PAS MAG 10th Anniversary (2000-2010) - 2004

Dial 911 - Volume 6 Issue 4

One of the more memorable Porsches of years past had to be that of Patrick Nguyen from Atlanta, GA. Starting with a 996 twin turbo, he developed the unreal Patritti S-GT Biturbo. This completely redesigned Porsche is as wildly exotic as we’ve seen. Nguyen’s trained eye gravitated towards creating the sensual supercar lines of wild Italian exotics, but he seeked to practical performance of fine German engineering. This impeccable creation blends the rarity and spirit of vehicles like a Ferrari Enzo or legendary F50 into a truly flawless German exotic. At first glance, what many often mistake for a mid-mounted Formula One V10 lurking below the rear glass is actually 3,000 watts of bass stomping Xtant audio. The unique sound system was designed and disguised to look like a mid-engine powerplant!

At the 2004 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Alpine launched yet another audio assault on the senses of show spectators with this 2003 Mini Cooper S Speedster. And much like its predecessors, this “topless” Mini takes center stage in front of every crowd. The duo of Steve Brown and Mike Vu of Alpine’s Advanced Application R&D team are behind this outrageous creation. The most dramatic feature of the Mini was its chopped roof (well before BMW attempted it at the factory level). Brown and Vu constructed a massive eight-foot-long sled as the standout feature. To sample the Alpine demo car, the sled slides rearward five feet to allow a would-be listener to climb in to the custom fabricated Plexiglas seat. Once aboard, the sled returns to its center resting position and the single passenger is situated perfectly to sample Alpine’s latest.