ATS Project 50/50

[TitoJones]

Ugh. I was hoping that this thread would just slide out of the main page, but people keep asking so here's the skinny:

Back in 2002 the chassis was completed by Wayne Due and it was shipped to a company called Ctek in Newport Beach, CA. They did the clay work to develop our body kit and were supposed to produce our final tooling for production parts.



They did concept vehicles for Ford and are the same company that made the 05 Mustang show car. Well they started invoicing Ford for labor that they hadn't actually done, so when the big wigs dropped in to see progress, they were pissed to see a $900,000 invoice with no work completed. They pulled all projects out of Ctek and walked away from them completely.

Ctek was now in financial trouble and started invoicing me for my body kit, stating it was completed, and final toolong was made. I went to Newport beach that night with a truck and trailer to get 50/50 out and back to the shop.

When we got there, none of the molds were production quality, the body panels they made were fiberglass, not carbon fiber, and they were attempting to prep the panels before i arrived to cover them in a layer of carbon (I assume for looks, since it was 99% fiberglass). They also accidenly threw out some of the parts that Wayne had put in the car to the tune of almost $9K.

I was pissed at this point, and did the same thing Ford did. I pulled my project out, took my molds and prototype parts and left. I had paid well over $20K to be at that point, and now had no production parts or molds to speak of.

The company went under, and all the employees who worked there were let go. 3 of the guys who did the work on my car contacted me to complete it. I was excited to get it back into the hands of skilled fabricators who were intimate with the car already, so I shipped 50/50 to a small house in Garden Grove, CA where the crew were going to complete the body kit.

Keep in mind that the chassis, frame rails, floor and sheetmetal were all bare steel from Wayne Due during this process.

I pay these former ctek employees to complete the car to the tune of $25K. I wait over a year to see progress and finally had to pull the car back to Vegas. When I went to get the car, it had been sitting outside for well over a year within 2 blocks of the ocean. The entire car was now covered in brown rust from head to toe. The body kit was not completed, the molds were crap, and the parts were terrible.

So now I was out $50K for a body kit, the sheetmetal is destroyed, and I lost over 3 years of time in it.
It has been under a car cover for the last 2 years in my garage and I haven't even thought about it, worked on it or touched it since.

We do have clients cars that are taking up most of our time and space so I wouldn't have been able to make progress on it anyways, plus our product line has been keeping us very busy.

I will be getting the car back into the shop later this year, but we have also just picked up a 67 Camaro shop car that we have named the Chicane-LM Camaro. The plan is to build a 90% bolt on car that uses our front suspension, an LS1/T56 drivetrain and some killer brakes. We will then allow our client base to drive our shop car at events so they can see if they like the way it handles/drives etc.

Sorry for the long drawn out post, but I though you guys should know why it has taken me so long to complete. On a side note none of the other 1st gens that I know of that have the C5 layout with the transaxle have been completed either so I might still be the first guy to get one done.

Tyler

[got_hp?]

I was pissed at this point, and did the same thing Ford did. I pulled my project out, took my molds and prototype parts and left..............

..............3 of the guys who did the work on my car contacted me to complete it............ I pay these former ctek employees to complete the car to the tune of $25K................. When I went to get the car, it had been sitting outside for well over a year within 2 blocks of the ocean.

WOW.......no offense, but after they totally screwed you over at the previous place, you actually let those guys touch your car again? Regardless of them just being employees, its not like they didnt know what was going on and they helped it happen.

I mean it sucks what happened to you at Ctek, but I would think that after a bad experience like that, a person would be much more cautious about who they pay to work on their car, and also check up on the progress way more frequently either in person or by demanding lots of digital photos atleast on a monthly basis before you ever wrote another check.


Well I hope the project turns out ok for you in the end, best of luck!

[steemin]

Tyler,
What a sad story.
I am glad that your business is doing well and that someday you will find the time to finish 50/50!
Scott