Special Equipment: Four of a Kind
October 1, 2007
Ever sketched out an idea on a
napkin? Ever thought you would see your creation on a car? The answer to these
questions, unless you work at an automaker or hot rod house, is probably no.
But don’t wad up those hanky doodles just yet. The next
frontier for automotive customization involves neither paint jobs nor body kits,
but rather custom-designed wheels. And we do mean custom, as in one-of-a-kind
sets with original designs, unique finishes and dimensions—all specified by
you.
Of course, designing and building wheels present enough
engineering challenges and legal liabilities to make anyone’s head spin; thus,
not just any vendor can whip up a set that won’t fly off when you slice through
a corner. It’s fitting, then, that the first outfit to provide this service is a
well-known wheel specialist: American Racing Equipment, Inc. of Rancho
Dominguez, Calif. Specifically, ARE’s "Custom Shop."
This skunkworks of sorts had been building custom wheels for
two decades (primarily for hot rod builders) as Boyd Coddington Wheels—yes,
that Boyd Coddington—before being purchased by American Racing in January of
2006. Now, as the Custom Shop, the group has brought wheel customization
services to anyone with between $2,000 and upwards of $50,000 to spend on rims.
Under the direction of Boyd Coddington’s son Chris, the Custom
Shop ambitiously claims that it "can build any type of wheel." Most orders
require consultation with Custom Shop designers, which use CAD software to
render your freehand scribbles so that a fabricator can produce a pilot wheel
for stress and chemical testing. Once it is deemed street worthy, a full set is
produced for immediate installation. The process can take a few days, or a few
months.
That said, most orders are not as wild as you might expect.
According to a representative, the Custom Shop takes three to four orders per
day, mostly from customers that want wheels from a previous era recreated in a
size that will fit newer cars, or from guys that simply want their initials or
an image embossed on the face of an off-the-rack ARE wheel.
But every week or two, they get special orders for wheels like
the three-piece 20-inch set commissioned by the owner of the yellow Murciélago
pictured above—which feature "hidden hardware" (bolts and tire valves in the
back), black powder-coated centers and pearl yellow metallic outers that
perfectly match the Lamborghini’s original paint.
Sound like fun? Break out the napkins.
American Racing
888.623.4199
www.americanracing.com
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