When you have the opportunity to work with a brand like Obsessed Garage, you accept the challenge with open arms regardless of what is currently on your plate. We at IND have been certainly pushed to a new limit with COVID—the rule book of what we can expect as a veteran of the industry has been thrown away and rewritten a few times during this pandemic—a constant juggling act between balancing almost impossible to get inventory, our own parts manufacturing, and the ever-important task of fulfilling orders and quelling the thirsts of eager and impatient enthusiasts.
Nevertheless, the project was too cool to ignore: create a custom Rupes LHR15 Mark III polisher that would serve as the basis for an Obsessed Garage giveaway. Given the gravity of the project, we called upon some help for the design work. Future Classic is a brand that has made aesthetic beauty an equal priority to the quality of their goods. Their motorsport enthusiasm and library of knowledge has allowed them to infuse every part or accessory they make with an unparalleled eye for detail, and their rapid rise to the forefront of the industry pays testament to that. Naturally, that eye is something we wanted to showcase for a project that would garner so much attention.
THE POLISHER
The LHR15 Mark III represents Rupes’s latest and greatest random orbital polisher, which made it the perfect foundation for this project. Future Classic’s design would carry a blue and black theme, a fitted nod to Matt Moreman’s Lemans Blue E92 M3. A bespoke Obsessed x IND logo would adorn on the polisher body, while the handle featured a sliver of carbon fiber and a unique red trigger. The design concept was given a universal nod, but like every concept, we knew that there also needed to be adequate time to discern how much was possible in the real world.
As time went on, that little sliver of carbon was about as slim as our hopes were in pulling it off to a high standard. Mercifully, the trigger proved to be a much friendly (albeit time consuming) endeavor. The original piece was 3D printed and a bespoke mold created to ensure the new trigger would fit as perfectly as the standard unit.
We took the polisher disassembly as an opportunity to add further customization to the Mark III—every facet of Matt's LHR15 would carry some new detail that could be admired.
THE BOX
While the polisher itself was an ambitious undertaking, we thought that it’d be a shame to put such a beautiful piece back into the standard Rupes box. The original Rupes box provided very little connection to the Obsessed brand and for a one-off piece, that just didn’t seem right.
We wanted to create something inspired by the collector’s world given this polisher’s rarity—something between the die cast space and the ever-present sneaker game. - Future Classic
The end result turned out insane and made us even more excited to deliver the one-off polisher to Matt at Obsessed.
THE RESULT
To say that this project was a team effort would be an understatement. At every uncharted stage, people were able to confidently assert their expertise in pursuit of a like-minded goal: to make the ultimate Rupes polisher for perhaps the most discerning user in Matt Moreman.
Did we as a collective bite off more than we could chew? Absolutely not. Was it difficult to execute to our level of scrutiny with everything else that was going on within the walls of IND? Absolutely, yes. But I think it's extremely important continuously to hold ourselves to that almost unachievable high standard. After all, that's what helps distinguish our brands from others in the industry time and time again.
Special thanks to Matt Moreman of Obsessed Garage for entrusting us with this opportunity. A big shoutout to Future Classic for their imagination and execution on making some of these pieces a reality. The entire project was certainly a challenge, but one that we will never forget and are proud to put on our ever-growing portfolio beyond our 15th year in the industry.
Video of the Obsessed Garage project from start to finish:
