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Formula 50 Ford F-1 Fifty: Built Ford tough, rapper 50 Cent shows healthier side via vitaminwater
Try forming your own opinion on vitaminwater’s formula 50 Ford F-1 Fifty. Whoa, try saying that from the top of the dome in your next freestyle. Well freestyle is exactly what Automotive Rhythms (AR) pulled off with only one week to turn a black, base (I mean base) Ford F-150 into pick-up truck ready for G-Unit’s chief officer.
 As you all may or may not know, hip-hop star 50 Cent has his own brand of vitaminwater. “Formula 50” is the name of the grape flavored beverage. FYI -- after a hard night of partying, cold vitaminwater of any flavor really hits the spot -- trust me!
 Back to business, glacéau, the parent company that produces vitaminwater, contacted AR about pulling together a customized vehicle package for their national promotion kicking off early 2007. After deciding whether to move forward or not, the green light was given for the project. The catch being we only had a week to totally customize a basic Ford F-150 and have it ready for the big time. I mean, it had manual windows, no CD player, cheap cloth seats, and no power to its V6! And forget what you see on cable television, these projects can sometimes take weeks. Not thirty minutes! Especially if the accessories have to be shipped across the country.
 AR is never a company to back down from challenges -- yet we needed a game plan -- so we collaborated with Hamid and AJ at Big Boys Toys and with Revision Auto Salon, both in the Washington, D.C. metro area. Keep in mind, AR will always customize a car or truck in the same essence of its intended purpose. We are not going to build a Range Rover Sport that can’t go off-road, or over customize a luxury sedan. Adding a fashion that individualizes the vehicle but does not simultaneously take away from its class is always our purpose. Sorry, no 28s!
So with the parameters vitaminwater and their agency Amerati set for the new look of the F-150, and the few days left, we used our imaginations. From top to bottom this is what we accomplished:
 The campaign began with a stock, black F-150 supplied by Manhattan Ford which was delivered to Big Boys Toys in Oxon Hill, Maryland. Julio and David started to break down the vehicle and take measurements for the equipment that was being installed. They then outfitted it with T-Rex Nerf step bars and purple (50’s flavor) Xanatos neon lights behind the grille for front ground effects. Window tint and a custom grille supplied by our man John at E&G Classics further enhanced the exterior package.
 From there, we needed to get the truck to the body shop before bringing it back to Big Boys Toys for completion. Mark at Revision Auto Salon installed the DGM suspension lowering kit and DG Motorsports body kit. Those two items alone do wonders for the F-1 Fifty’s gritty presence. That body kit also drained most of our time. But we didn’t stop there.
Brothers Wei and TK, owners of fast growing wheel manufacturer Rennen International in Queens, NY, sent us a set of chrome 22” Kaotix rims with black call-outs to assert that urban appeal for the F-1 Fifty. To keep the vehicle’s feet on the ground, we then wrapped the spins in a set of wide Hankook rubber. AR and the F-1 Fifty were literally sitting pretty as we came towards the end of the week. Revision finished us up by painting the brake calipers purple and applying custom made 50 decals to the pick-up. A clear coat finish was requested by vitaminwater, but it was statistically impossible due to the short window of opportunity and an advised waste of 2,500 bucks.
 With a lot of the exterior work completed, we brought the F-150 back to Big Boys Toys to outfit the new Sony CDX-705X head unit and JL Audio subwoofers and amps. The sound was fantastic! The last item was the Road Rule mini-cooler in the cabin to keep our vitaminwater nice and cold.
 With all of the work put into the vitaminwater F-1 Fifty, we want to thank our sponsors who supported the project (Rennen Auto, E&G Classics, Hankook, and JL Audio) and the shops Big Boys Toys and Revision Auto Salon for executing the work. As for Automotive Rhythms? Well we just put it all together and made it happen. Business as usual!
 Keep your eyes open for the glacéau’s vitaminwater F-1 Fifty promotion going on in your city. You can win your own F-1 Fifty and start riding AR style!
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