from The Essential Paradise, series sourcebook
Doc. 2.41. Small wonders[]
Motorworks International for Territories East is a British motor-vehicle company whose cars and trucks appear in episodes of the Two Paradises fantasy/fiction realm, as devised by author Jonnie Comet.
Like many features of The British Paradise Islands, the vehicles appear retrotechnical, almost incredibly anachronistic, to modern eyes, lending a quirky and somewhat needlessly conservative flavour that serves to establish the unique and exotic to the setting.
History (pre-1994)[]
Seeing a growing need for a lightweight, inexpensive, fuel-efficient ‘world car’, Robert Fewlish and Malcolm Dodd founded MITE in the mid-1970s. An original factory in Shrewsbury was closed in 1984 when it was found that a single location would not keep up with the demand of foreign sales. Once manufacturing plants were set up abroad, focus was shifted to a somewhat quirky, old-fashioned sort of car, the better to keep buyer interest in a rapidly-growing market segment. An original design was based on and scaled down from a 1950s Vauxhall Velox saloon (a favourite from Sir Robert’s childhood) to be powered by a small 2- or 3-cylinder engine, itself modelled on a scaled-down Isuzu (General Motors) design.
Features were kept simple, inexpensive to make and to fit, and few; with the emphasis being on basic, reliable transportation more representative of an earlier era. The individuality of the car’s design, coupled with is low cost, robust build quality and economy in running, solidified MITE in an important but often-overlooked market.
Fewlish and Dodd were each named KCMG in the Birthday List of 1988, the same list in which Jonathan Cavaliere and David Holloway each received the same appointment). Sir Robert and Sir Malcolm each attend a MITE office and maintain a seasonal home abroad, the former in North Island, New Zealand, and the latter in Blue Bay, Morning Island, BPI.
Build[]
The MITE cars are all built of simple, ladder-type frames fitted with fibreglass body components, permitting the complex shapes and multiple body parts of an old-fashioned car to be moulded in fewer pieces, providing quick construction and durability without concern for problems of rust. Repairs are easily effected in the field by anyone experienced in fiberglass construction. Finishes are typically high-quality polyurethane epoxy, which can also be done in the field. Colours were originally limited to not more than four or five conservative colours (i.e., pale olive, bluish-grey, medium beige) but the palette was gradually expanded through the 1990s.
Mechanically the cars are built to metric standards, using components common to all intended markets. Many parts are available off-the-shelf (light fixtures, knobs, switches, window regulators, mirrors, etc.). Models are only infrequently and superficially specialised, in order to save costs, typically only in colours, upholstery, interior and exterior trim bits. These are small cars, built for small markets, in which cost of purchase (including importation), cost of operation (including maintenance and petrol), cost of registration (including insurance), and physical space (including for parking and in traffic) are important concerns. They are not fancy, intended only as nominal transportation for the average working-class person seeking basic personal transportation for daily commutation and for occasional weekend outings.
Factories of frame and engine manufacture are located in England, India, Malaysia, and New Zealand. Additional coachbuilders (typically receiving unfinished frames/shells for completion) operate in British Guyana, The British Paradise Islands, Fiji, Ireland, and South Africa. Not by coincidence, all are right-hand-drive markets. Effectively this specialisation saves cost for the company and, by preempting most American-, German-, and Korean-built cars, helps establish the company as a manufacturer of affordable automobiles meant expressly for the Commonwealth of Nations.
Model range[]
The following MITE models are present in Paradise after about 1988. Similar series share a surprising degree of parts compatibility (for example forward subframes of AM and RM are interchangeable; the XM uses only a strengthened version of the same design; all three use the same engines).
A-type[]
Subcompact passenger-car series ‘AM’ light-commercial series ‘BM’ and ‘DM’, rearwheel- drive, front-engine. Styled on early-1950s Velox or Wyvern, rear-hinged front doors, front-hinged rear doors; down-hinging bootlid; spare wheel under boot. Column-mounted gearchange; fixed-head models have manual-cranking sunroof.
Very common in Paradise; very popular especially amongst young drivers; 4-dr fixed-head saloon style outnumbers all other body styles.
