6/12/2023 0 Comments Toyota soarer etuner emsIn order to responsibly grow the business, and take advantage of the opportunities afforded by OEM turbocharged vehicles, Shen and Kung moved the company to new quarters, totaling 13,000 square feet, five lifts and two dynos. Even so, growing too fast can significantly impact a business’ prospects for success and the partners, ever cautious in a cut-throat southern California speed shop environment, bided their time until under capacity became a serious hindrance to future business growth.īy this time, SPE-built cars had been featured in national and international media specializing in import performance and the import tuner markets. Starting with 4800 square feet, with one lift and, later, two lifts, SP Engineering’s reputation for top notch, quality work quickly outgrew the physical work space available. It wasn’t long, though, before Shen and Kung made the decision to open a shop and, in 1996, SP Engineering was born.įrom the start, Kung and Shen positioned SP Engineering as a forced induction specialist, focusing on QUALITY and COMPREHENSIVE builds for the plethora of Japanese sports cars newly available, and with the occasional German, Italian and forced induction domestic (including Kung’s Buick Grand National) vehicle thrown in the mix as well. For a while, Shen worked as an independent contractor for various southern California speed shops. This was like being in a candy store for Shen and Kung. Led by the 1990 Nissan 300ZX Turbo, the 1992 Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4, the 1993 Mazda RX-7 and the 1993.5 Toyota Supra Turbo, the ‘90s offered a fantastic assortment of cars, all of which were turbocharged from the factory. The move proved to be auspicious, as the 1990s are considered by many to be the pinnacle of Japanese high performance sports cars. Shen later applied lessons learned at the feet of these industry giants to vehicles owned by the customers of SP Engineering.Īfter leaving Texas Turbo, Shen moved California in 1990 and became fast friends with Jeff Kung, the owner of very fast Buick Grand National, and a Type “A” car guy in his own right. Gene Deputy also successfully collaborated with Kenny Duttweiler of Buick Grand National fame. At this time, Gene Deputy was turning the Mustang world on its head, developing the first fuel injected twin-turbo Mustang V8s and, eventually, becoming the first small block Mustang V8 to run a 7-second quarter-mile. The move turned out to be fortuitous as Shen was hired as a shop boy by the one and only Gene Deputy of Texas Turbo Engineering. Starting with a 1982 Datsun 280Z 2 + 2 Turbo automatic, Shen was immediately seduced by the powers of forced induction.įast forward a few years and Shen and family had moved to America, settling in Houston, Texas. At the ripe old age of 14, Alex Shen knew that, if possible, he wanted to spend a lifetime making cars much faster, and more powerful, than their OEM manufacturers ever imagined.
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