What Is The "Permobil CSX500," And What Separates It From Other Prototypes?!

During the early part of the 1960s, Carroll Shelby found himself in the midst of a construction project. That "construction project" would become the legendary A/C Cobra, and it would become America's greatest road car.

But during the very initial stages of that build, Shelby was in a state of limbo, mostly between GM and Ford. Truthfully, Carroll had hoped to stuff a Chevrolet small-block into his first sports car, but GM, always wanting to suffocate the "Shadetree Mechanics" of the world, would have nothing to do with a man who built door-slammers, especially when that door-slammer was one that threatened to undermine the entire, second generation of Corvettes, and with the very small-block V-8 that made GM's sportster into a competitor.

It's understandable why General Motors and the "Big 3" don't want to share their goods; that part of their history repeated itself with Buick in the 1980s, and this is why the turbo Regal lineup never became as advertised as other GM performance makes. That's why the 3.8 motor was so severely underrated, by the time Garrett starting building intercooled turbos. Likewise, this is why Tesla Motors will not just sell running gears, to any "hot rod Harry" who wants to build a Roadster. Believe that, because if that was the case, then literally every performance buff at Supercar Sunday would be shoehorning Tesla's stuff into their Superformance Cobras, and with the way the motoring community is, you better believe that an idea like that would catch on, and quick!

What would that mean for automakers like Buick and Tesla? Go back to Tesla Motors; if their DC motors were truly "open-sourced," then Shelby American, Factory Five, Superformance and every other kit car manufacturer would be using their stuff. Tesla doesn't want people to build hot rods and one-offs from a running gear that they've created, and for good reason; how much of a rebellion would there be, within the luxury-performance market, if Tesla Motors lost money, just because all of these knuckleheads in the rod-and-custom community decided to start doing things their way?!

Think about it: a Mk. III Cobra from Superformance is a ground-up kit car that can be had for $95-100k; a Model S sedan runs for anywhere from $70-125k. You can build a Superformance Daytona or GT40 for anywhere from $90k, all the way up to $150k and over; for 2016, Tesla Motors projects that their Model X crossover will start at a baseline of $80-85k, and that's without the leather interior, roof rack and whatever bottle of champagne Tesla decides to throw-in. Otherwise, you're buying an expensive kit car, and from a store front, so that it gives you that illusion that you really are buying something that's "regular-production," even though Tesla "salon showcases" everything that they do.

Now what about the physically-challenged enthusiast, and I'm not talking about some guy with drool in his mouth, because most developmentally-disabled people are simply not. Actually, there are a great many of us out there, who would love nothing more than to spend $95-150k on a bad-ass kit car. It's not important, but here's what is: being able to get around, and with Uber implementing their "WAV" program this year, they've achieved that!

In addition to Uber WAV, we have Access Paratransit, and that's a service that's been in operation, here in Los Angeles, since 1994. For me, I just feel like it's way more important to build paratransit networks and taxi services for the challenged community, then it is to simply throw everything out that's useful, and try building a "Shelby Cobra" for a guy with mild CP, or a spinal chord injury.

Take for instance, Aaron Baker. Is it important, for a guy like Baker, to be able to make dirt bikes accessible? Not really, because no one needs a dirt bike, just like no one needs a Shelby Cobra and no one needs a "ZL1 Camaro" either!

That's like me saying, "I like women, but I don't 'need to' sleep with the hottest chick in the neighborhood!" Look, personally...I don't need to be sleeping with no "supermodels," especially since I am permanently disabled. But let's face it: I want to hump on a good-looking chick anyway, because I have a penis in-between my legs and I can; we call that, "being human!" In the same way that people with disabilities, who do not share mine and Aaron's "chakra scale," also like to slam tequila, watch porn and blow-up fireworks, and throughout the '90s and early-2000s, our friends and family weren't getting any of this!

Guess what?! They're not going to, my dad and his dad will not and they should not, until I bring home Miranda Cosgrove. Until then, you simply will not be taken seriously, as a man!

For this reason, I am proposing a new variation on an old classic, but the twist is that it has to be accessible. My personal friend and designer, Greg Rainsbarger is currently working, from San Bernardino, California, to design, what we call, the "Permobil CSX500," what would prove to be the market's first legitimate road car, based on a disabled-friendly platform.

While we do not yet know whether the production CSX will be fiberglass or aluminum-bodied, we are guessing that the costs of fiberglass will be significantly-less, and what we're in the process of establishing, is whether or not we will be able to build the platform accessible enough, to where it could accommodate the disabled drivers and their mobility devices.

Each unit should run for about $100-150k, will feature a standard joystick and will be manufactured by Superformance of Irvine, California, and as a licensed-and-certified, Superformance product.

Our initial concept sketch is currently under construction, and as soon as it's dialed-in, Greg and I will be open-sourcing it online. As of right now, there's not a lot that we know for sure, because we are amateurs. But if there's one thing that Greg and I have agreed on, it's that the Permobil CSX500, solely as a prototype, will open the doors for a brand new market of enthusiasts.

Even as I put this document together, a funny thought comes to my mind: "If you're going to argue with a 'stoner' who's educated, you're going to lose!" That's because I went into the whole design with a "cartoon" mindset, not being stupid about it or anything, but just visionary enough to make the very thought molecule into a reality.

People are going to chastise me when I say it, so I'll say it anyway: Whenever you build something that's new, like Shelby's Cobra or Disney's "Magic Kingdom," think like a stoner! I'm not suggesting that people use drugs; I'm suggesting that they keep their heads straight, and think like a professional stoner. Here's what that means: if you think that an attraction like "Star Tours" is too outrageous for Disneyland, then it probably is, and that's why George Lucas made it happen!

If you think that forming a real rock band, based on an inter dimensional being is far-fetched, then form that rock band; it was outrageous in the '70s, it's outrageous even today, and that's why Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley did it anyway. Because the more outrageous that the project becomes, and with the right timing, the more of a "bar" or "standard" that it sets.

We're in America, we're here and we're human; for a project like this, the disabled community has waited long enough!

Alaimo Motors Salon...What It Is To Be A Disabled Gearhead!!!

Starting in 2013, but even before then, I began what would become an extensive research project. My whole life, I was like the "Luigi Lavazza" of automotive, traveling everywhere in search of the best in design, while my dad, founder of Westside Collision, was the business expert.

If you've been watching TV lately, then you have no doubt heard the Lavazza Coffee jingles. Truth be told, they're some of the most beautiful commercials I've seen in years, but they always carry the same slogan, "In life, there is always more to taste!"

Growing-up, my dad's slogan for success was, and still is, a great one: Be what you are! Lately however, I've been finding that Mr. Lavazza and my own father have something in common: they're both looking to taste the "better flavors" of life.

That's why I came up with the idea behind my very first, supercar creation: the "CSX500." Because people kept asking me, if you're disabled and trying to tap into the motoring market, then what makes you different?

The more research that I did into the able-bodied community, the more I found that they were right and I was wrong: hand controls and other adaptations can be bolted-on to nearly any vehicle, but there has never been a motoring venue/label geared toward the challenged community, and with the disabled gearhead in mind.

It took a while for me to see, but the more that I looked into it, the more that I realized that I wasn't building a car or starting a company...I was creating my own insignia.

That's what Alaimo Motors is, and if it can't exist as a real company or entity, then maybe it could simply get its start as an idea, and I think that's the hardest part of any endeavor!

XK-1: A Supercar Built By A Disabled Enthusiast!

In 2010, I had asked a cousin for some help on a creative project, and because it was automotive-related, I knew that that cousin was not going to want to help-out. Welcome to my mom's side of the family; no one ever lends a shoulder to anyone, unless there's something in return!

That's people though, and once I moved-out on my own in 2008, I realized something that was taught me by one of my sister's old boyfriends: in life, you have very few "friends." That language translated to the automotive craft, starting in 2011. During the fall of that year, I obtained my very first job as an automotive journalist.

My dad is the most educated car guy I've ever met; he's also one of the least informed! That's not saying that he doesn't know things; he just doesn't know things from a physically-challenged perspective, and that's where I come in!

I was born in February of 1984 with arthrogryposis. There's nothing extraordinary about that, and "AMC" is even a condition that you can Google. Here's the dilemma: me and my people are car people, but I'm physically-disabled, kind of a jacked niche, but also kind of a sexy one in that it is "jacked!" Think about it: the crippled kid wants to be "Carroll Shelby," but he can't even manage a flipping mini van! Um...is there anyone recognizing a potential market here besides me, or have I really lost that many brain cells, while creating this document?!

