It’s an absolute max.
Team Yacht Rockers
Steven arrives at his friend Ollie’s house one weekend afternoon and says, “So, I have heard you’ve found us a car for the clunker race that Trafikjournalen magazine is hosting?” “Da, that I have my friend! Come around to the shed and I’ll show you.” The two go through the house and Ollie rolls open his garage door. “Ta-da!”
“…are you serious?” replies Steven at the sight of it.
“Oh yes! Have you noticed that I am a luxury mammal?” Ollie pats his 300 pound frame, “And a luxury mammal needs a luxury car!”
“What even is that?”
“It’s a '72 Dover Andromeda Custom sedan! Now, I know what you’re thinking, but hear me out my friend! This beast is all motor! It’s packing a 7.2 liter V8 making 300 horsepower and 400 pound feet of torque! That’s good for almost 150 mph! And whom ever bought it 50 years ago ordered it with the towing package, so it has the up-rated shocks and heavy duty springs. So it can go around corners not to badly as well.”
“Okay, that’s good and all, but what about fuel economy?” Steven asks skeptically. Ollie runs his hand through his hair and turns away. “Da…it’s not that bad, considering it’s a 70’s yank tank. I’m sure it’ll be fine!”
Steven raises and eyebrow. “It’s a little rusty, don’t you think?”
“Hey, I’d bet you be a bit rusty too when you’re this old! So, what do you think? Do you think it’s the car for us?” Steven runs a hand along the fender, reaches in through the open driver’s window, and turns the key. The Dover’s 440 cubic inch mill bellows out a roar after a couple of cranks, shaking the garage walls.
“Yeah, I think we can work with this.”
6 Likes
Team X
Drivers are Joe and Schmoe. Both are auto enthusiast at heart, Joe, a fulltime plumbers helper and Schmoe, a CNC manager at a warehouse company.
After hearing about the last clunker run the two friends decided that they would not miss the next. Knowing the clunker run would be a survival of the fittest type event, the friends knew they needed a durable vehicle.
There were many vehicles that fit the criteria, but finding something in decent enough shape was the key. They almost bought a '92 Traville but the owner didnt tell them about the plumes of white smoke from the tailpipes the car emitted when running. So that was a pass.
After searching for some time, looking through the ads Joe came across a 1980 Wells i6. Not the great car the i6 has turned out to be, but an early bare-bones base model that has seen most of its life as a taxi.
This example, despite seeing taxi duty, was actually well taken care of and regularly serviced. So despite having 280 thousand miles, only 80hp and a 4spd manual, the car ran pretty well.
So, $650 later and a two hour trip up the highway, the i6 taxi came home, ready for the clunker run.
2 Likes
Prologue
Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
December 2020
6:53PM
The COVID-19 lockdowns in the city have ended 7 months ago. Right now, the city has pretty much returned back to normal, yet the threat is still there, after all, the disease has now progressed into a worldwide issue.
Jiang, currently driving his own 2019 Ursula F5 300TL (LWB version of the F5, which is a Chinese exclusive) while being stuck on a jammed main road due to high volume of traffic. Suddenly, his phone rang, which is actually He talking to him.
Jiang accepted the call via the hands-free phone system on his car.
Jiang: 喂，谁啊，找我什么事？ (Hello, who's on the phone, and why are you finding me?)
He: 是我啦，Mr 何，我是来找你的啦。还记得去年我们弄到的那辆车吗? (It’s me, Mr. He. I’m here to talk about that car we got last year.)
Jiang: 什么？(What?)
He: 关于那个我有新的消息。(I have news about it.)
Jiang: 是不是被偷了还是被公安充公。。。(Is it being stolen or taken away by the police…)
He: 不是啦，刚刚我才在我的车库内找到。(Nope, I just found the car on my garage.)
Jiang: 就这样？(That’s it?)
He: 我还没说完，我最近听到消息，在瑞典那里有个很特别的赛事，专门为那些破旧车而设的，我觉得那辆车很适合去比这场赛事。。。(No, I haven’t finished yet. I heard there’s some race in Sweden designed for cars like this, and we have a good entry on our hands…)
Jiang: 瑞典？你傻了吗？(Sweden? Are you crazy?)
He: 我是说。。。好吧，你先找我，待会儿在告诉你。(I mean…Fine, I’ll tell you when you come to my place.)
Jiang then sets the GPS to He’s house, and he started his journey.
