The Ultimate Retro Mod
Classic Reflection
Coachworks, located in Lakewood Washington, has dedicated itself to creating the finest classic
Corvette retro mods on the market. The company was the result of Doug Graff’s,
the company’s owner, passion and search for the perfect Corvette. That passion
was realized after retiring. Unlike most
retirees Doug immersed himself and his family in building a company that has
become a benchmark in the retro mod world.
The CRC journey started when
Doug successfully modified the chassis of a 1993 anniversary Corvette and mated
it to the body of a 1962 Corvette. At the time this was just one of Doug’s many
hobbies. In the real world he was
President of National Distributing Corp. a wholesale company that distributed Budweiser
products.
After 31 years of service
dedicated to the wholesale business the family owned business was sold and Doug
was left to savor the joys of a peaceful retirement, or so he thought. The original 1993/62
Corvette retro mod became the spark that started Doug’s new venture, Classic
Reflection Coachworks.
Doug’s real passion had
always centered on cars and engineering.
In 2001, Doug talked his wife Carolyn into taking pretty much all of
their retirement funds and investing in a Corvette retro mod business. His goal envisioned making classic Corvettes
that were comfortable and practical to drive. Doug’s better half didn't bat an
eye and knew he could pull it off.
Carolyn cringed when he drove a brand new 2001 roadster home with 5
miles on it and started dismantling it.
Doug’s first project
utilized one side of an actual stock '62 Vette, and pieced it together on the
larger C5 chassis until it looked proportional to him. The finished product had
to fit his vision of what a CRC classic should look like. He hired phantom Works, a division of Boeing
that digitally scanned the Corvette body and converted it to a 3D CAD program.
This type of reverse engineering is the same technology that is used ion
aircraft design. Using Boeing software and computers allowed the body shape to
be refined into a “Class-A” surface which ensures specification preciseness which
is well beyond the human eyes perception ability.
Using the data generated
from the CAD design, a half scale model was created using a 5-axis milling
machine. The next step was to create molds
that would be needed to build the final high-temp vacuum molds used for all body
panels of the CRC retro mod.
The body material that CRC uses
is made from a Carbon Balanced System referred to as CBS manufactured the SPRINT
Corporation that is based in the UK. The same type
of material is also used for parts on other high end cars such as the McClaren,
Bentley and Aston Martin. The CBS
material was chosen for its strength, quality, and more importantly its “coolness
factor”. Parts are placed in molds
and then vacuum sealed and cured at high temperatures. CBS material has a surfacing film that
prevents any carbon pattern bleed though. It is also treated with a special
DuPont paint system that was developed for use on this material.
All of CRC’s projects begin
with a customer supplied “donor” vehicle.
CRC can utilize any C5 (1998-2004) or C6 (2005 - 2012) roadster for the
conversion. CRC does not buy or sell
donor vehicles but can aid in their acquisition. After the “donor’ vehicle is received at the
CRC facility in Lakewood, WA the conversion process to a “58 -62” Corvette
roadster can commence.
Build lead time for a
completed project is approximately 12 weeks.
Every panel on the C5 or C6 is replaced with a specially prepared CRC
panel. The panels are custom fit, trimmed
and painted in any color that the customer chooses.
The CRC classic can be
optioned out and customized as per the customers’ requests. Most of the popular
options include, touch screen Navigation, back up cameras, complete leather
wrapped interior, dynamat sound deadening, custom brake systems, two-tone coves
and heated seats. 14 molds and over 200
pieces of material are required in the manufacturing process. A completed CRC
Corvette takes over 800 man hours in labor to complete.
The first CRC classic
Corvette made its debut at the SEMA show in 2004. The whole family went to the Vegas show to
help out. There were 12 people working
the small show booth with only one CRC Corvette and a little signage. Doug initially planned for three to five
sales per year. The conservative sales predictions fit into his so called
retirement scheme. That plan changed
when he ended up selling orders for fourty here projects.
On the first day of the show
Doug was not prepared to take any deposit money. On the second day of the show the buyers
returned and Doug took cash, checks and wrote receipts on napkins.
The excitement was
overwhelming for Doug and his team. They were also stumped on just what to do
next. CRC had no shop, only two
employees and not enough equipment to build forty three cars.
After returning home Doug located
a 20,000 sq ft shop, rented another 10,000 sq ft for the composite shop, put in
all state of the art equipment and hired 25 employees.
CRC has completed over one
hundred classic retro mods, there is a three month waiting list for new orders. Custom options on CRC built
cars include but are not limited to; Dynamat sound deadening, superchargers, custom
leather interiors, custom EVOD two-tone coves, touch screen navigation with
back up cameras and hands free phone connect, heated seats, powder coated
calipers and vintage engine covers usually painted to match the car.
Classic Reflection Coachworks
4425 100th Street SW
Suite H
Lakewood, WA 98499
(253) 582-583
The Vette Nuts
