Clive Hawkins believes in two ways to mark any 21st birthday.
The first is a drink, so the founder of Aria Group held a gathering last year for employees to toast the 21st anniversary of his custom design and manufacturing shop in Irvine.
The second is to go out and do your own thing, so he organized an internal project to design a concept vehicle.
The exotic FAST EDDY supercar, or FE, was exhibited last year at the Los Angeles Auto Show without much promotion, though it received some fanfare. It was considered an ode to the 1977 Chevrolet Aerovette XP-882 concept car—pure American muscle—with enough power to sprint from 0 to 60 miles per hour in less than 2.6 seconds and achieve a max speed of 210.
After a year of tweaks and adjustments to improve aerodynamics, drivetrain and engineering, Aria returned to the auto show last week to promote the second iteration of the vehicle, now known as the FXE.
“This is kind of the extreme version,” Hawkins said at Aria’s exhibit booth in the South Hall atrium of the Los Angeles Convention Center before the Nov. 30 unveiling.
Indeed, considering the internal combustion engine, four-wheel drive vehicle boasts 1150 horse power, 1,316 pounds of torque, and weighs 3,200 pounds of crafted carbon fiber—one of the strongest, lightest and expensive composites on Earth.
Hawkins has a grand vision to compete against the likes of the McLaren P1, Ferrari Aperta, 918 Porsche, Pagani Roadster and Bugatti Chiron—a collector’s dream lineup of the priciest cars in the world.
“It’s always irritated me that America doesn’t really have a sports car that stands up in that category,” said Hawkins, a United Kingdom native who came to the U.S. in 1992 for a six-month project at Isuzu and never left. “That was the genesis behind this project.”
The FXE won’t be available until mid-2019, and potential buyers can expect a price tag comparable to other exotic supercars.
“It will be very competitive with that elite group of cars and level of performance,” Hawkins said. “We believe we could be a Pagani-like company.”
New Outing
The Italian automaker made headlines in February when it sold out its new Huayra Roadster, which cost its exclusive list of buyers $2.8 million each. Only 100 units will be produced. Its ultra-limited run of three Zonda HP Barchettas are rumored to cost $15 million each.
“We have no ambition to be some high-volume deal,” said Hawkins.
He projects a production run of about two vehicles every month, roughly half the volume the company manufactures for Singer Vehicle Design, a San Fernando Valley-based company that specializes in restoring and modifying the iconic Porsche 911.
For that long-running job, Aria builds the carbon fiber body and handles paint and other work, but doesn’t build the engine, transmission or interior.
The customer base in its automotive business is a who’s who in the industry. It’s handled concept, design and development work for blue chippers, such as Toyota, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen and newer entrants, such as Lucid Motors, Faraday Future and Google.
The company has played a key role in bringing several notable vehicles to market, including the Tesla Roadster and Model S, Kia GT4 Stinger, Mazda Furai and Ford GR-1.
“We’re kind of this mini, micro cottage manufacturer,” Hawkins said. “Obviously they’re producing volume, but we’re helping them do the development side here in Orange County.”
Aria’s aerospace division provides tooling and composite assembly for local suppliers and conglomerates. The unit produces shock seats for Marine aircraft and components on the SpaceX Capsule. With no fanfare or publicity, the company built the interior of Four Seasons’ luxury 52-seat, private 757 Boeing jet for A-list customers.
Aria’s entertainment division has long served Disney and other industry giants. It has created props for California Adventure’s Radiator Springs Racers ride and the Lightning McQueen and Mater vehicles at Cars Land. The company refurbished the entire Star Tour ride, made several parade floats throughout the years, and manufactured vehicles for the “Transformers” and “Avengers” franchises.
“Our company historically has always been in the background,” Hawkins said. “This is a new outing for us.”
He established Aria in 1995 in Irvine primarily to serve the Southland’s automakers. At one point Southern California housed 18 auto brands.
“It was the highest concentration of brand design operations of anywhere in the world,” he said. “We set up with that being the driving factor.”
OC is still a major hub, housing the North American headquarters of Mazda, Hyundai, Kia, Mitsubishi and Karma Automotive, formerly Fisker.
Aria has grown to 100 employees, a mix of top-notch designers, machinists, engineers, 3-D modelers, and other software specialists. The vast majority work at its 23,500-square-foot facility on Daimler Street, just off the Cost Mesa (55) Freeway near John Wayne Airport.
“It’s an expensive place to do business right, but we’re proud to do what we’re doing there,” said Hawkins, who’s been itching to put America on the map in the exclusive world of exotic supercars.
“We’re doing something different and putting our name first,” he said. “This is the very start of an unravelling story. It’s going to be a wild ride.”
