Coverking Custom Car Covers - The Cover Up
An inside look at Cover King's epic new car covers
Garret CarterPhotographerJohn JarasaWriter
When it comes time to protect your lowrider there are many available options, but only one solution. That solution? Coverking. Based in Anaheim, California, Coverking has been the leading manufacturer of the world's most durable and high-quality car covers for the past 25 years. All handmade in the USA, Coverking boasts an impressive 100,000 sq-ft facility that features an in house R&D department, 3D scanners, printing machines, and a staff of stitch artisans who put it all together. In short, Coverking has the cover business broken down into an exact science.
So when it came time for a legendary lowrider to get one of his rides covered up, it came as no surprise that Coverking was the first and only option. This time around, the artisans at Coverking suggested a new approach. Instead of the traditional, "Pick a color and we'll make you a cover" approach, the staff at Coverking went the extra mile. Along with Anthony Salazar and their CFO, Tony Savasta, they sat down with our editor for a comprehensive meeting that produced stellar results.
They addressed his concerns and special requirements, and added a slew of their own suggestions to create this cover you see here. By utilizing their satin stretch technology as the base of the build, they crafted this one-off cover that is also available to the general public. In short, they went with a full custom car cover that featured:
- A custom 3D scan of the vehicle since the roofline had been modified.
- A custom print of the actual car and paint scheme.
- The images are printed on specialty paper that is sublimated (or transferred onto the fabric).
- Custom wheel shields attach to the inside of the car cover to prevent tire dressing from staining the fabric.
The Process
Much like how we all build our own lowriders, the staff left no stone unturned. They took into account every little detail and the results were stunning. Here's a few of the base steps which led to the final creation.
- The vehicle was fitted with a stock car cover based on the dimensions they had.
- After noticing that the bodylines had been altered they marked all areas that needed to be scanned with their 3D machine.
- The modified body parts that included the front and rear bumper sections, raked B-pillars, and chopped roofline were scanned and put into their computers.
With all dimensions in place. They cut a custom cover to check for fitment.
Once the fitment was spot-on, Coverking then printed a 3D graph on the cover that would give them dimensions to work from.
Images of the vehicle were then taken from all angles and then mated to the graph so they could ensure that all logos and patterns were mated perfectly to the vehicle.
Once that was finalized, they printed the images of the car on their specialty paper and from there it was transferred onto the satin stretch fabric using a process called sublimation.
Final fitment.
Now keep in mind that you can submit your own high-resolution photos to get a custom car cover printed because chances are they've already got a 3D scan of your vehicle. Now, if the bodylines are customized then you can call them to get your own custom car cover fitted. Of course there is an additional cost, but we already know that custom cars don't come cheap and you get what you pay for.
Facts:
Total time to scan and do a custom build on this car cover: seven working days
10 yards: The total amount of fabric used to build this cover.
During this build, CFO Tony Savasta came down to check out the car and he seemed all too familiar with the woman airbrushed on the back trunk. Upon meeting Joe Ray, the owner of the car, he asked who the girl was and Joe's response was, "It was some girl I found a picture of in a magazine. It think her name is Shannon Rae. Why?" With a grin, Tony replied, "I thought so, that's my wife."
