Compiled by SEMA Editors
Sentinel Capital Partners Acquires Driven Performance Brands
Sentinel Capital Partners—a private equity firm that invests in promising companies at the lower end of the middle market—has acquired of Driven Performance Brands (DPB)—a designer, manufacturer and marketer of automotive performance products. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. DPB's product line includes exhaust, transmission, drivetrain and electronic tuning products, and is marketed under five brands: Flowmaster, B&M Racing and Performance, Hurst Shifters, Hurst Driveline Conversions, and Dinan Engineering. Headquartered in Santa Rosa, California, DPB sells through online specialty retailers, WDs, auto dealers, traditional auto parts retailers, OEMs and directly to consumers.
 Al Nagele's Deuce Flyer ’32 Ford Roadster captured the Goodguys 2015 Flowmaster America’s Most Beautiful Street Rod crown. | |
“Deuce Flyer” ’32 Ford Roadster Named Goodguys Flowmaster America’s Most Beautiful Street Rod
Retired engineer and lifelong car enthusiast Al Nagele of Wilmette, Illinois, had always envisioned a modern street-rod roadster with a European sports-car panache—something that blended the Ford’s iconic looks with American performance and handling. The Deuce Flyer emerged and became a Pirelli Great 8 Ridler Finalist. In July it was a finalist for the Goodguys Classic Instruments Street Rod of the Year and recently captured the Goodguys 2015 Flowmaster America’s Most Beautiful Street Rod crown.
Working straight off Nagele’s design, The Roadster Shop team welded up a custom chassis equipping it with a Pete and Jake’s 5-in. dropped axle to rest beneath the modified Brookville Roadster steel body. Raised rear wheel wells, a reshaped cowl, stretched hood, frenched ’39 Ford taillights and saddle tanks with full belly pans were massaged into place, and then painted PPG Topaz Metallic by Charlie Hutton. Grumbling behind the Iconic Pines Winterfront grille is a GM LS Motor with CNC heads, Comp Cams, Edelbrock dual quads and a Tremec 5-speed. It rolls on coated one-off Billet Specialties five-spoke wheels. Beneath the chopped-down cloth top (complete with exotic side windows) is a sporty brown and black leather interior by Upholstery Unlimited. The custom dash houses one-off Classic Instruments gauges while the steering wheels and shifter were milled from solid chunks of aluminum.
Fellow Finalists for the 2015 Goodguys Flowmaster America’s Most Beautiful Street Rod included Dale Fode (’34 Ford), Greg and Dotty Meyer (’33 Chevy), Gary Rausche (’32 Dearborn Deuce) and Brian Georges (’47 Ford).
 Sharon Teuscher | |
The Buzz Maker! Hires Account Executive and Account Coordinator
The Buzz Maker! has hired Sharon Teuscher as account executive and creative manager, and Anne Dudley as account coordinator. Teuscher's professional experience includes project management, creative in-store merchandising, package design, B2C marketing, social-media campaign management and community relations for consumer goods.
An award-winning fine artist, her work was recently featured in Edible Columbus magazine.
Dudley's professional experience includes B2C and B2B public relations, marketing communications, internal communications, community relations and event planning as well as website development and social-media campaign management.
PPG Sponsorship of FenderBender Live at SEMA Continues
For the fifth consecutive year, PPG is the exclusive paint sponsor of FenderBender Live—FenderBender magazine’s website for 2015 SEMA Show coverage. FenderBender Live, online at fenderbenderlive.com, functions as a one-stop industry source for news relating to the annual SEMA Show. FenderBender Live will operate concurrently with the Show, providing comprehensive event coverage, including interviews with key industry professionals, celebrities, exhibitors and staff.
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