I’m just having a laugh, thought it would be amusing to insert a little rhyme. 
I should’ve added a 
to my post as well
3 Likes
Once again you have delivered another cracking set of reviews… I await the next batch, and later, the final results, with unprecedented and unexpected levels of anticipation!
Yeah, I expected that. Was having too much fun making a mid-engine car because I couldn’t think of anything better to do. Was a year too early for the design I would’ve wanted to make, so I decided to screw around and make something mid-engined. Had it been 1975, the body I wanted to use would’ve been unlocked and I would’ve used a very different car, but this was 1974, and so I did what I did.
If only it had been 2020 with an unlimited budget…or I’d used x,y or z then maybe I could have been not quite so shit. “If only…If only…If only…”
[/Sarcasm_Mode = OFF]
On a more serious note…I was going for a Mini replacement, sort of, and failed miserably! But I did guess that before the EE City was reviewed! 
Good reviews though. 
Next time maybe? 
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I MADE IT!!!
for reference, the low power was due to the Catalytic converter, which was required by law on 1975 MY cars. i know this is a 1974 car, but, due to California Emissions Laws, a Catalytic converter would’ve probably been mandatory from 1974 MY.
Word. AMC started putting cats on all Hornets in 1974. My '73 Hatch V8 was the only year you could get the Hatchback-Factory V8-No Catalyst combo.
Hence why I also put a cat in mine, even though most Japanese cars didn’t actually have them until later (assuming they used an emissions reduction system like SEEC-T or CVCC).
Of course, now that’s going to make me want to go home and change the pistons to hypereutectic and remove the cat and see if I can get more power and similar emissions. Maybe I could shave a half second off my screamingly slow 0-60’s. 
Oh and @stm316 … yes. To all of the above. Because Japan.
Third Batch of Reviews - CSR49
After lunch, they found themselves walking down a sunny boulevard, looking around and wondering how many cars were left. 14 was the answer. They decided to hurry up and get it over with as soon as they could, since they couldn’t afford to spend another day looking at car dealerships (whoops).
To kick off afternoon procedures, Canada Motors. They recently started going by the moniker CM, yet the actual model names continued being as bad as always. The saleswoman pushed the couple to the Laurentian 4x4, with groovy stripes and all. However, much like the Valois they had seen yesterday, this was a good car, but it wasn’t meant for them. They had no intention of going off-road and the height, combined with the aero, killed performance, handling and fuel economy. And so, away they went.
After that, the Asians from Komodo. Here, they inspired their name from a typical animal of the region, not the country itself (take note CM), giving it a wider international presence with typical flavour. The Starta hatchback impressed instantly with its headline 35 mpg fuel economy, due to its back to basics approach. With RWD and a manual gearbox, it also promised to be fun to drive. Have your cake and eat it, despite being a rather small cake, seemed like a good proposition.
@Mikonp7
As they were going to look for the next car, they noticed yet another empty, abandoned dealership, this time it was Ecamobile’s. The stock market crash and recession really was starting to show its effects on daily life.
The Smooth Coupe looks rather nice, rather smooth. However, the V8 under the hood is not very powerful, at 150 hp from 4.3 liters, and not very efficient, mastering a lack luster 18 mpg. It would work brilliantly as a GT cruiser, with nice interior amenities and an automatic box, but it doesn’t quite feel the needs here.
After the Smooth, came the Rennen. American brand, german name, no idea why they’ve done that and this worries me about their upcoming model naming, Caelum itself is quite a strange name. The Rennen comes with a lift back rear, which aids loading items into the not so large trunk. The rest of the car looks pretty neat, with hints of elegance and sportiness. Fuel economy isn’t bad, performance isn’t bad, the interior isn’t bad, and by being a good all-rounder, it would be looked at more carefully.
