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Posted Nov 10 2011, 08:00 PM by Vaughn Gittin Jr with 2 comment(s)

What up Speedhunters! Just before SEMA, the Hot Rod Magazine team came out to shoot the Mustang RTR-X and I had to break editor Mike Finnegan into drifting properly. Mike is damn cool, obviously a car nut, and he also races insane jet boats. Like many, he was one of those guys that has seen drifting and likes watching it, but didn’t really “get it”. It was my job to represent and let him see why we love the sport so much. Back to back 100mph+ entries in the Team Need for Speed RTR-X and my Monster Energy Falken Tire Ford Mustang was just what he needed to fall in love, mission accomplished! Check out this video the Hot Rod team made and see how much fun we had out at El Toro!

- Vaughn Gittin Jr. 

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Posted May 16 2011, 06:00 PM by Vaughn Gittin Jr with 57 comment(s)

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After almost exactly a year from its conception, I was able to take the RTR-X on a maiden voyage. Willow Springs was the location we chose for the flogging to commence. There has been a ton of work by an incredible team to get the car to this point and I simply could not wait to get behind the wheel of our creation. While the following pictures show that the RTR-X is obviously not a "trailer queen", it did roll up in my new hauler. She does enjoy getting her beauty rest on the lower deck...
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Posted Apr 20 2011, 10:25 PM by Vaughn Gittin Jr with 36 comment(s)

After one year, a lot of hard work by some amazing people, and a few curveballs, the Team Need for Speed RTR-X is officially ALIVE!!! The Twins Turbo crew buttoned up all of the tedious final assembly, MoTeC put some finishing touches on the engine wiring side of things, and Shane T. came and worked his tuning magic to take control of this Ford 5.0L Boss 302 motor, controlling all four cams individually with the MoTeC M800 and getting it to rev so clean and sound like the beast you hear in the video! I am very impressed with the 401 HP and 378 FT/LBS TQ to the rear wheels he was able to make safe enough for my foot on 91 octane fuel. It should be amazing to drive as it is, and pretty insane with race fuel/E85 and a set of cams (in the future).

I will be testing the car for the first time at the end of the month and needless to say, I can't wait! I am looking forward to sharing the results with everyone. Huge thanks to everyone that worked so hard to make this dream build come to reality, and thanks to everyone for being so involved from the beginning, especially the Speedhunters readers.

- Vaughn Gittin Jr. 

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Posted Feb 16 2011, 01:00 PM by Vaughn Gittin Jr with 35 comment(s)

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Since my last update, the entire crew over at Twins Turbo have been working real hard transforming the Team Need For Speed RTR-X from looking the part at SEMA to being ready to hit the track\street. We are now coming down the home stretch and it is almost time to take the RTR-X out on it's maiden voyage! I plan to break it in the right way; there will be no 6000 RPM clutch-kicks, absolutely no yanks on the E-brake, I will never mash the right pedal to the floor, and I promise it will never touch...
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Posted Dec 24 2010, 12:26 PM by Vaughn Gittin Jr with 20 comment(s)

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I know it's been a while since I last updated everyone on the progress of the RTR-X and I would love to blame it on a long vacation in the Carribean, but unfortunately that's not the case! ;) Sad truth is I finally am just getting my head above water from the insanity and aftermath of winning the Formula Drift Championship and SEMA fun, amongst many other fun things going on. It has been flattering getting messages and emails with interest to see more updates. The love for the RTR-X that...
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Posted Oct 26 2010, 01:00 PM by Vaughn Gittin Jr with 33 comment(s)

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The RTR-X made its way over to Auto Explosion in Gardena, California for final body work and paint. This team was recommended to me by multiple people as "THE MEN" who would do an incredible job within the two week deadline we had for paint. Incredible is nothing short of what we need the product to be. And due to all the custom metal work, the body men had their work cutout for them for sure. Estiban (the owner) and his son Damian are all about the project and I am happy to be working...
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Posted Oct 25 2010, 02:30 PM by Vaughn Gittin Jr with 36 comment(s)

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Since the last update, the RTR-X went back to Mark Delong in San Diego to finish up some of the metal magic he was completing. With SEMA approaching rapidly and the fact that we are about six weeks behind the "dream" schedule, we had to literally pry it out of his hands and get it back to Steen Chassis and Twins Turbo so that we could ensure this beast is going to make the big show known as SEMA. While the majority of the metal work was complete, there was still a bit more to do on top...
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Posted Sep 24 2010, 09:50 AM by Andy Blackmore with 45 comment(s)

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My turn to talk on the RTR-X Build Progress! Earlier this week, I made a quick trip down to California to meet up with Vaughn Gittin Jr and see the Team Need for Speed Mustang RTR-X in the flesh for the first time. It has come a long way since our vision was born and the concept images produced. It is great to see the car in the flesh, it looks awesome and has the stance. It has been a great experience as Vaughn and myself are on the same page. A real pleasure…..although I haven’t taken...
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Posted Sep 20 2010, 07:30 AM by Vaughn Gittin Jr with 100 comment(s)

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Over the last month, the RTR-X has been in San Diego with Mark Delong. Mark has been hand-sculpting and leading the body since he took delivery. I was determined to make sure everything done to the body was done the "right" way using only metal. While I knew it was definately going to delay the project, I refused to do the body modifications any other way. As you can see it has come quite far in regards to the body work. All of the work is obviously a work in progress, but I wanted to share...
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Posted Aug 18 2010, 06:00 AM by Vaughn Gittin Jr with 62 comment(s)

