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

[cake_ape]

Mons Automotive

Introducing the

Mons Albatros S

New for 1959: The Mons Albatros S. With the economy in full swing on both sides of the pond, Mons Automotive ventures into the premium and luxury car markets. New fabrication processes allow for mass-production of these chrome-laden land-yachts. Luxury and comfort are the name of the game.

The Albatros is aimed at the upscale car market and the diplomatic corps. Several colour options and combinations are available for the exterior and the interior. The interior features stitched leather, chrome accents, and all the creature comforts anyone would ever want in a vehicle.

Get yours today!

Some street shots

[Prium]

our entries are probably the extremes of the whole spectrum of possible cars lmao

[cake_ape]

Haha, yep. Mine is probably twice (or more) yours in every measure. Twice (or more) the weight, twice (ok, almost triple) the displacement, twice the number of pistons, twice (bit more) the HP… and probably twice the 0-100 (it be a slowpoke) and more than twice the fuel consumption

[conan]

1961 AEKI 121S - The Catfish

During the 1950’s AEKI was riding on the success of the 100-Series. Consistently being one of the most popular car in Sweden right til the introduction of the 200-Series in 1965. This allowed them to have a few “vanity projects” with the goal being to expand into wider audience both in the market demographics and geographically.

In 1958, they acquired local manufacturer of transmission and transaxle, Sten-sil AB, which at the time was developing an affordable small, front wheel drive car. But this was so costly the company was on the verge of bankruptcy before AEKI stepped in. The car in turn became AEKI code 3C-45 nicknamed and later actually christened the “Krabba” or Crab. We’ll be back with this important part of the company later.

Another project which AEKI went into at the time, was the creation of AEKI 121S nicknamed first by the development team and later by the public “The Catfish”, this was the company first sports car. This is actually the today’s topic.

The AEKI 121S was based on the underpinning of AEKI 100 which at the time was also available as the poorly sold 120C fastback coupe. But the company wanted to make a more upmarket and unique car intending to export the car to the US market.

The styling was done in-house. The car was released to the public in summer of 1961.

The 100 chassis is pretty much intact. The main suspension points was only slightly altered. There is uprated springs and dampers to help give sportier feeling. Also, it’s equipped with front and rear anti-roll bars to balance the handling.

The engine is also tweaked, bored and stroked up to 2.0-litre with high compression. With higher state of tune from competition camshaft, port and polished head and a few other bits. The first variant of the 121 S engine produced 100hp. Transmitted through 4-speed manual to the rear wheel. The top speed is around 200km/h.

The inside is also very well equipped, with all the same revolutionary safety features as the family car 100-series. Along with leather 2+2 bucket seats, optional high quality radio, standard rev counter and floor shift transmission.

Not only it is sporty, luxurious and sleek. The 121S is also built with longevity in mind. It is literally just the venerable AEKI 100 clad in tracksuit so the components are very similar. Not only that but as this is a relatively lower volume car, more care and attention was put into build quality.

AEKI 121S was made until 1973, with improvements to the engine, suspension, interior concurrent with the updates to the 100 and 200 series. The styling, however, remained pretty much the same.

The decision to stop making it happened when the North American market, consistently the biggest seller of the 121S, started to introduce law intending for further improvement in vehicle safety. By that point it was deem too outdated and not worth adapting to those new rules. This actually saved this car from the indignity of 5-mph bumpers and 2-way catalytic converter.

[Tez]

1960 F&S Rattler MKI

The success of the A series struck F&S by complete surprise. By the end of 1958 a little over 10,000 examples were sold, the order book was still healthy and the chardonnay kept flowing. But they knew they had to follow up with a sophomore and there they had a few issues. Whilst the A series was no slouch for the time, new technology was crawling in. Jaguar were done with ladder frames, pushrods and even drum brakes and they managed to make them work. So with sales still looking perky they invested in a bigger shed and expanded their engineering team.

What came is what we know as the MKI Rattler. Out went the cast iron pushrods, in came an all aluminium overhead cam. Out went the ladder chassis, leaf springs and steel body and in came their first unibody, all round independent suspension and a handcrafted aluminium shell. The drums stayed though, at least for the first few years. It was quite the risk, they spent a lot of money on developing the whole new engine and even more capacity to keep up with the extra production requirements.

Stripped out versions were sent almost immediately out to LeMan and the road racing circuit. But did the risk pay off?

[Restomod]

Same ruleset? No radials? Any MFI restrictions? When’s the Deadline?

[Knugcab]

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

ROUND 2: 1956-65 A short summary of the era: The war is now very much behind us. The wheels are turning faster and faster, it seems like there is no end to the growth. The economy is strong, the companies are building everything they can produce, the exports are strong and the standards of living are rising for every day. Now we are in something that most people view as the golden era of the country. What happened during this era? (OOC: Including this as it might reflect society as a whole, i…

It’s all in this post.

