Chip Foose’s Hemisfear

I’ve known designer extraordinaire and TV’s Overhaulin’ personality Chip Foose for 30 years since he was a student at the prestigious Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. Art Center is one just a handful of automotive design schools in the world and being close to Hollywood it has also produced a number of movie designers and even designers who transition both worlds.

At the time I met Chip, in 1990, he was working on his final graduation project which was sponsored by Chrysler to design a niche market vehicle. Chip took a bit of an unorthodox spin on the concept, he didn’t want to design for an existing market, he wanted to create a new one. With its unique flair, Chip’s 1:5 scale model of the Hemisfear (photographed by John Thawley) gained significant recognition and was even featured in the April 1991 issue of HOT ROD magazine.

It also may have helped inspire the Plymouth Prowler, as careful study of the two indicates some design similarities particularly in the “double bump” decklid. Incidentally, the Prowler debuted six years later in 1997.

After Chip graduated, he eventually went to work for Hot Rods by Boyd Coddington where he worked on numerous creations for Boyd. I joined him there for a little over a year and it was a very educational and inspirational experience for me working alongside Chip and watching him design everything from watches to wheels to sports cars—all seemingly effortlessly—he never appeared to be stuck for an idea.

It also may have helped inspire the Plymouth Prowler…

It was while he was working for Boyd that Chip began work on the chassis for what would eventually become “Hemisfear”. Unfortunately, there was never enough time to complete the project even though Chrysler had contracted engine builder Dick Landy to supply a stack-injected 426 Chrysler Hemi. It too was relegated to a corner of the shop with the chassis.

The project sat until 2005, when Chip, who had since opened his own shop and design business in Huntington Beach, California, signed a die-cast toy deal with RC2 Corp. that also included seed money to complete the Hemisfear build. The original scale model was digitized and all the data was fed into a computer so that a full-size version could milled out of foam on a five-axis mill.

The foam was then used as the buck from which a mold was made for the limited production of just five carbon-fiber bodies made by Gaffoglio Family Metalcrafters in Fountain Valley, California. Incidentally, that buck hangs from the ceiling of Chip’s shop. Meanwhile, John Hotchkis of Hotchkis Performance worked with Chip on the design of the racecar-inspired, fully-independent suspension with rocker arm-actuated coil-overs mounted behind the grille shell in the front and double wishbones in the rear.

The Dick Landy Hemi was ultimately replaced by a different 392 cubic-inch Hemi fitted with electronic Hilborn fuel injection and carbon stacks. The engine is mated to a ZF five-speed transaxle similar to that used in a DeTomaso Pantera. Of course, it rides on Foose-designed Nitrous two-piece, five-spokes.

Hemisfear, also known as the Foose Coupe, was introduced as a limited edition vehicle at the 2006 SEMA Show when two vehicles were unveiled, the pre-production lime green car which is Chip’s personal car and the first production model in black. Chip’s car made the cover of the July 2007 issue of HOT ROD but soon thereafter the economy went into recession and there were not many buyers for a $300,000 open-wheel hot rod.

Jump ahead a dozen years to the 2019 Grand National Roadster Show when Chip is honored with the Builder of the Decade Award and out of his closet comes Hemisfear. Looking just as tough and yet as beautiful as ever it was not difficult to persuade Chip to take me for a ride and let me drive—a little.

It gets your attention like sitting in a Top Fuel dragster when they fire it up.

The interior is snug and the quilted champagne leather cockpit tapers down into the narrow foot box where ribbed and logoed billet aluminum pedals mirror the steering wheel and instrument cluster that were all designed by Chip. It’s comfortable and the carbon doors have a reassuring “clunk” as they pull too.

What really gets your attention is pushing that button on the dash and hearing that 500 horsepower Hemi burst into life right behind your ear. It gets your attention like sitting in a Top Fuel dragster when they fire it up. You know there’s a fire-breathing monster back there and the only way to escape is to snap it into gear and get outta there.

