The Panasport C8-16 was the only wheel of that vintage and style that offered a multi-piece design and therefore the ability to achieve an acceptable width and offset. Inspired by the SCCA Trans Am race cars of old, I wanted the classic Minilite, but knowing the width of the car would need to house a more substantial width than a 7 or 8, I got to looking for a similar styled wheel. The width of the car, in my opinion, was just what the Trans Am needs to really even out the proportions, complimenting the features and body lines that I had already fallen in love with. Nothing too loud or crazy, outside of the overall width, but much like the cars I'm inspired by and the era of racing I wish I could have been around for. I wanted the car to still appear to be a vintage race car. If I was going to sell everything I owned and spend all the time and money I could gather, it had to be exactly how I wanted it, without compromise. I knew how I wanted the car, and my goal and vision were to build it to just that, no holds barred. I had a picture in my head of what I wanted the car to look like, and the performance that I wanted it to provide, and maybe most importantly, I wanted the car to create a visceral experience that is impossible to ignore. I had been planning to build the car for a number of months prior, but I bought the car in July of 2016 and worked on it every day after work (I worked at Ground Control Suspension 8-to-5 at the time) and on all of my weekends for 18 months until it was debuted at SEMA 2018. Conceptually, I thought it would be a mix of what might happen if '70s era Trans Am teams had some of the designs and engineering we've developed over the last 40 years all while being executed at a level of finish and quality that I could be proud of. It represents all of the parts of cars that really excite me and gets me going. A car I really loved the idea of, that I feel really embodies me, and the challenge of building it in its entirety. This car has taught me more than I can convey and continues to teach me at every head scratching moment. My goal since the beginning, and still to this day, is to continue to learn. Somewhere along the way I realized that I started buying cars just to execute a vision I had for them, no matter how wild or involved and that those ambitions got larger and larger with each one. Like most of us, I started tinkering and modifying them, trying to make them the way I wanted, both in aesthetic and in performance, doing most everything myself to be able to afford it and get it done just how I wanted, and it just kept going from there. Getting to the driving age, I started buying cars I liked that I could afford. That was probably when the bug for loud 'n fast stuff bit me. My dad had a Chevy LUV he put a 327 in when I was real young and we did burnouts down the street in it. I've been around older '70s and '80s American cars since I was little, just a normal modest upbringing handing dad wrenches and tools in the carport when he was fixing or working on whatever it was he was driving to work at the time.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |