Blazin Rodz, a California-based maker of customized automobiles, has made a number of headlines within the automotive world over the previous months and even taken residence trophies for its one-of-a-kind 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle. Dubbed Doughboy, the car is one thing to marvel at, because the classic automotive integrates cutting-edge applied sciences and a twin-turbo massive block with over 2,800 hp. Amongst these leading edge applied sciences is, after all, additive manufacturing.
In response to Blazin Rodz, which took residence the SEMA award for Greatest Engineered Automobile of the Yr in late 2024, the Chevelle options numerous customized CNC and 3D printed components, together with over 75 3D printed parts made utilizing HP’s Multi Jet Fusion platform—and one element designed utilizing HP’s AI-powered Textual content to 3D Answer. AM know-how, together with digital design instruments, 3D scanning and CNC machining, enabled the staff at Blazin Rodz to finalize the customized automotive inside only a yr.
“There’s no manner we may ever design and engineer automobiles as excessive, exact and drivable as we do at Blazin Rodz—in underneath a yr—with out CAD design and 3D printing,” stated Waylon Jeffrey, 3D Design & Engineering Lead at Blazin Rodz. “HP’s Multi-Jet Fusion (MJF) printing is a game-changer for your complete business, and we’re dedicated to discovering sensible and progressive purposes of it with each signature half we develop and each customized automotive we construct shifting ahead.”
The design and manufacturing course of for the 1970 Chevelle concerned first 3D scanning the automotive. The Blazin Rodz staff was then in a position to reverse engineer components primarily based on the scan mannequin and use speedy prototyping applied sciences like 3D printing to iterate the CAD fashions and check them for match. As soon as verified, the ultimate components have been manufactured in partnership with specialist fabrication outlets, together with HP Additive Manufacturing Options.
Among the many 3D printed parts built-in within the Doughboy Chevelle are radiator ducts, warmth exchanger retailers, inside fenders, tail mild housings, the trunk lid and a entrance bumper with built-in air ducts. Inside components have been additionally 3D printed, together with the sprint, door panels, middle console—this was carried out in partnership with Avant-Garde Design, an automotive inside design and fabrication store in Palm Metropolis, Florida. It’s not clear which of the aforementioned parts was finally made utilizing MJF or one other AM manufacturing course of. We do know that the automotive’s distinctive exhaust system, positioned alongside the facet of the automotive, was 3D printed from chrome steel.
“It’s completely exhilarating that simply a few guys from a brand-new store may construct a automotive in such a short while that goes above and past, and get observed,” commented Spencer Tanner, Blazin Rodz Lead Fabricator. “Using all the know-how, between printing, machining and CAD modeling, actually allowed us to go insane. Plenty of the stuff on the automotive, if it was to be carried out by hand, can be so time-consuming, and cost-wise, wouldn’t make sense. That basically allowed us [make] some actually distinctive components.”
Should you attended RAPID + TCT 2025, you might need been fortunate sufficient to see the souped-up Chevy Chevelle at HP’s sales space, together with its new AI-powered Textual content to 3D Answer and new supplies like HP 3D HR PA 12 FR , a halogen-free, flame-retardant materials enabled by Evonik.