When I say "my people," I'm referring to my able-bodied social network; figure that one out! I'm talking mom, dad, baby nephew...every spaghetti eater in my family just happens to be a gearhead, but I'm the only one who's permanently disabled.

Being disabled doesn't mean lower-functioning; it just means that every woman who I date has to maneuver around my power chair, and I gotta hope that all of my bus transfers are on time. That's not the end of the world either, but it places demands on the whole synchronization concept.

Then I thought, with all of the circuitry that we have available, on our power chairs, why is there not a car like that, and if so, why isn't there one geared toward a disabled enthusiast?!

Presenting the "XK-1," the first legitimate road car to be built with a challenged enthusiast in mind. It's also the first to incorporate a real, sports car design into an adaptive frame, and it could be the investment of 2016.

Donate today: https://www.gofundme.com/ma4zmndn

What Is SmartVan Paratransit, And Why Should It Become A Reality?

At this point in the game, CORE Centers, in Northridge, California has stated that Uber will be expanding into the disabled-access market. I am not sure as to details yet, but I imagine that the company change will involve buying more accessible vans.

But who knows if Uber, as a dial-a-ride, will be able to cater to the physically-challenged community; there have already been rumors afloat, regarding Uber's structural integrity. I don't feel like it's the most sound system possible, and it even scares me that Uber only has an online location, and not a physical one.

Let's face it: the web is a great invention, but businesses like Uber, that hope to capitalize off of the e-verse, need to follow the model that CORE does: combine the two sides of the coin. The point behind having access to the Internet was never to make our world completely virtual; the web itself is merely a networking tool.

So with SmartVan Paratransit, this will basically be like Uber, but exclusively for the higher-functioning, physically disabled community. In this instance, "higher-functioning" refers to guys like Aaron Baker, who suffer disabilities, but are able to travel to better-paying jobs, along with nicer recreational venues, like fine dining and live concerts.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out: disability is something that exists across a spectrum. Some people can do certain things that others can not; CORE Centers and life, in general, have taught me these values.

So what would SmartVan's selling point be? Two things: first, the business layout, second...the choice of vehicle. This fall, Tesla Motors has begun to leak-out their very first, Model X crossovers. What makes SmartVan different from every other paratransit, however, is that as Tesla builds, SmartVan builds, meaning that our company will build a paratransit service around the Model X platform, and literally as the company is leaking them out.

Also, SmartVan is seeking to open its very first office in the San Fernando Valley, right next door to CORE Centers. This is another selling point behind SmartVan, that by opening it next door to a disabled wellness center, we would essentially be making the whole thing into a giant wellness hub, and specifically for this community.

I know that everybody is scared of Uber right now, and other disabled community members have even created that rumor, that Uber is seeking to take over Access Paratransit, which I can tell you right now is just not going to happen, because Access is a subsidized service, where Uber is private.

Not only this, but Access and Uber use conventional cars, and they don't have a showroom or central office that works as a classroom. Tesla does, and when SmartVan does start to take off as a business, it hopes to build a central office in Northridge, that will likewise function as a "classroom," using informational aesthetics to tell people the story behind the idea.

Tesla crossovers, electric charging stations, web connectivity all the way around...all combined with an office that would expand into a chain, and every time you visit a SmartVan location to reserve your ride, you have fun while you're doing it.

TV personality, Fred Rogers once said that children need to be at play, because non-serious play is an integral part of some very serious learning. That's Mr. Rogers in a nutshell, and as silly as that may sound, maybe that spirit of play-and-adventure need be incorporated into a paratransit company.

Call me a visionary, or simply refer to me as unrealistic; either way, I'll take that criticism! I consider myself to be the kind of person, who just knows when his idea is a stupid one. In this case, however, the challenged community needs something a little different.

So we do have a fundraiser set-up, and while money is not the goal here, we're going to need a lot of it if we are to make this into a real business, and as far as me and my guys are concerned, we already have our first location in mind.

Drink in the vision behind SmartVan, understand what it is...and maybe there really will prove to be angel investors out there who see what I see.

Google's looking to take over the Internet eventually, and Uber is expanding into an adaptive market; why not invest in a company that spares no expense, and for the physically-disabled?!