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Driving well is the best Revenge 8/15/2008

Category: General News
Publisher: Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly
Author: Doug LeDuc
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News Source:
Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly

Driving well is the best Revenge
Decatur company will unveil new ‘super car’ later this year
By Doug LeDuc

Revenge Designs is looking toward a busy fourth quarter with the launch of an All American GTM Super Car and marketing of major modifications it came up with earlier this summer for the Honda Ridgeline sport truck and Pontiac Solstice convertible.

The Decatur-based company, which converts standard production vehicles into wild-looking, attention-grabbing cars and trucks, employs eight workers in a 10,000-square-foot production facility it completed renovating early this year.

“We had a few more (employees), but with the way the economy has slowed up and the price of gas and dealers not selling cars, we have pulled back a little bit,” said Peter Collorafi, president and chief executive officer.

The company has converted about 20 cars since it opened in Decatur in 2006, he said. The modifications can cost “from $2,500 to $30,000, it just depends on the customer requirements,” he said.

Revenge executives hope that business picks up as 2009 models of the Ridgeline and Solstice become available, and the company has a goal of selling 250 Super Cars per year.

The company’s Web site says the GTM Super Car will feature a six-speed, sequential fast-action electronic shift “to handle the 500 to 650 horsepower GM performance engine.”

Other features will include “20-inch by 325 (millimeter) rear tires, six piston calipers, aircraft-style leather sports interior, digital instrumentation, large touch-screen navigation system, reverse cameras, premium sound system, hands-free phone, driver-controlled adjustable suspension, integrated air conditioning and DNA VIN number-recorded security system.”

Revenge will make $90,000 and $130,000 versions of the GTM Super Car, which Collorafi said will be quicker and have better fuel economy than a comparable $300,000 Lamborghini or Ferrari because it will be more than 1,000 pounds lighter.

“The vehicle is about to release in four months,” Collorafi said. “We have three in production at the moment. These are hand-built cars. We’ll be selling them ourselves.”

The company plans to make the GMT Super Car available through a network it is establishing of two dealers in each state. Owners will be able to take the GMT Super Car to any General Motors Corp. dealership for maintenance and repairs, he said.

When it comes to the company’s redesign of modifications for the 2009 Ridgeline and Solstice, “the shapes coming out at the moment will be in place for three years, but if you had owned a 2008 or 2007 Ridgeline, you could bring that to us and we’ve designed a kit to suit the previous models,” Collorafi said.

The new modifications have generated excitement at dealerships, car club meets and other events where Revenge has shown them off, he said.

And the company’s work earned industry respect last year when General Motors presented it with an award for best exterior design for a passenger car or truck for Revenge’s Pontiac GTO modifications. The award was presented at the Specialty Equipment Marketing Association’s spring expo in Atlanta.

Products the company uses to “bling up” vehicles include the Revenge wheel, aerodynamic wing and sports mirror, short shifter kit, stainless steel exhaust system, performance brakes, Harrop supercharger, differential parts and a carbon-fiber rear garnish that features the Revenge logo.

Revenge upgrades of the Honda Ridgeline enable dealers who offer them to sell the vehicle at a lower base price “than the Honda dealer down the road, but still make money on the extras,” Collorafi said.

“Dealers are having a hard time at the moment getting customers to come in, mainly due to the employment situation,” he said. “We just try to make the cars look more exotic, more sporty, to help the dealers get the customer to cross the line.”