Two Days in Vegas with Hot Rod Magazine’s Unlimited

[Dave Smith]

We spent two days in the Las Vegas desert with the crew from Hot Rod Magazine and the broadcast show Hot Rod Unlimited. We were joined by customer Karen Salvaggio and Nan Gelhard from Summit Racing. We had a blast and the show was just released. Here it is.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V96-AQ1FghI

Special thanks to Summit Racing and the great crew at Hot Rod Magazine who worked in very cold conditions to bring this "seat of the pants" evaluation to you guys.

https://www.factoryfive.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/daveinterview.jpg

[Mike N]

What great coverage of some fantastic cars. Congratulations Dave and crew on creating some of the best toys on the planet.

[Dave Smith]

There's alot more to the story than they could fit on the show and we had HUGE fun. The guys from Hot Rod Magazine were great to work with and they weren't shy about thrashing the cars. Tony here at FFR did a great job prepping the cars and Jim did good work setting them up.

At the end of the day we had our driver run a 320 hp challenge car (after he had learned the track) and he ran 3 seconds faster than the lambo. Truth is the Lambo driver KNEW the car and track and had done 1000's of laps. Our driver was new to our cars and track. Without alot of time in the cars I think the driver did a great job of learning them. The red Mk4 red-lined at 7700 rpm but the driver shifted at 6,000!

We had a BLAST for two days and we had company from customer Karen Salvaggio, who loaned us her Coupe as a back-up in case it was needed (lucky it wasnt but she still got some laps on the roadcourse and some drag passes) and painter JoAnn Bortles as well as Nan Gelhard from Summit Racing. They also didnt mention it was 40 degress and FREEZING out in the desert! Lastly the GTM wasn't on the list as we were running all Ford engines for this test. Thanks to Jesse at Ford Racing for the brand-new 363 mil in the Coupe!

The goal of the two days in Vegas was to show that a modestly-built FFR can run with and beat one of the fastest cars on the planet. I think we did that and had alot of fun in the process. To think that I get paid to do this is, even after all these years, hard to believe!

[Ray]

To think that I get paid to do this is, even after all these years, hard to believe!

It should be against the law to have as much fun at work as you do and get paid for doing it! People didn't like it when I had fun at work.

Ray

[JeromeS13]

Dave,

If you don't mind me asking, when was this filmed? I caught a glimpse of the 818R in the background. :-D

-Jerome

[Dave Smith]

We were in Vegas Sunday Jan 27th to Tuesday the 29th. We spent the day Sunday just setting up the cars and getting gas etc. Monday was the roadcourse and Tuesday was Drag racing. We didnt have the 818 out there at all, nor did we have a GTM. We did have alot of fun though and it was weird being in Vegas without being at SEMA!

[Vman7]

Now that was really impressive to say the least!

I thought for sure the '65 Coupe would have done better, but I am sure if the driver had a lot more time with it, times would be a lot better. Never thought the '33 Hot Rod would have done as well as it did. It beat the lambo, how impressive is that!

I'll bet the GTM would smoke the lambo.

This gets me excited about getting back to my '33 GT design.

David

[LuckyWinner]

Just Awsome!!! A 200 thousand dollar car vs. a car we are building in our own garages. What a dream I am living!!! Way to go FFR.

[68GT500MAN]

Dave,
Your "Day" job is just so much fun, I am envious. The vidio is impressive and hopefully the rest of the world will learn what we already know, you can get as much performance out of a "garage" built car. Congratulations FFR!!!!
Doug

[carlewms]

Congratulations! Kool video but even Kooler FFR cars.

[riptide motorsport]

Whay a life.............wanta trade!! :)

[vnmsss]

We had a great time in Vegas, and it's very cool the video is out. We had a chance to excercise the cars on the desert roads around Vegas, as well as put them all through their paces on track for two days. Lots of beautiful scenery, and who wouldn't be diggin' spending a few days with new tires, clear asphalt, and nothing but open track or the open road in the windshield. It was certainly one of those "pinch me now" kinds of experiences.

The driver was actually a very talented guy (easy going and learned really fast), especially when you consider he had never been behind the wheel of any of our cars before. Couple that with the fact that he had just a few minutes of practice in each car before he was on the clock, and I would dare any of us to do as well.

It was "fun" to watch him figure out the handling characteristics of each of the cars. He picked it up very quickly though, and laid down some pretty darn good laps. All of the cars were ready for the challenge, and while they each have great drivetrains, Dave's red car, as a package (motor, handling, braking, etc.) was indeed amazing, as was the incredible '33 Hot Rod...That thing is a beast! The Summit car is a stunning build, and all business as well, but as Dave noted, only saw tracktime at the strip (at which it performed very nicely!)....Dave's Coupe was certainly a little rocketship as well (motor is something to write home about), but as you could see in the video, the shorter, tighter track, as well as an inexperienced driver in the longer wheelbase car, was just not the combination that was going to claim "top dog" this go 'round.

Having a GTM there just wasn't in the cards this time, and I agree it would've been awesome to have seen a well-prepared GTM go heads-up with the Lambo.....Sounds like another article in the making. :)

Karen

[THE ITALIAN]

There's alot more to the story than they could fit on the show and we had HUGE fun.
At the end of the day we had our driver run a 320 hp challenge car (after he had learned the track) and he ran 3 seconds faster than the lambo.

And that goes to show you what these cars are all about. 320 HP VS a 1/4 million $ super car, it's not just lipstick that makes a great car.

[shinn497]

That's amazing to hear about the challenge car. I've heard that those tend to be the fastest on the track and I think it is a testament to to engineering prowess that goes into building them.

Now what I would REALLY want to see is an 818/GTM laying the hurt on a 458. Do that and I would be happy. :D

[mr-pantera]

That 33 was a monster!!

[Movieman]

I have two questions to ask:
1) How's the feeling in your stomach when you hand over the keys to your 'babies"?
2) Any job openings at FFR? :D

[Someday I Suppose]

Finally got a chance to watch it, great coverage for sure, way to go FFR. I thought it was pretty funny though how you went to a place where people are supposed to be able to go and drive super cars on their race track, and instead of letting your pro driver in the car, they used their own driver.

I would have loved to see what times National Champ John George would turn in his Spec car, or what Jim could turn in the GTM...

Fun stuff for sure, though crusing the strip in the roadster has to be about as cool as it gets.

Scott

[WIS89]

Dave and team-

It seems like every week, you all are out getting some awesome press about your developments and/or performance on one of your cars!! It's the story I have been told a hundred times, it took you all 15 years to become an overnight success!!

Congratulations on all the accolades and positive ink! Each of you has deserved the good press, and it is very exciting to hear about each new adventure! Keep up the awesome work!! Until my turn comes, keep the stoke going!!

Regards,

Steve