Trafikjournalen: Cars that influenced Swedish car culture (The end!)

1990 F&S Seax GTS (SP90)

Yeah yeah, I know. You wanted me to talk about the MKIV Rattler. Now that was a fine machine; V10, single turbo, 200mph plus. But no, I think this is a little more interesting…

See, the Seax was built for one thing - dominance in BTCC. Group C was doomed with the interference from Bernie Ecclestone so out went endurance racing and F&S threw down in Super Touring. And what a time to be racing tin tops. Ask anyone and they all remember with strong fondness the mid 90’s touring cars.

It was also our second vehicle for the US market, but that story has already been told. Despite running on hotter fuel the power output was nearly identical due to the noise restrictions relying on extra mufflers.

We were convinced we’d perform at the track and in the showrooms and we had the compact sports sedan market nearly to ourselves in the US. But this was the frontier of central Europe - pretty much all the big players had one. And barely a decade ago we were a shed operation and we were going through a strange period of identity crisis. Were we a bespoke British sports car manufacturer or a mass production OEM? All I will say is we couldn’t decide in time for the launch of the Seax.

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With Cade now being a private company, its story no longer remains directly tied to that of Spain’s larger politics; and considering that the Spain of this era has just about become the Spain of today, these forewords I’ve been adding at the beginning of every post are no longer nessecary.

El Cade 1400 “Cacao” (1986)

Lore Here

5 years ago, a set of new designers at Cade made a car that was very strange and stylized, and marketed it with material that was was ugly, confusing, and sometimes bordering on obscene even by the very-liberal standards of the day. This move completely alienated Cade’s already-limited customer base, and only really appealed to people exactly like the designers; as it turned out, these designers were some very unique people.

Now, nearly out of money and with no customer base, the people of Cade got together to figure out what on earth they could do to survive (or if they even could at all). After some panic, they looked back at Cade’s history and realized that, prior to their arrival, Cade had always made the same type of car; the cheapest car possible. Never as good as its competitors, but always cheaper and reliable. None of these youngsters wanted to build this kind of car, but they had already run out of options; the econobox was their only hope.

But fortunately, these young designers were still very bright people, and their failure of a sorts car hadn’t been for completely nothing. They were able to recycle some technologies; most notably, the old I4 engine design, complete with the modern fuel-injection technology, could be transplanted straight in with only some re-tuning; primarily by shrinking its size to 1.4L. While they eventually planned to add an even smaller 3-cylinder option, the I4 helped carry the team to a quicker launch date.

They were also able to appropriate the 5-speed manual from the sports car, with adjustments almost exclusively to the gear ratio, and their brake tuning came from the same research they’d done last time. That’s not to say this econobox was remotely sporty, with its thin economy tires and 10+ second 0-60; just that they were able to put some some nicer technologies in the car without as much of a jump in engineering time.

And the time that this recycling saved allowed for greater attention to detail elsewhere; While the designers still had to hurry to make the chassis and body design as basic and easy-to-manufacture as possible, they were afforded a bit of extra time to think about things like weight and safety. They had time to add additional cooling vents, and to figure out how to install a catalytic converter without sacrificing too much power from the engine. Most of all, they focused a lot of time on the interior, as although they made it very stripped-down feature-wise to keep the car cheap, they didn’t want the interior to feel cheap.


Throughout its production run, several “special editions” of the car were made, which commemorated a variety of different themes; culture groups, autonomies, sports teams, and more. Shown above is the “Euskadi” edition, and in the below photograph, the most common “España” special edition.

