Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 8: CSR37 Retrospective
There have been thirty-eight Car Shopping Rounds held on the Automation forums since the contest began in January 2016, but the thirty-seventh one, set in 1987, is my clear favorite for several reasons. First, the host gave entrants a fairly liberal rule set to work with, even though there were quite a few key guidelines to follow, leading to unprecedented diversity in the ways it could be interpreted. Secondly, a comprehensive story was provided, ensuring that entrants would be immersed in it until the very end. Finally, when the results were announced, the buildup and epilogue drew plenty of inspiration from action movies of the late 80s.
So to give some explanation for the context of this round, I'll start by mentioning the backstory. Some time in 1987, an enigmatic client requested a car from a brand with sporting provenance... as long as it costs less than $20,000 with a 30% markup in place. He also wanted a radio and a tape deck, while the engine and car had to be developed fairly quickly and at a reasonable cost. And on top of that, it had to look good - including the paint job.
Despite the restrictions I was forced to work with, the rule set was still liberal enough to allow a wide variety of interpretations on the users' behalf. In my case, it led to the creation of a traditional front-engined, rear-drive, normally-aspirated, V8-powered muscle car: the NMI (National Motor Industries) Arrowhead 5.7. I opted for such a design philosophy because I wanted to have some cash to spare and keep the reliability levels high. In fact, the Arrowhead was heavily inspired by the era's American muscle cars (Camaro, Corvette, Mustang, etc.) but had an independent rear end to give it the handling prowess enthusiasts normally associate with premium European imports. However, the use of a normally aspirated engine would have ramifications later on, not all of them positive, although I didn't know it when I submitted the design.
As the days went by, the host received a flood of entries, and I could not help but be awestruck by the sheer variety of the field. Considering that the round was set in a period where performance cars had undergone a renaissance, the entry list was quickly populated by everything from supercars to rally homologation specials and virtually everything in between. In fact, I was wondering if my submission was among the more conservative entries, not just mechanically but also visually.
After a week-long period in which entries were submitted, the host began to announce the final results. As expected, the first cars to be cut were either poorly designed or simply did not perform well enough - or both. Naturally, this eliminated many promising contenders, but my Arrowhead wasn't among them - yet. The quality of the remaining contenders clearly made the next round of cuts much more difficult.
Next to fall were the normally aspirated cars - although in fairness, nobody who submitted them, myself included, saw this coming. Considering that the client only wanted turbocharged cars in the end, however, this was clearly justified. This left just seven cars to battle it out for victory. Deciding a winner, however, turned out to be even tougher than compiling the shortlist of potential contenders.
Once again, any cars that didn't meet the client's exacting standards would be cut. Inevitably, this led to yet more contenders being eliminated, leaving just three cars: the Butzi BiTurbo, Salmon GT-Sprint, and Miglia Turbo. Either of the former two could have won, but did not; as fast as they were, the Miglia turned out to be even sportier - and better-looking to boot. So the car that looked and felt most like a supercar ended up taking a well-deserved victory.
So to give some explanation for the context of this round, I'll start by mentioning the backstory. Some time in 1987, an enigmatic client requested a car from a brand with sporting provenance... as long as it costs less than $20,000 with a 30% markup in place. He also wanted a radio and a tape deck, while the engine and car had to be developed fairly quickly and at a reasonable cost. And on top of that, it had to look good - including the paint job.
Despite the restrictions I was forced to work with, the rule set was still liberal enough to allow a wide variety of interpretations on the users' behalf. In my case, it led to the creation of a traditional front-engined, rear-drive, normally-aspirated, V8-powered muscle car: the NMI (National Motor Industries) Arrowhead 5.7. I opted for such a design philosophy because I wanted to have some cash to spare and keep the reliability levels high. In fact, the Arrowhead was heavily inspired by the era's American muscle cars (Camaro, Corvette, Mustang, etc.) but had an independent rear end to give it the handling prowess enthusiasts normally associate with premium European imports. However, the use of a normally aspirated engine would have ramifications later on, not all of them positive, although I didn't know it when I submitted the design.
