Luther-FASE Automotive Alliance (New '71 Duke GTP reveal)

[Sebesseg]

Luther-FASE Motor Company is an American multinational automaker that is headquartered in Mountain Brook, Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham. There do exist several other important business places in the Luther-FASE family including corporate offices in: Birmingham, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit; Oakland and Los Angeles, California; Seville, Spain; Budapest, Hungary; and Shanghai, China. From its main headquarters and through its corporate offices Luther-FASE controls a total of five active brands including: Luther, FASE, Heisler, Teshu and Mulholland along with one in-house motorsports division and factory team known as Haase Motorsport. Mulholland also pulls double duty as an in-house refinement and design studio.

Originally the first four brands were usually considered regional exclusives. Essentially each brand was the only brand sold by its parent company in that region and it wouldn’t have to compete against its brother and sister vehicles. Luther is sold primarily in the Americas and Australia, FASE is sold in Europe, Heisler in Eastern Europe and Africa and Teshu in Asia. This has hardly been a fast rule as Luther vehicles can be found and are sold in all regions while FASE cars are also sold in the Americas. Teshu and Heisler are often rebadged as either Luther or FASE if they are sold out of their regions. Mulholland is the Luther-FASE foray into super and hyper cars typically being distinct from anything else the company may be working on. The company is also known for its in-house tuning and motorsports division known as Haase.


Top From Left to Right: Luther Motor Company, FASE (Fabricacion de Automoviles de Sevilla Espana), Heisler,
Bottom From Left to Right: Teshu (Exceptional - 特殊), Mulholland (Dutch-named, California-based super car producer)
Haase Motorsports is not displayed

Histories

In this section you will find links to documents (either via google docs or via attached docs haven't decided) that detail the history of the part of the company you've selected. As a fair warning these can be quite long and may take more than one sitting to complete. They may also be unfinished and posted in a work-in-progress fashion. These are posted for flavor and convenience, but are by no means required reading (clearly). These also contain massive amounts of historical variations where necessary from actual records in order for the companies to make sense. This does not include changing history per-se, but rather adding events or most evidently vehicles to history that did not exist (clearly). Any historical inaccuracies can either be attributed to necessary additions or an accident by the author (I've tried to cut down on being outright incorrect so if you find something inaccurate that doesn't deal with the company narrative and isn't historically contested let me know). All in all have fun when reading and stop when you want.

more to come...

Vehicles

In this section you should find all vehicles linked to their relevant release post (as searching an entire topic can be a pain) and any additional posts regarding their release such as (but not limited to): Articles, Advertisements and generational upgrades/updates.

((These headings may or may not stay and may or may not be maintained or updated at all times, please use discretion when using this post))

[Sebesseg]

((Don't expect this for every car, I'm just having some fun for this one b/c its one of my favorites I've built, please enjoy))


((lines came out worse than intended will fix later and yes this is a play on Fiat's posters as you will read below))

Updated Nov 16, 2015: FASE has announced they will be previewing several new cars at the LA Auto Show including the one alluded to in the poster. They have not released the name of the vehicle at this time

The Return of the Lynx? (speculation piece)
Austin Daily writer for Car-caine Magazine
November 15, 2015

This could be the car that many thought that they’d never see again, and for arguably good reasons. When it was originally released in 1990 it did so with little fanfare. It was, after all, an imitation of a car that captured the sport coupe market and soundly trounced the competition, the first generation Mazda MX-5 (or Eunos Roadster depending on your location). The little known history of the original identity of this car prior to launch gives some insight into the story of the car’s less than stellar initial reception. What we now know as the first generation FASE Lynx was to actually be a re-badged slightly done up version of the MX-5 to be christened the Luther Cougar. The Cougar would have been a slightly more powerful version with improved interior with a dash of extra features to be sold as the upscale brother of the MX-5. Mazda would have benefited from contractual royalties and was quite pleased with the idea. Unfortunately Ford, who was a partner of Mazda at the time and owned around a fifth of Mazda, said no. Ford didn’t want Luther to enter this market or have anything to do with Mazda. With that, the deal fell through and we’ll never know what could have been.

