Vintage Grand Prix - [DONE]

VINTAGE GRAND PRIX

Racing 100 years ago

The 1920s is an interesting but often ignored period of racing, when most people think of vintage Grands Prix, they often think of the early years of F1. Even when talking about the interwar period, the 1930s usually take the spotlight. In this challenge we are going back 100 years, to design a 1920s vintage GP racer.

The 1924 Grand Prix season was ran under the AIACR 2-Litre rules introduced two years earlier. These had a minimum weight limit of 650kg and required a minimum of two seats (for a driver and a mechanic). After the dominance of the FIAT 805 the previous year, supercharging became more common, with manufacturers such as Sunbeam and Mercedes also using them on their Grand Prix cars.

Rules:

  • Wheelbase: 2.3-2.7m
  • Front engine only
  • Solid axle leaf suspension front and rear
  • Drum brakes only
  • Must have two seats
  • Must have a white or black racing number visible from both sides
  • National colours are encouraged but not mandatory
  • I won’t look at the engineering since Automation can’t recreate 1920s cars nor open wheelers.
  • Model name: VGP - your username
  • Trim name: Car name
  • Family name: VGP - your username
  • Variant name: Free

The cars will be judged based on design, realism and historical accuracy. Feel free to give some lore on your car so I can add a bit of flavour text to the reviews.

Inspirations:

Any of the cars that raced in the 1924 GP season:

Submissions:

  • Submissions open on Monday, 6th May at 00:00 CET
  • Submissions close on Sunday, 2nd June at 23:59 CET
  • You need to submit your .car file to me via forum DMs and post an ad in this thread.

Changelog:

  • Solid axle leaf suspensions and drum brakes are required now
  • Link to the wikipedia page of national racing colours added
12 Likes

Here’s a list from wikipedia with examples of various national racing colours for those who are interested and for simplicity.

4 Likes

Should the suspension be all solid axle?
Did they use any other type?

I’m assuming entries should use leaf-sprung solid axles front and rear, unless we’re explicitly told otherwise.

These cars had solid axle leafs front and rear, as well as drum brakes all around. I’ll add that to the main post later.

I was also thinking of limiting engine size to 2L, but some people might want to make custom engines. Just make it look reasonable, no 28L I4s

I’ll put the link to the national colours on the main post too.

That’s kinda surprising. I’m used to cars of that era, even race cars, only having brakes on one axel.

But what if we want to do a Beast of Turin or Napier Railton style build?

Those two are land speed record cars, not Grand Prix ones.

Meet the 1924 Tungsten 143R! This poor excuse of a vehicle isn’t actually it’s fault this time! The chassis and exhaust system was poorly built by the modder, and there being absolutely ZERO open-wheel cars in the creator’s trim set, this is all he could feasibly do. This beast has 143hp(namesake, come on), but packs a punch! This freedom fighter (and probable loser) and it’s red, white, and blue tops out at 264mph! Marvel at the Bugatti Atlantic offbrand that this little buggy, for $135,000.



2 Likes
1924 Viotti Serpente

Italian Automotive company Viotti, known for making small scale vehicles for personal enjoyment, made use of the restriction of engine size to 2 litres in the Grand Prix class to create their first - and only - Grand Prix racer before the company was closed in 1936.

The Serpente - named by founder Alessio Viotti due to it’s “Serpent-like Handling Characteristics.” - found minimal success, with two cars entered into most events. Alessio’s Son, Paolo Viotti (Number 72), was one of two consistent drivers for Viotti, the other being Englishman Robert Oldwood (Number 87).

Viotti would run the Serpente would run from 1924 through to 1927 as a factory outfit, before being a privateer entry by Paolo in 1928. Following the conclusion of the 1928 season, the Serpente would be permanently retired due to poor performance.

The Serpente had a 2L inline 6, making enough power for the car to run effectively as a mid-field competitor, however it found itself a weak entrant following the year of introduction, causing Oldwood to quit the team in 1926, with a rotating cast of drivers in the second Serpente (Numbered 41) until the car was shelved as a factory outfit in 1927.

13 Likes

Out of curiosity: all 3d meshes or also some 2d over a pre-war body? It look very nice!

All 3d, only thing that isn’t is the wheels.

1 Like

If I had the time, I would have named my nonexistent entry after its handling, too, but I would have named it ‘The Brick’

Astonishing work!