Somewhere nearby Wuhan
December 2020
7:25PM
Jiang came to He’s house, which is some upper middle class home located on the outskirts nearby downtown Wuhan. He came out of the garage while moving the car outside. Upon Jiang’s arrival, He stopped his work, invited Jiang to talk on the living room with some peanuts and tea on the coffee table.
Jiang: 我就知道，你可能在胡说八道吧，你有证据吗？(Hah. I knew you’re probably shit talking. Any evidence?)
He then took out his phone out of his pocket, and shows the webpage about the event
He (while holding his phone): 你现在可以相信我吧。(I guess you can trust me now, eh?)
Jiang: 算你赢了。对于那辆车你有何打算？(Fine, I guess you win this time. Anyway, any plans for the car?)
He then puts his phone to the coffee table
He: 我决定要把车库里的那辆破车带到瑞典参加那个的赛事。既然我们之前打了疫苗，而且那个赛事也正好可以吧那辆破车发挥它的实力，那么，我问你，你要去吗？(So I have decided that the car is going to that race in Sweden. We already got our vaccines beforehand, and besides that, we could also take the car for a test. Now I’m asking you a question, are you in?)
Jiang: 可以吧，我太久没出过国了。(Yes, I’m interested since it’s a long time I have left the country.)
Jiang and He continued to talk about the race, as well as random stuff. Since that day was a Thursday, and both of them still have work to do at Friday, so Jiang left He’s house at 10:00 PM.
—TBC—
5 Likes
Clunker run, Eastern style (Part 1)
The three friends Marina, Jurij and Jevgenij (‘Jeff’) sat on the porch of Marina’s dacha* [or bach, for you New Zealanders] overlooking Lake Mara. All three were car enthusiasts and keen amateur racers in a local rallycross club. “Have you seen the ad about the upcoming 24h clunker run?”, Jurij asked. “It’s hosted by the Swedish Trafikjournalen magazine at a track over there. It’s not too far away… so we could actually participate.”
Jeff shook his head and gestured Jurij to hand over the car magazine Jurij had been leafing through for the last couple of minutes. “Höljesbanan?”, Jeff said, stumbling over the pronunciation. “I think I heard of this track. All corners, barely a straight. If we want to participate, then my Kavaler is out. We’d be just fighting wheelspin all day.” As indicated by his nickname, Jeff was regarded to be born and living in the wrong country, and fittingly his rallycross vehicle of choice was a 1988 1st gen Mara Kavaler with a 5l V8.
Technically far outside common rallycross categories, Jeff was still allowed to start in the highest class in the local club due to the audible and visible entertainment value the old pushrod V8-driven huge and heavy ‘muscle car’ with its engineering roots in (and looks of) the 70s provided. His usual moment of glory came right after the start of each race - due to superior horsepower - and predictably ended after the second or third corner when most other cars had already managed to outmaneuver him. “So that leaves either Marina’s Zvezda or Jurij’s Irena.”
The friends’ view* as they discuss their particpation in the Trafikjournalen 24h clunker run.
“I’d say my Irena”, Jurij said without hesitation. “Rear-wheel drive, as a true racecar should be, nimble and has actual competitive pedigree. You know, it even won a stage in that GT rally in the 70s…”
Always one for nostalgia, Jurij keeps his 1996 Irena SX 2.5 in the same livery as the 1970s one-off GT coupe that had won a stage or two in an international GT rally event. It’s not uncommon to find the car up on a hoist.
“That was not your car”, Marina interrupted, her fierce blue eyes piercing Jurij, reliving a discussion she’d had with him countless times. “That was a distant cousin, specially engineered just for that event… which has nothing in common with some 24hr clunker rallycross event.” She held her hand up as she wanted to continue over Jurij’s objections. “And no way I put up with that ancient gearbox in your car for 24hrs. My Zvezda is the newest, most reliable, with its factory AMM tune arguably the fastest and also easiest to drive of all three of our cars. And…”, she added, with a wink in her eye, “… the only one with an engine from the current century that I actually might be able to re-tune on the spot for the 95 RON petrol we’ll be able to get up there.”
What Marina may lack in sense of nostalgia, she makes up for in patriotism. She keeps her 2010 Zvezda SX 2.3 in her home country’s three colours: black, red, and yellow since the one time the only replacement bonnet she could find on short notice was in this odd yellow. The bonnet is adorned with the obligatory white star.
“With our collective experience in rallycross”, Jeff weighed in, “we might actually have a shot. A lot can happen in 24h, but I say we should take that opportunity and give it our best from the start.”
