Automotive Designs & Fabrication, also known as ADF Sprinters, has a long history of delivering exceptional custom and high-performance personal, commercial, and luxury vehicles. The company’s expertise has reshaped the market landscape for custom van conversions.
From its 20,000-square-foot facility in Simi Valley California, ADF undertakes some of the most unique conversions in history and has the capacity to produce everything in-house thanks to its expansive steel, aluminum, upholstery, and wood shop capabilities and an expert team of professionals who bring an unmatched level of knowledge to the table.
“We build everything from scratch, so we’re not purchasing any modules; we’re producing them ourselves, and then we do our own electrical systems, building our own wire harnesses one wire at a time, essentially,” explains Jeremiah Weaver, Chief Operating Officer and General Manager. “We’re building our own relay and control boards and circuitry in-house, so we have control over all aspects of what goes into these vehicles,” which enables full control over performance and output.
Providing standard adventure vans, mobile commercial vehicles that meet customers where they are, accessibility vans that break down mobility barriers to promote independence and access to the great outdoors, and more, ADF is a trailblazer. A family-owned business that aims to grow its impact and its relationships in the market, ADF wants to build upon its reputation to execute a client’s vision, making their dreams a reality and pushing the limits of what is possible.
Auspicious beginnings
ADF Sprinters is family-owned and operated which plays a major role in the value of service that customers have come to appreciate. Brothers Ron and Ray Weaver have taken the business through several iterations to become the specialized operation that it is today.
For Jeremiah Weaver, “When we’re bringing customers on board, we’re not just catering to a customer, we’re bringing them into our family. When employees come on board, we’re bringing them into our family, and we have that family mentality with everything that we do.”
Established in 1988, the company’s initial focus was primarily on the mechanical side, undertaking high-end modifications for supercharged hot rods and custom work, eventually expanding to include Baja-style race trucks and other performance-based work, even participating in events like the 24 Hours of Daytona. As the company’s reputation began to precede it, it gained traction in new and exciting markets producing mobile broadcasting and high-speed filming vehicles, as well as props and other custom work for the film industry.
“They built a lot of the vehicles for the movie Tucker, so they did a fiberglass layover of the original Tucker and made reproduction vehicles for that movie; those were really high-dollar vehicles,” explains Weaver who, as Ron’s son, grew up around the business. “They also did a lot of work for the movie Spaceballs,” he tells us. “They built some of the helmets and test plates for that, and then they worked with Tim Allen on Home Improvement.”
At the turn of the century, ADF made the decision to shift away from high-performance work in favor of the luxury work, which included executive limousines and custom builds of Suburban, Escalade, and Excursion builds. “They would do bulletproofing and private jet-style interiors, and they were partnering with a company called Becker Automotive at that point,” says Weaver.
This was also around the time that the company’s relationship with the Mercedes Sprinter took off, which offered four-wheel drive capabilities with the space of a camper van, making it the perfect platform for conversions. “It had lots of space for a customer to stand up and move around, it had [capacity for] more passengers in the back, you get the bigger screens in there—it was a nice, executive-style offer that was really comfortable for the end user,” Weaver shares.
ADF was selected to work on one of the first Sprinters in the United States, which was the kickoff to something special. Over the years, the company has grown its relationship with Mercedes to ensure that it has an intimate knowledge and understanding of the systems in place.
A new name and a new purpose
The economic downturn in 2008 was a time of uncertainty for all, including ADF and Becker, who made the mutual decision to go their separate ways. It was then that the company assumed its new and current moniker: Automotive Designs & Fabrication.
“We still do the high-end shuttles, but now we do a lot more than just that. Now we’re doing camper vans or what I call adventure vans or lifestyle vehicles—vans that aren’t just an RV, but something that specifically caters to one’s lifestyle,” says Weaver of the customization ADF uses to meet customers’ needs and desires.
“Our process includes what we call a mockup phase where we’ll actually pre-build a lot of the cabinets in a raw form and have them roughly installed in the vehicle to really transfer our designs,” Weaver explains. This gives the customer greater context than a two-dimensional image on a screen and enables them to make tweaks to the design—for instance, adjusting countertop heights or aisle widths—while there is still time to do so.
By fine-tuning the process, ADF has confidence knowing that the customized vehicles and all their features will operate, function, and perform as if they have had multiple iterations of performance improvements.
Indeed, quality and performance are part of ADF’s guarantee that every project can be completed with pride and confidence. “We probably put more hours into our quality control processes and quality assurance processes and really fin- tuning these quality specs of the build than some of these companies do into building their vans in the first place,” explains Weaver of ADF’s rigorous processes.
This commitment to quality is why much of ADF’s business has come from word-of-mouth referrals in its local and regional markets, though this is starting to change as its reputation and capabilities are resulting in projects from around the country and even different parts of the world.
Adventure and lifestyle vehicles for all
Certainly, adventure vans are the pillar upon which ADF’s success has been built, but the Sprinter chassis also serves other unique commercial and even medical applications, including mobile field offices, barber and pet grooming shops, tire or oil changing stations equipped with toolboxes, equipment, and working power stations, and Botox and laser studios. Anything is possible—it just starts with a conversation.
“A lot of what we build can easily be repurposed to make a medical van or studio for phlebotomy blood draws or disease testing or similar, so we’ll work with different hospitals and see what their specific needs are,” says Weaver, who takes pride in helping customers get their concepts off the ground.
Recently, ADF worked with a research university to create a mobile driving simulator with a medical lab where urine testing and phlebotomy could take place to support a more accurate study of the impacts of cannabis and alcohol consumption. ADF has also proven itself a trailblazer when it comes to accessibility and mobility offerings, which is an underserved market that Weaver is extremely passionate about. The company’s Adaptive van is a full-on adventure van that is wheelchair accessible and can be used without the need for an assistant.
There are thoughtful design considerations, like drawers and retractable cabinets that can be accessed from the seated position, as well as roll-under work surfaces, appropriate countertop heights for sinks and cooking stations, a murphy bed on linear actuators, and adequate storage and access for mobility bikes or other specialized equipment. Users can access the vehicle without interfacing with the ground thanks to the carefully selected lift, which overcomes the unique challenges present amidst snow, dirt, or offroad terrain.
Weaver notes that the goal is for everyone, regardless of physical ability, to “be able to get the equipment that you need to go and have fun in nature, in your van and out of your van, without needing assistance. Greater independence is brought back to people with this style of van, and I think it’s one of the first of its kind that was designed from the ground up for this purpose rather than a van that was off the shelf and modified to fit the need.”
Family as the core of its strength
As a family-owned and operated entity, especially one that is committed to in-house production of the various components of its conversions, the success of ADF is fueled by a passion for the work being done and the positive impacts it is having.
The goal, looking ahead, is to sustain its market footprint while elevating the standard for quality and performance upon which its reputation is based by remaining on the cutting edge of industry trends and technological innovation.
“We don’t necessarily want to grow into this multifacility company that’s producing hundreds or thousands of units,” Weaver shares. “We really just want to focus on our customers, on our family dynamic, our family of employees and customers, and being able to produce their vehicles in the most efficient way possible to improve the quality, the repeatability, and the overall customer satisfaction.” It is a strategy that has served the company well throughout its evolution and will continue to do so long into the future.
