I recently attended a fantastic car club event in North Carolina. (Plus, I also visited Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Ganassi Racing. Unbelievable facilities!) The car club enthusiasts gathered near the famous and demanding eleven-mile stretch of road called the Tail of The Dragon (www.tailofthedragon.com). This 300 18-turn monster can't be tamed with horsepower alone. Precise handling is what slays the Dragon!
WHAT STARTED IT ALLI was bitten by the modification bug early on in life. I couldn't leave a bicycle or a vehicle alone. (My parents were very patient with me, knowing every time we went on vacation it was open season to add some new cool parts to the family station wagon. However, the Turbo mufflers and CB radio taxed my mother's sense of humor).
Through the years I was constantly moving from one car or truck to another and, of course,
personalizing every one of them. It was during that time I experienced many of the frustrations of missing or ill-fitting parts and insufficient instructions. Common knowledge was: be prepared to modify and ad lib when installing aftermarket performance parts.
Who hasn't been there? You are halfway through a car project on Saturday afternoon when you determine you need more hardware or some other part to finish the job. With luck your local auto parts store may have the parts or fasteners, and may or may not be open! What a hassle!
Those memories continue with me today. Therefore, at Hotchkis Sport Suspension, we focus on complete performance suspension packages. Our hardware kits are extensive and our detailed instructions include pictures of each step of the installation. We strive to create suspension components that truly allow our customers to "Install on Saturday, Drive on Sunday!"
BUILD THE COMPLETE MUSCLE CARPeople spend long hours and "mega-bucks" restoring their favorite car. We quite often hear dejected owners say after their first drive in their restored ride: "This thing drives like an old car." We have come a long way since the '60s in suspension technology. My goal is to educate our customers about the benefits of installing modern suspension components under their favorite machines. Talk about unsafe at any speed, a new mini van will run circles around a stock '60s-'70s Chevelle in the handling department!
With prices of Chevelles, Camaros, Novas and all muscle cars skyrocketing (why didn't I start my '69 Camaro project earlier?), and with new owners expecting great driving enjoyment, I believe installing well designed and tested performance products to achieve the complete performance car is the only way to go. And looking to the future, I hope to be able to help you determine what course of action is best for your project. See you next month.
