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09-01-2006, 03:58 AM
| #1 (permalink) |
| Moderator Paid Member  | September 2006 Gen 2 TOTM - Congratulations to André "André" Wagenknecht! (NLOC#1863) September 2006 Gen 2 Truck Of The Month - Congratulations to André "André" Wagenknecht (NLOC #1863) This month the Gen 2 TOTM goes international with selection of André Wagenknecht from Hannover, Germany. André is heavily involved in the organization of the European Lightning Meeting with the 3rd one scheduled for May of 2007. His excitement and enthusiasm for the Ford Lightning shows in his interview ! His text is largely unedited making another impressive point about André. He speaks and writes in two different languages ! Have a read….  1. What sparked your interest in the Ford Lightning? It started with my BMW M Roadster that I owned for 6 years. The whole 6 years I had that BMW; I never knew that there is something on earth like the Lightning. One day I went to a BMW dealer in my city and talked to them about a new BMW M3. He did all the calculations for me.... after I was back home I thought about the money they wanted for it and I remembered one of my dreams since I was a child.... a US Pick Up truck. V8, space, sound.... So I started my search with no idea of US vehicles. After 24 hours of Googling around I found them....Yes, the right ones for me. A Ford Lightning or a Dodge Ram SRT-10. For the next few days I called around to find someone with one of the trucks in stock for sale. First I found a company who had a SRT-10 for sale. I drove over there and did some walk arounds, but... well, there was nothing.... not the right feeling. I never thought something like this could happen to me, but I fell in love online ! Ford's SVT website showed me the right one! The Sonic Blue Lightning.  2. Do you have any interesting stories about previously owned vehicles, before becoming a Lightning owner? I started out with a Suzuki Vitara 4x4 that I owned for 3 years, all of those happy ones ! The Vitara got a cat back and reached 100 mph on the Autobahn ! My next cars have been a BMW 318ti Compact, MK Motorsport M3 (E36), and then the M Roadster. With the M Roadster I had a great time. This is one of the German cars that most Germans don’t know about. The M Roadster got some bolt ons and a good suspension. It was a fun car. It was great to hunt the Porsches on the Autobahn with this small BMW. With my M Roadster I earned my international C Racer-license and we have been on many circuits in Germany.  3. What modifications have you made to your truck since you have owned it...both show and go? Engine / Exhaust: - Bassani stainless steel cat back - Bassani stainless steel midpipes with high flow cats - MAC/ Motoblue cold air intake - 95 mm MAF - MAC/ Motoblue - C&L Trueflow pipe - Accufab single blade throttle body - C&L plenum - LFP 4# lower pulley - NGK TR6 spark plugs - LFP oil separator - valve body - Optima blue battery - AMAZON custom tuned Predator Suspension: Front: - FRPP springs around 2" lowering Rear: - stock leaf springs de-arched for 2" lowering (no leaf removed!) - 4" lowering JLP shackles Wheels/Brakes: - RH Alurad Hoeffken RAU Vesuv 10" x 20" 2-pieces with stainless steel outer ring wheels - Hankook Ventus RH06 tires 295/40/20 - SCC wheel-spacer adapters for front 30mm - SCC wheel-spacer adapters for rear 45mm - BREMBO Gran Turismo front braking kit (4 piston calipers, 355 mm drilled rotors) - stainless brake hoses Exterior: - black Lightning badges - airbrushed emblems black areas to sonic blue - A.R.E. LSII Tonneau Cover with carpeting - removed trailer hitch - black tinted rear windows - shorter antenna - black painted grills Interior: - Bed Rug - custom leather covering on armrest - 3 Pillar pod with gauges for tranny temp, oil temp and boost - aluminum Pedals - 2 self-made Subwoofers with 10" speakers - 500 Watt receiver AXXTON  4. Do you have any interesting stories about your Lightning? There are so many things I could write down now....Let me start with things that have happened besides horsepower. Since I’ve had my Lightning I've met so many nice people. I would say I found some real friends. I found my Swiss guys, Hardy and Steve, with their Lightnings. They have been in Germany for both of our meets and Hardy was there one more time for