The clutch is an easy push and the linkage to the ZF axle smoother than expected. The peak of the grille is low and it’s a little difficult to see the wheels so we ease out of his shop onto the street. All the while that engine is sucking air like an angry pitbull.

My biggest fear of driving anything as outlandish as Hemisfear is, well, fear, fear of all those idiots on the road who are on their phones trying to snap pictures and not watching what they’re doing. Thankfully, it’s an early weekend morning and traffic is light. We turn out of the industrial zone and head north on Pacific Coast Highway towards Seal Beach. It’s a nice stretch of open road but ‘cop-ulated’ so best be careful.

Nevertheless, I squeeze down on the throttle and we rocket along the coast, lifeguard huts flashing by like mile markers, those big Pirellis humming along like an 18-wheeler. It’s a blast and what traffic there was shrinks away in the side mirror.

This is the true definition of a hot rod…

All too soon, we’re in Seal Beach looking for a place to U-turn. Hemisfear is longish, low and wide and I’m uptight about damaging it. Chip is as nice as he appears on TV but you don’t want to be the guy remembered for shattering his dream car.

Soon enough, I get it turned around and head south thinking this is so much more than the sucky, underpowered V6 Prowler it progenated. I drove a lot of those and this is not that. This is the true definition of a hot rod—a lot of power in a lightweight body.

For more info on Chip Foose and his projects visit: chipfoose.com

Hollywood Movers and Shakers

A recent cover of SEMA News featured the face of Troy Ladd, owner of Hollywood Hot Rods, under the headline “How Famous Builders Grow The Industry.” Indeed, there are few more famous builders than Troy who recently moved into a new space and continues to garner accolades with his own take on traditionalism.

Unlike most hot rod builders, Troy began his second career after studying business and obtaining a Bachelor’s degree from Vanguard University in Costa Mesa, California. While he enjoyed building cars in his spare time, he was not happy in a white-collar corporate job and consequently took the plunge in 2002 to hang up the white collar and open his own shop in “Beautiful Downtown Burbank”.

Naming it Hollywood Hot Rods was all part of Troy’s big plan as he knew that selling T-shirts and other merchandise containing the word Hollywood made marketing sense. And, he was right. His shirts were the number one selling brand in the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.

Troy’s first shop in Burbank had an unassuming facade located on a small street that ended at Interstate 5. Unfortunately, that building, like so much of Los Angeles is slated for redevelopment and Troy spent has the last couple of years looking for a suitable building to buy. Eventually, he found a 4,300 square foot facility not too far from his old shop at 2617 N. San Fernando Boulevard, Burbank.

Troy first came to the public’s attention when he won the 2005 Goodguys “Rodder’s Pick” with “Big Sister” a ’32 Ford built on the Rides TV show. Two years later he was a finalist in the Grand National Roadster Show’s America’s Most Beautiful Roadster (AMBR) competition with “Respect Tradition,” a Hemi-powered Deuce Roadster. The copper lowboy went on to win the “Best 1932 Ford Roadster” award at the Goodguys Del Mar Nationals.

The somewhat untraditional traditional roadster was followed by a string of projects that just continued to enhance the reputation of Hollywood Hot Rods.  One that garnered attention was actually a full-size version of the Monogram “Black Widow” plastic model kit.

This is not a mere hot rod; it is a true coach-built car.

Several more roadster pickups (rpu) followed including the road-race inspired, Ardun-powered “El Correcaminos” (Spanish for The Roadrunner) and the stack-injected, Coyote-powered rpu giveaway car for Raybestos Brake Corp.  That went on to win the SEMA “Showstopper Award” in 2010. Other significant Deuce roadsters included the “Platinum Bomb” and the “Brooklands Special”.

Besides the more traditional hot rods, Troy has also built some notable later-model customs including a ’63 Mercury S-22 Comet convertible and a ’60 T-Bird called “Hammered”. Also to show the shop’s versatility there was even a late-model Mustang convertible powered by a 700 hp-x engine. It was a supercar designed for the track yet retained all of the comforts of a streetcar.

In 2012, Troy was named the LA Roadsters’ “Builder of the Year” and, the accolades didn’t stop. Check the list and he received a significant award almost every year up until last year when the ’36 Packard convertible he and his team created for Bruce Wanta won a string of trophies including the AMBR Award, the Custom D’Elegance Award, the Sam Barris Award and the Goodguys Del Mar Street Rod D’Elegance Award.

2017 was a busy year for Troy as that was the year he finally found a building and moved shop, however, it was Wanta’s “Mulholland Speedster” that became a game changer from its hand-fabricated chassis to it’s retractable, cantilevered top that folds down into the trunk. This is not a mere hot rod; it is a true coach-built car.

The new Hollywood Hot Rods is compact but there’s room enough for offices and meeting space above the workshop that accommodates about eight cars. We’ve visited several times recently and there’s always cool stuff to see and Troy welcomes visitors. All of the projects are interesting but I particularly liked the Italian-bodied tribute to Edsel Ford’s 1934 boat-tail speedster.

Both had more tricks than a magician.

Four cars share that space and they include a Hemi-powered Model A roadster and a highly modified ’32 3-window with a split-windshield. In the adjacent shop found a chopped ’57 Plymouth wagon having its roof pancaked 1-1/2 inches. Attached to the workshop is a well-equipped machine shop containing lathes, a mill, a plasma cutter, and more.

At this year’s GNRS, Troy displayed two very distinct, bare-metal roadsters that were an Art Deco-Steampunk mashup with lots of hand-formed brass accouterments. Both had more tricks than a magician.

As if that all is not enough, Troy recently teamed up with the original host of Overhaulin’ and Power Block on Spike TV, Courtney Hansen, for a new build show called The Ride That Got Away. It’s a feel-good show that builds and reunites deserving people with their lost ride. It’s airing now. For more information visit: hollywoodhotrods.com

And the Winner Is? 2JETZ

There isn’t a car kid in America that doesn’t know the name Hot Wheels (HW), heck, we’ve all stood on one of them with our bare feet. Back in 1968 when the line was launched, the first 16 cars were called the “Sweet Sixteen” and they supposedly reflected the prevailing trend in car design. They included Ed “Big Daddy” Roth’s “Beatnik Bandit” and several mildly customized production cars.

To celebrate their 50th anniversary, HW launched a nationwide search for the latest “Sweet 16” with the 2018 Legends Tour that began at HW HQ in El Segundo, California, and visited 14 Walmart stores across the U.S. in car-culture-centric cities such as Detroit. At each stop, judges that included members of the Hot Wheels design team, automotive influencers, and Walmart store managers cast their votes.

The winner from each stop won a trip to the 2018 SEMA Show where their car was displayed at the Hot Wheels Legends Pavilion. There, one car was chosen to be made into a die-cast and the ultimate winner was Luis Rodriguez’ entirely home-built, aircraft-inspired 2JetZ.

Airplanes have often provided the inspiration for automobile styling and designers such as GM’s Harley Earl looked to the skies for inspiration. Earl was so enamored of the Lockheed P-38 fighter that little bumps fashioned after the plane’s tail fins appeared for the first time on the rear fenders of 1948 Cadillacs. Those little bumps grew into the fins that we so fondly associate with fifties styling.

…a radical, mid-engine, Hemi-powered, open-wheeler with a fighter plane-style cockpit.

Luis Rodriguez of Hope, New Jersey was likewise inspired by jet planes and the land speed racers saying, “I came across a stunning conceptual design called ‘The Face Peeler’ by Dwayne Vance. I contacted Dwayne and with his permission, I adapted his artwork into something I could build.”

Dwayne’s concept, of which he also made a model, was a radical, mid-engine, Hemi-powered, open-wheeler with a fighter plane-style cockpit. It took Luis a year and a half to complete, working in a one-car garage where he fabricated a custom chassis using 4130 Chromoly tubing, a 1990 Nissan 300ZX donor car and a Toyota Supra in-line six, DOHC 2JZ-GTE engine.

