In a competition that "took hot-rodding back to its SoCal roots," the SoCal Speed Shop--the entity founded by original hot-rod hero Alex Xydias and now helmed by Pete Chapouris--finally won the AMBR.

GM and the SoCal Speed Shop team up to create a 21st-century version of Alex Xydias' famed Belly Tank. The Ecotec Lakester is an exploration of what a modern belly-tank land speed record car would ...

So-Cal Speed Shop Stage 4 Hi-Boy Roadster A rolling step boxed pinched-nose buggy spring frame -As cast 4? dropped I-beam axle and polished S/S front end -Vega cross-steering -SO-CAL front brakes ...

So-Cal Speed Shop Chapouris and Jacobs leveraged the moment, opening their own shop, Pete & Jake’s Hot Rod Parts, in Temple City. Things only got bigger from there.