GB: Which is a step up from the 450 that was already available here in the states. The 550 is basically the same vehicle with a 5.5 V-8 in it. A monster. And it had some more details in it.
SB: Like a leather dash, a really cool, elegant car. Smooth, fast, a really nice vehicle. So our goal was to take a lot of those elements inside and complement them. Leave a lot of the interior that we like, obviously add our products, but a minimum--enough to get a nice sound system but not take up a lot of storage space. If you think about what a tow vehicle for a boat like this would be. They're probably taking people to the lake with them when they go, so it's got to have storage space for luggage. They're probably going to put wheels and tires. A lot of people like to paint match they're vehicle to their boat. The goal was to keep the vehicle practical but make it look like the boat and add some exterior details to really set it off. One of them, probably the most visually striking part of the car is that it's got 32-inch tires on 24-inch wheels... We were able to integrate it by creating a custom body kit that flares over the fenders and actually runs down the running boards as well. ... Everybody that's seen it loves the way it looks. It looks aggressive but still classy at the same time.
Inside we've got a lot of the product that shows off our high-end line, like SPX Pro speakers, which are integrated into the doors with really nice aluminum trim work. The head unit's done the same way, our brand-new IVA-505... The headrests were a big challenge because the headrests in that car...
GB: The factory headrests were two pieces and if there was one part of that car that we didn't like it was the factory headrest monitors. So we reshaped the headrests to integrate the Alpine monitors to make them look like they belonged and while we were doing that we had a little fun with the headrest pads, made them a little funkier than factory.
BD: We also had a custom-made roof rack for it.... It was the last thing to go back on. In my opinion, putting the roof rack on gave it that outdoorsy, a little off-road look. It really finishes it off.
GB: Oh, in the back of the GL, we wanted to show off our new PDX 5-channel amp... And we wanted to find a way to port the enclosure without having the port visible... We routed the port to come up through the rear side panel, and on each side panel we made matching aluminum inlays with grille mesh and on one of those is the port. You can't even see the port but you get that extra output.
SB: We made it on the CNC machine, so take the port--it's a slot port that curves--and imagine it on edge. So what Gary did was cut multiple pieces of the same piece and stack them up to create the port. So it creates the shape and it also makes it nice and stiff because you get the edge strength of the wood.
GB: That was a cool added detail and, because we were able to cut it on the CNC machine, it took about an hour and a half to build. If I had to do it by hand it would have taken all day.... And Brembo brakes, Pirelli tires.. yada yada yada.
CA&E: Well, send me the list.
BD: And thank everyone who helped. Because we had a lot of people who came and slaved away on this project.
GB: And we had fun with them. Like for five minutes here or there in the 18-hour days. We usually only got to bond during dinner and that was it. We couldn't have finished the job in time without their help. There's a long, long list of names at this point.
CA&E: So it will be a while before you do a boat or a project this size again?
SB: Oh god!
GB: Never! But hey, you forgot to ask us what we're going to do next.
CA&E: Why ask? You never tell us.
GB: A school bus!