If She Doesn’t React to Car Parts Like This, She’s Not the One! #WifeGoals

I knew before I even hit the play button what I was about to see, and I couldn’t be happier to have the opportunity to share this video of my dear friend and fellow photographer Lauren and her raw emotional reaction to a surprise gift from her husband Stephen.

Stephen owns Rock Solid Motorsports in Statesville, NC, a small-but-rapidly-growing fab shop that has churned out some pretty badass hotrods. Among them, Stephen’s own shop car project, a Datsun 280Z with a wicked boosted LS setup, spits huge fireballs and lays down some insane passes at drag strips all over the southeast. However, there’s also another project that’s near and dear to his heart: Lauren’s turbocharged 1995 Trans Am.

The cherry red F-body looks pretty tame from a distance except for the wheels and tires, and although it’s the LT1 body style, there’s a boosted LS powerplant lurking under the hood that cranks out enough power to push the car into the 6.30’s in the 1/8th while remaining totally streetable. The build has evolved from a stock daily driver to a formidable car on the track, and the time had come for some new goodies to push the car even faster.

Stephen picked up a brand new FuelTech system to help provide more precise control of the car’s tune. FuelTech’s Michael Bunton decided to surprise Lauren with the system delivered by hand at Lights Out 9, where Lauren had come to join me and the rest of her fellow photographers on the wall shooting the biggest small tire race on the planet.

While hanging out with Stephen on the Manufacturers Midway, Lauren was surprised by a nudge from Bunton, who had a box full of awesomeness for her. As soon as she realized what was inside, her emotions kicked in as visions of breaking into the 5’s danced before her eyes. Tears of joy welled up as she thanked Stephen with a hug before the video ends, presumably for them to pack up right then and head to install the new goodies on her hotrod!