» Engine: 5.3-liter Vortech
» Wheels: 26-inch Veloche Villanos w/ 305/30/r26 Kumho Ectsa tires
» Paint: base jet black with laser blue metallic and chrome illusion accents
» Performance: Keystone ram air hood, K&N cold air intake, Flowmaster 40 series exhausts
» Exterior: 16-piece Southern Comfort body kit, Carriageworks billet grill, Cadillac chrome tow hooks, painted sail panels/workboxes, custom painted door handles, brushed billet bow tie emblem, custom Audi A4 OEM HID projectors retrofitted into SUV light cases
» Interior: 6.5-inch Eclipse touch-screen DVD/Navigation, 6.5-inch front Kicker coaxial speakers, 5.75-inch rear Kicker coaxial speakers, Bose tweeters, two-tone black leather seats, custom painted interior pieces
Discrimination comes in all forms and spans age, gender, and race, and is even affected by the vehicle you drive. For example, a young person in an expensive vehicle looks like a ticket waiting to happen to a local law enforcement agent. Yet despite the potential for profiling, braver souls like Greg Jones haven’t let it stop them.
While Jones wasn’t quite a teenager, at 21 years old, any dealership manager might regard him as a financial risk, especially when his choice of automobiles was a high-end luxury sport utility vehicle. Five years later, the Air Force contractor who now works at the Pentagon recalls walking into the dealership and the resulting sense of vindication it brought him when his credit agency approved his application. With only 32 miles on the odometer, the Chevy Avalanche “Southern Comfort,” a rare edition that was built in limited numbers, was his.
If his new red and black painted Southern Comfort edition Avalanche wasn’t extreme enough, Jones had plotted out a build to make it that much more radical. It all began in 2004 under unfortunate circumstances. After leaving a friend’s apartment, he noticed someone had maliciously keyed his SUV. The police were informed and told Jones that quite a bit of vehicular vandalism had been going on in the College Park area at that time. Even while it was random, Jones was severely disappointed.
Wanting to restore the SUV, but knowing that the skill it would take to match the paint was more trouble than it was worth, he went and spoke with friend Gary Best who agreed to change the original color scheme to blue and black. With the truck penned up at the paint shop, Jones moved to increase his SUV’s street cred by adding more power and poise. He ordered a K&N cold air intake, Optima battery, and had the headlights shipped out to California where they were retrofitted with OEM Audi A4 HID projectors. Jones still popped into the paint shop from time to time, and on one occasion, after seeing color-changing paint on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle that was being prepared by Best, he decided to negotiate a similar look for his truck.
“When I walked in the garage I fell over because it was one hundred and ten percent different and better than before,” said Jones.
Over the next five years, Jones worked steadily to turn the SUV into something even rarer than its limited edition moniker. A custom-molded touch-screen TV replaced the center dash console and received a video signal from both his Playstation 2 and Xbox. A Baer big brake kit put the skids on the 26-inch monster wheels.
Jones was about to move his efforts to the engine bay when misfortune struck again. About a year ago, after leaving his SUV at the Park n Ride off Smallwood Drive, he returned to find the back window broken out and all of his stereo equipment stolen. Even the dash and seats were vandalized. Eventually he turned tragedy to triumph having the seats and door panels reworked at Superior in Clinton, Md. Black suede inserts were created for the door panels and the seats were re-wrapped with black leather, blue suede, and blue French seams.
Jones said the process was long and fraught with snags, but was worth it all in the end.
“Most people that see the truck do not believe that it is a five-year-old paint job,” he said. “It’s all about pride in your ride.”
What do you drive? A 2004 Chevrolet Avalanche.
Why do you drive your vehicle? I have put a lot of hard work and time into it and I don’t mind showing it off. I love turning heads everywhere I go. The only unfortunate part is this vehicle is my daily driver for the time being.
What makes this SUV so special? Just about everything is one off. You will not find another Avalanche out there like it unless they copied it from me, though I’m not trying to sound conceited. I like to be unique and I put that passion into anything I own, especially this truck. It is all about the small details that go into customizing a vehicle. These small details are often overlooked in the show world.
What is your most memorable driving experience? Driving with my best friend, Chris Wright, who was taken from us last December in a horrible car accident. He was also a car enthusiast to the extreme, worked on them all the time. Last year alone, Chris and I made 11 car shows with him riding shotgun and several others with him following me in his Custom Scion TC. Shows ranged from the Carolinas to southern Pennsylvania. I could tell stories for days about rides I have had with Chris, but the article can only be so long. I will miss those trips and rides together; things just have not been the same since he was taken. Rest in peace, Chris Wright; you’ll always be riding shotgun.
What was the first car you owned? My first car was a 1988 Ford Thunderbird 5.0 and it was a piece of junk. I spent more money on that car than it was worth. It was definitely a learning experience.
What music are you currently listening to in your SUV? Country is on the radio most of the time, but I listen to just about anything you can think of.
And your first ticket? What was it for? My first ticket ever was for speeding — 64 mph in a 35 mph zone. Thankfully the officer was kind to drop it down to 49 mph in a 35 mph zone.