And fuel injection was available in some cars of the era, but as with radials, be a bit careful and use common sense. If you wonder if fuel injection or radials really are realistic for your vehicle, chances are that the answer might be “no”.

[Maverick74]

1962 Moravia Jaka 455

The little Veverka proved to be exactly what the people of Czechoslovakia were needing, the affordable transport for the masses, and continued fairly unchanged throughout the rest of the decade and into the 60’s. But it wasn’t the only vehicle Moravia produced during this era.

A couple of years after the Veverka was introduced, the director of the armed forces approached the small company with the need for an off road capable transport vehicle. The engineers put their heads together and in 1960 the Jaka came to be. Bigger in size than a Russian GAZ 69 yet smaller than a one ton personnel carrier, it fit the niche the military was looking for. Powered by a water cooled 2.2L inline four sending power through a four speed transmission and a two speed transfer case to two leaf sprung solid axles, it was capable of going nearly anywhere.

After the initial demand for military service was met, civilian and export models were cobbled up to help keep the factory running at it’s optimal capacity. Marketed as a family wagon and utility vehicle for farmers and other industries were it’s payload and towing capabilities could be of most use.

[lotto77]

1961 AIM Special C - 6

In the early 60’s, AIM was riding high on their domestic success in Australia and decided that their next Special revision should begin to be exported, but not just to any market. So in 1961 when the C released, they began branching out to their first truly international market, Sweden. Releasing with the bold claim that “Our cars will thrive from one extreme of the world to another!” AIM was confident that their cars would prove a hit and establish themselves overseas.

The Swedish market Specials were more well equipped than their Australian counterparts, with only the straight 6 model being available. And that was only available with a “Premium Kit”, placing it in the more premium area of the market that AIM hoped would be more willing to pay for a car imported from the other side of the world.

Said straight 6 was also updated to its latest spec, producing an impressive 120hp, enough to propel it to a top speed of 188km/h. Intended to give the Special a speed and power advantage over the Holdens of the time, as the Special was marketed as a sporty alternative in Australia, the engine caused problems in the smaller body, with the engine bay being very cramped from the relatively large engine sitting in it.

[mart1n2005]

1962 Courageux Mille

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The first foray into a rear engined family car for Courageux, this start a multiple decade long love affair for this unusual engine layout.
The Mille uses a relatively new 1046cc cast iron 4 cylinder engine mounted longitudinally in the rear using a 4 speed gearbox. This produces 42bhp@5000rpm which is good for 0-100km/h in 20 seconds and a top speed of 134km/h which is very competitive for the segment.

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Macpherson strut suspension is used at the front and rear with large 225mm drum brakes offering very surefooted driving and stopping ability.

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This deluxe model comes with partial leather seats and vinyl door fittings. A wood inlaid dashboard with a single speaker radio is also included. Whitewall cross ply tyres and exterior chrome detailing are also features of the deluxe model.

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Courageux_Mille_-_Deluxe.car (112.1 KB)

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[HighOctaneLove]

MY56 Tack 23F

The Tack 20F, by the sole virtue of being one of the earliest post WW2 cars, had sold in significant numbers. But these sales were heaviy skewed in favour of the early years. Tack had attempted to address customer complaints and design flaws with a 1952 facelift, which only had a small impact on the sales decline, but an all new car would be needed to return Tack to the top of the pops…

Enter the 23F, an evolutionary improvement over the 20F-II, with better reliabiity and reduced fuel usage while simultaneously improving driver comfort and driving enjoyment. The 23F also improved interior room, as well as storage space, with the design again taking strong stylistic cues from the dominant US automaker, Ardent.

[Petakabras]

Cabrera Monzon COPA

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Lore

After a long run, Cabrera phased out the 100 model and released a new compact car, the Cabrera Monzon. While it was based on the same architecture as the previous model, it received some improvements, such as a much improved front suspension design, a more modern exterior design and a small increase in power thanks to a better flowing head.

The COPA model was the hottest Cabrera you could get out of a dealership. Thanks to the double carbs and a more aggresive cam, the engine could reach 50hp in street tune, and the reinforced brakes were able to tame all that potential.

Could the little Cabrera compete in the saturated markets of Europe…?

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The face of a winner

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[voiddoesnotknow]

sorry to bother, but exactly what years are allowed? because the model year is 1965 or older, but the trim year is 1956-1965? (for example, my current entry is 1969, would it be DQ’d or not?)

[Knugcab]

I am not trying to be salty but I wonder what I have done wrong when it is not obvious from my description that 1969 is neither “1956-65” or “1965 or older”?