A-Type outnumbers Y-Type by about 12:1 in BPI.
- engines: 513-cc L2, 18-20 HP; 765-cc L3, 27-30 HP
- transmission: 3-spd manual; 3-spd manual w/OD, 2-spd automatic
A-type, short wheelbase[]
- ‘AM500’, 2-dr fixed-head coupé, 2-seat
- ‘AM500’, 2-dr fixed-head coupé, 4-seat
- ‘AM750’, 2-dr fixed-head coupé, 2-seat
- ‘AM750’, 2-dr fixed-head coupé, 4-seat
- ‘Merry’ (500), 2-dr drophead coupé
- ‘Scamp’, (750) 2-dr drophead coupé (4WD)
A-type, long wheelbase[]
- ‘AM500’, 4-dr fixed-head saloon
- ‘AM750’, 4-dr fixed-head saloon
- ‘DM500’, 2-dr enclosed van
- ‘DM750’, 2-dr enclosed van
- ‘BM500’, 2-dr windowed brake
- ‘BM750’, 2-dr windowed brake
Y-type[]
Compact passenger-car series, ‘YM’, rear-wheel-drive, front-engine. Modelled on MG YA/YB series of early 1950s (Sir Malcolm’s childhood favourite); upright grille, rear-hinged front doors, front-hinged rear doors; down-hinging bootlid; spare wheel under boot. Floor-mounted gearchange (manual), column-mounted lever (automatic). Typically well-fitted (to better grade that cheaper A-type), in upholstery, hardware, trim; sometimes called the ‘mini Rolls’ in BPI.
Many parts are interchangeable with A-Type, much of engine similar to that of BL Mini. This model, built 1981-1988, though larger than the AM, became less profitable, partly due to public wariness of antique styling, partly due to having less parts compatibility with the others; it enjoys a resurgence of popularity over 1998-2003.
- engine: 900-cc L4, 63 HP
- transmission: 3-spd manual, 4-spd manual, 2-spd automatic
Y-type, short wheelbase[]
- ‘YM Spirit’, 2-dr drophead coupé
- ‘YM Cove’, 2-dr fixed-head coupé
- ‘YM’, 4-dr fixed-head saloon
Y-type, long wheelbase[]
- ‘YM’, 4-dr fixed-head saloon
The YM saloon outnumbers the others combined by about 10:1 in Paradise.
R-Type[]
Compact taxi, light-commercial, and passenger-car series, ‘RM’, rear-wheel-drive, front-engine. Modelled on veteran (1910-1930) cars; separate (‘flying’) wings, side-mounted spare wheel, non-integrated bonnet, open-sided driving cab, and enclosed or semi-enclosed coachbody with side doors above running boards. Column-mounted gearchange; handbrake lever on right, restricting driver egress till set.
- engines: 513-cc L2, 18-20 HP; 765-cc L3, 27-30 HP
- transmission: 3-spd manual; 2-spd automatic
R-type, short wheelbase[]
- ‘RM500’, enclosed van
- ‘RM500’ 2-dr windowed brake
- ‘RM500’ 2-dr windowed brake
- ‘RM500’ 4-dr estate
R-type, long wheelbase[]
- 'RM750’ 4-dr estate
- ‘RM500 Landau’, 2+4-seat taxi
- ‘RM750 Landau’, 2+4-seat taxi
- ‘RM500’ 2-dr windowed hearse
- ‘RM500’, open lorry
- ‘RM750’, open lorry
- ‘RM750’, enclosed van
The RM most often appears as ‘Landau’ (landaulet) style of taxicab, common in tourist areas of Paradise, having jumpseats under the fixed forward end of the hood (where the doors are), a half-hood, akin to that over a baby pram, over the rear seat. Local hoteliers and merchants like to believe that by relegating passengers to seats in the open, a ride in a Landau taxi abruptly acclimatises newly-arrived tourists to the sights, sounds, scents and situations unique to Paradise.
Though some Landau models are owned and used privately, those operated by Paradise Transport often devote the nearside seat in the driving cab to passengers’ bags (typically with restraining web as there is no side door); as fares are rarely permitted to sit beside the driver. The enclosed van’s boxy coachbody has tall side panels and rear ‘barn’ doors, the brake is simply the van fitted with windows and interior appointments. Both the van and the brake are popular with small businesses in the territory; the brake is sometimes fitted as a funeral hearse.