“Front-wheel drive…”, Jurij sighed. “Driving your car is less fun, and it is also less iconic than mine. None of our cars is going to make it through all of the 24hrs unscathed anyway. Why not take the one that’s the most fun to drive?”
Marina immediately reacted to give her reply, but then hesitated for a second…
To be continued…
since I can't make up my mind what to choose from my current lore and campaign cars.
* courtesy of the current state of my attempt to model the Autoverse gameworld in Transport Fever 2.
5 Likes
Team Totally Not A Reduit Factory Team
This is the 1982 Reduit Piti 1.4 turbo Brown Interior edition, which some way or another (I have no idea how), has come into the possession of a man going by the name of Jean-Paul. Some say this man is the founder of Reduit, however these claims are steaming pile of cow dung and should be ignored, as they were probably started by the Malagasy government.
However, it is 100% certain that selection of this car is pure genius. Allow me to explain. Unlike any other car here, this car was designed for the motoring needs of the average Mauritian motorist. Now you may ask “how does this have any relevance to your explanation?”. And to that I say “You clearly don’t understand that the Mauritian people have only ever known the excellence of Reduit, and have never experienced the low-quality autombiles produced in countries such as Madagascar”. This car comes with a delicious turbo and brown seats… as standard. What else could you want.
Back to the topic of the team. You can be 100% certain that this is not a Reduit factory team, as there are indeed Norwegian flags on the car’s windows… and before you mention the Reduit founder’s love for Norwegian football, this is just a coincidence and just another part of the false claims created by the Malagasy government. Now you may also wonder why there are no other members in this team, which is an entirely valid question. The answer to this is simple… Jean-Paul is an advanced being and is more than capable of driving faster than some rural rånere for 24 hours. Furthermore, this reduces the risk of drivers being sent be the Malagasy government from sabbotaging the team.
12 Likes
Prologue (pt. 2)
Months after the first event, everyone in the team is still busy with their jobs, but at least they still held occasional meetups in Sundays about the event. Still, everything is still not yet done, since there’s probably one more person needed to fill the gap.
Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
3 March 2021
11:00 PM
11PM should be the time where everyone goes to sleep. But not in Wuhan, where the city is still vibrant even in the wee hours, as people are still active due to work, or maybe to find some street food, liquor or something else.
At the same time at the Hankou area, in a restaurant famous for serving local delicacies, Tsai is barely enjoying some local food, as he still isn’t fully adapted to the local tastes even after months moving to Wuhan from his home at Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Tsai: 天啊，这些东西我还是吃不下，我还是想念在瑞丰夜市那些好吃的。(Oh god, I really can't eat these stuff, I kinda miss the stuff we got on Ruifeng Night Market.)
Suddenly, both Jiang and He came to the restaurant for supper. They are talking about the (then) upcoming race in Sweden, and Tsai overheard their conversation.
Tsai: 欸，你们怎么会来这里？(Eh, why did you all come here for some supper?)
Jiang: 这里的东西好吃呀，来，既然你在这里，我们一起吃饭好吗？(The stuff they sell here is really great. Since you’re here, can we sit down and eat together?)
Tsai: 没问题。(No problem.)
On the meeting, Tsai knew about the “project” junkyard ride and the duo’s plans to join the clunker run hosted by the Swedish auto magazine Trafikjournalen. Of course, Tsai is pretty interested in it, and also have plans to join them, although he is doubting the car’s condition for the race, since all vehicles Tsai owned are often new and Japanese.
He later do told Tsai that he knew a lot about vehicle repairing, and of course, Tsai do felt a bit relieved after hearing about this. But still, he is faced with a dilemma whether to join them or not.
Infact, Tsai knew them both online since 3 years ago, on a Discord group about automobile racing. (of course, both Jiang and He actually used a VPN to access services that are blocked by the Great Firewall) They are pretty close and even shared some info, including that black GR Yaris he bought last year.
It’s only when he moved to Wuhan for work when he actually seen them in real life. He and Jiang often took his friend to experience how the locals live, and sometimes they even treat him local delicacies, most of them Tsai isn’t a fan of.
Still, Tsai is enjoying the place a lot. After meals they keep having a good time with bottles of Tsingtao beer and left at about 1:00am.
Tsai’s home
4 March 2021
3:00 AM
Tsai is still up on his bed, probably because he ate too much. And also he is still wondering about the team since he still has thoughts about it.
Immediately, he took out his phone and opened Weixin (Wechat), found Jiang’s number, and tried to talked with him about it. But several minutes passed, nothing happened. Maybe Jiang is sleeping, or he’s busy on his work since medical issues are the hot topic right now.
