A little Ford, a little Ferrari. That’s one of the secrets behind the appeal of Revology Cars’ reproduction original Ford Mustangs. It is also a key factor that separates Orlando, Florida-based Revology Cars from typical practice in the custom shop industry.
It’s interesting to compare Revology’s production processes with those of a high-volume automaker, as they are remarkably similar. In fact, Revology has more in common with OEMs like Ford and Ferrari than with the many custom and hot rod shops that turn out high end, “one-off” builds.
“People sometimes refer to us as a custom car builder,” says Scarpello. “But we’re not. We build a manufactured product. Why is that important? There is a perception that custom is somehow better than mass produced,” says Scarpello. “Sure, for a tailored suit, it’s great. But not for a car. You don’t drive your family around in a suit,” says Scarpello.
Scarpello explains that a manufactured product delivers superior functionality, both in terms of quality, reliability, and durability, but also in the overall refinement of the vehicle. One key enabler is parts quality. A high-volume automobile plant cannot afford even the slightest variability in parts. “Cycle times – the time a vehicle averages at a line workstation – at a large automaker are in the 60 second range, so to meet that pace, every part has to be identical,” says Scarpello.
Also, the cost of rework in a high-volume plant can be significant—imagine if a bad part were discovered after only one day of production—it could be over 1,000 vehicles that must be repaired.
Finally, consider warranty cost. As if customer satisfaction were not enough of a motivator, the financial responsibility associated with warranty cost ensures OEMs don’t cut corners on quality.
Notably, Revology vehicles are backed by a manufacturer’s warranty, a practice that is exceedingly rare in the custom and hot rod world.
For all of these reasons, an OEM has to invest heavily in production tooling to produce several hundred thousand parts with consistent quality. The bottom line is that nobody can compete with the OEMs in terms of overall parts quality. This is why Revology goes to great lengths to integrate modern OEM parts into its vehicles.
As a low volume manufacturer, Revology has to be creative, however. “If you’re Ford you can specify whatever you want from the parts manufacturer, because you are so big that companies will make it for you, whereas we are so small we have to go to the market and see what exists and adapt it,” adds Scarpello.
“When we are designing a vehicle system, we look for the best of what’s available, and the best option is using OEM parts,” says Revology Cars’ chief engineer, Aaron Wright, who worked at Honda prior to joining Revology. “We are basically building a body around these high-quality parts. The axle is a good example. We’re looking for the best performance axle from a noise, vibration and harshness standpoint and for drivability. We looked for an axle that had those qualities and still met our packaging constraints, and we looked for one with components made by Ford.”
Scarpello notes that this approach involves a process known in the business as vehicle integration, which Revology takes to the next level. “We are taking existing components and integrating them into a new environment that they have never existed in before. They have to interact with other components. And we have to meet target cost.”
To achieve this level of vehicle integration, skill and experience come into play, qualities that are in strong supply at Revology Cars.
“You need a good mix of experience from OEM side and from the custom shop side to be able to understand the constraints involved in vehicle integration,” says Wright.
“It’s true you need a blend of OEM and custom mindset,” agrees Scarpello. “You have to rely on elements of both. Our cars deliver outstanding functionality because of our manufacturing approach, but they also feature an extremely high level of craftsmanship and attention to detail that can only be achieved through the intense efforts of skilled artisans.
Revology Cars’ unique blend of modern manufacturing and skilled craftsmanship is evident in the company’s insistence on having total control over the entire manufacturing process. “When we started, we outsourced paint, now we paint in house; we used to outsource the construction of the unibody but last year we brought the unibody production in house” says Scarpello. “Now we build the entire car from start to finish, like Henry Ford did. And the reason he did that was to be able to control the entire process.
“Companies in our space will farm out paint, body, upholstery, but to us those are fundamental, they are our core competencies and can’t be farmed out.”
What does all this mean to the Revology Cars customer? “You get a properly developed automobile, designed to be driven and used, versus a relatively easy to build car that looks good in your garage,” says Scarpello.
This difference is not necessarily obvious from just looking at a car. “All the work that goes into making a car work properly in every operating environment and situation, that is unseen work,” says Scarpello. “You see a nice paint job but you don’t see all the hours that went into making sure that there are no squeaks or rattles, that the gears don’t whine, that you don’t have wind noise. That’s what makes the difference and the end product is a car you can use and which will last a long time.”
Revology is the first company ever licensed by Ford to build a new reproduction Ford. It is also one of a handful of companies worldwide licensed by Shelby.
Revology offers a complete lineup of licensed reproduction 1965-1968 Mustang and Shelby GT500 and GT350 models. Detailed specifications including content and pricing can be found on the Revology Cars website at www.revologycars.com, or by contacting Revology Cars directly at (800) 974-4463 / email at info@revologycars.com