According to the guys at RPM Performance, a Ridetech dealer in Warrendale, PA, the BOSS SNAKE was built completely in house by RPM and designed by Kaucher Kustoms. It features a 770 horsepower Jon Kaase built 520 cubic inch Boss Hemi, Ridetech suspension featuring Chris Alston components, PPG Goodguys Yellow Paint, Custom one off Intro Wheels, Baer 6 piston brakes with 14 inch rotors, Classic Instruments Gauges, Custom Interior by RPM, Custom exhaust by RPM and Stainless Works, Custom Flowmaster stainless exhaust, a Tremec Magnum 6 speed transmission, Centerforce clutch and hundreds of intricately fabricated parts and pieces by RPM.”

Obviously, RPM has put many of their own custom touches on this car to make it very unique. We took a minute to catch up with RPM owner and project lead, Curt Ukasik, to ask him about the role our suspension played in the build. “We wanted the Boss Snake to have great driveability, excellent handling, and to sit as low as possible,” said Ukasik. “So naturally we chose Ridetech for our suspension components.” The Snake features ShockWaves and (2) three gallon air tanks with compressors.

“The Ridetech stuff also saved us time on our build,” added Ukasik. “As usual everything shipped quickly, correctly, on time, and with quality packaging. Bret [Voelkel] and his crew always come through for us.” When asked how he thought the finished car compared to the concepts, Curt replied, “I think we beat the concepts drawings, and that doesn’t happen too often!”

The BOSS SNAKE will serve as the official grand prize giveaway vehicle for the Goodguys 2010 event season. It will be displayed at all Goodguys national events this year. More info on Boss Snake visit: good-guys.com or RPM-hotrods.com.

The only thing that could be better is getting to run your classic hot rod on the same track on the same weekend.

A few weeks ago we had just such an opportunity at the 2010 Classic Motorsports Walter Mitty Challenge. We were invited to the event by the folks from Classic Motorsports / Grassroots Motorsports magazines to share the weekend with the HSR sanctioning body and a couple 10,000 or so racing friends. Naturally we couldn’t pass up the chance.

There were a few items on the agenda (in addition to the obvious of gawking at all the amazing racing). First, we were ask to provide an example of “pro-touring” machinery for the writers and editors of Classic & Grassroots Motorsports to spend some time with. Both of these books have their roots in hard core road racing and autocross which has traditionally been dominated by “sports cars” and “sports sedans” wearing badges from places where english isn’t the primary language.

Now, at RideTech, we’re not the kind of folks to have prejudice towards “Hot Rodders” regardless of their chosen 4 wheel project, and apparently neither is the gang from Grassroots and Classic Motorsports. As the musclecar scene continue to develop serious road handling machines, these books have chosen to increase their scope to cover more and more of our core breed of corner carvers.

The lunch time break in racing action provided the opportunity for the writers and editors to parade around the track in several of the cars to record driving impressions for upcoming article. It was a great time, and you should seek out and take a close look at these publications (if you haven’t already) because they really pack some great hard core tech and detailed editorial content that we’re certain many of you will find is more aligned to your style of car building than you might think (even if there is a Mini Cooper on the cover!).

There was another, more long reaching, and potentially greater reward for investing in a weekend at the races. Through connections with the Grassroots and Classic Motorsports publications we were given the opportunity to discuss the possibility of incorporating a “pro-touring” cars at future HSR events. This would most likely take the form of “time trial class” where car owners would be given the chance to participate, on track, during the racing weekend in some capacity. The folks at the HSR were very receptive to the idea, and were very positive to nearly all the concepts being discussed.

It was fairly obvious, however, that our group was not the first to petition for inclusion among the HSR lineup of events, and the bottom line for success in these classes has always been participation numbers. So, what do you think? Has our niche of Pro-Touring reached a level where we are ready to warrant the support of a national road racing sanctioning body?

We will be looking forward to finding out… it sure looks like it could be fun!

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We brought out 1968 “Velocity” Camaro as well as our tried, true & blue 1966 Chevelle. You can find out more about these rides in our garage:

RideTech 1966 Chevelle:


RideTech Velocity Camaro:

Below you can find a teaser of the program. Don’t forget, Saturday January 30th at 11:00 am ET!

A little rain didn’t stop us from putting on a show for their cameras. They captured some pretty cool video while they were here.

Disappearing Tire Trick – Burnout times 3 from Nation of GO on Vimeo.

BFGoodrich is behind the project, and what they have started has some huge potential. Imagine a web site where you can share photos of your ride, and your favorite places to drive. OK, we know, there are already web sites out there for that… but now imagine that you can download an app to your phone that automatically tracks your drive and places your photos on an interactive google earth style map… now you might be getting the picture of what these guys are about.

Take some time to check out the NATIONofGO.com
for more cool stuff!

We’ve done our homework and compiled all the data from multiple issues of the magazine, and the charts below show the raw data.

Of course, as the magazine makes clear, there are many factors to consider when comparing suspension systems and raw test numbers are only one consideration, but we’re happy our Chevelle with the full Street Challenge Air Suspension System was able be at the top of the list.

*Fatmans 1969 chevelle was tested using a 400 treadwear tire. All other cars were tested using a 100 treadwear tire.

Full story of our 66 Chevelle in Super Chevy:

Our Chevelle running the slalom:

Our Chevelle going through the autocross: