Chapter 24 - The Two Newbies
It was another day at the office here with us, just sitting down, when Katie decided to tell us something.
"Hey, you lot!"
"What?"
"I'm gonna be heading out now, and will be gone quite a while."
"Where, when, why?"
"I'm gonna be searching for some cars."
"Wait...what? Your LFA though..."
"I know, but think about it. You all have three cars at least now, I just have this little LFA here with me. So, I'm thinking...why don't I get myself some spare ammunition like you guys?"
"...Fair enough. So, where you going?"
"...Out. Don't know where I'm gonna be finding the cars exactly. And I'm going...now pretty much."
"OK, so I guess...see you. Take care out there..."
"Oh, I will, Jason. Don't be worried."
She gave me a little wink as she went out the door. I winked at her back.
"...She really is so sweet. Heh."
"Right then...I wonder what cars I'll find. Hopefully the used car dealers are currently in good stock at the moment..."
"So, LFA, you're gonna be meeting some new friends today."
"So, be a nice girl..."
Later on...
"Still haven't found anything noteworthy yet..."
"Ah, here's another one...just hoping I can get some good stock here in this garage."
"Yo guys, what's...whoa...that's a collection there."
"Heh, I know. Welcome. You looking for a car, I suppose?"
"Yeah. But wow...wasn't expecting anything like this."
"Seriously, everything here looks...wow."
"Where do you get all of these?"
"Simple. As a trusted dealer we often tend to get used cars of higher caliber than other dealers around here."
"Seems like the case. I mean, what other dealer would be able to get, say..."
"This RS6 Avant..."
"Or this R8..."
"Or even this M5..."
"I know. I can see you've even got your own kind of supercar. You must be pretty rich."
"I am, really. Being the daughter of the owner of none other than Lexus..."
"Seriously? Oh, kid, I envy you now...hah."
"I'm used to it, really. I'm not as rich-posh as you'd expect. I'm a street racer around most of these parts."
"Ah, I see."
"Dang, that Miura!"
"But yeah, anyway, I'm a street racer, but knowing what I am, I actually got put in charge of driving the original LFA prototype with my sis..."
"And I actually got the LFA here for free."
"Wow, man...lucky you haven't gotten any 'pink' slip races with it."
"Funny, man...I get ya, I get ya."
"Oh, what's this Altezza doing here? It seems...lonely."
"Oh, that's actually more of a tuned car rather than a true road car. We did accept it but no one's really realised what it truly is."
"Oh, that's sad..."
"So...what else about it?"
"...You know what? Actually, I might think about buying this."
"Really?"
"I wanna give it a chance. If it'll just be rotting in here for ever, I'll bring it out of here. Plus, I need something roughly like this really."
"...Right. So, you say you'll buy it?"
"Yeah. How much HP, other specs, and price?"
"It's been modified to 276, lightened to 1115kg only. Price for this would be about...how about, £50,000?"
"Yeah, sure. I'll take it."
"OK, cool. Say...how about you try something out of ours?"
"Hmm?"
"Basically, we're holding a time trial around this sort of course, which forms from the junctions of all the roads. Whoever can beat the set target time we have around here keeps the car permanently. No one's beaten it yet thus far. Wanna try?"
"...Sure."
"OK. You'll have to wait a while though before you can try it, we've got all kinds of people booked to try it till 8:30 tonight. So can you wait till then?"
"...Sure, I've got all day free."
"OK. So, see you then."
"Cool. What's the car by the way?"
"...Secret."
"Hah. Guess I'll just have to wait to find out then..."
"Indeed you will. So, see you then."
"OK, bye for now."
Katie came back to the dealers just before 8:30pm, when she was having the time trial tryout.
"OK, welcome back then. You ready for the time trial then?"
"Indeed I am. Perked up and everything..."
"OK then. Your target to beat around this track is 3 minutes, 50 seconds around this course in this car."
"It's a race spec Lotus Elise 1996. Just over 130bhp right now, capable of much more with the parts it gets supplied with, and just 645kg weight right now."
