One of the big dreams on almost every gearheads mind is to do some sort of hot rod or musclecar cruise, whether it’s the Hot Rod Power Tour or the Car Craft Summer Nationals, most all of us dream about participating. This year, for the Summer Nats, QA1 invited pre-registered participants to join them for an Open House and Cruise to the event, on July 19.

Visitors came in droves, and parked their pride and joy on the lawn next to QA1’s building, and from the looks of things they hit their maximum number of participants and had to close registration early because they were overwhelmed with the response.

QA1 has been well known in the automotive industry as one of the leaders of performance suspension components and upgrades, from shocks and springs, control arms, trailing links, and even tubular K-members, to name a few. So when they opened their doors at their Lakeville, Minnesota, facility for performance junkies to check out what they do and how they do it, that in itself is a treat that many of us don’t get to see.

Once inside, visitors were treated to a tour of the facility where there do all of their R&D, to see the machines they use to make their parts and to get an inside look at how they go about designing parts for musclecars and racecars. With question and answer sessions, and a guided tour telling visitors about the processes they go through, it was a crowded house with lots of great information for those who were curious enough to check in on the QA1 workplace.

After the Open House, visitors saddled up their steeds and headed out on the road to the Minnesota State Fairgrounds, cruising along with other enthusiasts, to the Summer Nats for the weekend. You can check out more pics from the event at the QA1 Facebook fan page. Did you attend?

Breaking Ground For Expansion

Following up a great weekend with their Open House and cruise to the Summer Nats, QA1 announced on Monday, July 22^nd, that they are breaking ground on their Lakeville property for a 17,200 square foot expansion for fabrication facility, giving them a whopping 82,000+ square feet of space for distribution, welding and manufacturing. This expansion will allow QA1 to add new products to their growing line of American-made suspension products, and they plan to have production up and running in the new building by the end of this year.

Melissa Scoles, who was recently named President of QA1, said, “These are exciting times for QA1. This new building shows our commitment to growing our company, as well as our commitment to American-made products.” Scoles is no stranger to QA1, having been associated with the company since she was a teenager, thanks to her father, CEO and Founder Jim Jordan, who is equally proud of the broad skills and knowledge she brings to the table.

You could say Scoles earned her creds the hard way, beginning with the company by folding boxes and attending trade shows, then working her way through every department. She took a break to earn her MBA in business management, and helped lead the company to several milestones, like the acquisition of Edelbrock’s Suspension Division and CAP Auto Products.

Now with the expansion, and her recent promotion to President, she will oversee the company’s continued success with their complete line of CNC machines, state-of-the-art injection molding machines, and many other engineering and manufacturing equipment. The new addition will allow QA1 the space and resources to tackle the needs of an ever-growing performance automotive market.

To see more of what QA1 does, and to check out their line of suspension components for circle track and drag racing, street performance and street rodding, and several other industrial markets, be sure to visit their web site and their Facebook page. Make sure you LIKE them on Facebook.