Meet Il Capo, The Original 1936 Packard Rat Mod built by Sean Puz of “1 of One Customs” out of Florida. Il Capo won first place in the 2019 International RATical Rod Build/Drive Off. Derale is proud to have collaborated with the winner of the International RATical Rod Build Off/Drive Off to create this badass ride. Featuring a 12″ Electric Fan, Two 11 Row Hi-Flow Racing Remote Fluid Coolers and Premium Engine Oil Filter Mount.
Race fans, check out “Institches” Class 4800 Orange Ford Bronco, she’s a beauty. Features Two Derale Remote Fluid Coolers for the cooling of both engine oil and transmission fluid. Each coolers fan activation is controlled by a 180°F In-Line Fluid Thermostat.
If you watch Street Outlaws, you’ll recall that AZN showed up one evening with a running VW Bug, but it looked completely different than it does now. He purchased the 1966 streetcar for five grand and proceeded to transform it into a sleeper. While the Dung Beetle is made to look like a crappy broken-down Bug, underneath the Hollywood facade are sound mechanicals. The mild street roll cage was fabricated by Ron Lummus and installed by Rancho Performance, the front suspension was upgraded with adjusters, and CB Performance drop spindles, and the rear suspension utilizes Geers Engineering spring plate retainers and Jamar disc brakes. It even appears the engine and trans were raised in the car to lower the stance and provide improved handling. They also equipped the sedan with Sway-A-Way 30mm torsion bars, Erco axles and a set of QA1 double adjustable shocks front and rear.
Even though the show’s racing happens in a controlled setting, on closed roads with permits and law enforcement supervision, driver safety is the utmost concern. For this, AZN is strapped into a The Joie of Seating racecar seat with a Jaz 4-point harness and he wears a Simpson helmet. The car is also equipped with a Jaz fuel cell in place of the stock VW gas tank, and an XS Power dry cell battery is secured in a mount that’s welded to the roll bar and center tunnel.
At the heart of this street sleeper is a turbocharged and fuel-injected 2332cc engine that was built by VW drag racer Shawn Geers of Geers Engineering. The engine is mated to a pro-built gearbox supplied by Rancho Performance Transaxles. You can see a detailed list of the components used to build the engine and trans in the spec sheet we’ve provided with this story. Because the theme of Street Outlaws is based on tweaking and improving the performance of the cars between shows and races, AZN continues to make slight changes over time. The Haltech ECU was originally programmed when the engine was tuned on the dyno at Redline Performance in Anaheim. It has since been taken to Brad Golden’s RIP Tuning shop in Oklahoma and tuned for VP C16 race fuel (117 octane) and a Nitrous Express water/methanol injection system. We’re told the motor produces about 415 horsepower at 7,000 RPM.
While not a lot of people will go through the trouble and expense to build a VW Bug like this and then paint it with house paint from Home Depot, we think AZN and his crew did a great job carrying out the Dung Beetle theme. He asked us to pass along a note of thanks to Mickey Thompson Tires, CB Performance, Energy Suspension, Heat-shield Products, Turbonetics, SCAT Performance and ESAB welders for their support. It’s really cool to see a VW Bug hold a starring role on a reality television series, especially when the owner tapped into the knowledge of well-known VW industry leaders for their help putting the car together. AZN and his crew of 405 street thugs are definitely having a good time running their cars and doing their thing which, when you really think about it, is what VW enthusiasts have been doing for more than 50 years.
The Ponchoc10 is owned by Vincent Mayeda. This 1963 C10 runs Dual High Output 12-inch Derale #electricfans at the radiator. Also, it runs a Derale Electra-Cool Remote Fluid Cooler for transmission cooling needs.
Dennis Anderson came up with the concept for Grave Digger® back in 1981. Originally built out of an old 1951 Chevy Panel Wagon and parts that he scrounged from junkyards, Grave Digger as of today has grown by leaps and bounds. No longer do the trademark red headlights come off of old school buses, and the paint job has changed from a dull orange to the famous green and black flame motif we see today. Grave Digger is one of the most decorated Monster Jam® trucks in the world and Anderson has won four Monster Jam World Finals® championships, capturing the racing title in 2004 and 2006, and the freestyle title in 2010 and 2000. Now Krysten Anderson drives Grave Digger, the truck made famous by her father, Dennis Anderson. Grave Digger uses two Hyper-Cool Extreme Remote Fluid Coolers to cool the transmission fluid down. Watch the video to hear Ryan Anderson talk about the Hyper-Cool Extreme coolers.