I like to believe there are at least two universal truths among car enthusiasts. The first is that everyone loves the e30 m3, and the second is that everybody likes a good burnout.
Personally I love a good burnout and while I agree they have their time and place (leaving a meet is neither the time nor the place), I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing more tires evaporate into clouds of smoke this year.
With Performance World going the way of the dodo Mega Speed had big shoes to fill when they stepped up to replace the previous unofficial show season opener here in Toronto.
From a spectators perspective Mega Speed 2012 was a resounding success and Mega Speed 2013 was shaping up to be a great follow up.
This year’s event did have a few hiccups —one regarding a particular celebrity driver, and another being the mysterious the lack of pinstripers (which is a personal favourite attraction of mine )– but it still had the awesome variety of cars I’ve come to expect of any show that takes place at the International Center late March.
The number of cars at these events always yields multi part coverage so except a few more posts about the show this week. As always I’ve done my best to break it up by hall.
Today’s coverage is mostly from the truck/rat rod hall but a few others have mixed their way in.
I still hesitate to use the words ‘Rat Rod’ because in some circles in can cause huge debates about what is, and isn’t a one, but I don’t think the owners of the vehicles below would take offence to their builds being called rats.
Big shout out to all the minitruck guys I talked to at Mega Speed. I’ll do my best to actually come out to Vanfest this year, I’ve only been meaning to for three years or so…
Hitman is a shop located in Cambridge Ontario that I am long overdue to go and visit. They brought out a few things this year (like the red s10 above) but their show stealing piece was the frame below.
It’s hybrid suspension set-up built by (another) old riding friend of mine that will eventually sit under another truck that Gary is building.
Lots more to come this week!
Sometimes I come across builds that leave me completely floored in every way imaginable and this dwarf Mercury is one of those builds. Originally intrigued by it’s small stature I set out to find more info and what I thought to be some sort of fibreglass reproduction was actually quite the opposite.
This Dwarf Mercury known as the Rebel Rouser, is a completely hand built steel vehicle built by Ernie Adams.
Built over the course of five years Ernie made everything from scratch except for the spotlights and mirrors and powered by a Toyota engine the ‘Rouser can hit highway speeds with realtive ease.
I could say a lot more about this car but I think the six minute video below does an excellent job of showcasing Ernie’s, hard work, craftsmanship, and ingenuity.
I’m never going to look at a fridge door the same way again.
Ernie’s built a few more ‘dwarf cars’ so be sure to check out his site dwarfcarpromotions.com for more info.
My car is currently sitting in the International Centre right now as part of the MegaSpeed Custom Car and Truck Show and I will be there Saturday afternoon and some point on Sunday and I’ve currently got all the product that’s left in the store in the car at the show so if you want anything find me there.
Lots of coverage next week!
Might as well throwback to last years MegaSpeed Coverage:
Most of us (especially those of us who have done it) have at some point heard someone state that lowering a truck ruins a truck.
The funny part about that statement is that most lowered trucks are still more truck that most nay sayers actually need, and are still very capable of hauling miscellaneous goods, be it in the bed or on a trailer as is today’s theme.
After dragging our jaws around the floor of the Cobo Center for a few hours Blair said before we left AutoRama we had to go downstairs to check out the other part of the show.
Not knowing there was a down stairs I was pretty intrigued by what else the Detroit AutoRama had to offer.
On the escalator ride down to the lower level a sign that read “Autorama Extreme” caught my eye and instantly my years of exposure to heavy handed ‘Xtreme’ marketing tactics guarded me for the worst.
Once we got downstairs however all of my fears of something awful were put to rest because one could argue that the downstairs portion of Autorama is the shows best attraction.
That’s not to say upstairs wasn’t enjoyable, it was, downstairs was just… different.
As soon as we stepped off the escalator it was almost sensory overload.
There were cars (and people) as far as the eye could see packed into a relatively small area (in comparison to the almost never ending upstairs), and in addition to the sea of cars there was a band playing to the left, cars having their roofs chopped directly ahead, people drinking to the right, and pin up clad women interspersed amongst the rest of the beautiful chaos.
Unlike the cars upstairs polished chrome and mile deep clear was a rarity down in the basement, taking a back seat to metal flake, custom lettering, patina, and rust.
The vehicles –several of which I couldn’t identify outside a few parts– had so much character that I had a hard time stopping at one long enough to take a photo without getting distracted by the hidden details of another.
