Resplendent in a blazing shade of metallic orange, the Range Stormer caused a sensation when it debuted at Detroit’s North American International Auto Show in January of 2004. The first concept car Land Rover had ever presented to the public, the two-door SUV sported unexpected design elements—like scissor-style doors and a glass roof—which, according to Land Rover’s former design director Geoff Upex," helped the design team challenge established views of Land Rover vehicles, while remaining true to the company’s fundamental design values." A rakish precursor to the Range Rover Sport, the fashion-forward Range Stormer prepared customers for a Land Rover that emphasized on-road prowess over off-road ability.

At least one observer—the scion of a royal family from one of the United Arab Emirates—became enamored with the Range Stormer. Unfortunately, the original—now on display at the Land Rover Design Centre in Gaydon, England—was, predictably, not for sale. So His Royal Highness (HRH) did the next best thing: he purchased a Range Rover Sport and asked Ryan Friedlinghaus of West Coast Customs (WCC) to transform it into a near facsimile of the Range Stormer show car.

In the mid-1990s, Friedlinghaus began his career with a focus on suspension tuning. But commissions at his Orange County, Calif., shop soon expanded to other customization areas. "Every time I built a car, I had to send it from shop to shop to shop," he says. "But when you rely on outsourcing, it never works out. There’s always a limited time frame, and no one cares about your customer like you do." With the patronage of automotive aficionados like Shaquille O’Neal—for whom Friedlinghaus has built approximately 30 cars—it took only a few years for Friedlinghaus to achieve his goal of a full in-house operation.

Then, with the success of his reality show Pimp My Ride, Friedlinghaus became nearly as famous as his illustrious clientele. However, the show was a mixed blessing: While it gave a serious boost to WCC’s profile, it reached the wrong demographic. Pimp My Ride’s lowbrow nature—episodes center on the quirky, Cinderella-style transformations of broken-down jalopies—did not accurately reflect the serious projects his shop typically undertook. "It made my business known," he says. "But it made my brand very weak."

His usual customers started taking their business elsewhere—one with the snarky explanation that he didn’t need a toaster in his car—and Friedlinghaus says he eventually chose to end his association with the MTV production over the image crisis. "I got out on top, with good ratings and name recognition," he affirms.

Despite its reality television struggles, WCC was a natural choice for the Range Stormer project. Friedlinghaus, who previously customized a Hummer H2 for the HRH’s sister, had an existing relationship with the royal family. And the family had the added convenience of placing an order through WCC’s regional showroom in Dubai.

Nevertheless, the commission experienced complications. Among the problems—none of the people working on the project had ever seen the actual Range Stormer. "We saw an image in our head, and they had an image in their head," says WCC marketing director Alex Anderson. "It’s hard to build something we’ve never seen in person. We built that car off renderings, sketches and pictures." To be sure they were getting everything right, WCC staff needed more on-the-fly interaction than a typical project required. "There would be e-mails three times a week, and then there’d be days with 10 e-mails." Another issue: Weekends on the Saudi Arabian peninsula fall on Friday and Saturday. "You’d send an e-mail on Thursday and they’d call you on Sunday," says Anderson. "The culture—the way they do things—is totally different."

Additionally, Friedlinghaus contended with a tight deadline. "We had to handcraft everything, and complete the project in eight weeks," he says. "At least four or five guys on my staff logged 18 hours a day." The comprehensive program included extending the front doors by 15 inches, eliminating the rear doors, crafting steel bumpers and fender flares and creating an aluminum hood scoop. WCC also raked the windshield, chopped the roof by 2 inches and installed a reinforced polycarbonate roof panel. "The roof is definitely a cool deal," he says. "I always wanted to do a glass roof, and you can’t tell it’s there from the side profile." Twenty-two inch Asanti wheels, Brembo brakes, a Gibson dual exhaust and custom LED driving lights round out the WCC specification.
In the end, WCC’s long-distance coordination proved successful. Remarkably, when the prince’s representative arrived at WCC’s Corona, Calif., shop for a final inspection, only a single element required fine-tuning: The craftsmen had slightly overestimated the size of the original Range Stormer’s fender flares. "They looked larger in the photos," explains Friedlinghaus.

Before its journey to the Middle East, The Robb Report Collection had the opportunity to take WCC’s Range Stormer out for a drive. We discovered that getting into the car is somewhat of a challenge. Like the show car, it features scissor-style doors sans handles. Press a button on the key fob and the door swings outward several inches; the driver then pushes the door forward and up, à la Lamborghini. Due to its one-off construction, the hinge action doesn’t have the polish of a production counterpart, and it takes several tries to open and close smoothly.

Inside, a center console divides the quartet of Recaro seats—those in front have ample space, but legroom is virtually nonexistent in the rear seats. Despite a serious loss of headroom, the open-air sensation facilitated by the clear polycarbonate roof prevents claustrophobia. WCC left the steering wheel and dashboard unmodified, leaving a forward view much like any Range Rover Sport.

Most concept cars are equipped with rudimentary running gear, at best, and may be driven only at low speeds. This car, however, employs the Range Rover Sport’s supercharged 4.4-liter V-8 and 6-speed automatic transmission, both in standard form. On the road, it behaves as if it were a stock vehicle driven off a dealer’s lot. The only difference is an aggressive exhaust note that rumbles through the car with any pressure on the gas pedal. Quicker and more agile than the larger Range Rover, it accelerates smartly and displays sporting handling characteristics as it navigates the roads winding through undeveloped canyons near Corona.

Contending with a glass roof, the stock air conditioner has difficulty compensating for the day’s 95-degree heat. This doesn’t bode well for an SUV on its way to the desert, but Friedlinghaus points out that HRH has over 1,500 cars in his garage. Thus, the Range Stormer will be driven infrequently. He adds that HRH considered a white paint job—the color most amenable to extreme heat—but decided to go for accuracy in the end.

Not surprisingly, the Range Stormer draws plenty of attention on public roads. "The Range Stormer’s successful public response is a fantastic reaction and endorsement of our future design philosophy and product direction," says Julian Thomson, studio director of Land Rover’s Advanced Design team. Far from objecting to the WCC Range Stormer, he finds it delightful. "This is a very intriguing project," he adds. "We remain very enthusiastic about the Stormer concept and would love to see a running example on the road."

At the time of writing, Friedlinghaus had commenced filming Street Customs, a new show for the TLC network’s fall line-up, with a focus on actual WCC projects, like re-imagining an S-Class sedan as a coupe and mounting the body of a vintage Chevy Chevelle to the chassis of a C6 Corvette. "It’s about the cars we really build and the people we build them for," says Friedlinghaus. During a visit to his shop—expertly designed with a visitor’s gallery and ample space for camera crews—we saw Cadillac Escalades, a Chevrolet Tahoe, a 1961 Cadillac Sedan de Ville, a Mercedes-Benz S550 and a Dodge Charger, each in various degrees of customization.

Though he declines to disclose the final price of the Range Stormer, Friedlinghaus says most projects cost between $35,000 and $250,000. As much as Friedlinghaus enjoyed the Range Stormer commission, he’s always thinking about the future. "The concept is the challenge," he says. "Every year at SEMA I look at the picture, what everybody’s going to do. And then do it better. Anybody can put a body kit on a Mercedes—not everybody can do what I do."

West Coast Customs
951.284.0680
www.westcoastcustoms.com