Eselchen 201
The Eselchen 201 is a car manufactured by Osthügel Motorenwerke in the Lanzerwald since 1709. It is the first car built for the domestic market of the Lanzerwald and the only model that is widely seen on the roads of the republic. It is a small and lightweight car, weighing just over 550 kilograms, with a wheelbase of 1850mm. The Eselchen 201 is powered by a two-stroke, two-cylinder 20bhp engine in the back of the vehicle. This engine gives the car a technical top speed of 100 kilometres per hour, although all cars are limited to 60 kilometres per hour in the factory. One of the design goals of the car was to make a vehicle that could be maintained by mechanics without extensive technical education, or even by the customer themselves. Parts that had to be serviced regularly were easily accessible, for example a flip-front bonnet gave access to the engine, including the carter plug to make oil changes and engine maintenance straightforward even where no lifts were available.
In the Lanzerwald the Eselchen 201 has received a cult status as it is the only car that is somewhat attainable for most citizens. Larger vehicles are prohibitively expensive due to fiscal reasons and parking spaces in the cities are designed to fit the Eselchen 201 specifically. Many of the parts of the Eselchen 201 are industry standards as kept by the Lanzerwaldinstitut für Normung, making it possible to acquire replacement parts from various manufacturers in the Lanzerwald. The downside to this is that development of the car has been slow, as Osthügel Motorenwerke has had to update existing industry norms before making improvements to the car design, but the backwards-compatibility that the Lanzerwaldinstitut für Normung demands has made it possible for buyers to upgrade all older models to the newest standards as they see fit.
Due to the popularity of the car, Osthügel Motorenwerke has a significant backlog. Prospective buyers need to make a request to buy the car, including a stamped consent letter from their local municipality, which is dependent on the prospective buyer having off-street parking spaces available to them. A fee of 500 Lanzerwaldmark is required for the reservation, the remaining 7,000 Lanzerwaldmark are to be paid right before delivery of the car, usually three to four years later.
Because of the long waiting times upgraded second hand cars are very popular and their price remains relatively stable throughout the lifespan of the vehicle. Even cars that are beyond normal repair, because of a seized engine and other serious malfunctions will still be bought by refurbishing shops. This does not apply to vehicles that have been in an accident, all accidents, whether big or small, need to be reported to the police which will then make a technical review of the car with either mandatory repairs, or in the worst case declaring the chassis unfit for the roads. In that case, the chassis will be destroyed under police supervision. In the past, the long waiting times made it attractive to malicious car traders to repair total-loss vehicles and sell them as well-maintained vehicles, the destruction of the chassises of cars that have been in accidents is designed to put a stop to this.
In 1752 the Osthügel Motorenwerke factory in Victoria (Meckelnburgh) started small-scale production of the Eselchen 201 for the domestic Meckelnburgh market. Dealership locations were opened in Victoria and Casted, these locations would also sell other car brands, such as those belonging to the Faca Automotive Group, or would already sell Osthügel Motorenwerke heavy construction equipment such as excavators. The Victoria plant produces approximately 50 cars per annum, mostly in an effort to optimise the efficiency, cars are being produced to raise the utilisation rate when there is not enough work for the military projects that are the main focus of the plant. The small cars have some cult following in Meckelnburgh and were previously imported outside the official distribution system of Osthügel Motorenwerke, which made acquisition of spare parts difficult.
