I'm still around. Here's an update:
Nurturing my two babies--Twist Machine and Juliette Rose
The old Shay Campbell car is almost done and you won't recognize it. It's now called "Hoover" because it sucks up so much cash. A majority of the redo has been performed by a high end shop called
AI Design. If Ralph Lauren wants some custom work done on one of his his McLaren F1 or Porsche Carrera GT, these guys get the work. The interior would make a Bentley Continental GT or Ferrari 612 jealous. Color is now Viper Dark silver. The red bumble bee stripe is typical of our "sacrilicious" attitude--only more subtle. The car just came off the chassis dyno. The W2W 18 degree 400 makes 460RWHP at 6500rpm. Flywheel horsepower on W2W's dyno was 575HP. Carry the two....that's 20% loss to the rear wheels with a MuscleDrive™ torque converter and 4L80E, so we're pretty excited about the efficiency of our converters.
Tyler Beauregard is in town for the weekend. You guys have been working him to the bone at ATS, so I insisted that he hop a plane and fly out to the east coast for some perspective. My little brother needed some relaxation and I knew just what to do: Toss him the keys to the snarling 66 Fairlane with it's four 315's, channeled body, dry sump 392 and Hooters Pro Cup exhaust. That's enough to make anyone feel renewed. He also got to drive and experience the 4l65RR manumatic system in my car first hand. I'll let Mr. T56 provide his own opinion. (sorry, for the camera phone pic)
As for Goodguys, the new format is very exciting. The performance aspect widens the scope of participants who can be eligible for the top five. Were it not for the autocross, the landscape would have been completely different. If your car can't go left, right, gas, brake for 18 freakin' seconds, it's NOT worthy of Street Machine of the Year. If your car was poppin', fartin' and banging around the course, you have more work to do. It's not finished yet.
Next year, builders will need to back their schedules up to make sure that their cars are tweaked--not just pretty. We just spent 37 hours on the chassis dyno with Jobe at Turbo People. The fuel injection map is insane. World class. It's a fundamental part of the process--not an afterthought.
As for the controversy, it reflects poorly on our awesome hobby. It shows a lack of character. They don't call it GOOD guys for nothin'. The Ring Brothers have brought some awesome cars to Columbus over the years and went home without a win on many occasions. "....Always the bridesmaids...", everyone said. What did they do? They went home and
built a better car for next year. Did they piss and moan? Never. Their answer to politics? Build a car so darn good that politics can not play a role. I think it's clear that Razor includes that margin of safety--fit, finish, style, originality, performance and all. Not just fit and finish. The Ring Brothers are a class act. Congrats to them on every level.
The new format is enough to inspire me to try and build an SMOY car. Those who have seen my stuff know that its pretty rough. But with performance thrown into the mix, maybe, (just maybe) there's a chance we can place. I don't think we can win, but we can make a positive statement. So a car has been bought, Jake's Rod Shop will be doing the major fab work, body and paint. That's all you get for now.....
Brian Hobaugh SCCA National Tour June 2014
First Hemi 'Cuda Convertible Ever Built
Short clips: Goodguys Pleasanton autocross and pit videos
Hybrid Mode