Let’s put it this way, take the VW Beetle to relate to an IRL example. Since the production started in 1938, the model year for a Beetle would in any case be 1938. Now, Automation can’t go pre 1946 but you still get what I mean I guess. The trim year, however, could be between 1938 and 2003, since the Beetle was produced between those years.

So, a 1956 Beetle would be allowed to enter this despite the model year is older than 1956, as would a 1965 Beetle. So would any trim year in between. But not a 1955 Beetle or a 1966 Beetle.

[voiddoesnotknow]

ah, thanks for clearing that up.

you did nothing wrong, it was just that i didn’t read it properly and therefore didn’t quite understand. apologies.

[AndiD]

1962 Mara 1300 Pickup

In the mid 1950s, Mara developed their first ‘proper’ (the number of quotes people would like to use here vary…) mass market car, the Tovarish, as it was called on the domestic market. First available as sedan and panel van, the first facelift added a 3-door wagon and a pickup / ute version.

In the Tovarish’s development, Mara had applied everything they had learned to design and produce cars cost-efficiently. On their home market the resulting low price led to a massive sales success. Since the Tovarish had replaced the Konyk on the production lines, a utility / off-road variant was needed after the last remaining Konyk stocks were sold off. This variant had to be engineered without compromising cost, development and production efficiency, however.

The resulting Tovarish pickup became a workhorse in the wide rural areas of Archana

Mara had found out that most Konyk owners did not need the full off-road capability in the mostly dry and well-trailed Archanan landscape, so the Tovarish pickup kept the regular RWD drivetrain of the other variants to save cost and complexity. It gained, however, a substantially increased ride height, all-terrain tyres and a simple skidtray. A very short first gear effectively served as low-range replacement, leaving essentially just gears 2 and 3 for regular on-road driving.

Combined with the low weight, this proved to be sufficient for all but the most demanding off-road trails. I only get stuck on stones pretty far in into the hardest Beam timetrials in East Coast and Small Island and uphill on wet mud in one Jungle Island timetrial, but the rest and Utah and Italy offroad timetrials are surprisingly not much of a problem without 4x4 and skinny hard tyres. Probably owing to the latter, I actually don’t get much further with 4x4 except on Jungle Island…

Water / mud? No problem! (as long as the track does not go uphill…)

As domestic market demand allowed, limited contingents of the Tovarish became available as export models under various names, decided on by the respective independent importers. On the Swedish market, it was named just the 1300 after the displacement of the engine, which was basically unchanged from the Konyk.

[Restomod]

Dont think I’ll be able to make it this time.

[Knugcab]

You’re free to enter in later rounds still.

[AMuteCrypt]

Ah, the AMM Lyxig - a topic of some rather heated debate within the company. To some, the Sarek had been a rampant success - plenty had been sold, and balance sheets were good. To others, it had been a failure, heavily reliant on a single client to move units. The company had ended up pursuing several directions with the money gained from it - and the Lyxig was one such direction. It was designed as a high-end, high-margin product quite unlike the utilitarian Sarek. Several variants of the Lyxig were made available; the most prestigious was the Lyxig Långt.

The Lyxig line was built around a handful of common aspects. A four litre, overhead cammed inline six sits in the front of all models, and all models include AM radios. Hydraulic power steering is also present on all cars - with the sheer mass, it is required. The dashboard has been padded and lap belts have been provided, in the event of an impact.

The Långt model provides an even greater experience, with extreme care and attention having been shown. It is available solely as a convertible, and solely with an automatic transmission - despite the engine, this car is built for cruising and enjoying onesself. The interior is incredibly luxurious, with four fully-leather seats, and expensive varnished wood trim. Rear coach doors are another exclusive feature for the model, setting it apart. The Långt, ironically, is one of the lower margin models, serving to advertise the brand and attract consumers to the cheaper, more reasonable models - at 22 thousand AMU, it’s far from attainable for many.

The car was incredibly decisive inside the company. To some, it was disgracefully American, with its foreign styling and massive engine. They viewed it as a surrender, something built for someone else. To others, its American nature was precisely why it was a good idea - it would stand out and turn heads in Sweden, while acting as a prime candidate for export to the rich, client-filled markets of America. Luckily, it was released early enough that the company could stilll rely on the Sarek if it failed - but only time would tell…

TLDR: Sweden makes an American.

[abg7]

1965 KAI K1 1.2

KAI launched the K1 in 1965 as their latest entry-level offering. It was initially available with a 44bhp 1.2-liter inline-four, and like the BMC Mini it had been benchmarked against, it was a transverse-engined, front-wheel-drive design. Simple underpinnings and modest equipment levels helped keep the cost down.

With its good reliability record, low running costs and small size, the K1 quickly became a sales success, and laid the foundations for a long-running line of small cars that continues to this day.