What we do know, however, is that this intrusion by Ford infuriated Luther. The body work for the Cougar was already done and all that was needed was to get Mazda’s NA platform, but because of the failed deal the Cougar had no base to be placed on. Determined to take away sales from Mazda, Luther passed the project onto FASE to finish. FASE was not overly excited to be forced into this project as they had their own sports coupe in development to be released a year or two later, but Luther executives were adamant that they finish the Cougar instead. Reluctantly FASE designers modified their LY platform, meant for their project, to be the base of the Cougar, which worked surprisingly well. Since they were disallowed from finishing their project, the FASE designers merged the two, taking aspects of the Cougar and what was called “Project W151” and created the FASE Lynx. While not entirely happy with the name change, Luther executives were pleased to hear their competitor would be able to hit the streets the same year as the MX-5.

The MX-5 was released business one-quarter ahead of the Lynx, however, which meant that by the time the Lynx did arrive many who would have wanted such a car had already bought a MX-5. The Lynx sold well, but not in the same numbers or with the fervor of the MX-5. The Lynx did come to garner a sizable following as its merits over the MX-5 began to trickle into the minds of the newly reinvigorated sports coupe enthusiasts. The Lynx, however, was to be short lived. With the acquisition of Heisler by Luther in the same year as the release of the Lynx and given Heisler’s history of making sporty coupes, Luther wanted the new subsidy to begin pulling its weight as soon as possible by making it produce such vehicles. The Lynx, despite its now nearly cult-like following, was on the clock to the chopping block. Heisler needed time to reorganize, for its employees to receive Luther training and for it to have a trial period before the Lynx would be ended. The end came in 1994 as Heisler released the Kardhal. The Lynx would be produced for one more year when finally the last would roll off of the factory floor in 1995. Despite the Lynx and Kardhal being separate vehicles that could have coexisted, the Kardhal with its high power output speeds would be the way Luther wanted to go so they put an end to the lovable Lynx.

With that, many a disappointed fanboy believed that Luther had made a grave mistake and that the Lynx could have surpassed the MX-5 easily with the release of the second generation which had been hinted at, perhaps maliciously, by FASE. The hints even included conceptual designs some of which the fans claimed showed up in the second generation MX-5. In any case, it was the last time that many thought they would see a new Lynx. At least, that was the case, until the release of an almost irresponsible level of horse-play and mockery in the form of a certain poster. Many people are aware of what is believed to be the FIAT 124 Spider posters proclaiming “wish you were here” in various locations such as Rome, London and Madrid with the outline of, again what we believe to be, the Fiat 124 Spider. About 5 days after the release of the Madrid poster FASE released an eerily similar poster stating “Its better in Seville” with an egregiously similar looking outline of a car that no one knew of. Well at least until they started to think, as there is only one car that FASE has, or had, that could compete with the fourth generation Miata MX-5 and its re(d)-badged buddy the Fiat 124 Spider and that is the Lynx! Since the direct challenge poster, FASE has released another; this time with “NO8DO” written up top in a faded old century style font and written below it a more defined refined font proclaiming “She has not abandoned me” finishing off with “2016” written in the same script at the bottom.

For the uninitiated, “NO8DO” is a common motif that can be spotted all around Seville and is an abbreviated way of stating their motto “No me ha dejado” or “It [Seville] has not abandoned me”. This is a reference to the famous phrase uttered by King Alfonso X while staying at the Alcazar (a royal palace) in Seville when his son tried to usurp his throne. The city supported the king and never “abandoned” him. The phrase has since become the city’s motto, is on their flag, holds great meaning and is a sense of pride for the people of Seville. FASE has used the skein of wool from the city’s flag as their own emblem’s center piece and even the arrangement of FASE around it as “FA8SE” mirrors “NO8DO”. In fact the entire poster reeks of symbolism regarding the connection between the city, the company, and the competitors. The phrase “she has not abandoned me” can be said by anyone and everyone regarding the Lynx as many of the 1990 originals remain on the road in good condition, but it also can be said by the car of the people who loved it and wanted to see it return. It was also stated by a King, which many people fancy the Lynx to be of the compact sport coupe class of cars. It’s the company saying we’ve not forgotten this car and we’ve heard you. So in that sense it’s a sigh of relief by the thousands of people who wanted this car back.