My entry for CSR37: the NMI Arrowhead 5.7
As the days went by, the host received a flood of entries, and I could not help but be awestruck by the sheer variety of the field. Considering that the round was set in a period where performance cars had undergone a renaissance, the entry list was quickly populated by everything from supercars to rally homologation specials and virtually everything in between. In fact, I was wondering if my submission was among the more conservative entries, not just mechanically but also visually.
After a week-long period in which entries were submitted, the host began to announce the final results. As expected, the first cars to be cut were either poorly designed or simply did not perform well enough - or both. Naturally, this eliminated many promising contenders, but my Arrowhead wasn't among them - yet. The quality of the remaining contenders clearly made the next round of cuts much more difficult.
Next to fall were the normally aspirated cars - although in fairness, nobody who submitted them, myself included, saw this coming. Considering that the client only wanted turbocharged cars in the end, however, this was clearly justified. This left just seven cars to battle it out for victory. Deciding a winner, however, turned out to be even tougher than compiling the shortlist of potential contenders.
Once again, any cars that didn't meet the client's exacting standards would be cut. Inevitably, this led to yet more contenders being eliminated, leaving just three cars: the Butzi BiTurbo, Salmon GT-Sprint, and Miglia Turbo. Either of the former two could have won, but did not; as fast as they were, the Miglia turned out to be even sportier - and better-looking to boot. So the car that looked and felt most like a supercar ended up taking a well-deserved victory.
Top to bottom: Butzi BiTurbo, Salmon GT-Sprint and Miglia Turbo
What made this the most exciting round of CSR up to that point (at least in my opinion), though, was the epilogue, in which the client was attacked by several heavily armed mobsters and attempted to escape from them in the Miglia. While reading it, I was reminded of contemporary action films and TV series such as Die Hard, Miami Vice and the like. In fact, considering that the prologue revealed very little about the client except for the fact that he wanted a relatively affordable performance car, I was convinced that this would be a round with a darker tone than usual, and events proved me right.
To put the epilogue in a nutshell, shortly after they arrived, the mobsters stole many of the cars that had been evaluated by the client; realizing the gravity of the situation, he soon picked up his loyal sidekick and shot out one of his pursuers' front tires, causing a massive pileup and triggering a huge explosion. The only mobsters to avoid the crash were the ones in the red Sagata 3.8 Turbo - a car which, despite its impressive performance, failed to make the first cut; they soon opened fire on him again, forcing him to return fire while relying on the Miglia's performance (and his supreme driving skills) to stay one step ahead of his pursuers. But while the local police also took off after the mobster and his prey, they were no match for the firepower of the former or the driving skills of the latter. Eventually, after a brief but intense chase through the city, he shot out both of the Sagata's front tires, sending it sliding out of control into a petrol station and exploding on impact. This time, the mobsters did not survive.
Thus ended the closest thing that CSR has ever had (or will ever have, considering the lighter tone of most other rounds) to an action film. It should be noted that a few months before CSR37, there had been a similar performance-oriented contest (which, unlike CSR37, revolved around building ultra-high-end supercars for a movie director to use in an upcoming film), but it was a one-off set in the present day and was much more liberal, with a far higher budget limit. I did better in that challenge, though, only missing out on a spot in the top three because of my car's styling, which was... unusual to say the least, although I heavily revised it in a second trim I created afterwards. And now, having read the epilogues of both contests, I am starting to see striking similarities between them. Next up is a post about the quest to buy an example of a kind of (virtual) car you may not be aware of.
To put the epilogue in a nutshell, shortly after they arrived, the mobsters stole many of the cars that had been evaluated by the client; realizing the gravity of the situation, he soon picked up his loyal sidekick and shot out one of his pursuers' front tires, causing a massive pileup and triggering a huge explosion. The only mobsters to avoid the crash were the ones in the red Sagata 3.8 Turbo - a car which, despite its impressive performance, failed to make the first cut; they soon opened fire on him again, forcing him to return fire while relying on the Miglia's performance (and his supreme driving skills) to stay one step ahead of his pursuers. But while the local police also took off after the mobster and his prey, they were no match for the firepower of the former or the driving skills of the latter. Eventually, after a brief but intense chase through the city, he shot out both of the Sagata's front tires, sending it sliding out of control into a petrol station and exploding on impact. This time, the mobsters did not survive.
The victor and the vanquished: the Sagata 3.8 Turbo (top) and Merlo Turbo (bottom)
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