In 1922, the German-Austrian Wabrun company, which used to specialize in the manufacture of agricultural machinery; unveiled their second racing car, the Type G, to the world. This car was the brainchild of the brilliant engineer Karl Weber, who dreamed of revolutionizing the automotive world. Equipped with a powerful 2.0-liter inline six-cylinder engine producing 147 horsepower and a groundbreaking aluminum body, the Type G promised to take the competition by storm.

On June 14, 1922, the Grand Prix of France took place in Lyon. Behind the wheel of the Type G was the rising race car driver, Maximilian Lang. With his unwavering belief in the car’s potential and relentless determination, Lang took to the starting line. The crowd was on edge as engines roared and the race began.

Lang had an impressive start. The Type G showcased its superior acceleration and shone in the corners with its stability. Lap after lap, Lang seemed to leave the competition further behind. The harmony between man and machine was perfect, and the dream of victory seemed within reach.

But in the 35th lap, just as Lang was speeding down the long straight, the unthinkable happened. Suddenly, the Type G lost power. The engine began to sputter, and black smoke billowed from the exhaust. Lang tried to keep the car going, but the engine gave out completely. With one final jolt, the Type G came to a halt.

The dream of victory was shattered. Lang could only watch as other drivers sped past him. In the pit lane, frantic activity ensued. Wabrun’s mechanics worked feverishly to identify and fix the problem. But it was too late. The damage was irreparable.

Maximilian Lang stepped out of his car, dejected. The Type G, which had shown so much promise, had fallen victim to engine failure. The hopes for glory and honor vanished like soap bubbles. Yet, despite this setback, there was a silver lining.

The Type G had demonstrated its immense potential in the laps it completed. Wabrun’s engineers analyzed the failure and worked tirelessly to address the weaknesses. The racing car that had dropped out in 1924 became a symbol of determination and innovation. The following year, Wabrun returned with an improved version of the Type G and secured the victory that had eluded them before.

The story of the Type G became legendary, not just because of its tragic failure, but also because of the unyielding will to realize the dream of speed and triumph.

1 Like

Ps. i tried but i sucked at 3D-Modeling. Which makes the Viotti Serpente even more impresssive!

1924 Albere Guille Fierté Des Fondateurs (FDS)


COMMUNIQUÉ DE PRESSE

FiertĂ© Des Fondateurs (FDS) : La Quintessence de l’IngĂ©niositĂ© Française

Paris, le 23 mai 1924 - Dans un Ă©lan de gĂ©nie mĂ©canique, Albere Guille dĂ©voile avec fiertĂ© la FiertĂ© Des Fondateurs (FDS), une vĂ©ritable prouesse de savoir-faire français. FabriquĂ©e avec prĂ©cision au cƓur de la France, la FDS incarne l’esprit d’excellence et d’ambition qui caractĂ©rise la puissance automobile de notre nation.

En tant que premiĂšre incursion d’Albere Guille dans le prestigieux championnat du Grand Prix, la FDS se dresse comme un Ă©tendard de la fiertĂ© nationale, dĂ©voilant le meilleur de l’ingĂ©nierie française. DotĂ©e d’un moteur rĂ©volutionnaire Ă  six cylindres en ligne de 1999cc, conçu spĂ©cialement pour dompter les circuits les plus exigeants avec une performance inĂ©galĂ©e, la FDS est une Ɠuvre de maĂźtrise mĂ©canique. Mais elle ne se limite pas Ă  cela. Elle incarne Ă©galement une symphonie de brillance aĂ©rodynamique, exploitant les toutes derniĂšres avancĂ©es en matiĂšre de conception inspirĂ©e de l’aĂ©ronautique pour se frayer un chemin Ă  travers l’air avec grĂące et efficacitĂ© inĂ©galĂ©es. Avec la FDS, Albere Guille ouvre un nouveau chapitre palpitant de l’histoire du sport automobile, oĂč l’innovation française rĂšgne en maĂźtre.


PRESS RELEASE

Pride of the Founders (FDS): The Quintessence of French Ingenuity

Paris, May 23, 1924 - In a surge of mechanical genius, Albere Guille proudly unveils the FiertĂ© Des Fondateurs (Pride of the Founders), a true feat of French craftsmanship. Precision-crafted in the heart of France, the FDS embodies the spirit of excellence and ambition that characterizes our nation’s automotive prowess.