vacation. I found my first British friends like Adam and Tracy (Lady Lightning), and some really great guys from Germany. Some words about the European SVT-Family: I got my Lightning in September 2004. Within the next few weeks, there had been some questions I was looking for an answer to. So I went to the biggest Ford dealer in my City. The guy in the workshop was coming out with me to the parking lane, saw the Lightning and said " WOW, That is a Ford vehicle? ". So we had a small talk but no answers..... I started searching for German Lightning owners on the Internet. I found 1 from Switzerland and a German guy. We made e-mail contact and in the next weeks I was searching I found some more of the European Lightnings. They all had questions and we helped out ourselves. Everyone was happy to get a contact. In December 2004 I thought about a Lightning Meeting and sent an e-mail to all the European Lightning owners I knew of. In May we had a Meeting at our company with 6 Lightnings. 4 Germans and 2 from Switzerland ! It was an unforgettable weekend. Many questions were answered and the plans for 2006 were made. For the euro 2006 Meeting my friend Marc and I did a website called http://www.svtmeet.com and this was the key ! We had a Meeting in May 2006 with 10 Lightnings and 1 Harley truck from Switzerland, Great Britain and Germany ! The website is still on and we are planning for the 2007 meet ! It looks like we will grow up ! Next year we are planning on Lightnings from Switzerland, Great Britain, Sweden, Austria, and maybe Norway and Italy. Here are some of my best stories on video: (Dialup users BEWARE !) 1st European Lightning Meeting - Trailer Video 4.5 MB click to Download the Trailer 2nd European Lightning Meeting - Trailer Video 5,5 MB right click, save as Autobahn Run - from December 2004: 1st Autobahn run August 2005 (200 miles for nothing - Track event fallen into water): Daylight Autobahn - gas station March 2006: GPS Autobahn run Autobahn Impressions - Video of 29th of April 14MB - 9 mins. Autobahn Impressions Small story: One great experience I had in my rearview mirror on the Autobahn. My friend Hardy from Switzerland with his Lightning, Thorolf, a German Lightning owner, and myself went to a US Car Meeting 100 miles away from home. On our way back on the Autobahn I saw an impressive picture in my mirror. At a speed of more than 140 mph I had two bad big Lightning grilles in my rear mirror.  2nd European Lightning meeting – May 2006 5. Tell us about yourself, your hobbies, business or work, sports, family, etc. I was born in Hannover Germany on October 19th, 1976. My full name is André Wagenknecht (2nd name translated means something like Carknight). I grew up in a motorsport family. My father was a racer for a long time and it’s still in his and my blood. We have a family company selling house insulation systems. My second business, I am mostly doing in the evening hours, is selling motorsport/aftermarket parts for cars. My company’s name for that part is M@D Motorsport. But that’s more a hobby for me than a business. I like to see the results of the things I sell. My other hobbies are the online boards, skiing, water-ski, media like Photoshop, and web design. My girlfriend Melanie and I have been together 6 years now. She’s a great woman I am really proud of. She always helps me as much as she can. She knows that I am full of crazy enthusiasm but loves it like it is.  Melanie 6. How long have you been a user of the NLOC.net and when did you become an NLOC member, and why did you choose to become a member of NLOC? I am a user since March 2005 and a member of NLOC since April 2005. I found a big source of quality information here and was happy to send a sign of my appreciation. Just a few days after my Member registration I got a package from NLOC with a T-Shirt, Sticker, my Member card and the News shipped to Germany !! AWESOME !  7. What suggestions do you have to make the NLOC.net website easier to use and navigate? I always find what I am looking for and know which part of the board to use. No suggestions at this point.  