The engine, however, is far from stock having its iron block “shaved” to reduce weight and fitted with Wiseco pistons, adjustable Chromoly pushrods, BC cams with aluminum cam gears, Ferrea valves and BC valve springs, retainers, and locks. It also features an AEM V1 engine management system and boost controller, an HKS ignition, a Titan high-pressure oil pump, a GReddy Kevlar timing belt, and ARP fasteners.

Rather than the stock Supra twin-turbo set-up, Luis opted for one PTE 6262 turbo with a Nissan Q45 throttle body, a K&N filter, and a Tial water-cooled wastegate. Weighing in at only 1,650 pounds, the 2JetZ with 627 horsepower at high boost on 93-octane gas enjoys a very favorable power-to-weight ratio.

The drivetrain comprises a custom 1-inch aluminum adapter plate, a custom Fidanza flywheel, an ACT 6-puck clutch and ARP flywheel bolts. The gearbox is a six-speed Subaru STI unit converted into a transaxle with the rear output welded shut. It is fitted with a Quaife limited-slip assembly and Driveshaft Shop 1,000 HP axles.

Keeping the monster cool is a pair of Honda Civic aluminum, three-row radiators mounted in the side pods assisted by Spal electric fans. Meanwhile, a custom 4 by 24-inch intercooler is mounted in the bottom of the scoop behind the cockpit.

The exhaust was also ingeniously fabricated by Luis using 3-inch stainless steel tube, a Magnaflow muffler, and a “restaurant grade” stainless steamer basket that is cable operated from the throttle. It opens and closes as the throttle is activated and adjusts the pitch and tone of the exhaust. According to Luis, “It helps quiet the motor so that it’s comfortable to drive until you hit the gas and it opens up.”

Up front, there is race car-inspired cantilever suspension made from aero tubing angled forward at 30-degrees to increase downforce. Speedway coil-over shocks are mounted horizontally along the inside of the body.

The braking is handled by more 300ZX take-offs including the aluminum hubs, calipers, master cylinder, and booster. It worked for Nissan. It works for Luis.

Luis hand-formed the fuselage using 6061 aluminum sheets attached to the sub-structure with 3,000 aluminum airplane rivets. The sectional canopy tilts up from the rear allowing ingress and egress and was likewise hand-formed using Lexan and features a remote, keyless entry system.

…it’s comfortable to drive until you hit the gas and it opens up.

The steering is a narrowed dune buggy rack-and-pinion unit that connects to a collapsible column and a generic 14-inch, quick-release, wood-rim classic-style wheel. Other cockpit accouterments include a 300ZX pedal assembly, a Toyota MR2 shifter with an STI knob, and a generic race seat fitted with an RCi quick-release four-point harness. The heads-up instrumentation is from Autometer.

The front and rear wheels are 17-inch RAYS Volk Racing forged monoblock CE28Ns fitted with 255/45-17 Sumitomo tires up front and M&H 275/50-17 drag radials at the rear end.

Externally, Luis’ street jet fighter is decorated very much in the style of a fighter plane from its vintage-style “Slightly Dangerous” nose art, through the NO STEP sign on the side pods, to the words “Honor Those Who Serve” that say everything about Luis’ reason for building this project.

Despite being built on a budget in a tiny garage, Luis’ 2JetZ will be made into a Hot Wheels that you can buy in any Walmart.

Is Dan Fresh’s JL Wrangler the Perfect Combination of Form and Function?

When the 2018 JL Wrangler debuted, the Jeep-world went into a frenzy. Vehicle sales were busy, just as many expected. The aftermarket parts industry spared no time getting started with the design and production of new parts. The new model is extremely capable and stylish, something Dan Fresh of OC Motorsports in Costa Mesa, California wanted to be on the forefront of.

Dan and his crew at OC Motorsports transformed a stock 2018 JL Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon into an upscale culmination of form and function. The team worked with many industry-leading aftermarket parts companies to design a Jeep that could hold its own on the 2018 SEMA Show floor and also be used as a flagship for OC Motorsports events, all while also set to be a dependable race support vehicle.

