If you’ve been following the car scene any time since the turn of the century, you’ve probably heard of the RTR. With the name being so obvious—RTR means “ready to rock”—it’s a surprise no one else thought of it. Vaughn Gittin Jr. and company led a two-pronged attack on car culture with racing and tuning, and the story of RTR’s rise to a major player in the automotive aftermarket from a grassroots effort could fill a book. Literally.
ready to rock 256 pages with photos of top shooters detail the history of RTR from its founding in 2009 to the present day. It is co-written by Gittin Jr. and Mike Spinelli – a familiar name around these parts – and published by Carrara MediaThe perfect place for books on today’s car culture.
If you’re unfamiliar with the basic outline of the story, Gittin Jr. started out as a professional drifter in the early 2000s, when the game was launching in the United States. In 2005, he became the first American to win a D1 Grand Prix event, and he became a double Formula Drift Champion, winning the crown in 2010 and 2020. He still races Mustangs in Formula Drift, and occasionally appears in off-road events where RTRs also compete.
But RTR is more than just a race team. Over the years, it began developing aftermarket parts for Ford vehicles, gradually reaching the level of full production, including notable one-offs such as Ken Block’s “Hoonicorn” Mustang and the seven-motor Mustang Mach-E 1400. The client list includes rapper T-Pain, who also contributed a foreword to the book. The text is accompanied by photos by Larry Chen, Matt Marceau, and Tony Harmer, so there should be plenty of great things to see, too.
The book comes as RTR has grown its reputation in the car world and enjoyed the benefits of a major partnership with Ford. The automaker is now selling RTR-branded versions of the Mustang and Bronco through its dealerships, which is a big challenge in itself.
ready to rock Ships on November 2nd, but you can pre-order it now from Carrara for $54.99 Standard Edition and $124.99 limited edition Form. The latter is signed by Gittin Jr. and is limited to 1,000 copies.
