Roadster Shop Road Tour 2020
East Bound and Down
North of Chicago about a half hour you’ll find Mundelein Illinois, population around 30,000 people. This is the home of Roadster Shop, one of the premier builders in the country. Where there is more horsepower than people behind their doors. What started as a chassis shop in the 80s by Bill O’Rourke, later purchased by the late Neal Gerber and his sons Phil and Jeremy has evolved into a full blown, hot rod shop pumping out some of the biggest and best builds you’ll ever see, all on Roadster Shop chassis’. Don’t let their lengthy list of awards fool you, these guys are some of the most down to earth people you’ll find in the industry. A few years ago while enjoying a 12-ounce beverage under their canopy after the awards ceremony in Columbus Ohio at the GoodGuys Nationals, Phil told me something I’ll never forget, “awards are great, but my bank doesn’t let me deposit them”. Cheers to that Phil!
Late last summer Josh Henning their Director of Business Development emailed me a proposal, then text me, then called, then text me some more to see if I’d had a chance to look over the documents, apparently this was a big deal! A week long road trip in the southeast part of the country with 7 of their builds, all being recorded and documented by a company called Ironclad. Heck yes we want you guys to fly our flag on this adventure. Since a majority of their projects use our gauge systems, it only made sense for both of us.
What do you get when you combine The Island of Misfit Toys with a bunch of muscle cars? Here is the short answer, 7 cars, 4,290 horsepower combined which translates to an average of 612 hp per car, or 76 hp per cylinder. 1500 miles, back road burnouts and drag races, a 4x4 Chevy truck slinging gravel as it does donuts. Add in a stop to the BMW Experience Museum in North Carolina, Roush Racing, some rides in off shore speed boats and a whole lot of fun and memories. Stops along the way include Gainesville GA, Cherokee NC, Sanford NC, Hilton Head SC then on to sunny Florida all the way down to Key West.
To see more of this once in a life time road trip there are a series of 5-7 minute videos on YouTube, search “This is Ironclad” or “Roadster Shop” and find their main company page. You can also find links via Facebook and Instagram under the same names. I’ll warn you, we have several weeks of cold weather ahead of us, these might give you cabin fever.
