Blaupunkt will display the award-winning "Evil Z24" project car at auto shows and autosound contests, as part of a national tour to include the Spring Break Nationals, SEMA, and Vision Entertainment's Hot Import Nights shows in more than 15 cities coast to coast. The Evil Z24 (a.k.a. Evil Z) is an ultra-custom 1999 Chevrolet Cavalier Z24 is owned by Bob Mull, founder of Team GMCI Racing. This extensively customized vehicle showcases Blaupunkt's newest generation of audio and video products, including 29 video monitors and a full complement of the company's revolutionary OverDrive series of flat loudspeakers, plus a wide array of aftermarket performance accessories.
"The Evil Z24 has enough audio and video equipment for a small apartment complex," said George R. Velez, Blaupunkt's marketing manager. "By squeezing it all into a sport compact, Mull has created a unique showcase for Blaupunkt's installation-friendly components. He used our low profile video monitors, flat subwoofers and shallow-mounting OverDrive component loudspeakers. The system has a total of 18 channels of amplification, 29 video monitors, four 12-inch subwoofers, five sets of component speakers, and uses over 3 miles of Stinger wires to complete the installation. This mind-blowing entertainment system is a perfect compliment to the car’s mind-blowing appearance and performance."
The Metamorphosis of Evil
Already one of the most successful show cars in the country, the Evil Z24 was completely stripped and rebuilt for the 2004 Season in just six weeks. When the metamorphosis was complete, the "new" Evil Z24 debuted in January at the 2004 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, one of the world's largest trade shows, where it won the Best of Show People's Choice Award prize from Car, Sound and Performance Magazine.
Brian Mobley and Sean Young, the owners Sound Decision of Montgomery, Illinois, designed and installed all the audio and video systems, and provided overall creative guidance for the extensive interior and exterior redesign. The visual and functional centerpiece of the cockpit is a Blaupunkt Chicago IVDM-7002 DVD player with a flip-out monitor and Blaupunkt Travel/Pilot DX-N navigation system. Five Blaupunkt IVSC-5502 signal controllers are used to integrate the additional monitors and sources into a flexible and seamless system that can put sound and video almost anywhere in the car.
The glove compartment was replaced by a sleek motorized tray to house the "brain"--a laptop computer--which controls the car's extensive Venom VCN 2000 Nitrous and Accel Gen 7 Engine Management systems, and can tune the car on the fly. The Evil Z also has an external laptop that is used for demonstrations at car shows. It employs a unique computer program written by Sound Decision to control 52 different motorized functions and accessories. These include the Air Ride Technologies Air Ride System, accessory lighting consisting of 152 neon sticks and eight strobes provided by Street Glow, motorization of amplifiers and trunk lid motors supplied by Danaher Motion and more. When the Evil Z24 is in motion at shows – "It’s almost alive!" said Velez.
The Evil Z's flashy new green and yellow paint scheme and body fabrication was the work of Brian Colwell and his two sons, Matt and Bobby of J. C. Customs Paint and Body, Little Rock, Illinois. On the exterior, they fabricated a new trunk lid and rear wing spoiler, and created an RK Sport SS style hood. Their extensive interior modifications include a completely stripped and refabricated dash which sports no less than 15 Stewart Warner gauges, center console, the entire back seat – audio/video theater area. The entire vehicle, interior and exterior is finished with House of Kolor meticulous Pagan Gold and Green Metallic paint with purple pin-striping and air-brushed highlighting.
The Evil Z24 is not just for show but has been turned out for "no-holds-barred" performance by Peter Murrin and Jason Plohr of Speedway Performance. The engine was rebuilt and modified with a 20G Turbo System, Crower connecting rods, JE pistons, a custom intercooler, port and polished head, Venom fuel rail, and Venom High Flow polished intake system manifold. They used PI-Thon hose clamps in rebuilding and tuning the Evil Z24 engine for power and show, custom designing a special Fuel Safe gas cell for race offering a mix of "show & go" most people dream of. These same guys also developed and built the one-of-a-kind Lambo-style door hinges which allow the doors shoot straight up at a 90 degree angle, and make the car look like it’s ready to fly.
This vehicle has it all with 19 X 7-1/2 Hex-1 three-piece rims from R-1 Racing Wheels sported with Toyo Proxes T1 racing tires, 12-inch slotted rotors with four-piston caliper to include chrome undercarriage parts from General Motors to finish it off as one of the leading sport compact cars on the scene today. The finishing touch is provided by Meguiar’s new NXT Generation polishes to keep the Evil Z24 looking its award winning best, show after show.
