You can't buy the Superlux version of the Ford Taurus at your local Ford dealership, at least not yet.

But Tommy Zondervan of Hudsonville hopes lightning strikes again after his Superlux Taurus made its debut at the recent Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) automotive aftermarket trade show at Las Vegas.

When he was in his early 20s, Zondervan started creating exterior paint designs and personalized interiors for friends who were building hot rods and custom cars and trucks. His automotive artistry blossomed into Tommy Z Design, which until recently had shops in Troy and Western Michigan (now consolidated into a 4,000-square-foot facility in Hudsonville).

Though he has no formal automotive design education, Zondervan got his big break in 2004 when Chrysler launched its 300C sedan. Zondervan did sketches of how he'd tweak the styling and showed them to several Chrysler dealers.

A dealer in Chicago liked his ideas so much that he offered up a car, which Zondervan used as a full-scale canvas for a customized 300C he displayed at the 2004 SEMA Show. That car received such positive response that Zondervan soon found himself not only designing grille and body kits for vehicles such as the Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger, but also in the aftermarket manufacturing business.

Earlier this year, he was approached by Ford to apply his style to a Taurus for display on its corporate stand at the 2009 SEMA Show. Ford already had its sporty, aggressive, twin-turbocharged Taurus SHO. The Tommy Z Design vehicle was to show how the Taurus might look as a luxury car.

Source: The Detroit News