Saturday night, Inside Line accepted an invitation to a party celebrating the grand opening of Galpin Auto Sports (GAS) (here), the newest part of Galpin Ford, opened in 1946 and the world's largest-volume Ford dealership for the last 18 years. GAS bills itself as a huge new customizing facility, able to customize or modify any vehicle to a customer's wildest imagination. On hand are a huge selection of customizing options, including more than 200 special leather selections, 200 wheel designs, and 50 different gearshift knobs, as well as specific upgrades and options organized by make. There are also numerous performance upgrades, ranging from 500-horsepower Ford Racing crate engines to Roush engines to several supercharged options. The audio/video room features a central console where customers can use a touchscreen console to sample any combination of front and rear speakers, amps, subwoofers and the like to find just the right combination. Also included is a shop with car books and apparel inspired by the designs of George Barris and Ed "Big Daddy" Roth.
The event was a stunner, with closed-off streets, huge tents and complimentary food and drink, including a full hosted bar and numerous buffets offering everything from tri-tip to clam chowder and delicious cupcakes. There was no shortage of automotive eye candy on site, including a flat-black Ford GT, an Aston Martin racecar, and a few selections from the Barris garage, including the original Batmobile and the Barber Car, and from Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, the Rat Fink customized motorcycle and the Orbitron, a spectacular bubble-top car designed by Roth in 1964 that was recently re-discovered and restored by GAS after being lost for nearly 35 years.
The entertainment line-up was as impressive as the rest of the proceedings. As GAS is the official garage of MTV's "Pimp My Ride," one of the performers was the show's host, rapper Xzibit. He was followed by Camp Freddy, an all-star rock band including Dave Navarro and Chris Chaney from Jane's Addiction, Matt Sorum from Guns and Roses and singer Donovan Leitch. They were joined on stage by such special guests as Macy Gray and Mark McGrath from Sugar Ray. If that wasn't enough, there was an auction of rock memorabilia on hand including guitars from the Rolling Stones and Neil Young, a drum kit from System of a Down, a week at Jimmy Buffet's house in Key West, Florida, all to benefit the organization Friends & Helpers (here), which helps people safely escape and recover from abusive relationships.
More images after the jump.
Oh, if you're wondering who's the pictured dude, he's Aaron Kaplan, a friend of Edmunds' Senior Copy Editor Doug Lloyd who took the photos and supplied the text.
skisupreme says:
05:26 AM, 10/21/08
While the imagery you display in your article is great...more pics please! :)
pat1usmc says:
07:00 AM, 10/21/08
Where is it located? I'm assuming California...
I wish we had more of these things on the East Coast.
rsholland says:
07:49 AM, 10/21/08
I was told in "the Valley," most likely meaning in CA. If I find out for sure, I'll post it.
rsholland says:
07:54 AM, 10/21/08
Van Nuys, CA. I just updated the post with a link to this place.
ateixeira says:
08:21 AM, 10/21/08
That motorcycle is hilarious.
mazdaspeed_jon says:
10:28 AM, 10/21/08
Why are they having a Grand-Opening now? Haven't they been open for a few years now? In fact, I remember going in there nearly 2 years ago. Are their sales doing so bad they needed a publicity stunt to find new business?
rsholland says:
10:40 AM, 10/21/08
Well, Doug got that "Grand Opening" info straight from the press release.