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HethelSport Visits Win Ace

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In April 2016, HethelSport visited Mr. C.K. Lim, owner of Win Ace Bodykits in Malaysia.  Win Ace has been in business since 1994 and their core business is automotive bodykits utilizing fiberglass and a self-developed flexible, impact resistant material called PU-FIBRE.

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As I arrived, the first impressions were astonishment… in the middle of an industrial park, far outside of the grandeur of Kuala Lumpur, there is a parking lot with nearly a dozen custom Lotus cars.  On that particular day: a few S1 Elises, a Lotus 7 replica, many S2 Exiges, more Evoras, and even Win Ace’s own recreation of the Lotus 2014 Esprit concept car.  Win Ace may be known for their thousands of Skodas, Peroduas, Mitsubishis, and Hondas body parts but owner, C.K. Lim has an obvious deep passion and understanding of the Lotus heritage, brand, and—of course—cars.

I spent the day with C.K. and he opened the doors to Win Ace's three separate facilities, two of which were dedicated to the design of Lotus car components.  The sheer magnitude of the main facility is overwhelming—thousands of molds for hundreds of cars are categorized and stored on Costco-like industrial shelves.  Fiberglass manufacturing stations, injection molding equipment, and custom fabrication booths are in every corner of the building.  Yet, even with this busy shop filled with skilled fabricators throughout, the production floor had a calm, peacefulness throughout—gladly opposing the common western beliefs of Far East high-production factories.  It’s of no surprise that C.K. himself also maintains a tranquil yet confident demeanor.

Across the street, the focus was very different.  For the Lotus enthusiasts, this is where the real “magic” happens—two smaller facilities, with a small hand-selected crew of designers, fabricators, and craftsmen were quietly shaping, building, blocking, testing, and doing who-knows-what-else to some special cars.  Nearly all the Win Ace Lotus aerodynamics start their life in these two unassuming skunkwork facilities.  On this warm day, two Evoras--and with the recent announcement by C.K. Lim himself--I can now reveal these pictures of the test mule for the GTC and GTR kits.

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As C.K. spent hours showing me project after project, there were two consistent themes—and it didn’t matter if it was a high-volume Mazda3 spoiler or a one-off custom Exige carbon fiber rear clam—everything was the result of a highly creative design process followed by a quality production & review procedure.  It was obvious why C.K. is proud of his creations—everything looked fantastic!  After the tour, we spent hours talking about the U.S. and Worldwide market, about the hurdles, risks, and intensity of the import/export business—and despite the revelations of the industry, we both discovered our common goal: to enhance the Lotus ownership experience.

Just half a year ago, the boundaries of building a truly unique Evora were severely limited for most owners.  With the recent product introductions, Win Ace and HethelSport now have four impressive options for the Lotus Evora fascias.  What’s next?  We’ve got some ideas and tricks up our sleeves… so please, stay with us for some seriously impressive cars.



HethelSport is a Lotus Evora Specialty online retailer and is the U.S. Distributor for Win Ace Bodykits.
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