Author: Albert Roxas

This is the only time I’ll be discussing a Chevy on my blog. Take a picture, it’ll last longer (Pee Wee Herman)

Chevy was cool enough to bring out the long awaited “Volt” to Cars & Coffee this AM – they were also cool enough to give out these shirts shaped in little Volts.

Not hating, just keeping it real. A nice attempt at a Challenge Stradale Spyder (which never existed by the way) CS wheels, painted calipers, CS emblems, CF Mirrors- nice until I noticed the Stradale Stripe that RUNS THRU THE INTERIOR. Come on man, I don’t care if you’re gonna fake the funk (I don’t even have a Ferrari to fake out) but running the stripe thru the interior just killed it. Just like drinking and driving, sometimes people who modify cars need to know “when to say when”. Click the pic to see full size carnage.

Pretty cool car, not $380K cool – but cool. Much smaller in person, great technology – played out paint job that still looks sick on this car though…

Some interesting info on this ride:
Deal is 10% upon spec.
20% upon beginning of build.
when the car arrives, you HAVE TO lease it for 2 years.
Then the option to buy after 2 years.

They’re treating this car like the Enzo (prospective owners HAD TO FINANCE the car regardless if they had the CASH) – this is a move car companies make to ensure that cars don’t turn hands quickly and inflate the price of the vehicle (or deflate in certain instances). I believe the FXX was a lease as well (mainly due to maintenance)??

Thx Peter for the buyers info on the LF-A apparently SOMEONE was looking at picking one up!! 🙂

F50 @ Cars & Coffee this AM / 50’s album dropped yesterday. F50 on 50’s MTV Cribs – not his. This F50 – Jeffrey’s. Click on the images for the full goodness.

Checkout that rear-view mirror…designed specifically for the F50. I’ve been around a few F50’s in my time and this is the first time I noticed this!

Love it w/the top on.

If I was able to order /spec a Lamboghini out direct from the factory, this could very well be it. 550-2 Balboni in white w/bronze wheels. This my friend is the business.

A bright spot in the doom and gloom would be one VERY interesting product called Wraptivo from Meguiars – it’s a design your own graphics/wrap deal with a slick computer app and professional dealer install. (There’s your plug RJ! – kiddin!) In all seriousness its been a long time coming, wraps have been popular for awhile now (particularly metallics in the UAE) and make good “value” sense as opposed to painting your project each time.

That’s RJ in the background of the wraptivo’d Scion xB…I actually shot this for the JDMEgo love on the plate. Hi Jay!

Nice Wald E-Class. The 997 Turbo’ish wheels look good on this sedan – great color choice.

HRE rep’n with a new Panamera Turbo – Seriously people, this car is much prettier in person. Great fitment and nice clean choice on the wheels.

I never thought I’d be posting up a “Forgiato” wheel pic let alone even talk about this company – but I have to admit, there is something different about this wheel. I’m not by any means saying I like it, but I can appreciate a company willing to take a risk and take chances with a way out there design. BTW, Forgiato was the first wheel company I saw with the guts to throw something on the Reventon…nutso.

I’ll just start with WOW. (Read that as not a good WOW) – I’ve attended SEMA for 10 years now and this is easily the most-empty I’ve ever seen a SEMA Show. The South Hall (Wheel/Tire) was easily 1/4 empty – they tried to makeup for it by adding extra alleys, but it was very apparent. Lots of no shows from major tire companies and those that did show had booths 1/4 or easily 1/2 of their usual size. This is also the first time I didn’t at least fill 1 full card of images. Lots of long faces and some hopeful that the economy will pickup, but let’s just keep it real – this is AFTERmarket…optional goods / the days of moms and mortgage brokers dropping $7K on 23″ wheels for their Range are over. That doesn’t mean there isn’t still demand, it’s just a different demographic now.
A few quick notes on the vehicles I found of interest:

Underground Racing’s Twin Turbo LP560-4 in the Mobil 1 booth. Not a wrap…amazing detail on the hardware.

Premier4509 / Heavy Hitters – Aston Martin/AMV8 – yeah, I call these Baller-ass Volvo’s, but there’s no denying how hot this thing is. Jarasa and Crew @ Platinum VIP killed it on this one – I’m jockin Jay-Z on this.

Matte 430S – in the Eneos booth. Worth a look at the rear as well.

Part 2 will be up tomorrow once I get some rest…

I was saving that line for when I finally pickup my next ride, but it was more fitting for this post. I got a PM @6speed from someone looking for issue #6 of tUNINGwERKS. I thought to myself, issue 6?!?! This dude is looking for an issue that doesn’t exist…then I realized, wait a minute…walked into the office and dug up my demos. Yes, there were 6. Time flies – it’s been 6 years as well.

For the most part, I’ve forgiven and forgotten the tUNINGwERKS saga – a company I founded, built and then had to leave/and walk away from, because I had a firm belief in exactly what it was (after all, it was my vision) >Others wanted to take it a different direction, believed they could make it “better” and felt they could do it on their own. Well, they never produced another issue after I left…

**Update** – after reading this I wanted to add that I learned a lot from this venture, although it didn’t turn out the way I wanted, it was a learning experience – particularly in regards to business with friends. I’ve approached things differently since and hopefully that’s allowed me to grow as an individual. At the time, for me it was more important to stay friends with these people and walk rather than “fight” for what was ultimately right for me and best for the company. I’m still friends with most of these people today and I can look them in the eye and know I did what was right.

For me, it was never about the money – it was about the passion and it will always stay that way. I’ve got something new up my sleeve, it’s been too long and as I said in the beginning, Legends may sleep – but they never die 🙂 Be sure to keep your eye out for Premium Euro…Stay Tuned!