Drive to and Into Your Office Just Like Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson

bonspeed boy- Brad Fanshaw in the world's smallest production car.

We were walking around at the Barrett-Jackson auction last weekend when Charlie Lillard stopped
us to say hello.  Charlie a great car guy is someone we run into at all the best car destinations.  We talked cars, Charlie reminded Brad that he needs to make reservations for Chicago next November.  He wants Brad to bring his Baldwin-Motion Phase III Vega to the Muscle Car & Corvette Nationals.

In the middle of his sentence, Charlie motioned and asked if we had seen his new car.  We looked and asked, where is it?  "Over there in the corner.", replied Charlie.  Then we saw it, the world's smallest production car and when Charlie asked Brad if he wanted to sit inside, no need to ask twice.

Just sitting in this cool little car allowed fantasies of driving into the offices just like Jeremy on Top Gear!

bonspeed "Speed Cult" Sunfire Concept Sold At Barrett-Jackson 2011

The bonspeed "Speed Cult" Sunfire is shown on the auction block.

 The Pontiac Sunfire concept car that was designed and built in 2003 again visited the auction block. The car designed by Brad Fanshaw and bonspeed is called the "Speed Cult" Sunfire. This speed yellow screamer has a one-off wide body design, hand-built wing, full roll cage, carbon fiber, Air Ride suspension and black bonspeed Wheels.

Pontiac asked bonspeed to design a car that would show what could be done, an out-of-the-box version of the Sunfire. The car debuted at the LA Auto Salon in the GM booth and was a huge success. In 2005 the car was sold at Barrett-Jackson with other concepts designed and built by bonspeed.

The car was auctioned again this year along with the iconic and collectible Speed Cult bass guitar signed by bonspeed co-owner Michael Anthony.

Scottsdale in January is Car Mecca!

It's January and that means that the "bonspeed boys" and our friends are headed to Scottsdale, Arizona. Scottsdale in January is like Mecca for car guys, it has something for everyone.

There are so many car auctions you begin to wonder just how many rare cars are out there. You also realize that almost every enclosed transport company has there fleet parked in town.

From January 13th to the 21st there is the Russo and Steel auction, RM Auction, Kruse and the Barrett-Jackson event. Between these events you can find a car, an atmosphere and some fun for just about any like.

Brad Fanshaw, bonspeed's President has been attending the Barrett-Jackson event for over 20 years. Brad began trekking out to the event when he was young and could only dream of the cars that crossed the block. Now years later he has transacted over 12 vehicles at the event.

It was five years ago that Brad and his wife Charlotte introduced Michael Anthony (bonspeed co-owner) and his wife Sue to the Barrett-Jackson extravaganza. Since then they have not missed a year and have bought two cars; a GT 500 Shelby for Sue and the '57 Nomad above.

The great thing about the auction week in Arizona is you don't need to buy or sell to have fun. These events are cars shows, excitement and the car world is in attendance. So plan a trip to Scottsdale and find us, the "bonspeed boys" and say hello!

PHOTO ABOVE:
Sue, Michael their daughter Elisha and Brad on stage at Barrett-Jackson 2006. Michael was the winning bidder on this super clean 1957 Chevrolet Nomad custom. Our Friend Jim Peterson is hiding behind Brad while Mike Riley (in black T in front of auctioneer) is considering out-bidding Michael for the car.

bonspeed Boys On Speed TV!

In case you missed it over the holiday's the "bonspeed boys" were featured on Speed TV! The segment was part of the Barrett-Jackson event coverage on their show "Life on the Block" entitled; "ROCK-ON!

The show aired on December 18th and again several times including Christmas day and New Year's day. The crew at Speed TV followed Michael Anthony and Brad Fanshaw, the owners of bonspeed as they sold five of their cars and helped Sammy Hagar sell his prized Shelby GT 500.

Speed's producer Jana DeHart did a fantastic of job capturing the excitement and crazy tension of moving almost $575,000 worth of cars across the block one after another!

Watch for re-airings of the show throughout the year on Speed TV! You can also check our bonspeed website as we will post the air times as we learn of them.

Click Below to visit:
bonspeed website
Speed TV
Barret-Jackson

Edsel Ford's Hot Rod Has bonspeed Wheels!

Edsel Ford II, the grandson of Henry Ford is a real car guy, but he is also a giving guy. The bonspeed boys have had the opportunity to get to know Edsel. When asked if we would create a set of wheels for his charity '32 roadster we jumped!

Wanting the car to have the right look Edsel asked for a set of bonspeed's. We built a set of 18" wheels for the front and 20" wheels for the rear. The style is the bonspeed "V8", our retro inspired kidney bean, baby moon look. The Hot Rods and Horsepower built roadster debuted in the Ford booth at SEMA and Edsel had a big grin.

Edsel's charity is the JDRF, (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation), and he has teamed with Hot Rods & Horsepower who will build the cars. This first car, #7532001, will be signed and driven on-stage by Edsel Ford II, at the Barrett-Jackson Auction in Scottsdale, January 2007. The entire proceeds will benefit the JDRF. In addition to the premiere vehicle, Edsel Ford II will sign an additional 9 cars, each with a $25,000 premium that will be donated to the nearest local chapter of the JDRF to where the purchaser resides.

Learn More:
hotrodsandhorsepower
bonspeed Wheels

Barrett-Jackson 2006 Revisited

Every January Barrett-Jackson plops a giant tent in the Arizona desert and sells some of the finest cars, trucks and motorcycles in the world. This year bonspeed brought five concept cars and Sammy Hagar's GT500 Shelby to the event.

It was hard to see these cars cross the auction block. Each represents hours of fabrication, our original ideas and the collective creative soul of the bonspeed crew. The cars included the 2004 bonspeed X-Type Jaguar, 2003 "Speed Cult" Pontiac Sunfire, 2004 bonspeed "Banshee" F 150, 2005 bonspeed "Black Rose" Mustang GT and the 2003 Saleen "bonspeed Edition" Thunderbird.

Sure we emptied the warehouse and refueled the bank account by selling these cars. Still it was difficult to see the cars drive away. in one case literally. The new owner of the F-150 drove his new purchase home, even after I advised against it. The bonspeed concepts are not just show cars they are one-off vehicles built for the factories and really represent part of american car culture and history. It was nice to know these enthusiasts bought our cars out of the 1500 or so at the event, but deep down I had hoped they would go to a museum or maybe a foreign country. Some place I could visit them regularly or that far off land where I would never again see them.

The F-150 buyers trip home, Phoenix to Palm Springs, it is just what the truck was built to do, however, I recommended, after you familiarize yourself with the GT motored six-speed road demon. I also directed him to the fiberglass front fascia and like all of the bonspeed concepts, it represented the only one in the world. A late night run across the desert might prove fatal to such a part!

Maybe I'm just an automotive parent who hates to see the kids leave or maybe deep down I wish they still had a place in my warehouse?

It was the Monday after Barrett-Jackson and the phone rang at the office, it was him! I wondered, what happened is my truck wrecked...ummm....is his truck wrecked? Worse, maybe it was something mechanical and he was stranded in some desert town and totally pissed at me. I picked up the phone and his cheery voice exclaimed something to the effect of, "What a truck! I got 18 miles to the gallon and it drove perfect, I love this thing.

I hope the other cars are appreciated and will be put to good use, I even hope to see them again some day. Now it is time to begin filling that warehouse again and we have already begun working on two new concept cars here at the bonspeed studios. When the time is right we will tell you about them here. We will design them, build them and some day sell them.

See the cars at: www.bonspeed.com
Also Visit the new bonspeed homepage

bonspeed Turns Up the Bass

The bonspeed studio designs and builds trend-setting cars, clothing, watches and accessories. Recently, we also designed some innovative Yamaha guitars!

Michael Anthony, the bass player of the legendary rock group Van Halen is also one of bonspeeds owners. Because Michael and everyone at bonspeed have a love of hot rods and rock-n-roll the graphic ideas came easily!

Designed at the bonspeed studio each bass was crafted at Yamaha’s custom shop in Hollywood, by John Gaudesi. Each guitar began with one of Michael’s signature models. John at Yamaha put hours into each guitar to ensure that the graphics stayed true to our designs.

Here is the scoop on each Yamaha bass (Left to Right):

• bonspeed “Black Rose” Bass
This Yamaha bass has a gloss Black base paint and Pearl Black graphics that match the hood of the “Black Rose” Mustang GT concept car. The graphics are positioned on the head and the body has bonspeed in red. This guitar was given to the lucky winning bidder of the bonspeed “Black Rose” at the recent Barrett-Jackson auction. Michael was on-hand to autograph the guitar!

• “Speed Cult” Sunfire Bass (Shown with Michael Anthony)
Painted to match the gargoyle graphics on the GM concept car, built by bonspeed this bass is painted a bright “Road Stripe” Yellow. This guitar was given to the winning bidder of the bonspeed “Speed Cult” Sunfire at the recent Barrett-Jackson auction. Michael was on-hand to autograph the guitar!

• “banshee F-150” bonspeed Logo “b” Guitar
The bonspeed supertruck came complete with its own matching guitar as well! The dark Currant colored bass has the bonspeed “b” graphically angled across the Yamaha body. The new owner of the bonspeed Ford F-150 also had Michael lay some ink down on his new bass.

• Ford GT40 Gulf Bass (Center)
the team at bonspeed also designed this bass that pays tribute to the famous Gulf Oil sponsored, Ford GT40 race cars. Michael took delivery of a new 2005 Ford GT and it was displayed at SEMA with 20” bonspeed wheels. Custom wheels were not enough, so we designed this bass to display with his new car.

Michael will play this Yamaha bass on-stage when he tours this summer with Sammy Hagar. Visit Michael’s, Mad Anthony Cafe website for tour dates!

www.bonspeed.com
www.madanthonycafe.com
www.van-halen.com

Barrett-Jackson Where bonspeed Sold Out!

Every January Barrett-Jackson plops a giant tent in the Arizona desert and sells some of the finest cars, trucks and motorcycles in the world. This year bonspeed brought five concept cars and Sammy Hagar's GT500 Shelby to the event.

It was hard to see these cars cross the auction block. Each represents hours of fabrication, our original ideas and the collective creative soul of the bonspeed crew. The cars included the 2004 bonspeed X-Type Jaguar, 2003 "Speed Cult" Pontiac Sunfire, 2004 bonspeed "Banshee" F 150, 2005 bonspeed "Black Rose" Mustang GT and the 2003 Saleen "bonspeed Edition" Thunderbird.

Sure we emptied the warehouse and refueled the bank account by selling these cars. Still it was difficult to see the cars drive away. in one case literally. The new owner of the F-150 drove his new purchase home, even after I advised against it. The bonspeed concepts are not just show cars they are one-off vehicles built for the factories and really represent part of american car culture and history. It was nice to know these enthusiasts bought our cars out of the 1500 or so at the event, but deep down I had hoped they would go to a museum or maybe a foreign country. Some place I could visit them regularly or that far off land where I would never again see them.

The F-150 buyers trip home, Phoenix to Palm Springs, it is just what the truck was built to do, however, I recommended, after you familiarize yourself with the GT motored six-speed road demon. I also directed him to the fiberglass front fascia and like all of the bonspeed concepts, it represented the only one in the world. A late night run across the desert might prove fatal to such a part!

Maybe I'm just an automotive parent who hates to see the kids leave or maybe deep down I wish they still had a place in my warehouse?

It was the Monday after Barrett-Jackson and the phone rang at the office, it was him! I wondered, what happened is my truck wrecked...ummm....is his truck wrecked? Worse, maybe it was something mechanical and he was stranded in some desert town and totally pissed at me. I picked up the phone and his cheery voice exclaimed something to the effect of, "What a truck! I got 18 miles to the gallon and it drove perfect, I love this thing.

I hope the other cars are appreciated and will be put to good use, I even hope to see them again some day. Now it is time to begin filling that warehouse again and we have already begun working on two new concept cars here at the bonspeed studios. When the time is right we will tell you about them here. We will design them, build them and some day sell them.

See the cars at: www.bonspeed.com