User blog:NuclearVacuum/The Secret Project (2½): Checker, Saturn, and More

This isn't the conclusion of my secret project, rather an extension that deserves its own blog for clarification. To anyone who actually reads my blogs: thank you so much (it means a lot to me). Please enjoy.

Background
I've spent much of the past year contemplating and fleshing out the automotive industry of Alaska:0:0 in the Russian America timeline. My previous blogs about this have explored the ancestry of and the potential butterflies of a successful  (with an "Alaskan twist").

Call it greed or trying to be consistent, but I decided to look into additional [Alaskan] car companies to add to the timeline. This is because most nations with [native] automotive industries tend to have multiple companies competing in the market. Given Alaska's population and economic development, I find it very likely they would follow the same path.

As I mentioned in previous [if not all of my] blogs, I don't wish to simply create a company and individuals out of thin air. I find it more rewarding and grounded to research real individuals based on their ancestry (want to know more?).

To make a complicated situation more easier to digest, all of the major car companies and marques of the and  (sans DeLorean) have little to no likelihood of being Alaskan ITTL. This leaves me little choice but to explore the defunct car companies of both nations. However, the Wikipedia article on this [currently] lists over 750 entries. For various reasons, I procrastinated this task until recently. Out of the listed articles, 99% of them were not helpful (i.e., not going to be Alaskan), while 0.9% look promising but have little information to be helpful. This brings me to the only company that I feel has a very good change of being Alaskan ITTL: the.

Checker
The was an American car company from 1922 until 2010. The company was founded by (a Russian immigrant). While they were never one of the in the industry, chances are you know their work (especially if you're a  like myself). Checker primarily manufactured s and were the go-to contractor for America's major cities. It was also the company which popularized (or was the origin of) the of contemporary taxis. While focused on taxis, they also dabbled in consumer vehicles beginning in the 1940s. The company fell from relevance beginning in the 1970s. This was due to their antiquated vehicle design (exacerbated by the ) and the deregulation of taxis in many cities (allowing more competition).

For the past few weeks (as of writing this), I've been debating and speculating what an Alaskan Checker would be like. First and foremost, the name of this company would likely be Shashka (Шашка), so I will be referring to the Alaskan Checker as Shashka for now on. Without going into the many ideas I had, I will focus on what I feel is the best and more interesting scenario I've contemplated.

Shashka would still be founded by Markin in 1922 and would focus on taxicab production. During this time, the Alaskan Wars:0:0 were taking place. Perhaps the wars make car ownership more complicated and making taxis (especially in the largest cities) more tolerable. I speculate that Markin and Shashka would've been centered in Vladikaskady:0:0 ("Alaskan Chicago") and would be dominant in southern Alaska (which was cut-off from the north).

With the major battles of the Alaskan Wars ending by the 1930s, a big change would come to Shashka. They are either bought by (or merged with) (GM). As odd (and suspiciously convenient) as this sounds, it actually wasn't out of nowhere. By the 1930s, GM (the largest American company at the time) was expending their reach outside the United States. This was also done by acquiring foreign car companies and using them to manufacture (often ) GM models to these areas. The three prime examples included in,  in [THAT] , and  in the. Given the circumstances of Alaska (i.e., not being part of the US), it wouldn't be out of the question to see GM follow a similar path. It also doesn't help that Checker (OTL) utilized GM components in their vehicles. [There is a third reason, but I will explain it down the line.]

Following and the subsequent population boom, Shashka would transition from making [exclusively] taxicabs into consumer vehicles. Checker (OTL) did the same thing beginning in 1947. For Shashka, it's very likely that GM could push them into this earlier. It's possible that the and  are made, but there's also a high likelihood that these are butterflied away. I say this because of what happened to around the same time. Australian designers presented their ideal car to GM, who basically threw it out and told them to use an abandoned design (giving us the ). The same could easily be true for Shashka during this time.

That is until...

Boss Music Starts
Here comes ya boy:.

John DeLorean (OTL) started off in (1952) and  (1953-1956). Given that Shashka would've been the only native car company in Alaska [at least at the time of writing this blog], it seems likely that he'd have some involvement in here (being Alaskan).

Deloryan would (for all intense and purposes) follow a similar path in Shashka (as IOTL) until receiving a call from. IOTL, Kelly offered DeLorean a job at any of the five divisions of GM. I bring up Kelley for one reason... he'd be Alaskan ITTL (I know, shocker). Kelley was born Olavi Koskenhovi in the (i.e., Russian Finland). Kelley (or whatever his Russified name could be ITTL) would be employed by GM-Shashka and offer a similar position for Deloryan, but only the one division available (Shashka).