Rationale of the R-type[]
As a taxi, the Landau model is not meant to emulate the wealthy person's limousine it intentionally resembles but to serve as only an amusing and interesting mode of transportation for tourists in a fascinating tropical place entirely unlike where they come from. Upholstery, carpet, hardware and even the canvas hood are made with durable, modern materials (without regard for any historical authenticity), more like a modern sailboat than like a luxury car of generations ago. The small engine is smooth and surprisingly sprightly; the suspension is simple, rugged and worthy of spirited driving; the wheels and tyres are of large diameter and rather narrow but otherwise of modern (c.1980s-1990s) type (typically slotted aluminium alloy or painted steel). The emphasis is on durability and utility, given the prospect of long use, despite hot sun, frequent rain, and less-than-sympathetic passengers, over a long service life. As such the Landau taxi is known to be a good representative of the Paradisian lifestyle: a visually-appealing, exotic fixture that is simply a normal, everyday facet of the territory.
Distribution[]
The R series has received much support from Cavaliere and Holloway, who have actively promoted it as a kind of ‘standard’ car for tourism service in the BPI. With their investment, since 1990 the series, particularly the Landau taxi, has migrated to Singapore, Seychelles, Bermuda, and about the West Indies, generally in the same sort of role, much as did the Ghia Jolly and Mini Moke in the 1960s.
Depiction[]
In coachwork and general arrangement, the R-type very closely resembles real-world examples such as the following:
X-type[]
Industrial/agricultural float series, ‘XM’, rear-wheel-drive, front-engine, basically a flatbed open lorry on a girdered chassis with driving station, including bench seat for two, above the engine and gearbox at very front (no bonnet). Column-mounted gearchange; handbrake lever on right, restricting driver egress till set. Often fitted with specialised wheels and tyres for work on uneven ground or for indoors. Most frequently the driving cab has no side doors, providing only handrails and step with which one boards the bench seat. Open/off-road models often have no windscreen (nor hood).
- engines: 513-cc L2, 18-20 HP; 765-cc L3, 27-30 HP
- transmission: 3-spd manual
X-type, long wheelbase[]
- open lorry (no hood)
- closed-cab lorry
- enclosed van
X-type, superlong wheelbase[]
- open lorry (no hood)
- closed-cab lorry
- enclosed van
Configurations[]
The float can be acquired with no cargo body at all, meant for a user to customise, or in many variations, including with a gondola or stake-bodied bay, with either an open or enclosed driving cab, with a canvas-covered bay, and as an all-enclosed fixed-head van having ‘barn’ doors at the rear.
Any of the X models may be customised, typically by the fitment of peculiar coachwork, in varying numbers in evidence about the territory (and world). The float is often used to transport portable toilets, park and recreational equipment, daily mail, and parcels for commercial and residential delivery. Fitted with tanks it is used for hauling manure, feed, irrigation water, fresh milk, and mild chemicals; with tool boxes and equipment it is used as a workstation (compressor, light crane, welding, etc.); and with treatment facilities it can be a medical station during sports and industrial events. Open-bed floats may appear decked-out as parade platforms, especially during Festival, or as flower cars in funerals.
Reputation in Paradise[]
Outwardly archaic, the MITE motor float earns a well-deserved infamy for being annoyingly slow in traffic, due to workhorse gearing; but in fact even the smaller engine is very strong, given adequate time and gear, and in its many configurations the motor float is renowned for reliability in many applications.
Depiction[]
The X-type may resemble, but is generally much lighter (meant for lighter work) than real-world examples such as the following:
- REO Express, 1911
- Sanford-Herbert, 1912
- Alco 1910
- Buick 1911 - the MITE lorry is not chain-driven however
Reputation of MITE cars in Paradise[]
The MITE range of vehicles provides several essential benefits for use in the territory:
- They are small, befitting narrow roads and hard-to-find on-street parking in the territory;
- They are economical to purchase and to run, returning good fuel economy, carrying low sale prices, and necessitating only modest maintenance costs;
- They are politically friendly, being imported from only diplomatic allies, and provide work for Paradisians in the finishing and modification of imported unfinished shells and frames;
- They (in all but the Y-Type) meet standards for under-16 drivers, enabling 15-year-olds (those of conditional adult status) to aspire to career worthiness and financial solvency;
- They are sufficiently safe, and insufficiently fast, to pose no great risk to either their occupants or other persons and property in typical operation in the territory.