8. Why did you choose your board user name (screen name)? It’s my first name so I took that one.  9. What are your plans for future changes to your truck? One of my arguments in buying the Lightning was: "A great sport truck - ready to go! I can stop my modding with a US truck because I can’t get parts here in Germany!" - I forgot about the Internet at this time ;-) - I would like to get a nice hood. Cobra R Style. But shipping overseas is really a nightmare. It’s like buying 2 hoods. I've thought of de-mounting my Swiss friend’s hood at night at the next Euro Lightning Meet ! I will paint some of the exterior black plastic parts sonic blue. A Whipple or KB Supercharger is also in my far future thoughts. The Lightning is not a simple truck, it’s a challenge by itself. Modding her up in Germany is not that easy. You always have to take care of the German TÜV. (They check your vehicle every 2 years) Everything should be stock or with a street legal German license. You know how many parts there are with a German street legal license ? ......  10. Whom would you like to thank for help\donations\support for putting the truck together? First I would like to say Thank You to the whole NLOC staff ! They made our European meeting perfect. We received a great box with different things inside for our meet. That makes NLOC really ILOC ! We felt the family. There are many guys I have to thank for their help. It’s very different than every other community I've been part of. There is something special about the Lightning family. If there is a problem, the family helps like it is their own problem. And that is... without words. I really had big problems as my transmission went in May. There is a guy named Travis and he handled all for me to get a new tranny. LFP helps me also a lot. Their service is international and the guys Mark, Mike and Jesse are great ! Fade2Black - his technical knowledge is awesome. And it’s always a pleasure to read his posts. 203Cree, what a guy..... with his help I will get the chance to go on the drag strip at Lightning Fest 4 in September!!! I can’t wait for that ! He also collects my parts to bring them home. Also Rick of Amazonracing did an awesome job. Their support is fantastic! I know I forget some guys here, but to list them all would be to much. A big "Thank you" to you bro’s ! SEE YOU IN KANSAS CITY AT LIGHTNING FEST 4 !!!!! I can’t wait to meet the Lightning Family !  Congratulations to André Wagenknecht and his 2004 Ford Lightning for Gen 2 Truck of the Month, September 2006 |
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09-01-2006, 08:48 AM
| #2 (permalink) |
| Boost Kills !!!!!!!  Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Oxford, Alabama
Posts: 2,640
View this user's gallery iTrader: 24 / 100% | Congrats André !!  See you at Lightning Fest !! 
__________________ SOLD - 2003 Lightning # 1180 SOLD - 1993 Lightning # 5173  2005 Pontiac GTO 2004 Mustang Mach1 2004 Chevy 2500HD 4x4 CrewCab Diesel |
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09-01-2006, 08:56 AM
| #3 (permalink) |
| I Yem Sofa King Wetadid Paid Member  | Congrats Andre. See you a L-Fest
__________________ 2002 Lightning Silver #2315 of 4726 TOTALED RIP 69 Coronet Superbee (project car) 2005 Mustang GT (wifes) 13.78@ 103 stock  |
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09-02-2006, 07:05 AM
| #10 (permalink) |
| The ORIGINAL  Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: McDonough, GA
Posts: 9,107
View this user's gallery iTrader: 15 / 100% | You're a class act all the way Andre!! Congrats my friend!! |
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09-02-2006, 07:37 AM
| #11 (permalink) |
| Guest  Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Atlanta/Metro Area
Posts: 4,294,967,284
View this user's gallery iTrader: 25 / 100% | Glückwünsche |
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09-02-2006, 06:25 PM
| #12 (permalink) |
| #2831 PANTYDROPPER RACING  Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Massachusetts-POTHOLE KINGDOM
Posts: 614
View this user's gallery iTrader: 4 / 100% | great write, sonic blue is the fastest by far! |
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09-03-2006, 01:38 AM
| #14 (permalink) |
| Will Work For Truck Parts Paid Member  | Awesome Truck!!!
__________________ '03 Lightning 10.50 @ 128.50 19PSI Truck built & tuned by AVT Performance.3.4 Whipple, Ford GT Block, L&M Engines Spec'd Cams, JLP Heads & BTS Tranny. 812HP 24psi |
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