The X Factory shop was draped with black crepe as we held a memorial service in the summer of 2009 for our dearly departed X – 5 Squared. The original idea – what would happen if we could combine the fantastic xx-4 suspension with the ultra-efficient xxx-4 single-belt driveline? – was hatched in 2003. Our first Conversion Kit was born late in 2004, and in 2005 Greg Hodap took the original X – 5 to X Factory's first ROAR National Championship.

Lots of input from The Family plus some engineering changes from Paul resulted in the X – 5 Squared in 2007, and X – 5²'s are still winning races all over the world today. But a problem has developed in the chassis mold; simply and honestly, it will cost more to repair the mold than the profit from what we will sell.

Therefore, we have no more chassies, but almost all the other parts are in good supply on our webshop.

RIP X – 5 Squared,   2004 - 2009.

So now? 4wd is the beat of X Factory's heart: our first love, creation, and sales. Not ones to sit still, development work is well under way for a brand-new 4WD car. No conversion. No Copying. Just a missile straight to the top of the podium.

We've begun by running 'test-bed' cars. Not even full prototypes, these are platforms for the top X Factory drivers to run new concepts, experiment, and sort through all the ideas we've had in the last 5 years. A few spy shots of these test bed cars have been seen, running in the US and the UK. As we gather more information, we'll learn from what works, pitch what doesn't, and THEN build the fastest prototype on the planet.

Look for prototypes in late 2010. If the protos do well, then we’ll make the Kit in 2011. Like our K 021 X – 6 Squared Kit, it will be the whole car – no more Conversion Kits. We’ve come a long way, yet we’ve only just begun!

Engineering Without Fear!