Things would continue and Deloryan would still make his mark with the release of the "." For more context, I believe Deloryan (ATL) would still go through with a, but it would (in all likelihood) be limited to Alaska. That being said, I don't believe this would have that big of an effect on the muscle car craze within the United States. Firstly, the craze also affected other nations around the same time. Secondly, while it's easy to credit DeLorean (OTL) as having a big say on the craze, he wasn't alone. In fact, a man by the name of (American) was also developing his own muscle car at the same time as DeLorean (OTL). This car would become the. In short, DeLorean wasn't the creator of the craze, but he was influential in getting it first and under the conditions he had the do them. [When it comes to Pontiac, I will get into this later.]

Once again, things would continue (more-or-less) as is. The biggest difference is that Deloryan would be limited to Shashka and would not be elevated in GM proper. Despite the level of corporate separation, GM executives and leaders would still grow uneasy/annoyed by Deloryan. Along with his flamboyant personality and radical ideals within the industry, I could also see Deloryan attempting to make Shashka more "independent" from GM. I'm not referring to them leaving GM, but rather becoming something of their own marque (unilaterally elevating themselves to equal status of the main five).

For the same reasons as OTL, along with the added potential of Shashka becoming more "independent," Deloryan leaves Shashka and GM to form his Deloryan:own company:0 (sorry not sorry). The rest is history in regards to Deloryan. But what would become of Shashka?

Saturn: A Different Kind of Car...
Before I continue with this, I want to elaborate on the previously mentioned third reason for Shashka becoming a part of General Motors. In 1977, two men would take over the with the intention of re-energizing the company. The two men were (Russian ancestry) and, who was the former president of GM (during DeLorean's time). You can read more about their plans here.

A few months ago (after writing my first blog of this project), General tiu brought up the and what its place would be within the timeline. I never responded to this (for various reasons), but consider this my long overdue answer (hope it was worth the wait).

Anyway, a little backstory. Saturn was a former marque of GM which lasted from 1985 (officially) until being disconnected in 2010 after the failed to purchase it. The idea for Saturn was first brought up by GM executive Alex Mair in 1982 as a new kind of car that was smaller, cheaper, and could better compete against the growing. The project was named after the rocket. The name was chosen because (and I'm paraphrasing): "if the Saturn V could help us beat the Soviets to the Moon, than the Saturn [car] can help us beat the Japanese."

In a sad turn of events, the Saturn was (in many aspects) handicapped and almost doomed to failure. For starters, Saturn wasn't intended to become its own new marque and was originally going to be a new model for one of the existing marques (e.g., ). The second reason was how they went about making the cars. Despite being founded in 1985, the first cars weren't released until 1990. Upon its release, only one model (the ) was available until the late 1990s. So by the time new models became available, it was too little too late for many buyers. The rest is history.

When it comes to TTL, I could find little to nothing connecting Saturn to Alaska (ancestry wise). So the following is simply based on the fact that Shashka is a part of GM.

With the founding of the Deloryan:Deloryan Motor Company:0 and its gradual success within both Alaska and North America, I could see GM reacting to this more aggressively (as well as all American car companies). Not only were they losing to foreign imports, they now had to deal imports from their own backyard. They no longer did they hold a monopoly over the. Something had to be done.

Enter (Potemkin), who is elevated as the new head of Shashka by the late 1970s. Like OTL, Potyomkin would favor re-energizing and modernizing the company to better compete with Deloryan and to regain support from their loyal customers. This would include the introduction of "foreign-like" models into the Shashka lineup (such as the based Galva). But the biggest change would come form the United States and "." Just as IOTL, the leadership of GM would be mixed to negative towards Saturn. But with Deloryans now on the roads of North America, the leadership decide on a compromise.

The Project Saturn prototype of 1984 (basically the ) is to be made and released as the "Shashka Saturn" by 1985-1986. Giving the project to Shashka was done so for several reasons. First, Alaska was to become a testing ground for Saturn. With Deloryan (ideally having similar quality vehicles) quickly dominating Alaskan roads, this would give the loyal Shashka drivers the same option (basically) while still under the Shashka name and (hopefully) regain some of their old drivers. Secondly, this would allow GM leadership to test the concept much earlier than IOTL. Depending on the success it shows in Alaska, it could than be released in the United States with more fanfare (but not under its own marque).

As was the early case of OTL, Saturn would prove very popular (especially in Alaska). Because it was part of an existing marque, there would be no model burnout like OTL. The car would also be released in the United States ("Chevrolet Saturn") and also likely in Australia ("Holden Saturn").

In the event that GM suffers from bankruptcy ITTL, Saturn would "technically" be saved in that they weren't a marque. Even if GM ditches the models stateside, they could easily live on in Alaska and elsewhere.