy trips.”
Otis, “What trip is this?”
Jake, “A 5400km illegal race through Sweden”
Otis, “A few suggestions… Think skinny winding roads, and a muffler, when I did that one before you were born I couldn’t hear for a week.
Jake, “So you don’t suggest the Express? Not to mention they are limiting total money, even fuel”
Otis, “Not if you want to win.”
A couple of weeks later the Redneck Express has been fixed up including the heater box. It doesn’t quite look the same, its lower, much lower.
Otis, “Well it ain’t gonna be the fastest, but it should do decently, and surprising good on gas.”
Suzie, “Its time to load it up, its shipping out tomorrow.”
Otis, “Good luck you two, drive… well safeish.”
Jake: 18, The youngest son of Otis, mechanic and driver. Redneck through and through. Big dirty black hat and all.
Suzie: 18, Jakes girlfriend Navigator and DJ. She is starting school next fall as an engineering student, only recently got into cars, racing, and engines in the last year due to Jake.
Redneck Express: 23 A big black 1995 T-25 ¾ ton truck that has been rebuilt several times now and has been run in so many competitions now that it might as well be a character.
6 Likes
As soon as I get home tomorrow, I’ll call some friends from the design shop, split some coins and buy a used Nimber, witch was one of the most successfull designs of our team. I hope to find something as good as the first prototype rolled out of the shop in 1962. Obviously I’ll look for a newer one since this 60’s versions are highly collectible nowadays.
2 Likes