Few would suspect the Hualong Mountain area (華龍山) of Hsinchu County’s Cyonglin Township (芎林) to be home to a world famous classic car factory, but over the past decade, Muscle Car GT has been reproducing parts for classic cars of such high quality that their work has been featured in Hollywood movies such as Gone in 60 Seconds and The Fast and the Furious franchise.
The company started out by making car molds, but MuscleCar chairman Luo Hsiu-hsien (羅修賢) has since revolutionized the world of classic cars, Muscle Car GT sales manager Luo Yi-lun (羅逸倫) said.
The problem with collecting classic cars is that it is hard to find spare parts, Luo Yi-lun said, adding that many collectors often buy five or six of the same kind of vehicle to be able to keep one in a reasonable condition.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
With the company’s experience in making molds, Luo Hsiu-hsien first molded the body of the classic car before reverse-engineering the parts from the new molds, Luo Yi-lun said, adding that the company had solved the biggest problem facing antique car collectors — the lack of spare parts.
The company has highly skilled workers developing the molds and fully automated manufacturing lines for the production of spare parts and the plate metal used in bodies, Luo Yi-lun said.
With the exception of the engine, tires and the transmission shaft the company can make everything needed for a classic car from screws to the plate metal needed for the body, Luo Yi-lun said.
Due to the small number of collectors in the nation and strict regulations, Luo YI-lun said the company had to seek foreign customers, adding that while they had first moved into North America, they now had branches in Europe, Australia and even Japan.
The company has a revenue of NT$400 million (US$13.16 million) per year, Luo YI-lun said.
Luo Yi-lun said that despite the tilt toward foreign customers, the company still tried to make its presence in Taiwan known.
Last year they lent a 1957 pink Cadillac convertible to the pop-music group S.H.E to go to the Taiwan Lantern Festival in Hsinchu County.
We simply want the public to know that there is such a factory in the nation, Luo Yi-lun said.
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