The resulting 1400 was, on the surface, exactly what Cade had been known for for decades; a bottom-barrel budget city car. But underneath, the car was no longer the backwards, lazily-made failure from years past; it displayed care, and attention to detail, with modern technologies and almost a sense of forward-thinkingness (minus its boxy visual design). Some elements did feel rushed, but improvements to quality and rust protection followed over the first few years of production that helped iron out the wrinkles

Advertisements (very sedate this time) often compared the 1400 to a piece of chocolate, calling it variations of a “simple, lovable little delight.” This earned it the nickname “Cacao” among those who liked it, a nickname Cade itself eventually informally adopted. Unfortunately, this also opened up an opportunity for those who didn’t like it to call it the “Caca” (literally, “poo poo” in Spanish); but outside of elementary schools this joke didn’t end up catching on in Spain, as the car wasn’t as ridiculously far behind everything else on the market as its predecessors had been. Some people liked it, some people didn’t, but to most people, the Cacao was just a car.


Next weekend, we’ll find out how this little car’s exports fared in northern Europe.

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And, by the way. I have now decided that the next round will be the last. I am starting to lose the inspiration to do this and I feel that rather end this while I still can do good writeups than making one more, uninspiring, half-assed round.

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1992 Moravia Gabriela DL 1.7


The late 80’s and early 90’s saw major change in Czechoslovakia, and indeed much of eastern Europe as well. The Velvet Revolution and the fall of communist rule meant the Czechs were no longer under Soviet occupation. This change allowed Moravia to release their first all new car design in over twenty years: The Gabriela.


Development had been done in secrecy for a number of years, it was to be the replacement for the ancient Jestrab line. Available only as a five door hatchback (though often mistaken for a sedan due to it’s design), the Gabriela featured a modern front wheel drive chassis with independent suspension, four wheel disc brakes, a reasonable amount of safety features, even power steering.

However, the Gabriela couldn’t really claim to be all new. Powertrain options were largely carry over from past Moravias, although updated. That meant inline fours for lower models and the inline five for the upper trims. Now displacing 1.7 liters, the DOHC five made use of multipoint fuel injection and variable valve timing for increased performance. Making 91.5 horsepower at 6000rpm and 98 pound feet of torque at 3100, a five speed equipped Gabriela can hit 100kph in under 12 seconds while returning 32mpg.

Moravia is hoping that the Gabriela’s contemporary styling and reasonable $17,100AMU price tag will allow the company to strive forward into this new era.

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I hope this isn’t a competition of budget cars after I submitted mine

1991 Aim Shrike SA 4BTD

The early 90’s were an interesting time for Aim, the Button car plan was in full swing, forcing them to work with their fledgling rival SCE to badge engineer cars, with the first result being the joint SCE Sugoi NA/Aim Shrike SA, an all-around decent car (if a bit basic due to SCE not being the most wealthy company yet).


(OOC: yes I know the EU numberplate is tiny there, I had that problem a fair bit with older designs but I can’t be assed to go back and correct it)

Aim wasn’t happy with just a boring cheap midsize sedan though, they had their sights set on Group A rallying. One contract with the local tuning house Bateman Engineering later, and the 4BTD was born.

Using most of the Sugoi/Shrike as a base, the BTD had improved sports suspension with active dampers, an updated NM6 that Bateman had fiddled with and turbo’d to produce a whopping 202kW, and a 4WD system largely based off the larger Swallow’s. Visual differences included a bonnet scoop, large front splitter, Bateman’s signature “S Ducts” that took air from the bumper and routed it up on to the bonnet to try aid downforce, a large double decker spoiler, and even a basic diffuser (that really acted more as an attempt to clean airflow coming up from under the car at speed).

It wasn’t cheap though, with Aim’s tendency to throw cutting-edge tech at everything and their use of an external tuning house meaning that prices boomed to $35,000 AMU in Sweden, where this example is from, which interestingly enough was a large target market for Aim due to its rally heritage.

The car itself remained on the market ironically for far longer than the cars it was based off, as Aim’s next Group A challenger wouldn’t be ready until 1994, but the Sugoi and Shrike were both updated in 1993, leading 93-94 to be known as Aim’s golden years, where they had the most diverse and competent range in their history. How well the Shrike 4BTD and the other models performed, however, was down to the people.

More photos




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Right now, sports cars definitely outnumber budget cars; 4 sports cars (including yours) vs 2-3 budget cars.

