Ian James, Professional Racer and EQUUS Automotive brand ambassador introduces the BASS770 at the NAIAS in Detroit.
Photo by Rick Garcia
By Rick Garcia
This year’s North American International Auto Show pulled out the punches. Over 5,000 journalists from around the world snapped, clicked, recorded and scribbled their qualified opinions on hundreds of showcased automobiles.
The media have already scoured reviews on all car of the year winners which were swept-up by General Motors for Chevrolet’s Corvette Stingray and Silverado truck. Other notables included Ford’s new 150’s new light aluminum frame-shaving-off 700 pounds; Cadillac’s CTS and the list goes on and on with a plethora of motor aficionados giving play by play tech specs and features any car enthusiast can appreciate.
Not being a “motor-geek” my angle was on the show itself and how well-orchestrated each manufacturer exhibited. After following the anticipated NAIAS car and truck of the year and 10-15 minute press shows at Subaru, Infiniti, Acura, and Tesla, I decided to take the lesser road traveled downstairs to Michigan Hall. To my delight, I was able to take part in and an official “unveiling of a niche, handcrafted Grand Touring (GT) car unknown to many…EQUUS Automotive, Inc.
Ian James, a professional race car driver from England and EQUUS Brand Ambassador, led the ceremony of its official U.S. Market Launch in Detroit.
Not to be confused with Hyundai’s similarly named luxury sedan, EQUUS kickoff and exhibit was not a big-three glitzy floor show, but rather a simple, yet elegant black backdrop showcasing three jewel-like muscle cars, red, white, red and blue. The cars seem to have similar body lines of a Mustang or a Plymouth GTX. More intriguing is the emblem “EQUUS” accompanied by a metallic running horse. (Equus is horse in Latin). Mr. James discounted this common observation and explained that it got its inspiration from the “classics” and is clearly original in overall feature and components.
Mr. James outlined the features of the EQUUS BASS770 – a handcrafted 640 horsepower, 6.2 Liter supercharged aluminum V8 with a power delivered through a 6 speed manual rear-mounted dual clutch transmission. According to James, The EQUUS BASS770 is born of an abiding passion for genuine 1960-70’s muscle cars bringing together the best of the 211st century American technological savoir-faire.
With a retail price around $250,000, these custom-built cars are really targeted for the high-wealth consumer.
“It’s a clean-sheet-of-paper design from the ground up,” Mr. James said. “What we’ve tried to do is incorporate everything that people have loved in past styling into one modern-day car with all the safety reliability and convenience that you can drive every day.”
The new company, based in Rochester, Michigan, employs 25 and is funded by two silent wealthy European businessmen from Spain and France both having a passion for classic muscle cars. According to James, the company has a capacity to build 100 cars a year and currently has 20 orders from overseas. According to Mr. James, production will start soon, with the first cars being delivered in about three months. The first U.S. orders are expected to be filled six to eight months down the road.
However, some major parts, such as the powertrain and safety components, are sourced from other suppliers and manufacturers. Equus says its aluminum body panels are outsourced to stamping operations in Michigan and California. The engine and transmission are produced by General Motors, who have no formal alliance with EQUUS.
I admire this boutique car company, which has a few attributes one can appreciate: Innovation, Passion, Entrepreneurism, and of course, Home-grown. As a small contender, EQUUS has the makings of a scaled-down multi-national auto manufacturer – a truly a global partnership where the demand spans around the world, is produced in the U.S. and more important, in Michigan.
This article was printed in the January 26, 2014 – February 8, 2014 edition.
