I’ve really been anticipating this moment, and it’s finally here (although the website says that retail copies of this issue are not yet available). Make:, a relatively new publication from O’Reilly, has a feature article on the GTi Mac Mini installation in my own vehicle that I posted on multiple times in March and April. Thanks to P. Torrone for picking up the story and for keeping in touch with me as it progressed. I really appreciate the exposure! I can’t wait to get my hands on a hard copy of this issue. If you haven’t seen this magazine yet, you should really check it out regardless, as it’s actually a quarterly publication that is more like a softcover book …

Here are two more custom iPod docks done at the shop within the past month or so. One is in a 98 Range Rover and the second is in a 2002 Lexus IS300 - along with a Pioneer AVIC-D2 in a custom dash kit. By the way, we’re gearing up for a really huge project (one where the installation will run about 6 times the cost of the vehicle), and I will try to post regularly on it once the project is underway. The first step is to outsource some major CNC, engineering and welding work (more on that in a later post), and then it will be back to the shop around September 1 for the audio madness to …

This vehicle was actually done a few weeks ago, but we’ve been so busy attending to all the projects on hand that I’m just now getting to putting it up, but it’s definitely worth taking a look at. The car is a 2006 Infiniti M45 that we added an Escort Passport SR7/ZR3 integrated radar detection and laser detection/shifting system to. This is the same customer who owns the Aston Martin DB9 featured in May, and he came back to us to make sure that the display and controls for this system would blend into the interior and not be obtrusive in any way. Typically, we would locate the display in the rearview mirror on such a vehicle, but the design …

We seem to always stay busy here knocking out new projects and products, and have just finished off the molds for two more vehicle-specific iPod docking bases - the BMW X5 and the 2002-current BMW 7-series e65. As with the e46 BMW dock and the MKIV VW dock, these are designed to accept any size dockable iPod and nearly any iPod interface cable to easily provide a home for your iPod in your vehicle. They replace the ashtray insert in the same fashion and are finished in a textured black that matches these vehicles’ interior trim. Both of the new docks also allow the factory ashtray door to close over them when the iPod is not being used. The X5 …

When the e46 BMW iPod docking piece was announced early this month, I suggested that this was by no means the only vehicle that would receive an installer and customer-friendly iPod docking solution, and that many more were currently being worked on. Well, second out of the gate is the vehicle-specific iPod docking solution for the 1999.5-2005 Volkswagen MKIV Golf, GTi, R32, GTi 337, GTi 20th AE, Jetta and GLi. This unit is designed specifically for these vehicles and replaces the factory ashtray insert, providing a home for your favorite ‘dockable’ iPod model (3g and 4g 10gig, 15gig, 20gig, 30gig, 40gig and 60gig iPod and iPod Photo) that looks completely factory-installed and can be hidden underneath the factory sliding cover …