SuperMotors Company history

Like so many things, what started as a passion for the hobby turned into an entrepreneurial adventure for three guys who liked cars. The idea of SuperMotors was originally thought up in November 2001 by Eric Long. Although not specifically deemed "SuperMotors" until fall of 2003, SuperMotors in its early stages was known as SuperFord.org.

The Early Years: 1998-1999

To understand SuperMotors means one must understand SuperFord.org. SuperFord.org originally started in 1998 when Eric Long and Kirk Hemmen decided to start a hobby-related website about their vehicles, then a 1991 Ford Bronco and a 1998 Ford Mustang. Eric and Kirk, having run a series of dial-up based bulletin boards in the early '90s found another calling for their desire to assemble virtual communities. With the early form of SuperFord.org came a chat room where folks would frequently visit to discuss their favorite Fords, other cars, and a variety of topics. While the conversations strayed, the love for automobiles didn't, and the folks who frequented SuperFord.org and the chatroom had one thing in common: passion for the automotive pastime.

SuperFord.org grew through 1998 and 1999. Eric, having been involved in offroading with his Bronco for a few years by this point, had an opportunity to help out an online club in which he participated in discussions. The person who had been running their Bronco website registry sold his Bronco and needed somebody to take on the task of hosting the Bronco registry as he was no longer interested in having to maintain the registry. Eric, having experience with running servers, took on the task.

The Bronco Registry, however, was running on a server that Eric didn't have access to, nor could he simply take the code and install it on his own server. Eric consulted with a friend at the time to help him build new registry software that would run on his own server. As a result, the Bronco registry was built from scratch and old registry members had to re-establish their entries on the newly formed system.

The Later Years: 2000-2001

The Bronco registry evolved through many different versions of software and features and eventually became an all-Ford registry. The registry was eventually outfitted with the ability for users to post photos, videos, and sounds of their vehicles. Each registered user was able to create as many registry entries they wanted and post as many files as they wanted. Over the years, servers became full, and Eric and Kirk always found a way to put together funds for new equipment and faster Internet connections.

Eric and Kirk both moved on from their Bronco and Mustang to newer vehicles but still found the value in keeping a vehicle registry of past and present automobiles. Thousands of other people did, too. It was just as fun to maintain their new registry entries as it was to look back at older registry entries.

After many years of running SuperFord.org, the idea of starting a business in hopes to eventually become a full-time operation around this automotive enthusiast market was exciting. Another friend, Elliot, joined Eric and Kirk and together, utilizing the software programming skills and their knowledge of automobiles and business, they crafted a business plan and a software package that could serve as an all-encompassing automotive website. Since millions of other folks had stopped by SuperFord.org at one point or another, it wasn't too much of a stretch of the imagination to see that the software developed over the years could be applied to other automotive enthusiasts, too. So, in November 2001, the SuperMotors concept was born.

"The Idea": 2002-2003

While not officially being crowned "SuperMotors" until late 2003, development on the SuperMotors concept began in early 2002. With what always seemed like an ongoing list of "things to do" for SuperMotors, a plan was loosely kept while Eric, Elliot, and Kirk strived to get the site completed. Online communities were popping up everywhere and it seemed like every major search engine portal and internet-based automotive organization was jumping on the bandwagon to try to get their piece of the pie. Fearing that someone else would come up with their same ideas, the guys continued on their journey of developing the best automotive enthusiast website portal.

Present Day

On May 16, 2004, SuperMotors was finally launched. Eric, Kirk, and Elliot began a new adventure in the pursuit of a dream of one day running their own business based on a hobby they enjoy dearly. The SuperMotors you see today is the result of many years of development and concepting of tools for the automotive enthusiast.

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