What Up? Dave.
Ted Holman builds a beautiful X-90 in memory of his son.
Story/Photo: Ted Holman Editor: Eric Bewley
GRANTS PASS, OR -On December 20, 2001, my son David was fatally injured while jumping from a waterfall in Costa Rica. He was on break from Southern Oregon College with a group of friends and having the time of his life. David was a rare combination of great warmth and exploration, loved by those who knew him well and challenged by being accomplished at those exciting activates a young person can face.
I spend a lot my time wishing things were different then they are now, but realize that I had the rare opportunity to spend the best twenty-one years any father could every hope to have spent loving their child. I miss David beyond words and have decided to write this story and finish his car as part of keeping his memory with me.
I have had a lot of support from friends that I have made on the trail and I want to take a moment to thank Steve & Randy Kramer, Chris White, John Mueller, and Eric & Sara Bewley for their support and friendship when I was in such great sorrow. I’d also like to thank Cindy Hawkins for reaching out in such a difficult time.
My dad is constantly buying cars and bikes in colors no one else has ever ordered before, usually for good reason. My X90 seems like a logical extension to that thought pattern. Stock they are just plain bizarre to look at. Eric Bewley refers to it as an Upholstered Roller Skate, a description that I find very warm and fuzzy, possibly insulting, but well suited to this statement rig.
In April of 2001, after attempting to sell my 96 for almost six months, I offered it to my son David in order that he could join us for our annual Rubicon Run in his own rig during the fall. As you must know, the suspension and drive train of the X90 is identical to the Sidekick and Tracker, so all of the neat parts from Calmini were a bolt on. I ordered up the parts and they sat in boxes for several months. Needless to say, nothing got done in time except for the suspension lift, which David and I did together that summer.
I was on the dog house list as I loaded my 98 Four-Door on to the trailer that September even though David was in the middle of the college term and that I had done most of the grunt work on his rig so far! His parting statement was that he was taking my rig next year unless his was ready and that I was forewarned!
As you have read in my last write up, my 98 was a knock out! I came home ready to tear into the X-90 with a renewed sense of confidence. David let me know his sense of frustration just handling tools, so it became apparent that his job was to let me know that what I was doing looked right or wrong.
We took the rig up to Spenser Creek the first week of December and it did insanely well. I had a set of Mickey Thompson wheels and added a set of BF Goodrich 235X15s. With just the suspension lift in place, we had to do a lot of carving on the front fender and bumper, I mean a whole lot! But it looked great.
Then things went badly in December and I rolled the X-90 into the garage. The sight of the car was overwhelming and there was doubt that I would ever be able to sit in the drivers seat ever again.
Next Month: We’ll finish up the build of David’s X-90 and ‘dig into the details’ which includes custom bumpers, skid plates, front and rear limited slips, rocker skids and a few other goodies. All of which Ted has placed on the car just in time to attend this years Calmini Customer Appreciation Run as intended.