Dan Fresh is a racer at heart. Over the years, he has been heavily involved and raced in trophy trucks, Jeepspeed, Ultra 4 and many more facets of the racing world. That meant straight from the start that this Jeep would be top shelf.

For any performance vehicle to work as it should, it needs to have great components. Dan and his team worked closely with Fox Factory to set the Jeep up with a full round of newly designed 3.0 Internal Bypass Shocks. The massive shocks also feature finned aluminum recirculating reservoirs with DSC Adjusters for quick tuning.

Shocks like those need to have some grunt supporting them. A Savvy Off Road 3.5-inch suspension lift was installed, including adjustable control arms along with a Currie Enterprises Antirock anti-sway bar in the rear.

The new suspension gave clearance for a healthy set of 40-inch Milestar Patagonia M/Ts, wrapped around matte black 17-inch Method Trail Series 701 wheels. A combination that gives the vehicle both the ground clearance, stance, and raw gripping power a true performer demands. Because the Jeep often goes from off-road to the street and back again, an Innovative JK Products ARB Under Seat Mount with Air Up and Air Down Kit was installed.

The Rubicon differentials were treated to a pair of Dana 44 AdvanTek covers to protect the gears and lockers. The Jeep’s steering linkage was swapped for a Synergy Heat Treated Chromoly Tie Rod and Drag Link kit with the support of a Fox Factory ATS steering stabilizer system. The power and torque are brought to the differentials via a pair of JE Reel 1350 CV Driveshafts.

Attention was also put on the body of the vehicle. Protecting the rails are Rock Slide Engineering Step Sliders with automatic steps. A Savvy high clearance rear bumper was installed, along with a spare tire/camera delete kit. The front received a prototype Savvy Hidden Winch Bumper with Hoop for Dan to test out on the trails and race courses. The body wrap was installed by Versatile Wraps.

Desert racing and adventures require light when the sun goes down and when the unforgiving terrain doesn’t let up. To battle the darkness, a host of Baja Designs LP9 and XL80 LED lights were installed.

The powertrain has been left mostly stock for now, save for a MagnaFlow Rock Crawler Stainless Exhaust System. Though, with the immense capabilities of the OC Motorsports team, there shouldn’t be any surprise if a HEMI V8 finds its way under the hood in the future.

The amount of work done to Dan’s JL is impressive, even more so in that it was all completed in a matter of two days. After proudly standing tall at the 2018 SEMA Show, the Jeep has been on numerous customer appreciation trail runs, desert race testing trips and regularly driven on the street for commuting duties. Soon, the Jeep will be working hard as support for King of the Hammers, Best In The Desert and SCORE International races.

This likely won’t be the end of the modifications for this Jeep, but it is a stellar start out of the gate.

The Milestar CAN-AM UTV of Cora and Erik Jokinen

The Milestar Can-Am UTV of Cora and Erik Jokinen was originally built for an impossible task. When Ultra4 Racer Mike Bergman found himself without a car to race at King of the Hammers in 2017, CT Race Worx put this Can-Am together so he would at least have something to drive in the race.  He wasn’t racing it against other UTVs. Instead, he was going against the biggest and baddest Ultra4 unlimited cars. Despite being outgunned, the car qualified 50th out of about 200 cars and gave them all hell on race day. In 2018, Erik and Cora brought the car back but raced it at KOH with the other UTVs.

King of the Hammers combines long, open desert sections that are run at high speeds, with the toughest rock trails found in Johnson Valley, California known as the Hammer Trails. The course is diabolical with sand, ruts, whoops, and rocks, and that’s just the desert section. The rock trails are literally piles of boulders that cling to the sides of steep canyons. Big rocks, small rocks, round rocks, and sharp rocks. What the rocks don’t do to you gravity will. There are many off-camber side hills and steep drop-offs.

Despite having competed in the toughest single-day offroad race in the world twice, the Can-Am is not too exotic. Most of the modifications come right out of the CT Race Worx catalog and are bolt-on parts. The Can-Am runs ADS shocks and was used to develop the Jokinen’s Torque Locker differential lockers. The traction department also benefits from their Milestar tires.

