No Slowing Down in 2026
When you’re starting a business, every year feels like “a big year.” There aren’t really small times–everything is make-it-or-break-it to some extent. That being said, we had a big year in 2025. We got the SpeedWagon running and driving and 2026 will be an even bigger year. We will finish our prototype and build the foundation for us to start producing more.
For Strickland to succeed, there are three things we need to prove to the world, even if we already know them to be true:
We can build a completed prototype
People want it and will buy it
We can consistently produce them at a high quality while remaining profitable
We have known for some time that people would love an analog V8 manual wagon, but without the exterior design to show off, we didn’t have proof people wanted our V8 manual wagon. This year, we’ll show the answer to that question is a resounding “YES!”
So what still needs work on our SpeedWagon?
1) The body: We made a ton of progress building our interior in 2025, but we still had several aspects of the exterior that just didn’t feel like they were done. The designs were “fine.” There was nothing really wrong with them. But our goal is not to be just “fine”.
As I write this, we’ve got a couple designers ironing out details with pencil and paper, and I’m hard at work with some of my favorite tools of wireframe, tape, and cardboard on the actual car to see how it sits with me. As details fall into place, I will build a metal wire framework on the prototype to provide the structure for composite bodywork.
Once we’re happy with all the details, we’ll 3D scan the car, digitally perfect it, and CNC-mill mold plugs for composite panels to be pulled from. Our design process has been a blend of new-school tech and old school hand-done methods of working out design details.
2) Electrical: While we’re working on the body, we’re also going to be redesigning the entire chassis electrical system. Since the beginning, I’ve had the idea for a simplified wiring design based on a modern CANBUS system, but with far less overlapping interconnectedness between various systems.
I am not an electrical engineer and we don’t yet have the funding for one so we decided to use the old-school 12V method of wiring a car to get the prototype working and usable. While it handled the 2000mi roadtrip to and from SEMA, it is not up to our standards for what we want long term. Thankfully we met a company at SEMA this year who has developed a simplified CANBUS-based wiring system, very similar to what I had been imagining, that will be just what we needed.
3) Tuning: The last major category of improvements to our prototype we can lump together as tuning and adjusting. Lots of smaller items need tweaking to allow the car to be what I’ve always imagined. The suspension needs less squatting and diving under braking and acceleration, and we will be doing some track testing to get it even more dialed in. There are a couple chassis squeaks to take care of. The exhaust system is louder than I want. There needs to be a bit more interior insulation in a couple places. And the interior bits and bobs will be getting aesthetic refinements to make it pop.
Aside from the car improvements, Stone and I will be opening up reservations very soon (newsletter folks first), offering invite-only test drive events, and generally just getting the car in front of more people. In the second half of the year, we’ll start setting up our manufacturing capabilities in a new shop space and hire the people to start building your SpeedWagons.
Our next newsletter will be about fundraising and reservations, so keep an eye out. You’ll be notified about reservations opening before we tell the public, so if you’re wanting to be at the front of the line, that will be your chance. If you know a friend who’s interested, get them on the newsletter now or have them reach out to us. And if you have any questions about making a reservation, now is a great time to ask (email reservations@stricklandmotorco.com).
Until then, keep your cars dumb and your driving smart,
Silas and Stone
*Photo credit: Jason Tang, Maris Saulits, Kevin11