Check out our coverage from the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show!

1969 Mustang Mach 1 ‘Patriarc’ by Ringbrothers Debuts at SEMA 2022

Posted on by
Reply

One of my favorite custom car shops is the Wisconsin-based duo of Mike and Jim Ring, and their shop Ringbrothers.

The brothers made their debut at the 2005 SEMA Show, and in 2006 captured the Mothers’ Polish award for their customized 1967 Mustang nicknamed “Reactor.” In 2014 they won a Chevrolet Best of Show award for their 1966 Chevelle “Recoil.”

The shop builds one to two cars per year, which are highly customized with one-off parts. What sets them apart from other builders is their attention to detail, and their impressive ability to manufacture custom parts using everything from carbon fiber to 3D printing to CNC machining.

Since 2005, their custom car shop has expanded as a parts supplier of high quality hood hinges, door handles, hinges, and other hardware.After sitting out the 2020 and 2021 SEMA shows, the Ringbrothers returned to SEMA 2022 in a big way, with four full custom builds on display throughout the show.

One project that caught my eye was the 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1 “Patriarc” which was on display at the Centerforce booth. The car starts with the 580-horsepower 5.2L V8 “Aluminator” crate engine from Ford Performance, coupled to a Bowler Tremec T-56 Magnum six-speed manual gearbox and a Strange Engineering 9-inch rear end.

The car rides on a set of Ringbrothers signature G-Code wheels that were developed with HRE for the G-Code Camaro in 2016. The wheels are wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires. Handling is vastly improved thanks to an independent front and rear suspension using Roadster Shop Fast Track components with Penske Racing RS Edition coilovers. A Baer disc brake system with six-pison calipers and massive 14-inch rotors provides serious braking force.

Build time on the Patriarc Mustang is over 5,000 man hours. The body was widened two inches in every direction, and the rear quarter panels have been lowered. This required fabricating a new floor pan and transmission tunnel from sheet metal. While they were in there, they added a roll cage, too.The list of carbon fiber parts includes the air scoops, hood, and rear diffuser.

It is impressive that after building more than a dozen different one-off Mustangs, the Ringbrothers continue to push the boundaries of the resto-mod world with their creations. The Patriarc Mustang Mach 1 is a remarkable car from every angle.

SEMA 2022 – 1971 Cheyenne C-10

Posted on by
Reply

Meticulously designed by Kevin Webb and assembled by Hot Rod & Custom Garage this 1971 C-10 is tribute to Kevin’s father. Already an award-winning truck this vehicle was entered in consideration for the 2022 SEMA “Battle of the Builders”.

Featuring a Vintage Air system, Dakota Digital dash cluster, CPP suspension and Ridler wheels what really drew me to this truck was the instantly recognizable TPI intake manifold sitting on top the small-block powered pickup.

As a Chevrolet fan nearing his 40’s, there was a time when I remember the TPI as the hot thing. Sure, shortly after there was the LT1, however it’s design was exotic by comparison. It’s non-traditional distributor location and reverse-cooling that required some creative welding skills that were beyond the everyman. The TPI could bolt to any SBC from the 265 to the 400 and would instantly modernize its appearance with it’s namesake tuned port runners and fuel injection system.

There are now so many options for fuel injection for the small block Chevy on the market. That’s also ignoring the fact that even seeing a tradition first generation small block Chevy is becoming more of a rarity these days. That makes this TPI setup in this custom built 1970s pickup truck a nostalgic charmer.

SEMA 2022 – Lotus-Radford Type 62-2

Posted on by
Reply

What’s been going on with Lotus for the last couple decades?

Okay, that might be a little bit of a loaded question. I’m a little too young to have been able to fully appreciate the era when the Esprit was a hot-ticket item so maybe I’m lacking a little too much context to have a grasp of Lotus’ place in the world at that time. All I have to go off of is the more recent weirdness coming from them since the time I’ve been aware of their offerings, and as time goes on, one thing is becoming clear to me:

Lotus is Unreal. I don’t mean that in a hyperbolic way, I mean Lotus has essentially followed in the footsteps of the PC game of the late 90s. Much like the Unreal franchise, Lotus certainly made a name for themselves early on in their existence with excellent quality releases and superior technological prowess. Over time, however; Unreal: The Game has become less relevant in the gaming space every year as Epic Games, their developer, (yes- the Fortnite company) has focused less effort on on Unreal, the game and much, much more on developing and advancing the Unreal Engine for licensing by other developers. This was a smart move, and these days you probably can’t go a full (non-camping in the wilderness) day without accidentally viewing or interacting with some form of media riding on the shoulders of Epic Games’ 3D game engine.

It’s not hard to notice a lot of parallels between that and what it seems like Lotus has been up to as of late. The Lotus models that stand out to me are actually pretty underwhelming compared to how many Lotus-adjacent vehicles exist. This isn’t news to anyone, but even the first Tesla model produced was a thinly-veiled electrified Lotus Elise. It doesn’t stop there, everyone from Hennessey, to Infiniti, to Rinspeed and even Vauxhall, among many others have toyed with a Lotus-based version of whatever they were working on at the time, and to me anyways, they all sort of overshadow what Lotus themselves have been putting out, which up until very recently resembled more of a Miata-meets-go-kart than a true high-end sports car. This leads us to the Radford Type 62-2 we spotted at SEMA 2022.

