Company Profile: AMS Performance
By Wes Dumalski
Additional images courtesy of AMS Performance
AMS Performance… No we are not talking about the knock off CDM version we are talking about the original Automotosport hailing from Chicago Illinois. Truth be told I spent some time at the AMS shop last November and began working on this article. It should have been before your eyes long ago, I should have been able to belt out a piece regaling you with their amazing Records in the drag racing, power output, and time attack worlds. I should have been touting their accomplishments in the EVO and GTR worlds. SHOULD is the operative word here. The reality was that I didn't want to write THAT article. Hell every AMS article talks about their accomplishments from 8 Second Evo's and GTR's, to one of the most dominant time attack cars in US history. And while those are the things that AMS is best known for NONE of them would be possible without a key ingredient. That's right I am going to brush those things aside and focus on what makes AMS tick…. PEOPLE
The wall of the AMS lunch room and inspiration for this article, success and MS Word… Werd! |
When you spend time at AMS you will notice that things run like the well oiled machines that they turn out. There is no sense of chaos, everything has its place and order, and everyone LOVES what they do. The front entrance and hallway leading to the shop are littered with trophies, framed magazine features from nearly every automotive magazine ever published, and accolades of every type. Talking about AMS is clearly nothing new but covering what makes them tick appears to be. As a writer we are always looking for editorial content and I fully expected to be chocked full of performance related material after leaving AMS however after viewing ONE sign in the AMS lunch room I left with a completely different subject to write about. The sign was nothing fancy… Clearly someone spent about 47 seconds to whip up an MS word doc., laminate it, and paste it to the wall…. It said “Our Goal. Make AMS a career for everyone here!”
Yep, you're reading that right. The FIRST AMS magazine feature. |
Automotosports (hereinafter referred to as AMS) was started in 2001 and contrary to popular belief they did NOT get their start with the 4G63 motor… No actually they began by designing a cam for the now defunct 2.3 Turbo Ford motor. This motor was found in the Merkur XR4Ti and the Ford SVO and the AMS cam was the bumpstick to have, their first magazine feature came not in an import rag as one might expect but rather in the August 2001 issue of “Muscle Mustangs and Fast Fords”. After the demise of this motor and platform AMS founder Martin Musial turned to his Mitsubishi Galant VR4 in search of power. A Mechanical Engineer by trade he began exploring the 4G63 and one could almost say the writing was on the wall. Martin and his friend Arne Toman made it official by making AMS their one and only day job.
Arne Toman and Martin Musial. Nice guys and I even agree with their political choices! |
They began with the help of fabricator Tim Salefski by offering well engineered parts for the VR4 such as front mount intercoolers and turbo upgrades. Over the next couple of years AMS continued to grow in size, sure they were selling parts to achieve this growth, but it is time to remember again the point of this article. The people, that's right, PEOPLE produce and sell parts and the AMS mindset was to sell the best parts available PERIOD. With this growth came the tools necessary to fabricate and engineer cutting edge go fast items. Larger facilities, dynamometers, better fabrication equipment, they were investing money where it needed to go, PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT!
Common sense abounds at AMS. From the Ron Paul sticker on the front door to the homemade coupler checker. |