IPC International Community magazine an association member publication
Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1533344
IPC COMMUNITY 48 SPRING 2025 That's amazing, but 1,000 horsepower in a car that weighs, what, 2,500 pounds? That's crazy talk. It weighs in at 2,700 pounds, and at that power-to- weight ratio, you really don't grip the road anymore; you will just spin your wheels and obliterate your tires incredibly fast. These are smoke machines. With the Scorpion 1,000, you can do a stationary donut and it just spins on its own axis. It's a lot of power. These cars start at $200,000. Our customers don't have only one or two collection cars; they have many cars. I've been very fortunate to meet a fascinating group of people over the past three years, and it's amazing to hear their stories. How has this experience with Scorpion EV changed your core X-ray business? It's given us a much bigger appreciation of what has happened overseas from a manufacturing perspective. China is a large player in the EV market, with BYD now the largest maker of electric vehicles. Because of Scorpion EV, we established relationships with some companies in China, and now understand the Chinese market much better. It has led to partnerships for Creative Electron that we wouldn't have had before. It has opened our eyes because sometimes you have to be forced to get something done. Scorpion EV is in a specialty market, so are sales better than expected? Yes, they're better. We didn't expect to have this many people interested, especially because it's a niche group that likes and can afford an electric Cobra. It's a boutique business with a limited production of 25 cars annually, and a waiting list. We've learned that people will pay for exclusivity, so making them wait for a luxury item is a good thing. It's not just walking in and getting it, and that's why we limited production. It's the opposite with an X-ray machine; it needs to be produced as quickly as possible. We're no threat to Tesla or BYD, and that was not my intention. This started as a father-son project during COVID. That was my intention. That was three years ago, so what father- son projects do you have now? We are converting a 1976 Phantom Rolls Royce. We're also finishing a 1967 Mustang. The Rolls Royce is a very different car. It has air suspension, and the brakes are very sensitive. My son interned with us during the summer learning Python and C++ with our software team. Is your son old enough to drive these cars he's working on? He's 15, so he will be driving soon. His mom has quite a few things to say about the cars he'll be driving: It's a very short list, and the Cobra is not one of them. I recently watched Netflix's "Car Masters: Rust to Riches." They were working on a Tom Selleck "Magnum, P.I." Ferrari as a surprise gift to an unsuspecting person. To my surprise, you were that person!* * Watch "Car Masters: Rust to Riches" Season 6, Episode 8, "Tomorrow's Throwback" on Netflix