Still, Tsai laid down, and pondered about whether he should join the challenge or not.
6:00 AM
Thanks to the decisions he considered, he haven’t get any sleep again. But still, he took out his phone again, and replied “Yes.” at the chat.
As it’s already 6 in the morning with no time left to sleep, Tsai then promptly prepared himself for work, despite feeling fatigued after not getting any sleep.
—TBC—
4 Likes
Hey! I dont understand the Eng. time unit
What is there that you don’t understand about them? They are the standard units for how long/how production heavy your car is. It’s the two stats located on the bottom of both the engine and vehicle trim engineering pages.
You want these numbers to be below the ones set by the challenge host. This is usually done by lower the quality of your car’s components or simply choosing simpler bits in the first place.
4 Likes
Prologue (pt. 3)
Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
14th March 2021
12:00 PM
The trio met in a local burger joint in downtown Wuhan for lunch. They also decided that they are going to talk about the challenge.
Of course, things do went very well, and after the discussion, Jiang decided that he and Tsai will be racing, with He being the sole mechanic as he did have some experience on vehicle repairing. They all agree with the decisions made.
Somewhere nearby Wuhan
14th March 2021
1:55 PM
The trio later went back to He’s house to show Tsai the vehicle they chose for the event. After they have arrived at the location, He opened his garage, pull it out of the garage then let them see it.
Tsai: 这。。。还不错嘛。我还以为那辆车会更糟。 (That’s not too bad, honestly, I thought it’s going to be worse.)
He: 满意了吗？还好我试驾时也没啥问题，要不然我们那天可能会死定了。(Are you happy now? At least the car looks fine when I drove it, otherwise it’s going to be way, way worse.)
Tsai: 车我倒是不担心，我更担心的事是我们如何怎样把车运过去瑞典吧？(Forget about the car, the more important thing to worry is how do we bring it to Sweden?
Jiang: 这个嘛，不用紧，我在广东认识一个人，他是做运输这个行业，知道很多方法可以把这辆车运到瑞典，我等一下去微信他，看他肯接受这个任务，如果可以我就叫人把这辆车载过去。(Don’t worry, I knew someone in Guangdong that does transport operations, he could help us to send the car to Sweden with many methods. I’ll gonna Wechat him for that request, and if he does accept the request, I will call someone else to send the car.)
Tsai: 太好了。既然这样，我可以试试看吗? (Nice. So, can I drive it?)
He: 随你便，别把它给驾坏了。(Whatever, but just don’t break it.)
Obviously, Tsai drove the Xianfeng for a while in the area. He felt the car is a bit too soft, since the suspension is kinda broken. Of course, after hearing the complaints from Tsai, He do agree to improve the car before sending it to Sweden.
The trio talked a bit, while checking everything about the car. Jiang then revealed that he also bought a radio for the car, for some reason. Everyone laughed before left at about 3 in the afternoon.
The car was later sent to Sweden by courier after checks and upgrades to the suspension. At the same time, everyone have spent some of their time prepared everything for the race.
2 weeks before the race, they met at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport, as they will plan to take a plane to Sweden with a transfer flight in Dubai. Their journey to Sweden has started.
—END—
3 Likes
Being completely over shipping ice across the Kattegat, Harald wanted to spend a few months surfing over on the east coast. Leaving his business in his cousin’s hands, he called his two brothers for a road trip. While out nabbing supplies, he spied someone selling paintings by the side of the road… and decided the car looked worthy of purchase, and perfect for carrying the surf boards. In the car was a flyer for this odd, upcoming, event to be held at Höljes… why not make a detour? Worst case scenario, he’d have to buy another car.
4 Likes
Could I submit a car that was just the body shell on a frame with wheels and then rebuilt or is that off the table?
I am not exactly sure about how you mean now, I’m afraid.
Like someone bought a body with no doors which was still attached to a frame with wheels and then put the car back together. (As, I write this I am starting to think that maybe it isn’t such a wise idea.)
A restoration from the ground up? Well, maybe, but it would be stupid to use since many cars usually ends up as trash after the 24h clunker challenges. 
Yeah, I would agree. XD
I got that, what i did not understand is when it says 50/120 means that the min is 50 and the max is 120 for example
The first number is the max for production units (PU), the second the max for engineering time (ET).
Oh okay thx, btw where can i upload my car
Message OP…and upload .car file in the reply box.
1 Like