Midnight Industries

[KingJanic]

In 1962, Alexander Smith inherited his uncles fortune. He decided to use the money to start a car company. Production was started on the Rose. The Rose came with a choice of two engines to start with: The I6 72, and the V8 150. In 1963 the Rose (165) T was introduced. It was powered by the V8 165. Also in 1963, a limited edition car dubbed the Tulip also used the V8 165.

Rose:

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Rose (165) T:

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Tulip:

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[LoucurasdoPortal]

The Tulip has a pretty advanced design for 1962. But both cars look nice!

[KingJanic]

Thanks. I was actually trying to base it (very loosely) on the Chevrolet Corvair Monza GT, although I probably could have done it better.

[KingJanic]

In 1967, a new engine was introduced. It was an I6 72 with an extra half inch of stroke. It was dubbed the I6 85. This was made stock in the Rose (72), now called the Rose (85).
Also in 1967, a new four-door model of the Rose was introduced, and was powered by the I6 85

[KingJanic]

In 1968, an attempt to enter the muscle car wars came in the form of the Daisy. It had two models, one powered by a derivative of the V8 165, the V8 230, which had dual 4 barrel carburetors instead of a single 2 barrel carburetor, and a performance intake. The second model was powered by a new engine, the V8 315. It had a bigger block, longer stroke, and mechanical fuel injection. They were relatively successful, but were hindered by being incredibly difficult to to steer at any real speed.

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In 1969, bolstered by the profits brought in by the Daisy, a special edition Daisy was developed. It was called the Daisy Special, and was powered by a special engine named the V8 500. Basically an enlarged 315 on steroids, it produced approximately 500 horsepower and an incredibly wide power band, achieving 300 ft-lbs of torque at only 1500 rpms, and only going up. However, it was extremely expensive and time consuming to build, and so it was discontinued in 1970, and the standard Daisy was discontinued in 1972.

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Recently, Daisy's have been making a small comeback, being restored by hot rodders across the United States, and a couple in Canada.

[KingJanic]

In 1972, a new Rose was developed. It was to have a simpler suspension, and be more reliable. The chosen engine was a new I4 85, which was more reliable and ran on regular unleaded fuel.

Over the next 12 years, the engines that powered the Rose were tweaked and made more reliable and efficient. But in 1984, the decision was made to build a car to change the face of the company forever. They wanted to instead of being known for relatively cheap reliable cars, to be known for sports cars. And so the Lilac was born.

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Powered by a new, all aluminum V8 390, it was all wheel drive, with a new 5 speed gearbox, rather than the standard 4 speed gearbox in the Rose and the Daisy, and had the biggest brakes of any car they had made to date. And because it was AWD, it had a 0-60 time of 3.9 seconds , a 12.3 second quarter mile time , and a top speed of about 173 miles per hour . It could take 1 g in the corners, and got about 15 mpg on average.

[KingJanic]

In 1985, following the success of the Lilac, a new car was to be introduced to be even better. The Tulip II was the brain child of this operation, and production began in 1986.

It had two stock engines, the V8 390 from the Lilac, and a better tuned version called the V8 430. Both had better acceleration than the Lilac, and a slightly higher top speed. They also had bigger brakes to compensate.

Tulip II:

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[KingJanic]

In 1990, a new engine was designed to replace the large and aging V8 series. It was the SX1. It was cheaper and lighter than the V8s, used premium gas rather than standard, and was used as the only production engine in the Lilac, while the Tulip II was discontinued.

in 1992, because of the increased sales of the Lilac, a special edition model was announced, of which only 314 were made, because it was made of solid carbon fiber. It used an SX1 with a longer stroke, dubbed the SX Special.

[KingJanic]

in 1995, a new platform was introduced. Named the Orchid, it came stock with either a re-tuned SX1 or a new SX2, which was smaller, more reliable, more responsive, and produced almost as much power.

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Because of a slightly odd suspension setup, instead of oversteering or understeering, it did both :

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[KingJanic]

In 2001, a revised SX2 (the SX3) was put in the Orchid, which, due to a new head design and a dual intake system, produced more power and was more fuel efficient. An economy version of the SX3 was also put into the Orchid, but because it didn't produce a very large change in fuel economy, and lost a fair amount of power, it was discontinued in 2003.