The phrase causes us to envisage a return of the king to its proper throne. Yet FASE has said nothing else. Most of what is out there has been said by enthusiasts, editorial writers, magazines, and the like. The company itself has said nothing more than what we see on the posters. Really nothing about this means that the Lynx is coming back. Yes, the car outline is undoubtedly similar to that on the Fiat 124 spider poster. Yes, the 124 spider is just a re-badged Miata. Yes, the only car FASE has produced that matches that Miata is the Lynx. BUT that’s it. That’s all we have. If we look at the other side of things we have just as much reason to be skeptical. Luther dropped the car onto FASE when they couldn’t complete it how they wanted. FASE didn’t want the car and wanted to make their own from their own-minds. The car was only produced for 5 years. It has been 25 years since the initial release, 20 years since the last one and in that time the company has made no effort mention it again. When Luther-FASE brought back the Aelia there was no hiding it; they wanted people to know it was coming back. It was a great car, and the new one is pretty good too. Yet that car was a beloved flagship and the Lynx is more akin to, pardon the phrase, “red-headed step-child”. Given its history it would be easy to say that the Lynx shouldn’t expect such love. That, however, doesn’t acknowledge the scores of people who have petitioned for its return, who have put together meet-ups, the people who love to see the Lynx pull-up at a show and long to have one. FASE isn’t one to ignore their customers, but it’s remained terribly silent regarding the Lynx.

Perhaps this new car isn’t the Lynx. Perhaps is the final conclusion of “Project W151” after all this time? Maybe it’s what the guys at FASE wanted to deliver all along and only now are we going to see their vision. Maybe it’ll have something reminiscent of the Lynx in its DNA, that’s probable. We won’t know for sure until they tell us. My guess is that we’ll know something soon.

This article reflects the views of the writer and not necessarily those of Car-caine Magazine or its affiliates. ((Nor the opinion of the player ))

[koolkei]

man..... i wish i could write something as interesting as you did.....

although that is a bit on the long side...

[Sebesseg]

@Koolkei: Thanks! I like doing things like this when I have the time.

Yeah I was trying to account for the forum stretching the sentences and making the paragraphs seem smaller, which means I made them longer. Like I said though, this type of thing will probably only happen for things I really like. Other vehicles will get some introductory stuff to set the scene, but not like what the Lynx is getting. Speaking of which...

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It’s Official the Lynx WILL Appear at the 2015 LA Auto Show
Austin Daily writer for Car-caine Magazine Online
November 17, 2015

Perhaps two articles in quick succession is uncalled for, but let’s be honest it’s not every day one of your absolute favorites vehicles makes a return to the road. In the interest of full disclosure my first car was a ’92 FASE Lynx Sport-X, the enhanced sport edition. Ok, well it wasn’t actually my first car as it actually belonged to my brother and I didn’t actually get to drive until 1995 when I begged my parents to get me, instead of my brother, one of the new ones. They got him a new one to take to college and I got the old one. Little did I know it was going to be the last year for them since Luther didn’t announce it was going to shutter production until the end of the year. Anyway, it doesn’t matter as the ’92 Lynx was amazing and really there was very little difference between the ’95 and ’92 except for an improved soft-top material. I loved that car. I’d still have it today if my little sister hadn’t crashed it. Who lets a sixteen year old whose license was still warm from the laminate machine drive a car like that? My mother and well…actually…a lot of people. It was a safe car and while it was a great machine in the right hands for the average person it was easy to control. My sister, unfortunately, is one of those people who thinks they are great and aren’t. That telephone pole proved it.

Regardless of the fact I didn’t talk to my sister for a year, those lucky enough to keep their Lynxes in working order, which is more than 80% of them, had a classic on their hands. It was fun, it was rare, and now it has a brand new brother. A new brother that has a lot to live up to. It’s like having that older brother go through school, following him years later and having every teacher remark “aren’t you so-and-so’s brother?” It’s got to be an awkward feeling especially, as I noted in the last article, no one has spoken of you…ever. What is even more awkward is that its competitor the Fiat 124 Spider will also be in LA for the show. It’ll make for an interesting event if the cars are next to each other instead of across the show floor. Is FASE planning to do what Mazda did to it all those years ago and release a similar car ahead of its competition hoping to grab those early adopters? Who’s to say?



