Having completed the Daytona Coupe in time for SEMA was a great relief for Speedmaster CEO Jason Kencevski (left) and General Manager Jay Verduzco, the latter whom was intimately involved in the build working late into the night for most of two months with Gerald Laird.

By Cam Benty/Photos By Speedmaster

Faced with the unbelievable deadline of delivering a turnkey supercar in only 6 weeks for the SEMA Show in Las Vegas, Jay Verduzco and Gerald Laird achieved their goal. Their Daytona Coupe was honored as one of the premier vehicles at the biggest automotive aftermarket trade shows. Draped in high luster black paint, the car stole the show. United States and International attendees had the opportunity to view the newest Speedmaster product, turnkey vehicles.

While the high impact paint and shiny fuel injection may have been the headline features, the Speedmaster team also collected the Global Media Award by the SEMA New Products Committee. For a first time out of the box build, this was a major accomplishment.

This Daytona Coupe signals the start of Speedmaster’s newest program; creating turn key cars equipped with Speedmaster components to the public.

“We really worked hard to make this car come together in such a small window of time,” said Speedmaster’s Jay Verduzco. “I knew the crew we assembled was more than up to the task but figured there would be challenges that we just could not plan for. Regardless, the real purpose of the build was to demonstrate the quality and performance abilities of Speedmaster parts used for our new turn-key vehicle division.“

Future plans for Project Blackbird begin with a serious dyno session to determine not only the power output of the Ford engine but also to further tune the driveline to achieve optimum efficiency and power. From there, the car will be tested at various race tracks in Southern California to determine the suspension calibrations. Speedmaster’s focus is to build cars that are at home on the track as they are on the street.

The Ford engine features Speedmaster’s classic look fuel injection system. While it may look like a throwback to the old Weber carbs used on the original Daytona Coupes, it is, in fact, a very advanced fuel injection system that allows for total tunability.

Continued Verduzco, “ While the Daytona Coupe body is a highly recognizable shape for performance fans, we know that enthusiast’s tastes vary greatly. For that reason, we will offer other types of cars including a ’33-style Hot Rod and the GTLM supercar body that features a mid-engined Chevy LS engine. The common denominator will be the use of Speedmaster parts to make them go. And that’s a great thing!”

Speedmaster, speedmaster79.com