When the only thing holding you to solid ground is your tires, they need to be the best. The Jokinens’ tire of choice is the Milestar Patagonia SXT. New for 2018 is the soft compound Black Label tire that has all the superior features found on the SXT but with a stickier rubber compound for even more traction. The SXT Black Label has the same Kevlar® belt package for strength and light weight as well as the deep, wide grooves with stone ejectors that help to disperse dirt and debris. The wide overlapping tread blocks maintain stability and improve sure-footed control during rapid acceleration and braking. The distinctive tread pattern provides excellent control in sand, silt, and rocks.

Cora & Erik got to put them to the test when they headed to Sand Hollow State Park in Utah after displaying the Can-Am in Milestar’s booth at the SEMA Show. “It was nice not to be in a serious competition and be able to just play around in the sand,” said Erik, “The scenery is spectacular and the sand is very fine and deep. I experimented with air pressure to get the maximum flotation in the sand. The way the tread wraps around the sidewall of the tire gave me excellent traction while aired down. We were in some big dunes but also hit some rocks and hard packed two-track trails. It was quite an experience; I’m hooked. We don’t have dunes in New York where we live.”

Erik says they will be racing Dirt Riot events back East next season and might even do some rock bouncing. That is where you point your UTV up a steep rutted, and rocky trail to see how fast you can make it up. It’s not for the faint of heart, but the fans love it. You need lots of traction, but also a tough tire that can take the incredible abuse. Their Milestar SXT’s will be the hot ticket in those conditions.

The SEMA 2018 Show

When it comes to the aftermarket, there is only one trade show that has it all. The SEMA Show is the largest gathering of automotive aftermarket companies dedicated to making your vehicle faster, look better, sound better, ride lower or taller, or just plain do more. This year, there were many exciting new parts that you’re going to have to figure out how to install.

The two biggest announcements from the show were done by Chevrolet and Mopar. Chevrolet introduced the eCOPO Camaro concept, an electric version of the COPO Camaro drag car. GM has been in a big push for electrifying their fleet and now it looks like they want to extend that to their performance line, too. The eCOPO is powered by an 800-volt battery pack that sends that power to a dual Borg-Warner HVH 250-150 motor assembly.

The other part of the eCOPO concept is the idea is that this motor will become another avenue for crate motor options from GM. They are doing this by making it able to be fitted to any transmission made for the LS bellhousing and crank flange. While testing is still ongoing, it is producing over 700-horsepower and 600-lb/ft of torque putting well within the nine-second bracket in the quarter mile.

Mopar, on the other hand, decided it wanted to stay gas powered and introduced the “Hellephant.” This is a 426 Supercharged Hemi crate engine that’s able to produce 1000-horsepower and 950-lb/ft of torque. To make this even crazier, it’s coming as a plug-and-play package for anyone who wants to stuff this much power under their hood. Legally, it’s meant for 1975 and older street cars and off-road vehicles, but we’re sure someone will put this into their JL or JK Wrangler at some point. Mopar is making it easy, too, as it will come fully dressed along with the wiring and ECU. It’s slated to go on sale in early 2019.

There were debuts of many new tires and lights to give you the grip on the dirt and light it up, too. Milestar Tires officially debuted their new Patagonia SXT, an off-road dedicated tire to the growing side-by-side and UTV markets. They also announced that Dan Fresh and his racing team will be running the tires in the 2018 Baja 1000. Baja Designs introduced their new OnX6 Hybrid Laser light. It uses two laser light chips along with a pair of LED light chips to create a unique beam of light for their High-Speed Spot optic light on the 10-inch light bar. They claim this combination gives a smooth light blend transition and increases their light beam distance by 350-percent at 95-watts. Their first batch is out now but in limited supplies.

If you’re into racing or into show cars, the 2018 SEMA Show was where you needed to be this year if you wanted to see what was coming out for your next build. Now, you’ll only see them after your competition has passed you by and taken that trophy.