A custom car business from Wisconsin called Ringbrothers showed off this beautiful 1961 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II. It had a 640-hp General Motors LT4 supercharged V-8 engine. The second show car for the company is a beautiful red 1965 Ford Mustang convertible with a 460-horsepower Ford Performance 5.0-liter Coyote V-8 crate engine. The 1969 Dodge Charger had the most power, thanks to its 1000-horsepower Hellephant crate engine, which was made in tiny numbers by Mopar. Every year, ringbrothers from Wisconsin bring a lot of changed American metal to the SEMA show. But in 2023, they have something new to show. Yesterday, the custom car company showed off “Paramount,” a beautiful 1961 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II with an American heart. Unlike some of the company’s previous projects, Paramount’s design stays true to a classic look. The basic shape of the car was kept, but the skin was taken down to bare metal to fix any problems and then painted a smooth white color. According to co-founder Mike Ring, “They’re iconic, and you don’t have to change things just to change them.” Ring also said that the person who bought Paramount was already in love with the elegant, flowing style. Things are different below the surface, though. General Motors says the V-8 engine, similar to the original Rolls-Royce engine, is still a 6.2-liter unit that has been boosted and now makes 640 horsepower and 635 pound-feet of torque. It has a potent engine, a carbon-fiber axle, and a Bowler Tru-Street automatic gearbox with ten speeds. It would have been easy to put an American engine in this big British truck. “We have contacts at GM,” Mike Ring said. If you run into any problems, you can get help by calling. Jim Ring, who started the business with his brother Mike, said it was still doing well. “When you see this car go down the road, you think to yourself, this thing shouldn’t be doing what it’s doing,” he stated. It wasn’t even close to the customer’s new Phantom when they drag-raced it. “It just squats and launches.” The Rolls-Royce’s body weighs about 4,800 pounds. It is supported by a specially designed frame with Fox RS SV coilovers at each corner. The 18-inch EVOD Industries wheels are wrapped in Falken Azenis tires, and the logo stays facing upwards when the car is moving thanks to gyro wheel center caps, which are also used on current Rolls-Royces. The layout of the original wooden dashboard is kept, but machined billet switch gear and indicators that look more modern are added. A “starlight” headliner, which is standard on current Rolls-Royces, was also added by Ringbrothers. It has more than a thousand LED lights that were sewn by hand into the roof by Ringbrothers. Ringbrothers also made the inside bigger. In the first Silver Cloud, there was a glass wall at the B-pillar that shielded the driver from the passengers. Mike Ring made it clear, “There was not a room.” “You had to be a jockey to drive it.” Ringbrothers took down the barrier to give the owner more room, which made it possible to put the front bench seat from a 1957 Chevrolet backward. But the modders thought of the people in the back seats and put the fold-down tables on the back of the Chevy-sourced seat. Don’t worry if you like red, white, and blue. This year, Ringbrothers brought two American builds to the show. This beautiful burgundy 1965 Ford Mustang convertible, which Ringbrothers calls “Uncaged,” is the follow-up to their “Caged” Mustang from the previous year. The only original parts on Uncaged are the wheel center caps. The Rolls, on the other hand, still has its original body. This Mustang’s body has only been slightly changed. It has new bumpers, a unique front bumper, and side scoops that are thinner. It’s also an inch wider on each side. The old three-stripe headlights have been swapped out for modern LEDs, and the Mustang badges have been carved to look three-dimensional. The two-inch lower placement of the front grille lets air reach the Ford Performance 5.0-liter Coyote V-8 crate engine. This engine is paired with a 10-speed automatic gearbox and makes 460 horsepower and 420 pound-feet of torque. Mike Ring said, “It feels like a brand-new car because it’s so smooth.” 18-inch EVOD Industries wheels with Continental tires and a Penske Racing Shocks coilover suspension on an independent rear axle are what the Mustang comes with. The inside of the car has a lot of lovely details, like a unique steering wheel and window buttons made of latticework, as well as soft leather and brushed metal. The second American invention is the “Tusk,” a 1969 Dodge Charger that has been changed to fit a 1000-horsepower Mopar Hellephant crate engine. A carbon-fiber driveshaft and a Tremec six-speed manual transmission send the 7.0-liter supercharged V-8’s 950 pound-feet of power to the back wheels. There were only 100 of these V-8s made. More carbon has been added to the two-piece bonnet, and the motor has been moved 2.5 inches backward to help spread the weight. The Tusk has had a lot of changes made to its looks, such as lower side panels, a chin spoiler that sticks out, custom front and rear bumpers, and a carbon-fiber grille surround that makes it look mean and low. Gold details, like the HRE wheels with Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires and Fox RS SV coilovers, stand out against the black paint. The Charger’s frame has been rebuilt, and the front wheels are two inches farther forward. It is said that the longer wheelbase would make the driving better. The inside is made of only carbon fiber and has a custom “pistol grip” shifter, a better steering wheel, and more up-to-date gauges. The owners hire Ringbrothers to build each car, but the hot-rodders can design the cars however they want. Mike and Jim Ring say that they usually stick to what they know, which is old American fast cars. But the Rolls-Royce process showed them what other options were out there. Mike said, “Our next project is a 1971 Aston Martin DBS.” He also noted that many people wanted to make more Rolls-Royces. We can’t wait to see what Ringbrothers offers at the 2019 SEMA show.