Sure, it may be based on the Exige, but the Radford looks a lot more super and a lot less 3/4 scale Great Value Porsche 918. The power has also been increased from 430 to 500hp which, let’s face it, is now the bare minimum to even get anyone’s attention these days. Although Lotus has always been all over the place with their services, performing suspension tuning for tons of other makes, running F1 teams, and even building road racing bicycles, I feel that given the proliferation of Lotus-based cars, and the sheer variety of offerings they have allowed to exist, I think it’s say to say that Lotus has settled into what they do best as of late. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Nobody besides a few hardcore fans may be playing Unreal Tournament anymore, but everyone and their cousin has seen a Star War or two made with the help of Unreal Engine without even realizing it. And that’s exactly how Lotus, and the Radford Type 62-2 feel to me.

SEMA 2022 – 1948 Chevrolet Stylemaster

Posted on by
Reply

Via Hylton Automotive, this vintage Chevrolet is referred to as “The Every Man’s Build” constructed from a vehicle donation to Hylton High School of Woodbridge, VA in 2019. What can a high school every man construct? No less than a hotrodded, frame-up restoration.

The distinct lime green and white paint scheme draws your eye to what Hylton is calling a work-in-progress. I’m not sure who the brainchild is of this build but their is no denying their taste in building a cool and budget-friendly custom.

The tri-power intake on the original 216 inline 6, feeding an engine that exits through a split-manifold into a planned dual exhaust. With barely more than 200 cubes being fedby three carbs on a log manifold I can assure you it will not be the fastest car at the SEMA show but it makes up for that with loads of charisma.

Hylton mentions their sponsors as well and since these companies are supporting these up-and-comers I feel that we should give kudos to Steele Rubber Products, LKQ, Chevs of the 40s, Tenneco, Advance Auto Parts, Scat, AFR, Spark, Carquest, Safelite, Hot Rodders of Tomorrow, Procar and Coker Tire.

This Chevy embodies the original hot rod ethos and encapsulates a time where you did what you could with what you had. The DIY aesthetic lives on and is created in the hearts, minds and hands of the next generation of builders. Keep building Hylton High.

2020 Chevrolet Corvair Custom by NewRide

Posted on by
Reply

The Chevrolet Corvair was produced by General Motors from 1960-1969. Though it featured many innovations that were ahead of its time, the car was done in by a wave of accusations that it was unsafe to drive.

In the many decades since, General Motors has gone on to re-introduce discontinued names such as the Camaro and the Malibu, but they have not taken another look at the Corvair. Well, someone else decided to do it for them!

At the 2022 SEMA Show in Las Vegas, I happened upon this “2020 Corvair Custom” by NewRide, a French-based company. The car pairs a 1966 Corvair coupe body with a 2018 Camaro SS chassis. Finished in Audi non-metallic gray, the car has a very unique look.

The car borrows its headlights from a Dodge Demon, taillights from the Ferrari 812 Superfast, and side mirrors come from a 2020 VW Polo. Pretty much everything else is custom, from the bumpers to the rear glass to the headlight and taillight surrounds.
The car was completed by Romain Roulleau of the Burgundy region of France. He estimates that more than 5,600 man hours of labor went into creating this one-of-a-kind custom car.

Under the hood is GM’s standard 6.2L V8 LT1 engine producing 455 horsepower. It rumbles via a custom stainless steel exhaust. A set of Vossen Evo-1R wheels are wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires, concealing the EBC Disc Brakes. The whole car rides comfortably on AirLift Performance bags and can be slammed to the ground at the touch of a button.

For more on this build including an album of build pictures, please visit https://www.newride.fr/ or follow @corvair2020newride on Instagram.

SEMA 2022 – 1970 Cutlass SX 455

Posted on by
Reply

Brought to us by T&D Motorsports this extremely rare 1970 Oldsmobile Cutlass SX 455 convertible is something I would have expected to find at our local Scottsdale Barrett-Jackson auction.

Originally ordered by Rice Oldsmobile in Fort Wayne, IN this piece of classic Detroit design was purchased by Tim Leffler for $4,283.00 and he has owned it ever since. It still features the original drivetrain and has only 32,000 miles on the odometer.

The SX is a small footnote in Oldsmobile history. Essentially you could order a Cutlass that contained some of what made the 442 great with the impressive torque of the 455 cubic inch Olds mill. What kept it from being a true 442? No four-speed transmission, instead optioning with the automatic and a lesser ring and pinion set in the rear. You also sadly gave up the four-barrel carburetor, instead opting for a two-barrel unit. Dual exhaust however remained intact. I guess 232 didn’t have the same marketing oomph that the performance moniker had, and as a result we ended up with “SX”

To someone accustomed to seeing the top performance models showcased at a car show, perhaps an automatic, 2-bbl, convertible Cutlass isn’t ideal performance… But it sure beats the 307 V8 that was found in every RWD Olds product 20 years later.