It’s not as exaggeratedly skewed towards sports cars as in Cult of Personality, but I certainly think there’s certainly gonna be a lot of “contest” there.

Even from COP, I’ve never viewed this as a competition. More or less like a showcase :man_shrugging:t6:

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car orgasm

jokes aside, my ancient shitbox has no chance.

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Yours would have a chance with being rusted away or popular with a group of people ngl

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dude the engine family is 1946

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jaw dropping i guess.

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Zerve didn’t fair too well with the fall if communist rule, they were barely holding on at the start of the 90s. After the collapse, they lost a lot of military contracts.

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1991 Ardent Smoke Limited

Although Ardent had been sending a wide variety of its cars to Sweden and other parts of Europe, there were still a few holes compared to their home market lineup.

Customer feedback on the lack of V8 power was taken into account, and an 8-cylinder once again returned to the Swedish lineup, along with a model that had never been exported beyond North America before.

1991 was the beginning of the 3rd generation for the Ardent Smoke personal luxury coupe, and the first luxury Ardent since a brief and failed flirtation with the Manhattan 25 years earlier.

Under the hood sat a 5.4 liter Toledo Iron Eight, paired to a 4-speed ShiftGuard automatic. Inside the cabin, occupants were treated to pillowed leather seating surfaces, automatic climate controls, a 160-watt 7-speaker digital stereo system, heated and powered front seats, and a power sunroof. Other key features included remote keyless entry with door courtesy lights, heated power mirrors, speed sensitive power steering, and variable intermittent wipers.

With consumers in the US becoming ever more safety conscious, and to keep the number of configurations down, European-spec models kept the same standard safety features as the US model: driver and front passenger airbags, four-wheel antilock brakes, front and rear crumple zones, and emergency inertial fuel shutoff being chief among them.

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Forty years is a long, long time. Enough time for a brand to make a mistake, learn its lesson, and then make that same mistake again. Enough time for a car to find not one but two lives, to become a cult classic and an icon in its own right. In the early months of 1988, AMM announced a big event for the Sarek Owners Club, inviting its members out to a factory on the outskirts of Malmo for an “early celebration” of the Sarek’s 40th birthday. A collection of modified Sareks all peeled into the factory’s car park, the owners treated to refreshments before being led around behind one of the buildings. What they saw was nothing short of astonishing.



This new car certainly said it was a Sarek - but it was rather different to any they had seen. With its more modern take on the formula, this new Sarek was quite the marvel. The styling rankled more than a few of those gathered, being much too far from the original - yet some were appreciative of the more modern take. Many questioned the lack of AMM badging on the car, and were swiftly informed that it was intentional. The new car wasn’t an AMM Sarek - it was just a Sarek Fyrtionde, and all future Sareks would be independently badged - yes, there will be more

The new car featured a larger, more sophisticated Inline Six, independent front suspension and a plush, premium seven-seat interior. The car was larger, safer and more substantial… But these new features came at a price. The new Sarek wasn’t quite as competent offroad as even an original Sarek, and some viewed the permanent AWD and lack of a locking diff as a disgrace. It even used more fuel, thanks to weighing twice as much. Still, the sales reps insisted that the additions were good, and off-road tyres and lift kits would be made available - and, at just 24000 (after government subsidies), one could certainly afford to modify the car. The event was considered a success, with news quickly getting out - but only time would tell for the sales.

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I remember the previous rendition of the 3rd-gen Ardent Smoke from two Kee-era challenges: the Go West Deathtrap Tour and CSR 57 (a base model in the former and as the upmarket GT trim in the latter). Both trims were built on the 4th-gen Camaro/Firebird mod body, but since it hasn’t been ported over into UE4 (yet), your decision to reimagine it as a brawnier, boxier V8-powered RWD personal luxury coupe (instead of a smaller 4-cylinder FWD sports coupe as the Kee-era rendition was) makes perfect sense - and I’m thoroughly impressed.

