Shawn Bennett’s Xplod Bomb Meets a ‘02 Chevy Silverado
Shawn Bennett might very well be one of the rare breed of people whom you do not understand and this is exactly why you respect them… they do things differently and it does not matter if their work is practical or not because it is so beautifully unique (or uniquely beautiful, if you wish, although once you have a look at Shawn's masterpieces, it really defies any point to concentrate on linguistic details.
Shawn is from Orange, CA, well known for his work as Image Auto Design owner. Now, when we say well known, we do not mean "MTV-shoot-me-and-produce-me" well-known. Nope. If you google him, you will probably not find too much. You will see a lot of his work, though, even if you may not realize: check out his 2006 SEMA Porsche Cayman S, dutifully parked at the Sony Xplod showroom.
While we are on the subject, it must be noted that Shawn likes Xplod, but Sony likes Shawn even better. We know it because, on their mobile entertainment news page in 2004, they refer to him, amongst a few others, as "Sony's Team Xplod" Shawn Bennett.
Shawn took one for the team the previous year too. The end result is this …. (add your own extra-impressive descriptions, please) '02 Silverado, prepared it for the 2003 SEMA show. The car stands apart and that is an understatement, which is quite ironic because the Chevy is anything BUT an understatement!
This is valid through and through: the mechanics, the paint and, last but not least, the audio and video equipment are all "victims" of Shawn's and are executed with his signature fit and finish (just check out the P285/30ZR22 Goodyear-wearing 22-inch rims, courtesy of Boyd Coddington, one of the scene celebrities who trust in Shawn's craftsmanship enough to put their names next to his).
This particular Silverado, or what is left of it, has 585 horsepower and 640 pound-feet of torque under the hood and it is not even where the real power lies. The standing quarter mile time of around 13 tics is almost as impressive as the nuclear blast, which comes from what should serve as a stereo but could probably be used to break up kidney stones or take down old mining shafts, just as well. In case you doubt our judgment, as well as ability to point out facts in an unmistakably entertaining, but never modest way, please look at the partial list of equipment this rather large vehicle has stuffed inside.
There are three batteries, for starters, which is about two more than what one would expect to see in a regular car. But we are not interested in regular cars with a single battery, so it is a good sign. It gets better, though. There is a Sony CDX-M9905X in the front, which should actually be called Sony "I-Have-More-Colors-On-My-Display-Than-You-On-Your-TV-At-Home," with its 32, 000-color TFT display. Here is what this jewel is connected to: SEVEN Sony Xplod XM-LD105P5 10-inch subwoofers and as many Sony Xplod XM-D5160P5 boosters (biblical, no?), which lie under a fiberglass cover inside the truck bed; there are also three Sony Xplod XS-HF500G components housed in each door, which are "fed" by 3 Sony Xplod XM-2200GTX and 2 Sony Xplod XM-4060GTX amplifiers.
Additionally, maybe to eliminate any possibility of failing to impress the deaf, Shawn has decided to install some eye candy too. Scattered all over the truck are twenty three Sony XVM-H65 and three 17-inch Sony SDM-V72W monitors, topped off by a 10.2-inch dash-mounted monitor.
Not really impressed yet? You are most likely either lying or crazy. But are you crazy enough to install a dog house in your truck for (YES!!!) your robot dog and make sure it would be able to watch one of the 17-inchers? Ha-ha, we did not think so either! Now repeat after us: "Shawn, we tip our ruffled caps to you!" Many, many times…