What I can say is that its official the Lynx will appear at the LA Auto Show. I know this because of this…rather odd ad that has popped up around the internet. FASE has recently been using rather odd marketing techniques and this time is no different. It’s apparently a play on the nursery song called “Teddy Bear Picnic”, which for those who haven’t a clue what that is well just click the link. Honestly I had never heard of it and I can’t tell if it was the song or the video that creeped me out more. It seems that this parody is meant to say the competition are teddy bears? That what we’ve experienced in terms of sport coupes are child’s playthings and we are surrounded by them. However, if we come out of the woods to the LA Auto Show we’ll be in for a “BIG surprise” and “won’t believe our eyes”. So basically the competition vehicles are for babies, for having a sweet little picnic, and if we recall the original song we shouldn’t be caught dead in them (“be sure to wear a disguise”). We apparently should be ashamed to be driving them.

That’s just what I got out of it. I did go to school for marketing so maybe I have a better knack for this than others and maybe I’m just reading into it too much. Honestly, how is the average person supposed to read this and get what it means? Well they should come out of the woods, go down to the LA Auto Show and they might just figure it out. For the rest of us, including myself, just tell me where the Lynx is and we’ll be good to go.

This article reflects the views of the writer and not necessarily those of Car-caine Magazine or its affiliates. ((Nor the opinion of the player ))

[Sebesseg]

2016 Lynx Duende

Previewed at the 2015 LA Auto Show, the FASE Lynx Duende (as it is now known) is the rebirth of the ideas that breathed life into the original Lynx back in the 90s. (will cont. desc. later)

[Sebesseg]

1991 Preston Premocar Experimental (PPX)
Codename Project Seahorse
A one-off Luther Supercar, a brilliant car in a busted market

In late 1988, Johnathan Haase and Lowell Baker, the Haase Motorsports chairman and the silhouette racing division’s general manager respectively, had been tinkering on designs for a new type of car for their parent company Luther-FASE to develop. Both men had a passion for formula one racing, each having had been Formula One test drivers in their younger years. They both loved the performance and exhilaration that the cars provided; so much so that they wanted to try their hand at bringing it to the everyman. They wanted a Luther-branded supercar. They deemed their plan “Project Seahorse”, named so because the two men were the ones who gave birth to the idea and male seahorses are the ones who give birth to the offspring.

The problem the two men faced was in convincing the Luther-FASE executives that they could do it. Luther-FASE had had several powerful muscle cars and a good amount of sporty track huggers, but neither type of car could hold a candle to supercars. The muscles could mostly keep up in straight lines, but feared corners. The sports cars could hold the turns with the best, but would lag behind when the roads opened up. Luther-FASE, however, saw no real need to make a competitor for the supercar segment.

Plenty of Haase employees felt otherwise. They believed that they had a shot at producing a strong contender. John and Lowell started a company petition with the hopes of changing the executives’ minds. Within 48 hours of circulating the petition they had nearly all of Haase Motorsports employees signed on, a good percentage of Luther officials and even a couple of board members. This was more than enough to push the issue before the board where it was voted on and passed. John and Lowell got their wish and began work immediately. Project Seahorse was a go. (Cont. after car and stats below)




Competitive figures are from Gasmea and can be further tuned for higher desirability which I deem unnecessary at this time

Both men had already designed the outline, Haase engineers were working on acquiring an engine, and Luther designers were determining fixture and interior materials. By mid-1989, the car had an aluminum monocoque frame ready, a polymer bodyshell in preparation, but was lacking an engine. Haase engineers had wanted the V10 from the Luther Statesmen and were in a battle with executives to allow it. A battle they would not win. For reasons that still remain unclear, the Statesmen’s engine was never released to Haase and was disallowed for use in the car.