While people upstairs preoccupied themselves with how their judging was going, downstairs the crowd seemed more concerned with what the band was playing than any sort of awards.
In fact people seemed to be genuinely more interested in sharing stories of what happened between the last time they had seen each other than the cars all around.
Basically what I am trying to say is that if the spirit of the H.A.M.B. could ever be bottled up into a room this was it and it was awesome.
I’m pretty sure every large automotive forum (or large forum in general) has a LOL@kijiji thread that is always good for a laugh or three, and this gem came from the LOL@Kijiji thread on jdmrides.ca.
Oshawa this is one of yours so you’ve got some explaining to do.
PLENTY OF HOURS WENT INTO THIS BABY. WE CUT AND SHORTENED THIS BEAUTY AND TURNED IT INTO A FUN SUMMER TOY. YOU WILL NEVER SEE ANOTHER LIKE THIS. ONE OF A KIND. RUNS AND DRIVES AWESOME. SUPER COOL AND GRABS ATTENTION EVERYWHERE IT GOES. VEHICLE IS WRAPPED IN VINAL AND LOOKS FUNKY. CALL TO VIEW. 905 213 7200. ASKING 4500 OBO. THIS VEHICLE WAS PROFESSIONALLY DONE. ***** TRY YOUR TRADE *****
I’m not exactly sure why anyone would want an incredibly short, practically door less, and seemingly permanently roofless, Sunfire but at least this one was ‘professionally done’.
It’s been awhile since there’s been a new product in the store so I’m happy to say that the Ride Low Park Lower stickers I dropped a teaser of about a week ago are now ready for purchase.
Currently they are available in neo-chrome and white but more colours will be released second run.
As always thanks for the support and more new product to come!
Those of you who follow the site on instagram or facebook know that my car is now equipped with Air Lift Performance suspension.
I plan to do an in depth comparison of coils vs bags soon but the short version of the story is that my ride height is lower, my ride quality is better, and I can park like this:
Wins all around in my book.
The owner of this Supra recently posted some new pictures of it as he wound the coils down a bit more. Here’s how it looked when it was posted here in 2011:
and now:
Going through my coverage of the Detroit AutoRama, and looking at the attention to detail in all of the builds, it’s hard to not want to roll my own car directly into the nearest body of water and never look back.
So many of the cars are closer to works of art than they are vehicles and If I ever get to the point where I can build a car half (maybe even a quarter) as nice as those I saw in the Cobo Center on Saturday I’ll die a very happy man.
For those waiting on the AutoRama Extreme coverage that should be live next week!
The internet is an interesting place, when it’s on your side it can be an extremely helpful and useful resource. When it turns on you you’ve got to act fast before it swiftly ruins a reputation you worked so hard to build.
When Jalopnik published their first article about a set of COR Wheels failing underneath a track driven Mustang things got out of hand faster than everyone involved probably could have anticipated; Facts were lost or skewed, opinions were rampant, and criticisms were quickly dolled out by the under-informed.
To their credit the writers at Jalopnik are great at sensationalizing the smallest of stories, and that’s part of what makes the site so interesting, but as the saying goes there are at least three sides to every story and now that the dust has settled the founders and product leaders at COR Wheels have agreed to share their side here on Stance Is Everything.
Since COR had been around for several years prior to this incident I thought it important to ask some basic questions regarding the history of the company to get an idea of who was running it and how it got off the ground.
From there the interview shifts towards production and then finally addresses the matter at hand with the Mustang situation.
How long has COR been in business and how did it all begin?
COR has been in business for 7 years. We (Chris and Robert) are the founders and we (previously) worked for wheel manufacturers both in the US and in Europe.
Realizing that working for someone else would never allow us to fulfill our goals we gambled all we had to start a business.
At what point did the two of you realize that making wheels was what you wanted to do for a living?
I was always a car guy. Ever since I was 13-14 years old, I subscribed to magazines like Motor Trend and Road and Track. I read them cover to cover –including the classifieds– and I must confess, I still have the iconic 1980’s White Lamborghini posters in my garage!
When I was graduating from the University, I decided to start looking for a new job. Back then I worked at an Aerospace firm that would handle repairs, maintenance and retrofitting of airplanes. In the same month I was closing on a new house, marrying my wife (19 years now), and into my last semester at the University, and began work at Fittipaldi and OZ Racing wheels. I certainly did not plan it that way, but in the midst of all my planning, I received a phone call after having interviewed with them a year earlier. It was destiny.
