PART 11: Comfort
Finally, he thought that comfort was worth taking a look at. Now, it probably stood between the Armor and the Boulder, he leaned towards the Boulder, but if the Armor was more comfortable, it COULD be the choice for him, after all, he would do pretty long trips every once in a while. But at the same time, seeing how the other cars stacked up could always be interesting.
Worst comfort: 1990 Hakumai Crest Sport (13)
@interior
“Well, I am pretty happy that I more or less had ruled out the Hakumai by now, because comfort is a real disappointment for a kind of modern station wagon.”
Best comfort: 1982 Bakerfield Trans Victoria (67.3)
@Tez
“I have ruled out the Bakerfield too, but comfort is said to be comparable to bolting your favourite couch to a cloud, so I would be really interested in test driving one someday.”
Scoring round 11
- Bakerfield Trans Victoria (10 pts)
- GAZ 3253 OC (7 pts)
- Takahashi Soarer GT-R (6.2 pts)
- Arlington Archprince Touring ZS (5.3 pts)
- Yamazaki Identité (4.1 pts)
- Mara Kanyon (4 pts)
- Bazard ATH6 (4 pts)
- GAA Tornado Turbo (4 pts)
- Boulder L150 Limited (3.5 pts)
- Kino Imperial EL Coupé (3.1 pts)
- King Snake EDM Type X (3 pts)
- Valiant Tornado GT (2.7 pts)
- Hayaku Socan (2.7 pts)
- Armor Tomahawk (2.5 pts)
- Bellerophon Lecticus (2.5 pts)
- Stockholm 830X4A (2.2 pts)
- Mons Seskisiw (1.5 pts)
- Wells Activ (1.4 pts)
- Markley Clydesdale (0.9 pts)
- Halvson Super Harrier (0.6 pts)
- Akeos Soul (0.6 pts)
- Hakumai Crest Sport (0 pts)
FINAL RESULTS!
- Boulder L150 Limited (67.9 pts) 0 @donutsnail
- Armor Tomahawk (63.5 pts) 0 @GassTiresandOil
- Markley Clydesdale (54.9 pts) 0 @Maverick74
- Mara Kanyon (53 pts) 0 @AndiD
- Arlington Archprince Touring ZS (50.8 pts) +4 @Texaslav
- Kino Imperial EL Coupé (49.3 pts) +2 @WangMaster_420
- Valiant Tornado GT (49.3 pts) 0 @mart1n2005
- Mons Seskisiw (49.1 pts) -3 @cake_ape
- Stockholm 830X4A (49 pts) -3 @Odyssey_Fan
- Bakerfield Trans Victoria (46.6 pts) +3 @Tez
- GAZ 3253 OC (45.1 pts) 0 @BG004130
- Yamazaki Identité (42.5 pts) -2 @S_U_C_C_U_L_E_N_T
- Bazard ATH6 (39.1 pts) +2 @Edsel
- Halvson Super Harrier (37.6 pts) -2 @lotto77
- Wells Activ (36.6 pts) -1 @DuceTheTruth100
- GAA Tornado Turbo (35.6 pts) +1 @SoccerMaster640
- Hayaku Socan (34.9 pts) -1 @Hilbert
- Takahashi Soarer GT-R (33.9 pts) +2 @ldub0775
- Hakumai Crest Sport (31.6 pts) -1 @interior
- Akeos Soul (29.3 pts) -1 @Fayeding_Spray
- Bellerophion Lecticus (28.8 pts) 0 @BTCheetah
- King Snake EDM Type X (2.2 pts) @Violent_Lobster
(Note: Results for the Kino and the Valiant should be read as a tie, however, listings on this board does not allow for that. Maybe not much of a deal, but the Kino is not placed above the Valiant because it is better in some way, their score is equal.)
Congratulations to @donutsnail for winning this challenge!
Epilogue
23th of february 2022
Still somewhere in northern Sweden
It felt somewhat surrealistic to see the Boulder L150 disappear into the sunset, knowing that it wouldn’t come back. He had looked a little longer on it than usual the last time he parked it. At the once so shiny burgundy paint that now was a bit faded, the beginning crust around the arches, some of the battle scars it had recieved during the years. But also how the vehicle still was in a remarkably sound condition. His decision to spend his money on a vehicle he would actually want instead of wasting (somewhat less maybe, but still) it on a vehicle he didn’t like had proved to be the right one.
And 15 years certainly is a long time to own a car. Back then, it was the newest he could afford. Now, it was slowly approaching classic status. He, and for that matter his giant rottweiler, had put many hard miles on the odometer. It had taken him on “roads” where most other cars would have been stuck. The bed had transported lots of goods everywhere. The sound system had pumped out more notes from Queensrÿche and UFO than anyone could ever count to.
It certainly was not a hard task to sell, if you mean “find a buyer that wants to spend his money on this truck”. But it was a hard task emotionally. Somehow this Boulder had fulfilled what he was expecting from it - being an extension of his personality.
15 years later, one journey has come to an end, a new one starts.
He looked at the silhouette forming against the sunset a last time, before the Boulder was just a hardly visible dot in the horizon.
He sure was going to miss it, no matter what.
So, what's the backstory here?
This challenge might look as a ripoff of @Edsel 's challenge, and in many ways it is, but the truth is that the idea formed already at the end of last summer.
Henry is more or less a variation of a character I play as in a Discord RPG. There is some differences, for example the RPG is set at the west coast (I moved it north for more harsh conditions), and is set in the current day (I felt that the market for used cars was more fun 15 years ago, though, if you liked the odd and old stuff, today you have to pay an arm and a leg even to get a decent Volvo 740, and besides, it made for an interesting epilogue). Also, stuff like working as a guard at a club that is ran by the criminal russian network that is one of the networks running the corrupt city is maybe better left in THAT game… 
Anyway, in a game I played with him back in august (or july, I don’t remember) I had to give him a car to fit the storyline. But I didn’t really know what would be suitable for him. In the end, it ended with me giving him an early 90s (Y60) Nissan Patrol, felt somewhat right at the moment but I have still been at doubt. So, a little embryo formed in my head - how about an Automation challenge to see what kind of car that was right for him?
Unfortunately, the standard CSR style dynamics would not really have worked there. I really can’t set up too many guidelines, because then the story would have been written by me before it had even started. So, I was thinking of how to do it, when Edsel’s challenge popped up on this board, and I saw that with a few changes, it was the answer to all my questions. One of the changes was to leave the cool wall relatively uncluttered, so the somewhat unbiased thoughts of the forums members would dictate the patterns that could be seen on the cool wall in the end.
And now, we are standing here, and judging by the cars in top, it seems like the Patrol actually was a somewhat wise choice after all.
Thanks everyone for participating, and if you ended up low on the scoreboard, don’t feel sorry for that. Actually, you helped to write the story, and just because Henry didn’t like the car does not mean that it is bad, for a less eccentric buyer it could actually be perfect.
You have all been awesome, and I really mean it, so take that with you into future challenges!
Thanks.