Also, they carry a reputation for being aesthetically appealing (frequently called ‘cute’) and owners or operators are favourably considered to be environmentally and diplomatically responsible.
Appearances in the stories[]
It is not known when MITE-made cars first appear at Paradise. Upon the arrival of the yacht Starchase at Paradise in mid-1983, the XM motor floats are already present, and by mid-1994 (start of Two Paradises story-arc timeline), both AM and RM series are in use at the Camelot estate and RM taxis are seen on the roads. Almost every Two Paradises story in which driving occurs will mention one or more of these vehicles.
The extensive Camelot stable of motor vehicles features, by virtue of mention, no less than half a dozen standard MITE saloons and coupés, typically in nonstandard colours such as navy blue, dark green and dark grey. Also in existence is a touring car (typically used by Lady Susie) and partially-enclosed limousine, both modelled on the RM Landau (LWB), and a roadster for Lord Jonathan apparently based on the AM750. The estate staff use several RM vans and lorries about the grounds as well.
In the novel East Of The Sun, Paul Cavaliere takes a temporary job driving a van-bodied XM float for Paradise Parcel, a package-delivery company (acquired and absorbed by the Royal Paradise Mail Service in the 1990s).
In the novella Night On The Town, Darby St Claire and Lady Susie engage a Landau taxi from the Escapade club at Casino, leaving the two reporters to catch another taxi to catch up with them for supper and interview at Governor’s Harbour.
The elaborate games of Strategy frequently make use of small, inconspicuous Mite cars and trucks, often driven at the very brink of disaster (including my an 11-year-old Lady Kimberley), notably in the compilation All In The Game. Beginning with the events of the novella Rivals At Heart, roughly coincident with when Lady Susie begins volunteering the alias of ‘Leigh’, she begins preferring a grey AM500 saloon over her more conspicuous open touring car.
Mark Doyle acquires a ramshackle RM Landau and operates his own taxi business, able to cater only to friends as he is still under 18 and not legally eligible to drive commercially.
In the Love of Gwendolyn Dahl arc, Gwendolyn’s brothers have a dark-blue AM500 saloon (ostensibly Geoffrey’s). Gwendolyn is herself bundled into a cardboard box and shipped like a parcel in a van-bodied XM lorry, remaining successfully concealed to win a game of 24 Hours.
In the Janine, of Paradise arc, Charlie Richardson drives a green AM500 saloon, in which Sally drives Janine in The Initiation of Janine. Charlie acquires a darker-green YM some months later and turns over his AM to his cousin Sally as a 14th-birthday gift. In The Perfect Day he appears shopping for bits for the YM at a market-day jumble sale; Janine surprises him by buying the mirror and distributor spanner he wanted but would not buy, to save his funds for their dinner out.
Janine befriends a cabbie called Robert with an RM Landau taxi, riding almost daily over the Hell Gate bridge to Greenlea to work on the house prior to her marriage. She and Charlie later buy AM500 windowed brake as their second car, meant to cart housewares and DIY materials to their new home at Greenlea and which 15-year-old Janine, having gained her (30-BHP) licence, uses to commute between Greenlea and North Eden High School.
In the novel Noemi’s Wold, 12-year-old Noemi Chesney learns to drive one of the two XM stake-bodied floats on her family’s sugarcane plantation, instilling her father and the labourers with pride and her mother, and the head of West Island High School who visits, with chagrin.
In the Kissing Cousins arc, 16-year-old Anthony Flagg acquires a bright-blue AM500 drophead coupé in which he regularly drives Melissa and Carissa to school; as the car has only a titular rear seat one of the girls usually squeezes in back, a situation made easier when they can commute with the hood down.
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