From the moment I got involved with wheels I was fascinated by them, and just how fundamental a part of tuning and personalizing one’s car it was.
Would you say you are more car enthusiast than businessman or vice-versa?
Definitely started out more car enthusiast.
Jim Stovall wrote, “He who loves his work never labours”, and I genuinely believe that. However, we live in a very dynamic and fast changing world, and you MUST be a businessman if you are to be around any length of time.
Our first few years were certainly the most trying, especially when you consider the mortality rate of new start-ups in their first 2-3 years. Sometimes a week will go by, and I will not have read any of the car magazines or visited a single car forum.
The reality is that once you are responsible for 16 other individuals and their families, you have a lot on your shoulders, and they are all looking at you to make the right decisions.
When designing a wheel how do you determine which make their way from the concept to R&D?
We have gone about it several ways, but we often begin with trying to identify what car we think will be popular in a given year.
Additionally, my partner and I have always said that we get one time a year in which we can override one another.
The ultimate decision is ours, but we take input from our staff and clients VERY seriously. Fortunately, the ability to model in 3D and Photoshop a proposed design onto the car really makes it easy for someone to visualize the way a wheel will look on a vehicle.
Do you use analysis software (Ex: ANSYS) to run scenarios on new designs, are there engineers within the company to run analysis such as this?
Our testing is done by NX Nastram, which we have found very well suited to this.
Do you then do destructive testing on the wheels? If so to what standard?
We perform a structural test, which essentially makes the wheel unfit for the road, but does not always end in destruction! You see, FEA (Finite Element Analysis) is only a tool to ferret out any potential issues with a design.
Ultimately, every design will undergo a structural test at an independent laboratory. These tests are usually run to the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) standard.
What international, or domestic safety standards do they adhere to and does every wheel adhere to these standards?
They conform to the TRA standards (Tire and Rim association) and as described above are tested to SAE standards.
How often are wheels brought ‘back to the drawing board’ if a design fails tests?
A wheel rarely fails a structural test once it has passed FEA, so fortunately this does not happen too often. What we have had to do is modify the appearance of the wheel, sometimes a lot more than you would want, in order to increase its load capacity for heavier vehicles like SUVs and some of the larger body sedans.
In the case of the Mustang wheel has a cause of failure been determined? If so what was it?
We were able to analyze the wheel in question, and it had undergone a variety of modifications after initial construction. It had been disassembled and reassembled, the surface of the wheel had been machined after the fact in order to run a smaller width outer rim section, the wheel was repainted, and it was assembled with fasteners that did not originate from our facility.
Ultimately, the owner utilized this wheel for racing on a track, on multiple occasions. In that environment there are a multitude of factors which are at work, this is why racers learn to inspect their equipment after each race.
There is no doubt in my mind that this wheel likely exhibited indications of stress, which were ignored, not looked for, or obscured by the aftermarket paint. The testing that this wheel went through (SAE) was designed for a product to be used on the street.
This does not mean that it cannot be safely used in a spirited manner, but it requires responsibility on the user to monitor the conditions of his equipment. Furthermore, had he consulted with us his intended use, we would certainly have encouraged him to consider other forged products we offer that are better suited for that type of activity.
What has the company learned from the Mustang incident? Has there been a change in processes since that time and perhaps a shift in mentality at the design level?
At the design level, we really have found little we could have done to have foreseen or prevented this. In terms of the company, we have certainly decided to be less accommodating of clients who want to make modifications to their wheels outside of our environment.
One area in particular has been on finishing. When we first opened our doors, we had to outsource many operations. Finishing was an area that we simply were not experienced with, so we entrusted this work to an outside firm.
We gave them very clear processes that needed to be followed to ensure the integrity of the product, and later we found they were not following our guidelines. This prompted us to add finishing to our in-house process.
At this stage, we do all machining, polishing, painting and assembly in-house. This allows us to maintain strict quality control over the product that we manufacture.
Do you/did you follow Jalopnik? / Anything personal against Jalopnik?
Never heard of them before this incident, and hold nothing personal against them. I do regard the journalistic trend towards sensationalism and poorly researched “stories” to be quite disturbing.
It is certainly not unique to Jalopnik, and it has become pervasive throughout the internet. I personally read a lot of news online, and one of the first things I do when reading something is consider its source.