As Albere Guille’s inaugural foray into the prestigious Grand Prix championship, the FDS stands as a standard-bearer of national pride, revealing the best of French engineering. Equipped with a revolutionary 1999cc inline six-cylinder engine, purpose-built to tame the most demanding circuits with unmatched performance, the FDS is a work of mechanical mastery. But it doesn’t stop there. It also embodies a symphony of aerodynamic brilliance, harnessing the very latest advancements in aeronautically inspired design to carve through the air with unmatched grace and efficiency. With the FDS, Albere Guille opens an exciting new chapter in the history of motor racing, where French innovation reigns supreme.


Lore

The early history of the French automotive manufacturer Albere Guille (A.G.) is complex and not well documented, with the company selling various models under 3 seperate brands as well as providing platforms for other coachbuilders.

While not the first attempt at a Grand Prix style racer, the A.G. FiertĂ© Des Fondateurs (FDS) Grand Prix stands as the first racing car to bear the parent company’s brand name. It is also the first car designed and built by their new lead engineer François Charron (who would go on to design a number of successful sports cars).

The general shape of some of the race-cars in the era had taken minor inspirations from aeroplane design, however François had a vision to take this even further. To this end, François brought his brother Jean on to the project as an aerodynamics expert, where his prior experience working with Farman Aviation Works could potentially give A.G. an edge over other more conservative competitors. Despite the unconventional visual design of this car, the mechanical components underneath were more standard (albeit well designed and built), and the complexity and weight from supercharging was deemed an unnecessary addition.

One design point of note was the ‘1/2-seat’ for the mechanic; in designing the car, François had realised that their car width was actually mostly constrained by the requirement to fit two people more than anything else. By reducing the width and elongating the wheelbase slightly compared to others, A.G. were able to maintain stability whilst increasing chassis stiffness & decreasing weight more than expected (although the stories say that having to sit in the awkward undersized seat was the main reason François developed a number of injuries over this same time period). This did cause some individuals to claim as unsporting, but technically it did not break any hard & fast rules.


14 Likes

One week left

So far I have submissions from:
@TwistedUmbreon
@Fayeding_Spray
@Kobalt619
@machalel

4 Likes

Submissions are closed.

I’m going to be bussy for the next two weeks, but since there’s only 4 entries I’ll do my best to get reviews out as soon as possible.

5 Likes

RESULTS



4 - @TwistedUmbreon Tungsten 143R

Let’s be honest, this doesn’t look anything like a 1920s race car. You say it’s an offbrand Bugatti Atlantic, but it looks more like a Talbot Lago T150 to me. Either way, both of those are from the mid to late 1930s, and the Tungsten looks tragic when compared to them.

This body has paint options to hide the fenders, using that and a bit of 3D sculpting, as well as removing the roof would have made it much closer to what it’s meant to be. 3D can be hard so I can understand why you didn’t do it, but I have other two bigger complaints with this car.

First one is the chassis, it can be hidden easily using advanced settings. Second one is the wheels, they are absolutely massive, almost a big as what modern GT3’s use. It’s a far cry from the thin tires that were used in this era.

Fun fact: this is the only car not using national colors.


3 - @Kobalt619 Wabrun Type G

Next up is the Walbrun. I criticized the Tungsten for being too anachronistic, this one’s even worse in that aspect. It looks like something thar would have raced in the late 40s or early 50s at Le Mans or the Mille Miglia, specially with the spare wheels at the back.

So why is it in third then? Two reasons: It actually looks like a racecar (even if from the wrong era), and it has more effort put into it.

I have plenty of things to complain about though, so let’s get started. There’s a tube at the front that I’m guessing is supposed to be a hand crank, some points for the detail, but it’s done much better in the next two cars. Keeping it at the front, what’s with that bumper? Bumpers are usually the first thing that gets removed in a racecar, yet this purpose built machine has one. Finally, the wheels are bad, not as bad as the previous car, but still bad. Too wide and using slick tyres, looking at the reference pictures you can see that those weren’t around at the time.


2? - @machalel A.G. FDS Grand Prix Proto

That question mark is not a typo. This is technically a bin, the wheelbase is 3.30m when the upper limit was 2.70m. I could let it slide if it was at like 2.80m, but it’s 0.6m over the limit. For reference, even the massive Auto Union Type C from the 30s is only 2.90m.