The BM 2300 was next. Unlike the Rennen, this was a true sedan, with 4 doors and 5 seats and a larger trunk. Inside, the car was well-equipped, with leather seats and a true 8-track player. Under the bonnet, a smooth 2.3 straight six helped with the comfort feeling, however it couldn’t pull it off efficiently, with only 100 hp and 21 mpg. However, the proposition of comfort more than made up for that and this car would be considered.
The Italians from GBF sure know how to make a car look good, and the Viato 1600 was no exception. A pointy front end, coupled with lots of add ons to the profile helped bring up the looks of this car. Much like the two cars before it, it is RWD, good standard equipment and has a manual gearbox. And very much like the other two cars, it doesn’t achieve great fuel eco or great performance numbers. But it’s such a good all-rounder, that it would be considered.
The Washingtron Fahren. Yes, they really called it that. Waching machine, something tron. Another empty dealership, this time, covered in dirt and muck. (Refused for using a Barth mod)
The Poindexter was next. No, I don’t know what they were smoking when they came up with that name, probably the same as several other marketeers, to come up with such terrible names. In this case, the designers were also under the influence. The design of this car is a clear case of this will do, and it simply doesn’t look finished. It has enough features to be called a car and be road-legal, but that’s about it. Given the overall averageness of the rest of the car, there is no reason for this car to be considered.
And with that, they left for Berkeley once again. On monday morning, a final short blast down at Oakland to check the remaining alternatives would happen.
And that is all for today, I am afraid real life has been even more complex than I had anticipated, plus I had to do more reviews than I planned as well.
Tomorrow, I will post the remaining 5 reviews and the final scores. Sorry everyone for the delay 
23 Likes
Certainly they must have been in the market for proper passenger cars, not 4x4s… In 1974, the crossover/SUV boom was decades away.
And yes, I used a catalytic converter for no other reason that it would be mandatory for US-market cars in real life from 1975 onwards. I could have omitted it and still managed to keep the emissions within acceptable limits through some fine-tuning, but chose not to.
Also, four-valve heads were nowhere near as commonplace in 1974 as they are now. One of the entries for this round was rejected for having such an overly complex feature - that’s why I opted for a simpler 2-valve SOHC top end instead.
Finally, subcompact cars of the era were a far cry from what they are now - buyers thought they were penalty boxes with too few creature comforts, and hence seldom deserved a second (or even first) look.
Thank you captain obvious.
3 Likes
I would allow anything within the ET/PU limits, but that’s just me. If people want ‘realism’, it would be fair to state that as well, otherwise people get punished for being creative (which I thought was one of the big points of Automation; ‘what if’).
5 Likes
But but but but a GT cruiser is what everyone every needs 
…oh well
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Batch four of reviews and final results
Short blast down to Oakland, short song needed.
The Zenshi Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare. You do have to be a Buddhist monk to have the patience to drive this, 54 hp doesn’t make this fast, in fact some would call 16s to 60 slow as fuck, it doesn’t even reach 90 mph, stopping at a miserable 85. Inside, it is as sparse as a Franciscan priest’s house, with a basic stereo and average seats, however, there was one seat too few. Not even decent styling and 27 mpg are enough to lift this up.
Next, the Montrouge Gladius and what a proper looking thing it is. Red with a black stripe, it just looks spot on, perfect from every angle, by far the best looking car they have seen during the three days. Despite the looks, this is more of an economy car, but it can do that very well indeed. 33 mpg is a great result, coming from the 1.4 liter SOHC engine. Performance isn’t stellar, but it isn’t bad either. Overall, a very impressive car with an open top too, just as they wanted.
Zeal’s dealership too was empty. A shame really, as their CS200 seemed quite promising. However, the economy is really doing badly at the moment and it more than shows.
Sinker was next and they did show a boat, just not the Titanic. In fact, it was a very orange interpretation of a muscle car, called the Coyote. The interior was nice and it is supposed to be quite safe, however, with these looks a 0-60 time of over 10s just doesn’t cut it. The reason is the choked 3.2 inline 6, producing just 113 hp. Economy isn’t good either, at just 20.5 mpg. And so they left.
