SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/643686
S CORE fans would have a hard time believing that a hot- rod and muscle car shop would know the first thing about building a high-end pre-runner. Yet, the folks at The Roadster Shop in Mundelin, Illinois built a 2015 Chevrolet Colorado that not only looks cool, but was a serious build that attracted the attention of the off-road racing community. The first thing one needs to know about The Roadster Shop is that they've built award- winning rides, including GM Design awards and GoodGuys Trendsetter Of The Year. "We pride ourselves on being a shop that can really tackle any type of build anything anyone throws at us," says Chris Gray, Designer at The Roadster Shop. "We have assembled a phenomenal team here with a massive spectrum of interests and skill sets." Why a hot-rod shop would want to build a desert pre- runner comes from the owners of the Roadster Shop, Jeremy, Phil and their father Neal Gerber, who have been into off- road and rails for a long time. According to Gray, the family has built and owned various dune/ desert vehicles. "From a design and engineering standpoint, pre-runners and off-road race type vehicles have an appeal that really speaks to us as a hot-rod shop," says Gray. "They are designed with a purpose, engineered to be bombproof, and look awesome doing it! High horsepower and purpose- built chassis and suspension are really what we do!" With a relationship with GM that spans several years, the team at the Roadster Shop was given an opportunity to build a vehicle for the GM SEMA Vehicle Program in 2015. The team selected the Colorado as a way to do something unique with the truck platform. "Jeremy, Phil, our lead engineer Mike O'Brien and I sat down to discuss the project, and decided pretty much right away that we wanted to build a pre-runner Colorado," said Gray. "We also decided that if we were going to do it, we weren't going to go the easy route and bolt a lift-kit, light bar, big tires, throw on some stickers, and call it done. This would be a complete teardown and ground up engineering challenge to make WITH FOX RACING SHOCKS AND 37-INCH BFGOODRICH KR2 TIRES, THE COLORADO ISN'T JUST FOR SHOW. MOSTLY KNOWN FOR ITS AWARD WINNING HOT-RODS, THE ROADSTER SHOP TOOK ON BUILDING AN OFF-ROAD PRE- RUNNER FROM A 2015 CHEVY COLORADO PICKUP. 057 SCORE JOURNAL