Mopar(R) to Team Up with Custom-Car Designer Rich Evans at 5th Annual Chrysler Spring Festival

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., March 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Mopar® is joining forces on two projects with renowned custom-car builder Rich Evans at the 5th Annual Chrysler Spring Festival in Irvine, Calif.

Evans will utilize Mopar parts and bring to life a customized Dodge Challenger for the 2010 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show in Las Vegas, Nev., Nov. 3–6, 2010. Evans will also serve as a judge in a newly-formed tuner category of Mopar's "Top Eliminator" enthusiast recognition program.

Owner of Huntington Beach Bodyworks and Rich Evans Designs, Evans is a master automotive fabricator, welder and painter. His custom-made rides have appeared in numerous movies and television programs, including Pimp My Ride, Monster Garage, Man Cave and Chop, Cut & Rebuild. The Southern California native also recently debuted a new iPhone App, "The Rides of Rich Evans."

His one-of-a-kind Mopar-flavored ride for the 2010 SEMA Show will begin with a base 2010 Dodge Challenger. Evans will employ an array of Mopar parts, some modified with his own fabricated spin, in order to create a new automotive work of art. Rich Evans Exclusive Parts as well as products from numerous aftermarket suppliers will be utilized during the build, which will be documented in a series of podcast videos posted to Mopar's YouTube channel. Evans will also pen exclusive blogs for posting on http://www.mopar.com as well as his own Web site, http://www.huntingtonbeachbodyworks.com.

"Rich Evans has crafted some of the most remarkable customized rides on the street today," said Pietro Gorlier, President & CEO, Mopar Service, Parts & Customer Care, Chrysler Group LLC. "This Mopar SEMA project will demonstrate to our customers what they can create with proven, quality-tested Mopar parts and accessories."

Evans will also act as a judge for the new tuner category of the Mopar "Top Eliminator" program. Now in its fourth year, the program highlights restyled or customized Chrysler, Jeep®, Dodge or Ram vehicles of Mopar enthusiasts. The new tuner category winner will be selected from enthusiast nominations based on creatively applying technology to a current-model vehicle while maintaining brand integrity and values. All "Top Eliminator" winners, from the various categories, will be displayed in the Mopar Alley at the 2010 SEMA Show.

"I'm pumped up to team up with a premier organization like Mopar on these thrilling new projects," said Evans. "Together, I think we can seize the attention of the young Next-Gen crowd with the new 'Top Eliminator' tuner award and the SEMA-car build while still holding the attention of today's enthusiasts. You will see an amazing Mopar/Rich Evans creation in the Mopar exhibit at SEMA in November."

5th Annual Chrysler Spring Festival

The 5th Annual Chrysler Spring Festival takes place March 20 in Irvine, Calif. The event is the largest gathering of Chrysler LX/LC platform vehicle owners in the world, featuring current-model vehicles such as the Dodge Challenger, Dodge Charger and Chrysler 300.

The Mopar Direct Connection rig will be on hand for show attendees to visit. Show vehicles packed with Mopar parts will be on display at the rig, including the Dodge Challenger 1320 Street Pak, Dodge Challenger Mopar Edition and Ram 2500 ST Reg Cab w/8.0 box. Enthusiasts may also inspect Mopar engines on display, including the 426 HEMI engine with cutaways, 426 HEMI Crate Engine and a Mopar Dodge Challenger Drag Pak HEMI engine with a cutaway bell housing and transmission.

For more information on Mopar, visit http://www.mopar.com. For additional information on Rich Evans, visit http://www.huntingtonbeachbodyworks.com.

Mopar Brand

Mopar is Chrysler Group LLC's service, parts and customer-care brand.

Mopar distributes approximately 280,000 parts and accessories in more than 90 countries and is the source for all original-equipment parts for Chrysler, Jeep®, Dodge and Ram vehicles. Mopar parts are unique in that they are engineered with the same teams that create factory-authorized vehicle specifications for Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge and Ram vehicles—a direct connection that no other aftermarket parts company can provide.

When Chrysler bought Dodge in 1928, the need for a dedicated parts maker, supplier and distribution system to support the growing enterprise led to the formation of the Chrysler Motor Parts Corporation (CMPC) in 1929.

Mopar (a simple contraction of the words MOtor and PARts) was trademarked for a line of antifreeze products in 1937. It also was widely used as a moniker for the CMPC. The Mopar brand made its mark in the 1960s – the muscle-car era.

The former Chrysler Corporation built race-ready Dodge and Plymouth "package cars" equipped with special high-performance parts. Mopar carried a line of "special parts" for super-stock drag racers and developed its racing parts division, called Mopar Performance Parts, in order to enhance speed and handling for vehicles both on the road or at the track.

ON THE INTERNET

Visit Chrysler's Media Services Web site at http://www.media.chrysler.com for additional Chrysler and Mopar news. For additional information about Mopar, log on to http://www.mopar.com or http://www.moparspeed.com.

SOURCE Chrysler Group LLC