Similar to last year, we had a small threat of rain in the forecast leading up to the 2015 Open House.  Luckily, the rain held off, and the morning brought some passing clouds before the sun broke through.  The entire back parking lot at Factory Five soon filled up with Roadsters, Hot Rods, 818s, and GTMs while a row of Type 65 Coupes greeted show attendees entering the event.  Approximately 100 customers drove their Factory Five to the event where we unveiled the new 818C and 20th Anniversary Special Edition Mk4 Roadster.

The event officially started at 9 am with the first batch of customer-built Roadsters arriving just after 8.  It wasn’t long before the steady sound of engines came through as more and more customers arrived.  The parts sale opened at 9 am, and it was instantly packed with people grabbing great deals on parts.  The showroom was also busy as people picked up new Factory Five t-shirts, hats, and gear before the big 818C Coupe unveil at 10 am.

It was cool to see customers from outside of New England drive to Open House..

Factory Five customer Craig L. arrives in his Mk3 Roadster.

Factory Five legend Ralph Button drove his Mk1 Roadster to the event which has almost 600,000 miles clocked on it.

It was cool to see a bunch of GTMs at the show this year.

The 818s were well represented at the Open House.

Customers snagged some great deals on the Scratch ‘N Dent sale.

Susie, Sally, and Kathy were selling Factory Five apparel during the event.

At 10 AM, Dave invited everyone into the showroom for the unveiling of the 818C.  When Factory Five’s Jim and Jesper pulled car cover off, you could hear everyone’s immediate reaction to the new coupe with applause and gasps.  The car was swarmed with people getting a close-up look at the new 818C nose and hard top.  You can read more about the 818C here.

The 818C was on display in the showroom under wraps until the big unveil at 10 am.

Dave Smith gives a quick update on the 818 before pulling the wraps off of the new 818C.

Director of Engineering Jesper Ingerslev and Director of R&D Jim Schenck take the cover off of the 818C.

The new 818C had people around it the remainder of event.

Following the 818C unveiling, Dave Smith gathered everyone again at 10:30 for another unveiling outside the building.  This time, he was pulling the cover off of our 20th Anniversary Special Edition Mk4 Roadster.  Dave talked about how the car has evolved over the years since the companies start in 1995 and this is the best Roadster we’ve ever built.  With the help of Carl from Carl’s Collision (who painted both the 818C and Special Edition Mk4), Dave took the cover off the car. Click here to read more about the 20th Anniversary Mk4.

Dave Smith getting ready to introduce the 20th Anniversary Mk4 Roadster.

Dave and Carl from Carl’s Collision take the car cover off of the Mk4.

At 11, Dave gave a tour of the factory while car show judging got underway.  With over 100 cars at the event, the judges had their hands full trying to decide who would win which award.  The only award that was easy to pick was Highest Accrued Mileage which went to Mk1 Roadster customer Ralph Button who has put close to 600,000 miles on his car.

Nothing beats a good hot dog at a car show.

At noon, Dave Smith presented the car show awards with help from customer Karen Salvaggio.  They also presented this year’s Factory Five Legacy/Robert Fedderson Memorial Award to customer Frank Maslowski.  Frank was handed the award by customer Randy and Julie Johns, Dave Hodgkins, and Karen Salvaggio.  Here’s the complete list of award winners.

Car Show Award Winners

Best Use of Chrome – Rob Baker
Best Paint – Scott Lindstrom
Best interior – Jim Kalweit
Best Engine – Karl Magnussen
Most Innovative Design – Mark Stackler
Best Roadster – Shaun Netterield
Best 818 – Jim Kalweit
Best GTM – Gary Cheney
Best Challenge Car – Dana Johnston
Best ’33 Hot Rod – Rob Nickerson
Best Type 65 Coupe – Greg Pellegrino
Best of Show – Paul Borror
Highest Accrued Mileage – Ralph Button
Factory Five Legacy/Robert Fedderson Memorial Award – Frank Maslowski

Factory Five customer Jim Kalweit (middle) won two awards: Best 818 and Best Interior.

Factory Five customer Mark Stackler won Most Innovative Design with his ’33 Hot Rod.

Karen Salvaggio (left) and Dave Smith (right) present the Accrued Mileage to Ralph Button.

Julie Jones, Karen, Randy Jones, and Dave Hodgkins presented the Factory Five Legacy/Robert Fedderson Memorial Award.

The award was given to customer Frank Maslowski for his contribution to the Factory Five community.

The 2015 Factory Five Open House was one of the best ones ever.  Everyone had a great time, the customer cars were fantastic, and the unveiling of the new 818C and 20th Anniversary Mk4 Roadster couldn’t have been better. Thanks to everyone for making this Open House such a big success.

Click here to view even more photos from the 2015 Open House.  Thanks to Christian at High Octane Image for the great photos!