My grandpa once showed me a photo from his childhood and wanted to identify a mystery old car in it. The photo was taken in Czechoslovakia just a few years before the war. The car was quite big, so I started with top of the line Czechoslovak models, but without success. In fact it did not look as an European model at all. After a few days of search, I was able to identify the vehicle, but I have to admit, that it was quite a luck, because cars were really similar back in the day, especially from a side view.

I decided to recreate the car in LFS. I am not going to name the car before the mod is finished, if anybody would like to have the same detective fun as I had. There are enough clues to identify both model and year of production.

Progress: obtained technical data and pictures for moddeling. Started with a low-poly basemesh for subdivision.

1937 Packard One Twenty Touring Sedan?

Obviously its a 1936 Plymouth Sedan. My grandfather used own one back in the 30s when he graduated from high school. It was later given to my father and I remember riding around in the back seat....good times...

Quote from PopnLochNessMonster :

Obviously its a 1936 Plymouth Sedan. My grandfather used own one back in the 30s...

This one is pretty close, but not there yet

Progress: subdivided mudguards, a main body and a trunk and joined meshes together. This mod will take more time because it is difficult to get shading right on such non-convex body.

1948 mustang pontiac

Studebaker type front wheel, so maybe 1936 Studebaker Dictator?

The 1936 Plymouth was a pretty good guess as it is practically identical from side view. But if I am not mistaken Plymouth did not have a split windshield option.

Progress: added art deco mudguard trimming and started with a grille. A lot of barely visible topology optimization.

Buick Special Sedan Series is my best guess

The fender skirt in the photo throws off a lot tho

Chevrolet 4 (or Standard 6 with 4 door body) , circa 1935?

Quote from Ibtasim6781 :

The fender skirt in the photo throws off a lot tho

Yes, the fender skirt with decor was my personal luck, because it looks similar to one of the most famous American classics. Together with lines under windows and split windshield, it identifies the exact model.

Progress: minor details and topology optimization. Guessing should be much easier because of a finished grille.

1940 skoda fabia

1934 Skoda Superb

edit : completely wrong lol

The Plymouth is still the closest guess.

Progress: started cutting body panels. Created wheels with adjustable decor.

1936 De Soto Airstream sedan

Quote from turbofan :

1936 De Soto Airstream sedan

Bingo! The design was originally developed for Plymouth and Dodge, but at the end it was used for Chrysler and DeSoto too because the legendary Chrysler/DeSoto Airflow did not sell well (despite Airflow was one of the coolest US cars IMHO). I am not sure how this particular Airstream appeared in Czechoslovakia but it belonged to a consul.

Progress: cut side windows, windshield and side vents. Topology optimization.

Progress: added a rear window, a roof rack, bumpers, tailights and minor attachments. Joined spare wheels into the mudguards.

Progress: started with chassis.

Progress: fixed smoothing groups, normal weights and dark points. Added movable suspension parts. Defined chassis and engine physics and started with an interior. Had to decrease engine horsepower from 92 to 81 to replicate a realistic historic torque curve. Despite that the car is faster than I would expect and will probably need a more complex tweaking.



I have found an old Plymouth promo video which shows how suspension worked back in the day. A 1936 Plymouth was a closely related model, with an almost identical body and chassis. The main differences were that DeSoto had independently sprung front wheels and a stronger engine. Suspension replicated in LFS is not far from the video, but suspension travel had to be reduced to replicate a realistic frequency. The car is easy and fun to drive but rather bumpy on a limit. The rear beam axle is approximated using the same method as Lemon Adieu, Lemon Rose and Lemon Jones mods.



I learned some cool but sad historic facts because the IRL manufacturer was named after a conquistador. Therefore, I decided to name the mod after a leader of a native resistance, whose name stands for a giant winged snake with a head of a llama. Probably the coolest mythological creature I have ever heard of.