Update: Fuel Costs Dropping! Out of Control Fuel Costs!

UPDATE: I'm committed to offering the best service at the best possible price. Currently (11/05) fuel prices are falling again. As they continue to fall, I plan to pass these savings on to you and reduce the cost of transporting your cars.

I don't need to point out to anyone the outrageous prices of fuel these days. The prices are rising so fast that even as I finish typing this article, the costs will have no doubt increased again. There's not much that any one of us can do to affect these prices.

When I first started transporting cars last year, I was paying $1.60 a gallon for diesel. There were a few "blips" along the way where fuel prices increased temporarily, but we're seeing an almost exponential increase in prices right now and it doesn't appear to be improving any time in the near future.

Fuel costs are my single largest expense. Less than a week ago, it was painful to be paying around $2.50 a gallon and this week I'd be ecstatic if I could find it at that price. With prices quickly approaching $3.75 to $4.00 a gallon it has now become necessary to increase my transport prices to reflect the increase in fuel costs. Up to this point I've absorbed these costs, but in order to remain a viable business I regretfully must pass some of this on to my customers. I don't believe my prices will increase significantly, but they will reflect the rising costs of fuel.

My focus is to make sure that my customers receive the best possible service at the best price and based on the many satisfied customers I'm fortunate to have, we're right on target! I'm constantly thinking of ways to work smarter in order to keep costs down and welcome any suggestions or ideas from anyone who can help.

Thank you for your understanding AND support!

Texas Twister -- The TX2K5 Experience

I had the pleasure of transporting Chad Williams' 2002 Twin Turbo Viper GTS built by Jason Heffner to the Supra/Viper drag racing event called TX2K5. This event is held each year in San Antonio, Texas and features some of the fastest street cars in the world. The Supra crowd put on a great event and showed up with some serious cars making serious horsepower. Of course, since I own an extremely fast supercharged Viper, I was pulling for the Vipers, but the Supra guys are a class act and love to race.

Chad's Viper recently set several world records for a six-speed street car including quickest and fastest in the quarter mile. After running an 8.75 sec. ET at 168 MPH a couple of months ago in Bradenton, Florida, Chad's car has been the one to beat. One of the interesting aspects of this car is that it achieved these records weighing 3800 lbs. and still features a full interior including a custom audio system. If you look in the back of his car you can see a giant subwoofer with a custom fiberglass enclosure. After Chad set these records in Bradenton, the street tires were put back on the car and Chad drove the car to the local Applebee's to celebrate!!

After Bradenton, Chad and Jason decided to see if they could further their quest for the ultimate street car by installing an automatic transmission. The goal is to build the first 7-second V10 Viper. It's estimated that this car is making close to 2000 horsepower to the rear wheels!

At the TX2K5 event, Chad set a new world record for an independent rear suspension car and further deepened his lead over any other Viper by running an 8.28 sec. ET at 176.26 MPH. He had the highest MPH for the day, but unfortunately during the eliminations he redlighted and was out for the day. On subsequent runs, one of the turbos developed a problem and prevented Chad from making further assaults on his own record. That's racing!

It's clear that this beast still has more to give and we look forward to seeing it at Hot Rod Magazine's Pump Gas Drags in coming weeks.

Congratulations to Chad and Jason for building and driving an amazing car!

In the end, the Supras took 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place proving that they are a force to be reckoned with. The amazing part is that they make all this power with a 6 cylinder turbo engine.

Here are some pictures of Chad's car:

Welcome to Almond Exotic Transports!

At the encouragement of family (thanks Candace!) and friends (thanks Janice!) I've decided to add a new section on my website where I can share some of the interesting and exciting things that I experience in my travels. I'll also use this section to report news about the company or special offers, etc.

I plan to update this section often and add pictures of interesting sights, interesting people, and of course a lot of pictures of beautiful cars! One thing I have to mention is that I'll never publish a picture of a car without the full consent of its owner.

I guess this is otherwise known as a "Blog". Make sure you check back here often to read about what's happening at Almond Exotic Transports where the excitement never ends (well, almost never!).

Thanks,
Gary