custom cars/hot rods: tuners
A couple of months ago, we happened by NY-area
bertuner, Ai Design, where the boy geniuses were messing with a late-model Chevy van. It looked plenty stock; the only feature suggesting it wasn't just some dry cleaner's delivery truck was a pancake satellite antenna on the roof, the shadow of a transfer case between the front wheels and hints of a custom interior in the works. Since then, they've completed all the cut-and-sew work, and annointed the van the Mobile Living Space (MLS). The spec sheet reads like a realtor's one-pager: state-of-the art audio and video components; hand upholstered Edelman leather seating; luxury build-ins including a bar and wine cooler. (Oh, and that transfer case belongs to the Quigley four-wheel drive system that's attached to drivetrain, which is motivated by the Chevy's 6.0-liter V8.) The only thing missing is a box of Cubans, a case of Veuve and an "accident bucket." [
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– Mike Spinelli
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custom cars/hot rods
One of the Jalops just happened to be visiting Ai Design at its home in Tuckahoe, NY on a day this matte-finish Mercedes CLS 55 AMG sat on a garage lift casting its evil gaze upon the workshop. Naturally, the most striking feature of the car — customized for
DC Shoes co-founder Ken Block — is a flawlessly applied flat black paint job (whose price tag was pegged unofficially at around $30,000). Using a Brabus K8 performance kit and sport exhausts, the team boosted horsepower to 575 from 469 stock. They also tricked it out with a Brabus suspension module, Michelin Pilot Sport 2 tires over Radenergie R10 20" wheels and Brembo eight-piston racing brake calipers and 15" discs in front, and four-pot calipers and 13.6" discs in the rear. It's really super hot in person, though we'd imagine fingerprints could become troublesome. Hey, there's always cashmere gloves. [
Gallery]
– Mike Spinelli
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