"...Looks very promising. 130bhp ain't much though..."
"No one's beaten the target yet, so you could be the first...you ready?"
"Certainly...let's bring it on."
"So then...I've gotta beat 3 minutes 50 around here in an Elise with no more than 130bhp."
"Wonder how long the track in question is..."
"OK, you ready in there?"
"Yep."
"So...3..."
"2..."
"1..."
"Go!"
"1 lap to get this thing in. OK, let's go!"
"Darn it, this acceleration is slightly over what I would have expected, even with 645kg of car to haul..."
"Don't know about this cornering though...these tyres aren't at the best spec possible, for sure."
"Man, this place is so beautiful...don't wanna get carried away, though."
"Tell you what though, this thing is still a pretty good corner-taker even with the bad tyres...it can hold the line I want pretty well."
"I can always modify this car too. It has huge amounts of potential in its current state..."
"The guy though said...didn't he say...this car came with parts?"
"It's almost like Ishizaki's Caterham, it comes with parts you can fit on."
"I know this thing can get way more than 130bhp. As much as I wanna keep this cute little thing at such tiny amounts of horsepower..."
"...there won't be much wrong with turning it into an angry ripper that will send all its competitors home crying."
"Oh, how sad it would be to see huge giants getting killed by this tiny little cutie..."
"I want this thing badly now."
"Speaking of which...I wonder how well I'm doing?"
"I've lost myself so much in the possibilities of wanting this thing..."
"...I've forgotten this is the only way I can get it. Hah."
"I can't be far away from the finish now."
"The finish line is here now!"
"There we are! Across the line!"
"There she is..."
"That felt a lot less than 3 minutes and 50 seconds."
"...So, how did I do?"
"It's yours, girl."
"It is? How well did I do?"
"You got a 3:47 with this car. No wonder you're seen as a great street racer, you completely owned every other try for this car."
"Right then. So, here are your keys for the car."
"You're delivering back my LFA and my Altezza, then?"
"Of course. Enjoy your new Elise, it's worth it, trust me..."
"Didn't you say something about parts too?"
"Yes I did. They're all in the car's boot."
"...Damn, that's a lot of parts."
"I know. Now, be on your way, enjoy your Elise. Well done, you deserved it."
"Thanks. Bye."
"Bye!"
It was the next morning. Katie still hadn't arrived back in Bern from her search.
"Damn, she's still not back yet...hope she's alright."
Then I heard a buzzing engine sound from around the area.
"...Hmm? Is that maybe...her new car?"
A yellow Elise with red rims turned in. Katie was there in it.
"Katie!"
"Jason, hi!"
"So...this is your new Elise, then?"
"It is, indeed."
"Looks awesome! What's it like?"
"Superb. Also got an Altezza which I haven't tried yet, but I know it could be good..."
"Altezza, you say?"
"Yup. Needed something lighter on power to be honest."
"But isn't this Elise already light on power?"
"That's different. Plus, if you open the boot..."
"...Parts?"
"I know. Just like Ishizaki's too. Can adapt it to almost any situation I want now..."
"That is cool."
"So, how much was this Elise then?"
"...A time of 3 minutes and 47 seconds, apparently."
"What?"
"Oh, OK. I won it in a time trial competition the dealer was doing."
"Ah, right."
"Clearly, all the other drivers must have sucked if they couldn't beat the target needed to get this, because I was almost at cruising speed I swear..."
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah. Was certainly a joy to drive though given how it was my first time."
"So I take it you'll be modifying the car to your own personal standards then?"
"Of course. Just need to find a tuner for the car. Still need to adapt with my own parts too."
"So, I take it you'll be heading back to your happy home in Rome, now?"
"Of course. So...see you later, man."
"Bye, Katie."
She gave me another wink as she drove off, her Elise's engine screaming behind.
"...I envy her now. That thing seems so cool..."
Katie now has her 2 new cars, along with the other members of the gang - a Toyota Altezza and a Lotus Elise. With these new forces of hers, how will she stack up against the other racers of the street world?
Stay tuned to Grand PriX to find out!