Monday 31st October 2016. This was the first full day in Las Vegas before the SEMA Show 2016 started on Tuesday. Adam always takes the advantage to pop in and see the Scott Drake guys.  Adam is one of the few genuinely authorised suppliers, not just selling the odd few bits now and again claiming to be a authorised supplier. The trip out to Drake’s takes in a highway, it’s difficult to comprehend that Las Vegas is basically in the middle of a desert surround by mountains wherever you look.

As Adam is a very well-respected client we were all taken for a VIP guided tour around their offices, warehouses, storage area and manufacturing area. Obviously some things were confidential and we were asked not to post the photos, so we obviously respect that request, but we can show you the huge scale of their operation. On arrival you are greeted with a massive building which is only half of the plot.

The entrance has the reception area, a display of a few parts and a seating area. Most of the staff were preparing for SEMA so they were on a skeleton staff there, but Adam’s personal account handler had arranged to meet us.

Passed the reception area is the main workstations and few offices. The workstations were showing account details etc so we can’t show that part, but we can show you the gold mine of memorabilia in one of the offices.

Past the desk area is rest area for the staff, which has some amazing stuff on their walls. There is the fifteen stage process of how the wheels are made.

On the other walls there are the rough Die Casting raw mouldings of the various parts for various cars.

Past this break out area there is the main warehouse at the back. The first thing you notice walking in is a bench with half a car on it. The warehouse itself has rack after rack of parts that are stacked full floor to the ceiling.

The wheels are shipped in from the manufacturers and inspected before they are released to the chrome plating area. The newly chromed parts are then inspected again before they area assembled in-house. For confidentiality reasons we won’t show how it’s all done, but it’s a very cleaver process.

The rims are fitted to the centres and put on pallets ready for another inspection.

The other parts are batch tested also and any parts that are not up to their high standards are scrapped.

We left through a side door and taken to another huge storage area which is not usually seen by anybody. This is where some of the rare cars are stored, we were all buzzing with excitement. First up was a drag car which has been quite successful in its time.

Most of the cars are covered in a layer of dust waiting some dedicated attention.

And the cream of the of crop is the genuine Shelby GT500. The dilemma here is to restore it to her full glory or leave her as she is. The current thinking is to leave her as she is, totally authentic and rapidly rising in value.

Under the covers is a rare Sunbeam Tiger which has the original v8 engine shoehorned in it still.

With the tour completed we taken to another are where the meeting rooms are. The was a table laid out with a batch of some new products that were being discussed. Again for obvious reason we can’t show you those particular items, but we can show you some others. In the corner there was a hood which has a genuine Carroll Shelby signature on it.

A personalised autograph to Scott Drake.

After the tour we were taken out to lunch at a wonderful place called “Mustang Sally’s Diner” of course just down the road which was attached to a Ford dealership.

The Ford Dealership next door had one or two cars and trucks for sale!

After we had finished lunch and Adam had concluded business we set of back to Vegas where we would spend Halloween on the old strip Fremont Street.

Mustang Maniac would like to thank everybody at Scott Drake Automotive Group once again for their very generous hospitality.