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Yeah, a couple years back I changed my lore and the Marathon became the small FWD coupe instead. The Smoke replaced what was originally the Olympic in my lineup, since someone else made better use of the name.

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1991 Waldersee Kurfürst L58 (Generation 4.5)

When an old dog gets a new heart

The Kurfürst model line went into its 4th generation in 1986 and was quickly faced with a problem: with a traditional diagonal-arm rear end and a 240-hp DOHC i6 as its top engine, the ‘Prince-Elector’ was quickly outmatched by luxury cars coming out just a few years later, such as a certain Bavarian V12 car and a rapidly-approaching Stuttgart-made car with multi-link goodness. Waldersee had spent much of its engineering capacity at the time keeping its small cars authentic and developing the TRA AWD system, and really wasn’t looking forward to conjuring up a whole new engine again, but something had to be done so that Waldersee’s top sedan wouldn’t lose too much ground and condemn the whole firm to the same fate that befell a certain Rüsselheim car manufacturer.

Enter “Generation 4 and a half”. A sweeping 1991 facelift, this Kurfürst came with a true multi-link suspension with geometry cribbed from Waldersee’s American owners, Arlington, but paired with the Germans’ comfy, adjustable air ride. But that’s not the only American part of the car: see, Arlington was at this point going all in on its overhead-cam V-engine architecture, having already introduced this treatment for the corporate V6 and V8; the American conglomerate was now finalizing an aluminum-block, 3-valve version of the V8 for its Somervell luxury cars, as well as an iron, split-crank V10 for medium-duty versions of its Bowie trucks. Waldersee would now make an engine that combined both: an aluminum, 3-valve V10. With a lowered deck height for less weight, the V10 displaced 5.8 liters and made a lazy 324 horsepower, sufficient for a brisk 6.5 seconds to a hundred.

This newly-comfortable, newly-smooth, newly-powerful Kurfürst - dubbed the L58 for its displacement - was the first over-6 cylinder entry in Waldersee resume and represented a choice, the choice being: We will play with the big boys and we will win. As the top Waldersee model (At least until the insane L65R and B65R luxury supercars came around) made specifically for the Autobahn-faring CEO or Minister, the L58 Kurfürst had no speed limiter and accelerated to a generous 285 kph.

Driving with my darling, faster than I should…

Much else was updated: top-notch muffling and a CD player improved quality of life, brakes were beefed up for a car that weighed over 250 kg more than the original, and a viscous diff and traction control went in. The big Waldersee was stillborn no more.
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MY86 Tack Lycka Ralleye


Pictured: Tack Lycka Ralleye

The Resande was a flop. More to the point, the V8 powered version was a disaster for Tack. The losses on the volume selling mid spec Family and Sport were substantial. Tack hastily facelifted the Resande, dropped the V8 and focussed on the ageing A series inline six. This managed to salvage enough reputation to keep Tack afloat. Barely. But Tack needed new engines and couldn’t hope to fund them itself.

Enter Ardent. Ever hungry for more export opportunities in Europe, Ardent struck a deal with Tack to purchase a 20% minority stake in the Brand in return for the use of Ardent’s Aurora inline four, the replacement for the Resande being engineered in both RH and LH drive and Tack agreeing to allow Ardent product to be sold (and serviced) throughout Tack’s dealer network.

The volume selling Lycka GLX was designed to be a high quality but low cost family car, focussing less on creature comforts and more on reliability and longevity, but the Ralleye (pictured) was a first-fruit of a secret skunkworks plan to put a homologated rally car on the market to stimulate grassroots rally and road racing throughout Europe, or just to allow jaded fathers everywhere to relive their glory days even as they take the kids to school on their way to work!

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The 1993 Wells i5 GE

The car for the masses is finally here, with reliability, style, and comfort all in one package.

Dont drive it because you have to, drive it because you want it.

For $19,200 there’s one for everybody.

Reserve yours today.

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