Tony Smoke Stewart is one of the most legendary NASCAR racers of all time and was a three-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion. He also won the Cup twice as a team owner and was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2019. With such a legendary career, there's no doubt that he's been able to amass quite a following over the years. Americans love their NASCAR drivers and are fascinated by the lives these individuals live.
Interestingly, one of the biggest fascinations about these drivers is what cars they drive regularly. Tony Stewart is the owner of several vehicles; however, people are most fascinated by the modified Cadillac Hearse. He gave it the nickname of Smokie DeVille, and it's no ordinary Hearse either. It's a custom-built vehicle that features plenty of different tricks up its sleeve.
So, let's take a look at Tony Stewart's Modified Cadillac Hearse and everything that makes it unique.
Ripping Out the Original
Tony got quite lucky with the Modified Cadillac Hearse, as it was a product from the season finale of Unique Whips. The team at Unique Autosports and Will Castro went big in New York and got the help of Steve Brown (Alpine), Gary Biggs (JBL), and Dave Rivera (Metra). An audio dream team of the highest quality. However, before they could get to work, Brown had a difficult time getting rid of the vehicle's original dash. In their plans, the team wanted the Hearse to be a limo, but it meant that they had to rip out the entire vehicle's interior. The best place to start is making use of a completely blank canvas, and that said Brown could work his magic on the dash. One of Brown's brilliance's best bits is that the system he makes is enjoyable for both the driver and the passengers.
Center Console Command
One thing the company wanted to achieve with Tony Stewart's Cadillac Hearse is making everything as accessible as possible. Which is why the car lets him control everything that he needs from the center console. It features a VehicleHub Pro controller that allows Tony to choose between whatever feature he wants to use quickly, according to connecting directors. From the DVD player and the Motorola Bluetooth controller, Tony can select whatever function he desires.
Making the entire system was not simple clearly, as it required a lot of work and fiberglassing. If you're a fan of Brown, you might understand the difficulty of grinding and sanding. To complete the entire look, the team finished the center console with a black leather finish and a coat of silver paint. It's as spectacular as the vehicle sounds and makes using the vehicle quite a pleasure. Whenever Tony wants to relax, he can use the center console to set everything accordingly and watch some movies.
Driver Passenger Divider
CNBC stated that the custom passenger divider in the vehicle is the work of Matt Rivera, who is known for his crazy customizations. However, in this case, he certainly did his best job. The Hearse features a divider that also has 32-inch Plasma TV along with JBL speakers. It also motorizes upwards using two Fish Drive Motors, each capable of lifting 300 pounds. Moreover, the process of bringing out the screen is quite the show as well. The speakers start playing, and a unique logo comes up on the TV. Rivera even later went on to say that the build was one of the hardest in his life. Watching the episode, you can understand that the divider was the hardest thing to build.
Six Amps
While all these features are quite brilliant, the best is yet to come. One of the most distinctive features of the Smokie DeVille is the hellish sound system. Biggs was responsible for building a custom amp rack that transcends all practicality. Typically, you would notice that a traditional amp rack would be able to fit three or four amps. However, Biggs went all out and for Tony's Cadillac Hearse and built a six-amp system. Providing the six amps into the Cadillac Hearse was no easy task. Due to all the other modifications, space in the car was pretty tight. However, Biggs found a way by mounting the amps in the rear side panels. Make no questions about it, you’re definitely going to hear this Cadillac Hearse, and whatever music Tony decides to play.
Moreover, the rest of the wiring of the brilliant Smokie DeVille fell to the hands of Chet of Unique. It was not easy to do as there were nearly three miles of wire in the vehicle. While there's no doubt that Smokie DeVille is one of the best everyday cars, Tony Stewart isn't the only NASCAR driver with a brilliant everyday vehicle. There are several others with some notable cars.