Meet the 818 Design Competition Judges

Panel of Experts to Review Submissions and Select Winners

We have assembled a diverse group of industry experts who have volunteered to serve as judges for the Factory Five Racing-Grassroots Motorsports Design Competition. In addition to selecting the overall winners (1st, 2nd, and 3rd), each judge will be allowed to pick a favorite submission.

Tim Suddard, Grassroots Motorsports Magazine

A car guy’s car guy, and a racer’s racer, Tim is the Owner and Editor of Grassroots Motorsports Magazine, the recognized leader in amateur road race coverage.  Tim has spent his career not only covering race events, but also participating.  He has driven and built almost every car imaginable and at the helm of Grassroots Motorsports, has helped direct the growth of amateur American racing.

Jeremy Luchini, SolidWorks

Jeremy is the host of SolidWorks online design show called “Let’s Go Design.”  Jeremy is 20 year CAD veteran, designer and mechanical engineer.  He has been an important part of many Factory Five-SolidWorks projects including the all-electric ’33 Hot Rod that debuted at SEMA in 2009.  Jeremy was a design consultant on HorsePower TV’s ’33 Hot Rod build.

Jeremy currently drives his own custom designed/built chopper and a 1967 Jeep Kaiser M715 troop carrier.  Favorite vehicles include: Ford GR-1, Foose Hemisfear, Koenigsegg Agera-R, Bugatti T57-Atlantic, Mclaren F-1, Saleen Raptor.

Murray Pfaff, Pfaff Designs

Murray Pfaff is a highly regarded automotive designer/customizer and has been featured in numerous national magazines.  Murray is a feature artist for Hot Rod Magazine and writes a design column.  His cars have been featured in major displays at the annual SEMA Show and he is currently designing a custom race GTM for Koni Shocks.  His custom car, the Imperial Speeder, is featured in an issue of Street Rodder Magazine.  You can visit Murray’s website at http://www.pfaffdesigns.com/.
Michael Lye, Rhode Island School of Design

Michael Lye is an award winning Industrial Designer and educator teaching at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), where he is currently Senior Critic. His teaching includes the “Design for Extreme Environments” course where RISD students work with NASA to develop innovative concepts for future spacecraft and rovers. Back here on Earth, he has owned British and Italian sports cars.  He is currently looking forward to spring so he can get his 1972 Lotus Europa back on the road.

Wayne Cherry, VP of Design, General Motors ret.

A graduate of Art Center, Wayne joined GM in 1962, spending 26 years in Europe where he became responsible for the design of all GM European vehicles.
From 1992 to 2004, as Vice President of Design, he was personally responsible for the new design direction of Cadillac and helped to reestablish GM as a design leader with a wide range of concepts from Autonomy to Solstice, and a number of Cadillac concepts including the Evoq, the Cien and the Cadillac 16.
Matt Humphries, Morgan MotorsMatt Humpries is the chief designer at Morgan Motors and runs Morgan Design.  In 2005, he helped introduce the Morgan Aeromax concept at the Geneva Auto Show.  Matt is a graduate of Coventry University.  In his position at Morgan Cars, he is responsible for the design and brand identities for all the company’s cars.  Matt is integral to the relaunch of the classic Lonville Watch.

Tom Salomone, Hewlett Packard

Thomas A. Salomone has over 25 years in the technology industry and is currently the worldwide Mechanical Design Automation and Architectural, Engineering and Construction segment manager for Hewlett Packard (how’s that for a job title!).

Tom has an MS in Computer Science, and a BS in Physics, and is the author of an engineering book titled: Concurrent Engineering, What Every Engineer Should Know, Marcel Dekker, New York, NY 1995.  The photo to the left is of Tom warming up the crowd at SolidWorks World 2010 ahead of guest speaker James Cameron.

Jim Schenck, Director of R&D, Factory Five Racing

Jim is the veteran Director of Research and Development at Factory Five Racing.  He is in charge of all design at Factory Five and also responsible for our national racing series, the Factory Five-NASA Challenge Series.  Jim is a mechanical engineer from Rensselaer Polytech, a member of the American Society Auto Engineers and an Eagle Scout.  Jim has about 10 cars, all of which would never run again if anything were ever to happen to him.  Jim is the consummate car guy.  Jim designed the Factory Five GTM Supercar.

Jesper Ingerslev, Director of Engineering, Factory Five Racing

Jesper is the veteran Director of Engineering at Factory Five Racing.  He is in charge of all engineering at the company.  Jesper is 1996 graduate of Rensselaer Polytech with a degree in mechanical engineering.  He has built numerous Factory Five cars and he has worked on all facets of kit line production and engineering.  In school he managed the automotive shop at Rensselaer, and worked on a Baja race car team.

Latest Factory Five News

Five Deals from the Factory Five Guys Ends Soon!

2026 is off to a great start, and the team wants to keep the momentum going! They have put together a sale for all of our kits to help you build your car your way this year. Score a Free IRS Upgrade OR Save $2,026 Off Options on Mk5 Roadsters, Mk4 Roadsters, Type 65 Coupe, and ’33 Hot Rod To ensure your finest ride is possible, we are offering FREE IRS Upgrades (up to $3,199 in value). Our Independent Rear Suspension is the best suspension configuration Factory Five has to offer. This upgrade package includes: OR you can save $2,026… Read More »

Read More

From Track to Street: Ben F.’s Factory Five Challenge Car

For five years, Factory Five customer Ed Boothman and his team competed in the 25 Hours of Thunderhill in a modified Challenge Car. After the 2012 event, the car was retired, and eventually sold by Ed. It is now owned by Ben F. from New Hampshire who has shared the news that he has completed converting the 25 Hours Challenge Car into a steet car. “My father and I took the tour down at Factory Five in late 90s,” said Ben. “and “That cemented what I wanted to do: open a shop and work on old English vehicles.” Ben took… Read More »

Read More

Jesse L. Scores Autocross Top Time of Day in Mk4!

Like so many of us, Jesse L. has been thinking of owning a AC Cobra since he was young. His dream became a reality in February 2025 when he purchased his Factory Five Mk4 Roadster kit to start building with his daughter, Claire. They recently shared the exciting news that they have reached the go-kart stage and decided to take it to their local autocross. Jesse tells the story better than we could, so we’ll let him take it from here: “This idea of getting an AC Cobra started, like I am sure many people do, with an adolescent idea,” said… Read More »

Read More
Top