It's obvious that Funkmaster Flex likes automobiles. The New York D.J. and hip hop tastemaker has put his name and money into auto-enthusiast attractions that include, the Funkmaster Flex 2007 Car and Bike Show Tour; Funkmaster Flex Superseries auto-racing invitational on SpikeTV; and, of course, the Ride With Flex television show, which is also on SpikeTV. Ford has decided to hitch their brand to Flex's popularity by teaming up to design and build a few custom vehicles, such as a Fusion and F-150 that came out earlier in 2006. However, it was the Expedition-aka the Flexpedition-that caught our eye at the recent SEMA Show. Funkmaster Flex joined Ford designer Melvin Betancourt to work on the concept, then Flex hooked up with Team Baurtwell, Valanca Auto Concepts, and others to make it all happen.
Let's talk about some of the specifics. As you may know, the Expedition was redesigned by Ford for the '07 model year, offering a more potent look than it did before, which is what Flex liked about it. Flex collaborated with Team Baurtwell, Ford Design, and Street Scene Equipment to build an inexpensive, yet expressive, body kit for the Expedition. The rear of the SUV features a custom Valanca rear spoiler with an integrated third brake light, rectangular exhaust tips, and Funkmaster Flex badges. The two-tone, Redfire and black paint is bordered by orange pinstriping, thanks to the fellas at Valanca Auto Concepts in Bronx, New York, who installed the body accessories. Also, thanks to Louis and Larry Derasmo, who laid the ICI Auto Color paints. The design of the paintjob creates a twin black rally stripe on the hood and leaves the Expedition's distinctive front grille appearing intact.
The suspension didn't change much, just a 2-inch drop up front and a 4-inch drop out back, which gave a subtle change in stance that can be further adjusted with the factory airbags. Flex wanted classy and clean wheels and tires, so he chose 24x10-inch Dvin Revolution 7.1 wheels rolled in Cooper Zenon XST performance tires. Flex's Expedition doesn't have such a light touch under the hood, thanks to the MagnaCharger blower bolted to the 5.4L Triton V-8 engine. Ceramic-coated, stainless-steel shorty headers and a modified, 3-inch F-150 split rear exhaust-all from Ford Racing Performance Parts-complete the engine mods.