The Jalopnik post was posted as an investigative story (or gave that impression), yet the author/writer made no attempt to contact our organization or familiarize himself with the situation. I think you understand my feelings.
– Editors note: totally understand his feelings here!
Would this issue have been handled differently had it not hit the media?–
I do not think the media affected the resolution, but rather his involving his attorney.
The letter we received from the attorney (as of this writing they have never actually pursued us in court as they would likely lose), was full of fabrications and lies that essentially said the car was being paraded around the track at 40 mph.
This contradicts eyewitness accounts which have been conveyed to us about his activities at this and other events in California. In any event, he never once bothered to contact us directly prior to engaging us with his attorney.
It is my understanding that the he was offered a replacement set of wheels by the retail store, prior to us even receiving the wheels for inspection. Imagine, all we are seeing are photographs of a wheel in a color completely different than what his invoice states, and we were still trying to get him going again.
Once he asked for compensation for damages incurred, again via a 3rd party and never directly with us, it was requested that the wheels be returned for inspection. Next time we heard of this matter, was a letter from their attorney.
What can we expect from COR in the future?
COR continues to strive, to lead the forged wheel industry. This year we introduced the all new Duobloc design, which is different from any other forged product previously offered.
Essentially, we are able to offer our clients the deep concavity of our super concave 3-piece product, with the flush to rim edge look of a monobloc. We are very excited about this, and so far it has been extremely well received.
New ideas for the future? Well, I guess you will just have to wait! 🙂
Is there anything else you would like to add?
We take great pride in the products that we create and manufacture. Although our business has grown over the years, we all still act as though we are part of a family.
It is the single biggest responsibility as an owner, that we make sure each and every individual is pulling in the same direction, and so far we have succeeded. We are right here in the USA, and anyone of your readers is welcome to stop in, meet us in person and see for themselves what we are all about. In today’s day and age it is easy to cower behind a monitor and maliciously defame someone else.
The internet is a great big uncensored soapbox for all to voice their opinions; it is the wild West, and you will find good and evil, truths and falsehoods. I only hope that your readers will be able to exercise judgment in what they read and take the time to find out that, as usual, there is more than one side to any story.
Big Thanks to Chris, Robert, and Mike at COR for giving their honest opinions and answers to the questions exclusively to Stance Is Everything.
It takes a lot to approach a situation like this head on (and lawyer free) and shows a lot of integrity to handle the matter in which they have now.
More formation about COR Wheels can be found at corwheels.com.
I’ve always found the advertising tactics used in after market performance magazines a little puzzling because the artwork, and or photos, often have little to no correlation with the product being sold.
For example how is a woman, standing in the middle of a desert, holding a sub, with lighting striking behind her, at all representative of a quality audio product? I guess the easiest answer to this question is sex has and always will sell, and deserts are easier to manipulate with Photoshop than street scenes.
Keeping with my steadily growing obsession of the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s automotive scenes I’ve pulled together an eclectic collection of vintage advertisements from 70s street machines, shakotan jam and various forums.
Not all of them make sense but they are interesting if nothing else.
The Detroit Autorama is one of those shows I’ve been meaning to attend for several years but always put off until next year because of it’s distance from my house. Having now attended the show I feel foolish for letting a drive that really isn’t all that far keep me from a show that is really worth attending.
Autorama showcased some of the most impressive builds of any show I’ve been too. Traditional Hot Rods, Customs, Mini trucks, and several things in between were all jam packed into the two levels of the Cobo Center.
Today’s coverage is a mix of everything and there is plenty more to come.
The Little Shop Of Horrors is a Tenesse based shop capable of doing simply outstanding work. If you’re not following them on facebook I suggest you do because their work is hardly horrific.
The Ridler award is essentially one of (if not the) the most prestigious awards a classic car builder can win and it’s only awarded to vehicles that are showing for the first time. This means you basically have only one chance to get it right.
Unlike more contemporary builds that seemingly vanish after they win their respective ‘bests of shows’ Ridler award winners seem to stick around for quite some time.
I’ve always been a fan of the over top top, well done, builds of the mid 60’s and early 70’s so seeing the previous winners in person was a treat.
I will more of the vehicles competing for the 2013 Ridler Award in part two of the coverage but this truck, simply known as Quick Silver, is a great example of what it takes to make the ‘Great 8’ of this competition.
The level of quality here is off the charts and it really is all in the details.
