At some point every car guy dreams about what he'd do with his future ride if he had the time and money. Some leave it at the dreaming stage while others, like Mike Katz of Las Vegas, dive into it. Katz chose to modify a ride that was bound to stir up some strong emotions (or just puzzlement) among enthusiasts. "Why a Contour?" people commonly ask. But looking at it now, few would get hung up on this custom's average beginnings.
It's a Contour, So What!
By definition, "contour" means, "the lines that bound a body, the outline." After the build, that was all that remained of the old Contour, just the original outline of the humble 1999 Ford Contour SVT it used to be. When we saw this at a show for the first time, our jaws dropped (OK, partly due to the shock that someone would want to heavily modify a Contour).
Money Install
After perfecting the exterior at Musso Motorsports, there was only one way to go on the interior: Steve Platt of Plattinum Audio Designs in Henderson, NV. Known for some of the sickest audio and video automotive concepts-immortalized on movie screens, in die-cast form and rolling on the streets today-Platt took on the car as his first project after his move from SoCal. To begin the long journey, builder and owner sat down to discuss product, function and design. Platt gleaned from Katz what he envisioned for his ride and then did what he does best: He made it happen.
Back to Front
Platt suggested the winning combination of Arc Audio, Accele, Scosche, Xstatic Batcap, Pioneer and Sony products for what would become "Blue Ice." Since the most difficult part of the build would be in the trunk, he decided to tackle it head on. He began by fabricating a false floor out of 5/8" MDF and fiberglass that would essentially house the air suspension system, including the chrome air tank, compressor and valves. It would also serve as the foundation for the acrylic amprack that holds the Arc Audio KAR 400.4 and KAR 900.1D. As the air suspension system wasn't the trunk's focal point, he created an easily accessible and stealth compartment to hold it all.
In the Bassment
Following the sleek look of the amprack, Platt once again married the concept of smooth lines and perfect flow with the sub enclosure. Using the MDF and fiberglass combination, Platt made a three-piece removable enclosure that houses four Arc Audio KAR 12D4's. If you've read our review on the 10" version of this woofer, you know this car isn't just about looks, it's about sound quality, something Katz wanted to achieve right from the start. In addition, the trunk lid contains three 8-inch Accele monitors to watch when standing behind the Contour at shows.
Contoured Console
Incorporating the look of the trunk into the interior was also part of the plan right from the start. Flowing into a center console in the rear seat, the rear deck was remade using fiberglass. It holds two pairs of ARC Audio's KAR 5022 coaxial speakers, identical to the two pairs in the kick panels. Grilles of polished perforated sheetmetal allow low-frequency sounds from the subwoofers in the trunk to pour into the cab. Katz sacrificed space for one more passenger to allow for this crazy console that houses a wealth of goodies.
Look and Listen
Basically, with the exception of the seats, the entire interior was custom made. This allowed for several monitors to be incorporated throughout. Positioned in between the front seats, an Accele 5-inch monitor floats on the rear console in acrylic. The console continues into the front seats and eventually into the dash. Platt remade each of the lower halves of the door panels out of fiberglass and flush-mounted an 8-inch Accele monitor into each of the four doors, front and back.
Re-Born Dash
The entire dash was remade in fiberglass, accommodating all of the Dakota Digital gauges and yet another 8-inch Accele monitor directly above the Pioneer DEH-P80MP CD player as well as the Arc Audio PEQ equalizer. Platt took it a step further and flushed in a PS2 console in place of a passenger airbag and glove box. So now you can hear it, see it and definitely play with everything going on in this jam-packed ride. Katz discovered the cure for boredom without leaving his driveway.
All the suede in the vehicle made it slightly problematic to conceal the massive amount of Scosche blue and clear 1/0-, 4- and 8-gauge power cable, not to mention the Scosche signal and video wire. Working around the suede, Platt managed, not without much labor, to keep everything under wraps. The finished show-car look was well worth it to Katz.
Most people see a modded car and ask, "What's next?" This is not a question Mike Katz hears often, if ever. With the possible exception of switching gear for nothing more than the sake of change, there isn't a thing left to be done. Blue Ice is going to be keeping temperatures cool in the Vegas heat for quite some time.
Katz found himself an award-winning team of builders and would like to thank each and every one of them as well as his friends and family for supporting and helping him out with all the blood, sweat and man hours on this project.
Since Katz had chromed the air tank, Platt wanted to show off some of the finer details by integrating his one-of-a-kind acrylic amprack to hold the tank. He didn't just cut a hole in it and throw it in there; he created 3/4" acrylic clamps to fit each piece. MDF patterns were used to transfer the shape of the amprack. The Arc Audio KAR 400.4, which bring the four pairs of Arc Audio KAR 5022's to life, and the KAR 900.1D, which keeps things flowing to the subs, look like shining diamonds in a jewelry box.
From the rear deck to the dash, Platt created an MDF skeleton for the single-piece console. He then applied two-part foam to create the desired shape. After it finally passed his approval, he fiberglassed and smoothed it out with body filler before sending it to be painted. Platt again used his talents to display the wares of Katz's sponsors. Each manufacturer's product is highly visible and completely functional with great placement for sometimes forgotten parts of an install, such as the Xstatic Batcap 400, Supercap 100 and distribution blocks from Scosche. This allows easy access to Katz's fuse. For a suspended-in-air effect, Platt placed most of the equipment on acrylic mounted to the fiberglass console.
Suede headliner, seats, inserts on the door panels and (most astonishingly) a suede floor cover the interior of the Contour. Obviously, this car is for listening to and showing, not for going. Carefully positioned for imaging, two pairs of Arc Audio's KAR 5022 coaxial speakers tuck in the deep corners of the floor under the dash. The enclosures for the speakers are made of fiberglass and 1/2" MDF.