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Well... here it is as promised! The first picture of the RTR-X off of the chassis plate on the ground and rolling (with the help of a little man-power). As per my last update, most everything had been fabbed up and there were just a few things that needed to be buttoned up, reinforced, and final welds applied. As you can see the crew at Steen Chassis once again pulled through as promised with exceptional quality. Here you can see the Wilwood hubs are on and allowing our mockup wheels to roll. The...
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Posted Aug 09 2010, 09:00 AM by Vaughn Gittin Jr with 29 comment(s)

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The RTR-X build is full-steam ahead. Gary and his son Jayson at Steen Chassis have been working long nights and weekends to keep us on schedule, which at this point is helping us buy some time for the final stretch before SEMA. We need all the extra reserve time we can get for any unforseen issues. At this point, every single day until load-in for SEMA is alloted to complete the car so it can be ready to drive into SEMA. As you can see from this picture a lot of progress has been made on the the...
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Posted Jul 20 2010, 12:15 PM by Vaughn Gittin Jr with 45 comment(s)

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A couple weeks ago I headed out to California for a "meeting of the minds" of sorts. Since the build of the car is moving so rapidly from concept to reality, we had to regroup and make sure we were all on the same page. Most importantly, we had to land on a direction of the metal-work details on the body such as trim, drip rails, the custom metal work on the rear, as well as window-mounting options. This proved to be one of the most important meetings yet; the RTR-X plan really evolved...
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Posted Jun 22 2010, 12:45 PM by Vaughn Gittin Jr with 32 comment(s)

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Over the last month the team over at Steen Chassis has been hammering away on the RTR-X. While they have been slaving, cutting, and welding, I have been chasing parts, working with partners, confirming timelines, and working on the next steps with the Twins. We are still on pretty much perfect schedule and we hope to keep the momentum going. Most all of the chassis components have arrived, including the unbelievable custom Art Morrison subframe they built for us. Another piece of functional art work;...
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Posted Jun 19 2010, 07:30 PM by Linhbergh with 29 comment(s)

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After Formula D Atlanta we hauled our rig up to Pennsylvania to RT Tuning, a performance car outfit based in Reading, PA. This is where I stored our unit until Round 3 in New Jersey to save the 6000mile drive to LA and back. Vince and Matt Petty of RT Tuning were talking about a grassroots drift event they run each year at Englishtown, New Jersey. East Coast Bash as they called it and it was happening the weekend before Formula D. This was something I really wanted to take part in! I planned my flights...
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Posted Jun 03 2010, 10:00 AM by Andy Blackmore with 5 comment(s)

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Head over to the desktop section of Speedhunters to download one of two desktops of the Team Need for Speed RTR-X Concept Images, complete with the new livery. Available in Widescreen and Standard formats. -Andy Blackmore RTR-X Build on Speedhunters Speedhunters Desktops

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Posted Jun 01 2010, 01:30 PM by Vaughn Gittin Jr with 51 comment(s)

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Here are the new 3D renderings of the RTR-X for you all to check out. Thanks to Andy for working over the weekend to get them done in time for today's press release that you can check out HERE . I hope you all agree that these views do the car a bit more justice then the 2D renderings posted last week. More build updates to come in the very near future! Formula D Round 3 in New Jersey here I come! - Vaughn Gittin Jr.
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Posted May 27 2010, 09:00 AM by Vaughn Gittin Jr with 54 comment(s)

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First of all, thank you for the overwhelming response and feedback to the RTR-X Livery. I thought this would be a really cool way to involve everyone in the build and with over 1000 comments (a new record for Speedhunters), I would say the involvement way over-exceeded my expectations. It was really cool to see everyone's opinions and detailed thoughts on the livery - a few of you really had me thinking. For me it was a really tough decision between "A" and "E". "A"...

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Posted May 25 2010, 06:00 PM by Andy Blackmore

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Just a quick reminder Speedhunters! Voting for the Team Need for Speed Mustang RTR-X Livery ends soon. Hop over the original post and place your vote. Don't worry if your comment doesn't appear straight away, it will be counted. It looks like a two-pony (sorry!) race at the moment. Thanks to everyone who has voted! -Andy Blackmore Vote the RTR-X Livery

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Posted May 24 2010, 06:30 AM by Vaughn Gittin Jr with 1,037 comment(s)

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Finalizing the livery, one of the most important aspects of the RTR-X, has been a challenge to say the least. Andy Blackmore is so good at making anything look good in renderings that every idea we had looked incredible. I have spent a lot of time staring at all options and I am in love with all five of these livery options and am reaching out to you (Speedhunter's readers) to help make the final decision on which livery to go with. The base color of all of the options is the same graphite metallic...
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Posted May 21 2010, 12:30 PM by Vaughn Gittin Jr with 25 comment(s)

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Here is the current state of what is to become the RTR-X. Our brand new Dynacorn body was delivered boxed up and on a flat bed. Once unloaded, the guys at Steen Chassis opened their present; a hunk of beautiful metal a.k.a. a '69 Mustang body that will without a doubt be keeping them busy over the next couple of months! The first thing they did was get the car in the air leveled and measured out. Then they chopped the front end off the car since we won't be needing it, as it will be getting...
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