Coupe Challenge: Building a Legend
by
, 02-05-2012 at 02:07 AM (43488 Views)
I present to you the first of several Coupes which will be built specifically for racing in 2012. A small, but mighty group of very talented craftsmen, engineers, and owner-builders have been skunk-working this project behind the scenes for nearly two years, and today is a truly exciting day.
When we began our Coupe project almost three years ago, I could not have imagined the passion for racing that exisits within the Coupe owners group. The heritage of these cars has made the Coupes one of the most sought-after and well-recognized cars in the automotive world. Owning a Coupe is an experience like no other, and campaigning a Coupe in pure competition is indescribeable.
Big thanks to Hank Lopez (Hankl) who has been my "go-to" guy in our Coupe racing effort. Over the three years we've been developing and testing our car for pure competition, Hank has spent virtually hundreds of hours debriefing every event with me; listening patiently as I ramble on with the details of the car's nuances in the turns, or exit speeds and characteristics of the car's handling as it tracks out onto the straights...Slowly, deliberatively, Hank would take it all in, all the while asking focused questions to better understand the car's dynamics. As a person of action, Hank would then take ideas formulated in these conversations, and build, create, or improve upon the car's components......Often, he'd call days later, informing me that a drop shipment of "good stuff" was in the mail.....Simply amazing!
Big thanks to Dave Smith for believing in us, for encouraging and supporting our racing efforts over the years, and for helping make this next generation of race cars possible. We also owe a debt of gratitude to Factory Five's lead engineer, and on-track racing talent Jim Schenck, whose passion for racing, collaborative efforts, and pure design genious continue to serve as the rock upon which all Factory Five Racing efforts are based. We are grateful to the entire team at Factory Five Racing for their efforts to support the racing community over the years...Jason, Sally, Jesper, and everyone at FFR...Thank you!
Fellow Challenge Series racer and truly amazing friend, Rick Anderson will serve a lead fabricator for the Coupe project...He's promised to keep an eye on my welding skills, and I've promised not to hurt him with the plasma cutter..;.) RLA Sheetmetal in Healdsburg, CA will serve as the Coupe's build site, and under Rick's talented skills as a builder, our Coupes will be safe and Very Fast!
After six years of ownership, 210 competition events, 34 race victories, 77 podiums, five championships, 22,000 road miles, and all this shared with an amazing partner, an unbelieveable race team and a truly supportive group of friends......My first kit arrives!!! It really IS like Christmas! Karen
![]()