Veterans of the VW tuning scene will be very familiar with fifteen52.

Originally known as VW Sport and based in Virginia, they moved to Florida to become 1552, then 1552v2, and have now transformed into fifteen52 with a new location in Southern California.

Brad Beardow, the original driving force behind the business, and creator of several seminal VWs such as his Mk3 Golf Cabrio VR6 turbo and Mk4 Jetta Coupe, has joined forces with Adaptec’s Matt Crooke to forged the new business.

We paid a visit to the premises; a small but stylish unit in Costa Mesa, CA where we discovered they were trying to establish a new type of business. “Our new shop is small but well suited to our new way of doing business,” explained Brad. “We’re no longer an install and service facility. The new fifteen52 store is a home base, retail facility and design studio in one.”
Our first question was about the relocation. “SoCal is the epicenter of world car culture, and as such it made sense for us to make the transition from the East to West Coast,” Brad said. “Since our company strategy is to offer as many products designed and manufactured for us, the number of automotive manufacturing contacts in Orange County alone made the decision a simple one.”
One of their first projects is to add a new wheel designs to the portfolio. “The US representative for our overseas factory is located 15 miles away from us. Not only are they able to oversee the cast wheel manufacturing but they'll be building our upcoming single- and three-piece forged wheel designs in-house right here in SoCal.”

Currently, fifteen52 is making waves with its 18” RML Snowflake wheel design, which is a re-interpretation of a classic VW design. Their next project is the Tarmac – a bold 18” five-spoke wheel that’s both retro and refreshingly modern at the same time.
In addition to the wheels, the company will be introducing a line of newly designed and manufactured styling products. For 2011, they're working on a urethane styling kit for the latest Mk6 Jetta, plus a series of bolt-on fender flares for the VW Mk1-Mk4 cars.

Another successful aspect of the business is the Adaptec brand. It offers custom adapters and spacers to allow you to fit almost any wheel on any car. They take the maths calculations and guesswork out of spacing wheels to fit your car, or adapting a Porsche wheel to your VW, for example.
Furthermore, fifteen52 is working with KW North America on a series of products and now sells Compomotive Wheels from the UK as well.

With so much going on, and a number of relaxed gatherings planned for 2011, check-out the website at fifteen52.us