Instead the first drivable prototype would be tested with the naturally aspirated 6L V8 engine from the Luther Sojourner series of four door pickup trucks. The truck engine provided enough power following it being tuned to give the prototype suitable performance. However the engine lacked several features that both John and Lowell had hoped for. It was a 24-valve single overhead cam set-up, but they wanted 32 valve dual-overhead cams. It lacked the desired horsepower numbers, at least 500. It was also slightly heavier than they wanted for the car, but really any solid cast iron block would be and they didn’t have the leeway to cast an all new aluminum block for an untested prototype, yet.

The prototype car was a hit with board executives who gave the go ahead to build the car how it was meant to be. They also resurrected the “Preston” name along with its “Premocar” moniker, originally the name of powerful and expensive cars of the 1920s that Luther would come to own, dubbing the car the “Preston Premocar Experiment” or PPX. The engine was recast as an all-aluminum block with dual overhead cams as intended. The fact Luther-FASE was building a supercar created quite a stir especially considering what was provided in the press release mirrored what Jaguar had released for the XJ220. Of course the XJ220 was powered by a V12 (though production variants actually used Turbocharged 3.5L V6s) compared to the now 6.1L naturally aspirated V8 of the PPX. The car was lavishly adorned and looked to be in good shape.

When the PPX was finally tested for top speed it would usurp Jaguar of its fastest production car title by reaching a speed of 220 (catalytic converter and rev limiter removed) at Nardo, before the print dried announcing Jaguar’s title. Of course, not too long after the McLaren F1 would set a record of 240. The specialized and tuned variants of the PPX would go on to be a part of the Luther-Haase Motorsports rotation for racing competitions.

Unfortunately for Johnathan Haase and Lowell Baker, the car would not impress Luther-FASE enough to continue the newly minted “Preston Premocar” brand beyond the PPX. When it was released to the public, a couple of months earlier than the Jaguar, it was a prelude of things to come. Like the Jaguar would experience, many people chose not to buy the car due to financial difficulties caused by the burst of the 80s economic boom and unsolicited supercar speculation. While the PPX would avoid most of the speculation, design changes and price leap problems of others cars (such as the Jag), it was a new super from a company with no history of them therefore making the vehicle a hard sell. Luther wouldn’t take up building supercars or hypercars again until it took over the Mulholland Automotive Design Studio. Haase and Lowell would continue tuning the car for competitions for both the Luther-Haase Motorsports teams as while as their own private team (Baker & Haase Racing). 375 PPXs would be made (the same number as the displacement) and all but 25 were sold outside the company. The remaining 25 went to executives with 3 being picked up by Johnathon Haase and 2 by Lowell Baker.

Who knows what could have happened to the Preston Premocars brand had the PPX been successful.

[Sebesseg]

1971 Duke "White Lightning" Grand Tourer by Haase
When an American does Europe

The Ares/Duke White Lightning Concept

At the beginning of 1969 with the upcoming redesign of the Ares Muscle car on the table, then president of Haase Motorsports, Oliver Haase (father of Johnathan Haase the designer of the PPX) was charged with creating the super-sport version of the new Ares on which the redesign would be based as detuned variants of. Oliver, however, had different plans. He had been in contact with his European divisions at Haase Europe working with FASE who had told him of the Iso Grifo, an Italian grand touring car powered by an American engine. Most Grifos were currently powered by a Chevy engine, but Iso had approached Haase Europe about acquiring an engine from them to power the next variant. FASE told Luther and Luther told Haase to turn down the offer.

Oliver was interested in the knowing why a maker of grand tourers wanted an American V8. He flew over to Spain and ordered a Grifo for himself to drive while he was there. He enjoyed his drive. It had excellent steering requiring very little effort to turn , except at lower speeds where it could be a bit heavy. The driving position was a little off due to his height. It sounded great, but then again it was an american engine with a tuned exhaust. After driving it, however, he was sure that he could do better. That is exactly what he decided to do, but while putting some more american muscle into it.




*This car was the runner-up car when choosing a car to enter into the 1971 Grand Tourer Comp so competitive values are from Gasmea set at 30% mark up

The problem was he needed to get Americans to buy into the idea. GT cars are great, but often too expensive and laden with problems that made them a headache to fix in the US where their parts weren’t often available. The Grifo avoided some of these by using an American engine and easily accessible parts, but there was room for improvement. He contracted out FASE interior designers to hand stitch the upholstery, he pulled on ties with Lear & Phillips to co-develop a car audio system specifically tuned for his vehicles including a luxury 8-track player, while everything else was primarily developed in-house to the highest quality possible sourcing out parts and labor where required.

