{"id":21012,"date":"2018-12-12T09:33:29","date_gmt":"2018-12-12T14:33:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dodgegarage.com\/news-api\/?p=21012"},"modified":"2024-03-25T11:24:41","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T15:24:41","slug":"the-jolly-fast-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/showcase\/2018\/12\/the-jolly-fast-man.html","title":{"rendered":"The Jolly Fast Man"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was a perfect winter evening; the tree was decorated, gifts wrapped, Hootie & The Blowfish\u2019s version of \u201cThe Christmas Song\u201d was on\u2026then my son asked THE question every parent fears\u2026\u201cDad, how does Santa make it all around the world in one night?\u201d<\/p>\n

Well son, you see, he\u2019s…ummm\u2026The Jolly FAST Man.<\/p>\n

Apparently I\u2019m not the only car enthusiast who\u2019s had to explain that to his child as you\u2019ve no doubt seen the commercial showing Santa and his new HEMI\u00ae<\/sup> powered sleigh!<\/a>  So what\u2019s the story behind that machine and the videos that go with it?  I got on the phone and called up some friends to get the backstory…specifically, Mike Alexander of famed custom car shop Metalcrafters<\/a>, and also Cristy Lee who played Mrs. Claus in the videos.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Up first, let\u2019s talk about the vehicle.  It\u2019s officially named the Redeye Express and Mike says that the car itself was an engineering mule at the end of its life cycle (so no production Redeyes were harmed in the making of this!)  \u201cThe project came out of nowhere.  Dodge was getting ready to shoot the commercial and envisioned a sleigh.”  The FCA Product Design Team sent them a detailed rendering, and task of making it a reality began.  If you\u2019re not familiar with the Metalcrafters name, you definitely know their handiwork: Metalcrafters has built some of the most famous concept cars in the world: the original Dodge Viper, the Plymouth Prowler and PT Cruiser, the Chrysler ME Four Twelve and many others.  For that matter, Mike\u2019s dad (and Uncle Larry) were known as The Alexander Brothers who built the \u201cLittle Deuce Coupe\u201d made famous on the Beach Boys album and the Dodge Deora that became one of the very first Hot Wheels cars back in the 60s.  Santa\u2019s sleigh was in good hands.  But, they didn\u2019t have much time.  Mike told me that because of scheduling everything and everyone for the shoot, they HAD to have this project done in just two weeks.  FOURTEEN DAYS to build a complete custom vehicle!<\/p>\n