Celli Cell of Arizona is a venture capitalist who invests in car audio; that is, in his own vehicle. An enthusiast for a good number of years, he wanted his latest project to turn heads and make passers-by marvel at every aspect of the transformed SUV. He combed the show scene for prospective rides and found the perfect platform in this '99 Chevy Tahoe. All of the exterior modifications had already been completed, but that left the interior wide open for a multimedia system that would express Celli's car audio style. First we'll cover all of the mods that complement the a/v system, and that make this beautiful orange Tahoe just jump off the pages at you, starting with the exterior.
ExteriorThis Tahoe started life as a black two-door with a roof rack. Crazy Customs in San Marcos, CA was the first stop where the majority of the modifications would be made. The staff there got started by installing an air bag suspension system complete with a four-linked rear end and quick air. Next up was the body. There was a long list of changes for that. The most drastic mod is the body drop. The whole outside of the floor was cut and the outer body shell dropped three inches; then it was re-welded via sheet metal to the original floor board. The door handles, tailgate handle, third brake light, antenna, and roof rack were all shaved for that ultimate smooth look. The tail lights were removed and replaced with Cadillac Eldorado tail lights, frenched in their places. The front end is a 2000 Cadillac Escalade front clip which was chosen to complete the Caddy style conversion. A billet grill was installed to further enhance the front of the vehicle and the final mod to the body came with the installation of an ASC sunroof.
The rough body work was handled by the guys at Crazy Customs and the detailed body work would be performed at the next stop, New Image Autobody and Paint in Temecula, CA. Chip Hodgson, the owner of the shop, spent countless hours making this vehicle perfectly smooth and applying the PPG Orange Pearle paint. The result reflects the time invested. The finished product has a better and straighter body finish than factory. Then it was time for the custom front and rear fender wells which were constructed to accept the 20" tires from BFGoodrich. These are wrapped around 20 x 8 Colorado Customs Rush billet wheels. Finishing off the exterior is an extremely wild tribal tint job done by Mike's Tint Shop. If you thought the outside was wild just take a look at the interior.
InteriorThe Tahoe gets a whole new look on the inside that matches the outside through and through. The dashboard was removed, smoothed and paint matched to the exterior. All the factory plastic panels were removed, covered with leopard print material and re-installed. The headliner was also recovered in the same material. The factory seats were reshaped and re-covered by interior expert simply called Marv. The door panels were thrown away and complete custom models were made of fiberglass to accommodate the sound system that would be installed. The center console was taken out and the entire interior on the floor from the tailgate to the dash was made of fiberglass to house all of the in-car entertainment components. The rear seat, also covered with the leopard print material, was also removed, and new rear seats were shaped into the fiberglass masterpiece.