Haase decided that the current lineup of engines were not good enough for his needs. He needed more power. He gave his engineers a max engine bay dimensions and told them to build the biggest and most powerful engine that they could fit in those confines. It wasn’t exactly a daunting task, as the men had been building engines for years. Normally, however, whenever they were contracted they had a car to work with so they could physically see the dimensions and make the best possible mating possible. Oliver, though, had yet to actually design the car to any reasonable measure, not even a sketch. He had the idea all in his head. Even at this point in time the parts for the car started to trickle in before they had a body to fit in.

Since they had more than three lifetime’s worth of experience with naturally aspirated V8 engines combined they decided to stick with that design. It would be a solid cast iron block and heads flat-plane configuration using push rods. It would be paired with a DCOE quad carb set-up with performance intakes, long tube headers fitted to two and three-quarter inch dual exhaust. It would be a 543ci or 8.9L behemoth putting out 465 horses. Oliver had wanted more, but his fuel economy requirements limited some of the power.

When he actually started to piece the vehicle together he had many different ideas and philosophies to wrangle in. First the car had to suit an American body style, primarily it had to resemble the Ares at some level. It was, after all, meant to be its replacement. That meant it was going to need bare some resemblance to a muscle car. Second, it had to fit/accommodate all that he acquired into its construction which were all produced by separate places to various degrees of tolerance for a vehicle that had no definite parameters. Third, it needed to be scalable. It had to be designed in such a way that expensive parts and fittings could be interchanged with cheaper or more common pieces such that it could be sold to a wide market.

He was up for the job. Within two months he had an early clay model surrounded by nearly all the parts that were going to go into it, including the 543ci engine that sat propped up opposite the modelling area. Taking the basic shape of the Ares, he sculpted bit and pieces out of and onto the model. He designed a new grille and headlight arrangement reminiscent of the Dodge charger. He had always admired the rotating headlights of the Dodge and made sure his car had them too. He added some lower running lights with a high power setting to substitute should they not work or the driver choose not to activate them. He borrowed a wing design from an Italian friend. He hid the door handles in an integrated button-keyhole, where after unlocking the door, as in a typical arrangement, you merely push the keyhole which released the door allowing it to be opened.

He decided to call the car “The Ares - White Lightning”. A harkening back to the two names used interchangeably by the company since the prohibition era where their cars were found to be easily tuned for higher speeds thus leading alcohol (moonshine or white lightning) smugglers (bootleggers) to more easily avoid capture by federal authorities. The company took the names to heart and would call post-prohibition era trims “Bootlegger edition” or “White Lightning edition” to certify that they were supercharged and faster than base models. A trim called “Moonshiner” was used once to certify an even nicer version of the standard “bootlegger”. Since there was already an Ares Bootlegger he went with White Lightning to differentiate his car.

The vehicle was a hit with executives, until they heard the price. Oliver’s Ares was found to be far too expensive once assembled for it to be a viable large market vehicle, even for a top of line variant. For a grand tourer, like his intention it was roughly on par with their prices. Oliver made the case to his executives that the car could be a success if marketed correctly. He showed them pitch after pitch with his vehicle being referred to as “The Duke White Lightning” instead of being an Ares. The executives were impressed, but not exactly swayed. They still saw no reason or market for such a vehicle. Oliver explained to them if they gave him some time it would succeed. They gave him until 1973 when a true successor to the Ares would be launched.

Oliver took what they gave him and scheduled production. He was able to produce 175 models between 1970-1973, all hand built with small unique variances to each one. Oliver tried to keep differences as small as possible, but if you check underneath the seats you will find the names of those who built that car. While it wouldn’t last long, the Duke was a great vehicle and considered one of the best cars Luther & Haase have ever constructed. The Duke would go on to inspire a car being designed at the same time for a similar purpose by FASE, the Belmonte.