LIMO WITH ATTITUDE (7/10/06) You may think too many people already drive on Route 22 like it's a racetrack. But hang on tight if you see Joel Kowalski's Pontiac in your rearview mirror. The car is tricked out, NASCAR-style, and stretched into a 26-feet-long luxury limo. It's a traffic stopper. "When I'm driving down the highway, people have their camera phones or cameras," Kowalski says, reaching his arm out and snapping an imaginary picture. Children give him the thumbs up. Motorists roll down their windows and ask if there's a famous driver in the back. Kowalski, of Whitehall Township, got into his eye-popping race car limousine business by accident, he explains. He used to own an Easton-based building cleaning and restoration business, and was looking to take his portion from the sale of that venture and roll it into something new. While surfing the Internet, he came across Racing Limos Inc. of Florida, which helps its licensees convert their own stock cars into fantasy limousines. Kowalski and his wife, Sara, got in on the less-than-3-year-old company's early laps, purchasing the 65th Racing Limos licensing agreement in the country, which was the corporation's first in Pennsylvania. The Kowalskis named their business Racing Limos of the Lehigh Valley and Poconos. "The car started off as an everyday Pontiac," he explains. The starting point for Racing Limos is always cars used in racing leagues today – the Chevrolet Monte Carlo, Dodge Charger and Pontiac Grand Prix. He took the Grand Prix to a coachbuilder in Missouri, selected custom options and had the car "cut in half and put a 120-inch stretch in the center." A company from North Carolina, which develops auto graphics for the Busch and Nextel series, created a custom decal design incorporating graphics that would add a touch of Pennsylvania. "We have the rolling mountains and the keystone logo around the number on the car," Kowalski points out. The car then moved on to Oklahoma for its luxury outfitting. Eight and a half weeks and about $62,000 later, the Pontiac came back to Pennsylvania a changed car. The limo now carries eight to 10 passengers who can enjoy the glow of fiber-optic interior lighting; two, flat-panel televisions, PlayStation 2 with wireless controllers; DVD player; and 400-watt, surround-sound music system for AM/FM, CD, MP3, Sirius satellite radio and iPod tunes. Local companies can become "marketing partners" and put their names or logos on the car, just as they do in the real racing world. Prominent across the hood is the logo for area rock radio station 95.1 FM WZZO, where Kowalski (aka Brother Joel) DJs the weekend overnight shifts. Customers have had the limo transport them to special occasions including weddings, bachelor/bachelorette parties, proms, children's parties, corporate and fundraising events, and just plain fun nights on the town, Kowalski says. Fellow WZZO radio personality Tori Thomas has used the limo for both business and pleasure. "Not that I want to attract attention to myself, but I guess I do," she admits with a laugh. She says the racing theme makes the limo fun and stand out in a crowd. That's why the station often hires it to drive musical groups to the station. "When we pick up national bands and they think it's slick, that's cool." Closer to its racing roots, the limo also has taken trips to Dover Downs racetrack in Delaware and Pocono Raceway in Monroe County for NASCAR events. The limo will return to Pocono for the Pennsylvania 500 on July 23. All that and it serves as the basic Kowalski family car. If the kids want to go bowling, dad takes them in the car. If he has to go grocery shopping, he takes the car. There he makes sure to park way in the back of the lot, so the race limo doesn't get dinged by a runaway shopping cart. |