A cutthroat market, greedy executives, and a scapegoat. That is the short history of the ETK I-series saloon. Introduced in 1985, they were the pinnacle of luxury, in a relatively cheap four-door saloon car. At launch, you could scoop up a 2400ix for less than $55'000, which was the price of the closest rivals, the Gavril Grand Marshal and Bruckell LeGran, and the ETK blew them both sky high out of the water. Originally, you could get them in a rear drive configuration only, but it didn't take long for an all-wheel drive model to come out. To describe the ETK I-series in one word would be excellence, because they are very, very nice cars. They're easy to drive, fun to go around a corner in, and they are fast. For over 15 years, the ETK TTSport Evolution (Yes, it is written that way in official documentation), the high-performance road-legal racing version, held the record for fastest four-door car ever. That's pretty damn good, for a bulky, West German saloon with a 2.4 liter Inline-6. But, there was a problem. Early models, which rolled off showroom floors in droves, had a problem with the gearbox where, if you didn't fully place the gear lever all the way in the reverse position, would still go forward. This, of course, led to a swift recall of all 2400 and 3000's currently on the road, and most owners did take them in and had them replaced with the newer gearbox, free of charge. That is, except for one unfortunate owner. 36 year old Alice Smith was getting ready to take her 11 year old son, David, to work, when she put her ETK 2400ix into reverse, to pull out. However, she hadn't gotten the work done to convert the car to the newer gearbox. When she released the brake pedal, the car lurched forward, and this made her panic, slamming on the gas, pinning her son to the garage door. He would sadly die from his injuries. End of story, right? Wrong. The news network Box News picked up on the story, and ran it as though ETK was actively trying to kill people. They dubbed the "hidden gear" DeathDrive. Yes, DeathDrive. I wish I was kidding. Now, before I started reviewing automobiles for Typical Car Magazine, I was an intern at Box News. While I was there, I drove a post-recall ETK 2400i. It was an alright car, all in all. But, one of the presenters drove a pre-recall 2400tti, and reported no problems. After I left Box, and asked if I could keep the 2400i (Which they said yes, as long as I remove all references to Box Media from the car), I did some digging. It turns out, they had been labeling every fatal accident in which one of those involved drove an ETK 2400 as the result of DeathDrive. Which, simply isn't true. But, the damage was done for ETK. Sales had plummeted, and they were being faced with a class-action lawsuit that Box News claimed had been filed by Mrs. Alice Smith... But she hadn't filed the suit. She didn't even know the suit took place! But, ETK was now in financial trouble, and they released the small, compact Fein as the 2400's replacement, and it worked, despite having the same issues that the 2400 did, including the alleged "DeathDrive", but nobody complained. So, I did more digging, and found that on the same day that the lawsuit was filed, stock for Soliad, Gavril and Bruckell skyrocketed, as did sales of the Wendover, LeGran, and Grand Marshal. As a result of corporate espionage, the Big Three had joined forces to ruin the 2400's reputation, and boy did it work. By 1993, you could buy a post-recall 2400 TTSport Evolution for less than you could a Bruckell Mako GTS! Anyway, on to the car. The 2400ix has stiff, responsive suspension, and quick steering. While not the fastest vehicle I've driven, it's still relatively quick, with a 0-60 time of 10.2 seconds. The one I drove so I could write this review was a 1990 2400ix AWD, painted blue. By today's standards, the 2400ix isn't an overly attractive car, compared to vehicles like the Hirochi Sunburst and later ETK models, like the 800 series and S-series, nor is it particularly powerful, but it's still a hell of a car to drive, even when going around a corner sideways. - Gordon. (All names and events in this post are fictional. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is pure coincidental. Please don't sue me, I'm poor)
