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1-800-358-8134 • 1-706-245-0918 • www.starcoachplus.com • email: starcoach@worldnet.att.net
By: Curtis McIlvain

Most of us are content going down to the local dealer to pick up the latest offerings from Detroit in the form of a Sport/Ute and be happy with our new purchase. Then there are the few of us who just can’t leave well enough alone - a tinkerer, an experimenter or a hot rodder. There’s something about a hot rodder that makes him not want to be left at a stoplight or looked past as a “cooler” looking vehicle rides by. Remember not all that long ago when the family wagon ruled the roads of this country? Remember, also, how these wagons came with large V8s that hauled the family and the camper without a whimper? Dad knew that trading in the 409 Impala for a wagon wasn’t the end of the occasional stoplight blast or roasting the tires once in a while. Nope, you could just check off the optional engine box and get an engine well into the 400 cubic inch range. “You never know when you might have to tow something,” Pops smartly told Mom when it came time to pick up the new car. Now flash forward to the present; options only come in packages and “the big engine” in most vehicles is a V6. Not to worry, however. You do have options, but they come from a company called Star Coach. Tom O’Toole, the founder of Star Coach, will gladly take your SUV and turn it into the hot rod you’ve been itching for. Star Coach was created for those of us who will not settle for a standard SUV. Sure, it totes the family around, hauls lots of groceries and makes the daily grind bearable, but the “fun-to-drive” element has been sorely lacking. But, as Tom O’Toole shows, performance and sport-utility can apply to the same vehicle. Star Coach takes standard SUVs and transforms them into just about anything the customer desires. They offer upgraded brakes, wheels and tires, engine modifications (including supercharging), body styling kits, and interior improvements that range from uplevel trim to color TVs and stereo systems guaranteed to make your neighbor’s teenager green with envy. Starting with a stock SUV, Star Coach’s in-house design team transforms the mundane into something more fitting the performance enthusiast, and they provide it as a finished product. To put it simply, Tom states, “People know what they want, and I give it to them.” And, depending on how extreme the modifications, the factory warranty should not be effected. Regardless, Star Coach stands behind its work and craftsmanship. In fact, the conversions they do on the Dodge Durango (as seen on the 1999 Shelby models) have been fully reviewed by Dodge and the modified vehicles still include the full factory warranty. The company has almost completed its dealer program, which means that soon customers will be able to go down to their local dealer and buy a vehicle with the Star Coach modifications they specify. Typical modifications start at $5,000, with complete performance, interior and body packages in the neighborhood of $25,000. Exclusivity and performance has its price, but with Star Coach, at least an SUV buyer has plenty of options.