That being said, I love this car. It represents the spirit of early racing with the anything goes mentality. If someone thinks a racecar using airplane parts, go take a look at the Voisin C6, a 1923 Grand Prix car with a propeller, which I believe is the inspiration for the FDS (and maybe a bit of Bugatti Type 32 since those winglets probably generate lift lol).

Looking at the FDS it’s clear to see the improvement over the previous cars. First thing is that it actually looks like a GP car, with some well done details like the side exhaust going all the way from the engine to the rear end or the hand crank at the front. One fun detail is the gearbox on the right, almost hanging oustide of the car, because as the lore says, it can barely fit two people in the cockpit. And finally, we get some period correct wheels, including the possitive camber that these cars tended to use.

If this car wasn’t binned, it would have probably won, the attention to detail and the originality of the design is great, and made me hope that the wheelbase had been changed with advanced settings, but unfortunately it wasn’t the case.


1 - @Fayeding_Spray Viotti Serpente

Fittingly for this era, we find an italian car at the top, not an Alfa, but the Viotti Serpente. This is the smaller of the four cars, at with a wheelbase of 2.45m when every other car is almost at the limit or over it. At first I thought the cockpit was too small, but I checked and it can fit two people, maybe it would be a bit tight, but you can’t ask for much comfort on a race car.

While the FDS had a crazier design, the Viotti goes for a safer aproach, but the execution is just as good. Some of the details I praised on the previous car are also here and done even better. The hand crank is there, there’s a hand brake on the side of the cockpit, you can see the headers coming out of each cilinder (let’s ignore it’s actually a 6 cylinder, I said I wouldn’t look at engineering). But my favorite detail has to be the wheels,

But my favorite detail has to be the wheels, they’re so well done I thought it was actually a mod fixture I didn’t know about, but it’s actually done with advanced settings. It also has that possitive camber that’s so easy to miss if you don’t look at cars of the era.

I don’t have much else to say, it’s a bit of a safe design, but it’s very well done, and being myself familiar with 3D open wheelers I can apreciate the effort this took.


Bonus

Race Review

For the 1924 [INSERT COUNTRY] Grand Prix, cars from four different brands showed up: Viotti, FDS, Wabrun and Tungsten. Thousands assisted the event eager to see the new machines in action for the first time. The 57 lap race would prove to be a true test of speed and endurance for both drivers and cars.

Viotti took the lead at the start, with one an FDS following in second and the sister car in third. The other FDS meanwhile had a poor start, and battled with the heavier cars form Wabrun and Tungsten for a few laps before overtaking them and leaving them behind.

The two leading cars left the second Viotti behind, with the FDS unable to make a pass for the lead until on lap 22 both cars entered a corner side by side. The Viotti kept the inside, and the driver of the FDS starting to get anxious, tried a risky move on the outside. The larger car struggled to make the corner and crashed, breaking both the front suspension and the transmission ending the race for them, luckily no one was harmed in the accident.

Meanwhile, at the back one of the Wabruns had a puncture and lost a couple of laps to the leaders. The Tungstens had it even worse, struggling with not only punctures but also reliability issues, with one of their cars overheating and entering the pits on lap 37 but never getting back out again.

Turns out there was a reason why the second Viotti had been lapping slower. Early in the race a bad gear shift had damaged the engine and the car was down on power for most of the race. This meant the remaining FDS would pass it easily on lap 40 and the best of the Wabruns almost caught up to on the last laps.

9 laps latter, while the remaining Tungsten was battling with the lower placed Wabrun, a massive puncture sent it into a spin, taking out both cars in the process.

On the last laps, the FDS had been catching up with the leader, setting fast lap after fast lap. It would get within attack distance with 4 laps to go, but the healthy Viotti proved much harder to pass and having seen how their teammate ended up, the driver decided to keep it safe and came home in second.

Provisional results of the Grand Prix:
imagen

However, during the post-race inspection the FDS would be found to be breaking the rules, and both cars were disqualified from the event, giving a podium to the surviving Wabrun.

Final results of the Grand Prix:
imagen

This is a something I made up for fun and as writing practice for future challenges, it has no effect on the actual result of the challenge, but feel free to read it if you’re interested.

7 Likes

I’ll have a try at this challenge !!