The GW Seax was a bit overwhelming at first, with so many trims and options to look for. Once the salesman settled on which one he wanted to sell, they were able to check the Londoner trim. In typical british fashion, it came equipped with a 2.5 inline 6 engine, making 117 hp. Sadly it couldn’t provide decent enough economy numbers for the times of scarcity. Looks were boring, the interior was mediocre. No need to bother with this one.
And at last, the Adenine Vindicator was seen. Quite the landbarge this car is, yet, amazingly light at just over 1000 kg. The aerodynamic shape helped it get over 30 mpg and a good top speed, for the 99 hp, of 124 mph. Sleek looks, good interior and the promise of fun handling puts this on their shopping list.
With the 15 brochures on hand, they started nitpicking and eliminating the cars that had the greatest weaknesses.
At the end, 9 cars were dismissed and they only kept 6 cars to test drive.
When they drove all the cars and examined them, they ranked them in the following order:
In 6th place, the Erin Civera 220SE - @DeusExMackia
Good looks, good sound system, proper british inline 6 engine, RWD. Shame about the efficiency, with mediocre fuel economy and performance.
5th was the JHW Kestrel 480 - @JohnWaldock
America loves a V8, but no one loves to stay forever in a line to fill it up. A couple of years earlier, this might have been the one. It is that impressive.
4th was the Scarab Comet S - @gridghost
Once again, a proper british gentleman’s express, again, a great design, a proper engine and RWD. Only thing letting it down was the powertrain effiency.
3rd place goes to the Revera 2700C - @asdren
As usual from Revera, it looks outstanding and the interior is properly plush, however, again the pocket spoke louder and it was outclassed by the top 2.
In 2nd, comes the Adenine Vindicator - @phale
As usual from Adenine, it looks outstanding and the interior is properly plush. Yes, this was copy-pasted from above, what wasn’t was the efficiency section, as this car manages an impressive 31 mpg. It’s also faster than the winner. However, the winner was ever so slightly better and it also had an ultimate selling point.
The winner therefore is the Montrouge Gladius 1400GT - @EnryGT5
Until this car came along, Steve and Debbie didn’t have a clear winner. As soon as they set eyes on the gorgeous design of the Montrouge, they wanted it. When they stepped inside they kept lusting for it. When they saw the cheap asking price and the claimed 33 mpg, their head gave the thumbs up. When they test drove it, they saw how well this RWD chassis was tuned and, to top it off, it was an open top. Perfect to enjoy the great California weather.
I’m really sorry for the hurried final reviews, I really needed to get this over with today. And congratulations to our winner!
Please don’t tag him on the following posts to keep the surprise when they open the forums. (It’s really easy to spot the difference between one tag and two, as it shows on the notifications icon.)
22 Likes
I didn’t have time to enter this round, regrettably. What I can say though, is hnnnnnng 
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there was an effort.
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History repeats itself… The Montrouge Gladius lived up to its name and put the opposition to the sword - just!
But what will the next round bring? If it’s not another period piece, I’ll be pleasantly surprised.
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Survived the 1st round only to be cut in the 2nd… the horror! Of course, the winner(s) were truly great designs. Congrats! 
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Congratulations to EnryGT5!
Looking forward to what the next round brings.
And yes, I am intentionally not tagging, not just because Leo asked me to, but because I also believe that tagging the winner ruins the suspense of reading the final results. You log in, there’s 14 tags, 10 are in one thread, and it becomes “Must have won something” instead of “Let’s see how this challenge is going.” Reading down the line of reviews and not seeing your car just yet, that leads to the build of suspense, and it’s something that I feel others need to experience. It’s nice to read through reviews with anticipation building, even when you know you’re out. Logging in to 5 or 6 tags in the CSR instantly means “Guess it’s time to start my round” instead of logging in to a tag or two and wondering if you got cut, or a close second/third place.
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What about mass tagging someone that got cut in round one? 
In the industry, we call that a Dick Move.
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