When Shaun Ross picked up a 1998 Ford F150, he had some big plans for it. Right from the get-go, Ross wanted to turn his maroon baby into a full-fledged show vehicle. As a venture capitalist living around the Daytona Beach, Florida area, he knew that his vehicle needed to turn some heads. This is a town known for Spring Break, a four-week period in March and April where youngsters just go wild. This is also the time where the nights are filled with many of the nicest vehicles from all over the nation cruising A1-A (the strip). His modifications started with the exterior. The puny factory wheels were replaced with massive 20" Lexani wheels dressed in Yokohama 245/40-20's all around. Chasitech airbags and springs round out the suspension and give the pickup a stouter stance. A Stillen front air dam, clear corner lenses and a custom hood round out the exterior modifications. The 4.6 liter V-8 under the hood received a K&N air filter, JBA headers, and a Flow Masters exhaust for performance. The exhaust also adds a pleasant tone that roars like a hungry Tiger when you mash the pedal. Three high power strobes (red, white, and blue) light up the streets in each corner of the truck.
When the system was originally done, the installation was "pretty good" according to Ross. One night, he decided to take the vehicle for a night out on the town with a friend. They went to a club in West Palm Beach and parked the vehicle right in front of the club. He tipped the doorman to watch it for him and went inside for a few hours. When he came back out in the wee hours of the morning, he thought he was having a nightmare. His truck was completely stripped. Everything was gone (TVs, DVD, VCR, etc.) except for the alarm brain, which was on the ground next to the truck. "Thank god for insurance," states Ross. His job description is as follows, "Person who makes money available for investment in innovative enterprises or research, especially in high technology, in which both the risk of loss and the potential for profit may be considerable." How fitting!
Arched ConsoleWhen the insurance money came in, he went back over to Evolution Audio Design in Daytona Beach for another system. There installers, Jeremy Carlson, Scott Palmieri, and Steve Wilkinson went to work on the truck again. The second time around, the installation process was somewhat facilitated because the original installation was already prepped with Tsunami Silencer sound deadening material (the thieves left that in the truck). This gave the trio more time to work their magic.
One of the most unique aspects of the installation is the center console. There are actually three parts to it consisting of two arches and a bottom section. Starting at the dash, the bottom portion flows all the way into the rear seats. The console comes out from underneath the dash and is immediately met up with a Sega Dreamcast that was molded into the console. The bottom portion continues to the rear, but there is an arch that comes up from the floor behind the Sega Dreamcast and splits into two pieces (left and right side). These two sections act as the armrest for the front and rear seats. The two pieces then come together again behind the rear seats and flow into the subwoofer area. Up front, where the arch actually splits, Carlson installed five switches for Ross to activate such functions as his strobe lights (two switches to operate different patterns), back up camera, Sega Dreamcast, and neon. Just behind the switches, in between the front seats is another arch that starts from the floor and travels towards the rear of the truck. At the end of the arch is an Alpine TME-M750 6.5-inch widescreen monitor for the rear seat passengers.