Behind the Wheel with Suzy Bauter powered by Optima Batteries
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BEHIND THE WHEEL FEATURE WITH SUZY BAUTER
Powered By optima Batteries
Written By Brandy Phillips
Photos By Suzy Bauter's Facebook Page
As the time has come once again to announce who will be featured on the next Pro-Touring.com shirt, this
year’s unveil was someone who is near and dear to the pro-touring community. Their involvement in the pro-touring
scene over the past several years has helped our small community grow across the country as they continue to bring
awareness to the pro-touring culture, inform others on upcoming events, help manufactures with product awareness,
and help share coverage from the West to East coast throughout the year.
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Yet, as we all know it takes more than involvement in the pro-touring community to make your way onto the
Pro-Touring.com shirt. First, one must own a cool ride before they are even considered for such honor.
How can you pick just one cool vehicle though? There are so many vehicles that deserve the acknowledgement of
the time and effort that has been put into them, but sometimes there is a particular vehicle that just screams “look at
me.”
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There is one vehicle that made its way onto the SEMA showroom floor last year for its first debut. Not knowing how it
would be received, the owner knew she had to make the most out of this once in a lifetime experience, but little did she
know the true amount of attention the car would receive in such a short amount of time.
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Suzy Bauter and her 1963 AMC Rambler wagon started their journey together around seven years ago. The journey
began through a Craigslist ad that led her to purchase the wagon. Though a Rambler was not her first choice, the fact
that it was a wagon and the price point fit the bill spot on.
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Her initial intent was to restore the original flathead-six, though after submerging herself in the pro-touring race
community, she quickly realized further upgrades would be needed in order for the Rambler to handle sufficiently out
on track.
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One of the initial items on Bauter’s checklist once the wagon came home was to start a Pro-Touring.com build thread on
the forum. The thread, which was started back in 2012, would describe Bauter’s initial goals with the build as well as
updates along the way: 1963 Rambler Sugar Resto Track Travel AutoX
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Unfortunately the Rambler took a back seat to the family’s 1968 Camaro in addition to two-moves, which included a cross-
country journey from California to Tennessee. Sugar, which was the original name of the vehicle before it met its new
name the “Flare Witch Project,” was put off again and again until the family officially settled in Tennessee.
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An opportunity to take the Flare Witch Project to SEMA came about, which pushed the build into its final stages of
completion. With SEMA in mind, Suzy and Rodney hustled to get the vehicle done in time for it’s big debut. With the help
of Rob MacGregor from No Limit Engineering who supplied the flares and the new name for the build along with Best of
Show Coachworks in Escondido, CA who helped with the body and laid down the beautiful blue paint along with wrapping
up the finishing touches right before SEMA, the wagon was on its way to Las Vegas with the hope that people would
accept it for what it was.
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Now it could be said that a Rambler isn’t most people’s first choice when building a pro-touring vehicle, especially a
wagon. Furthermore, Suzy Bauter’s wagon was slightly more extreme, featuring it’s huge flares and BFG 315’s tucked
on all four corners. The big question going into SEMA was how it would be perceived. It was definitely one of those
builds that people would either love or hate, but Bauter never expected the response that came next.
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Since the Rambler’s debut in the Spectre Performance Booth last year, the car and Suzy have been a rollercoaster of
success. The vehicle was received better than ever anticipated with several features in print and online media as well
as being honored the recipient of the prestigious Grand Turismo Best Hot Rod award.
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After SEMA the car was awarded a Golden Ticket into the Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational at Las Vegas Motor
Speedway. The can would then make an appearance at PRI in December before heading home to get sorted before the
next race season.
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Suzy and Rodney have spent 2018 sorting the wagon both on and off the track. Bauter has since had a couple autocross
days with the wagon. Her main goal is to always have fun, but you have to admit the wagon looks extremely good out
on track.
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In addition to her success in 2017, the Rambler found its way back into SEMA this year as one of the 15 final contestants
for the Hot Wheels Legend Tour. Hot Wheels hosted 15 events across the country in search of the next Hot Wheels
diecast. Bauter, who attended the Nashville, TN Legends Tour, was honored as the official finalist for that event. This
meant she and the Rambler would be featured in the Hot Wheels Legend Tour Booth at SEMA in contention for the grand
award; the possibility of a Hot Wheels diecast modeled after her vehicle.
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Though the Hot Wheels Legends Tour will not announce their winner until later in the week, Bauter had another surprise
coming as Larry Callahan was on scene at SEMA to unveil the next vehicle on the Pro-Touring.com t-shirt. With only a
handful of people in the know, Larry couldn’t wait to surprise Suzy with the shirt during day one of SEMA. The t-shirt,
which was designed by Ben Hermance, will also be available at the Pro-Touring Dinner during SEMA.
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As we congratulate Suzy Bauter and her first year anniversary of amazing success, we hope that the Pro-Touring.com
t-shirt will only continue to remind her of what a great influence she has been through her build and her commitment to
the pro-touring community as a whole. It is people like her who continue to help bring this community together. For
those that have been fortunate enough to work or connect with Suzy, then you know how special she is and how hard
she has worked to help promote others. It’s an honor to see her Rambler on this year’s Pro-Touring.com shirt and we
can’t wait to see what next year will bring for both her and the car.
