So you’re working with Metcalf Racing for the chassis and sourcing the powertrain. What about the body? Are you panel beating in your garage?
“I considered that, but figured it wouldn’t be done for 20 years. I found a shop — Pete’s Custom Coachbuilding — near me in Ohio that restores vintage Alfas, Porsches, and they often beat new panels for those cars.
“I thought, well, if they can already do that, I could give them a buck [which is, in old panel beating terms, a sectional representation of the exterior surface, usually wood] and have them beat panels to fit that shape. They were excited about doing it.
“The process I used is very different from the conventional sketch to digital and clay model process. I built the model fully digitally first, in 3D, and from there I created this station buck for them to work to. I laser cut the sections, provided them with that, so they have all of the form there.
“Even with that, it’s such an art form, watching them work — they somehow coax the molecules in these metal panels into these new forms. I’m learning so much about metallurgy from them and it’s really an art form. So I’ve been documenting that as much as possible.”
Let’s get into nitty-gritty details: Who’s financing this?
“When I left Mazda, I took a risk and poured all of my personal finances into this — my savings, my retirement, everything. I put all the chips on the table. Seeing the amount of belief I have in Project Caden led my family members to also invest precious resources into it too.
“I’m not from a rich family. Everyone is making sacrifices to help make it a reality. It’s one of the many reasons why this means so much to me.
“I moved my family across the United States to do this, to be closer to home. My brother has supported me a lot; he’s helping me produce a film about the car. He works in entertainment and animation, so right off, as soon as I told him about this, he could see this movie.
“It’s really a family thing. Family is everything, which is why I named my company Salaff, our family name. We’ve come together to build this from the ground up. It’s something that I really want to go old school with. I want to create a legacy and pass it down to my son and daughter.”
So how many of these cars are you looking to make? Is it going to be a one-off or a limited-run?
“The plan is just to build just a few every year. Five a year initially is a number I have in my head. If there’s more demand initially we’ll see if we can scale up more than that.
“I really want to keep the focus on artistry, quality, and not dilute that with big numbers. And continue using the same processes, employing the same craftsmen that I’m using for the prototype for the production run to give customers the best experience I can.”
At the moment you’ve got one model in production, but you’ve probably got many in your head. Do you plan to build more Salaff models in the future?
“That’s my desire [but] I’m just focused completely on building this prototype at the moment. We’ve all seen the renderings that have come out on the Internet about a new car and sometimes they don’t ever come to fruition, often times. I really wanted to immediately create something real that customers could experience. That’s what I’m doing now.”
What about these customers? How are you going to market this product?
“It’s been a gut feeling. I feel that if you create something great and beautiful and the experience is special, then people will come to it. It really is a faith thing.
“I’ve been marketing it by sharing the story. I believe that if I make my beliefs known, and make them clear, then others with similar beliefs and ideas will be drawn to that. There has been an overwhelming amount of feedback from different places and not all of those people will be buyers, granted, but it’s been really cool hearing stories.
“One guy from Italy, an engineer, reached out to me over LinkedIn and said, ‘I love what you’re doing, it reminds me of when I was a kid in my father’s racing and prototype shop in Italy’. If that’s all I take away from this that’d be really special. My story is relating to his — somebody’s life — and that’s special.
“I feel like the message is resonating. That’s really the primary vehicle for marketing. Sharing the story, building trust that way, rather than working in stealth and having a ‘ta-da’ moment, and then no one really knows where it came from or who it’s from or what the story is.”
What can you tell me about the name you’ve chosen for the project? What’s its significance?
“Caden is my son’s name. My hope is that through my actions he will be encouraged to follow and discover his own passions and dreams. I wanted to leave behind something symbolic, a reminder for him to go for it.”
We’ll be bringing you an update on Carlos’ progress in due course, but until then you can follow him and the development process of Project Caden on Instagram, LinkedIn and Kinja.
