Lou Tortola
Approximately 2 minutes, 40 seconds. Press play or read the text below.
Before you read this, let me say something directly.
This is a long bio. In reading it, you will learn a bunch of things about me. A bunch of businesses. Inventions. A novel. Press coverage. Community work. A career that now spans forty five years. At a glance, it would be fair to read all of that as self promotion.
So let me tell you why it is actually here.
One of my first jobs was at McDonald's. They taught us a few things I have never forgotten. If you have time to lean, you have time to clean. FIFO, first in first out. Systems and consistency are what protect the customer experience. And the oldest rule in retail, which they drilled into us along with everything else: the customer is always right.
Everything I have done in business since then, including Coilovers.com, traces back to that start. It is the reason we exist the way we do.
Which brings me to why this page is long.
I am writing this for two audiences. The first one is you. The customer. The reader. The person deciding whether to trust Coilovers.com with a purchase that matters. You deserve to know who is behind this company. That is not marketing. That is basic respect.
The second audience is Google and the other search engines. The internet has gotten crowded with anonymous operators, shell sites, and content written by no one in particular. Google's job is to figure out which sites are run by real, accountable people with real track records, and then recommend those sites to the people searching for answers. So this page does double duty. It tells you who I am. And it gives Google the evidence it needs to feel confident in recommending Coilovers.com when you search.
One more thing before we get into the details. If you leave a message for me or for my team, you will get a call back. That applies to me personally and to the people who work here. It is not a marketing line. It is how this company is run.
With all of that said, here is a bit about me.
The Car Guy Part
I have been a car enthusiast my entire life.
My personal collection reflects that. On the vintage side, I own a 1958 MGA roadster in classic red, a car that represents an era when driving was still a mechanical conversation between the road and the driver. I also have a 1970 Fiat 500 that I fully restored from the ground up. The little Fiat is my grandkid-friendly import from Italy. It reminds me every time I drive it where I came from, and my grandchildren love it.
Then there is the Alfa Romeo 156, a car that deserves a paragraph of its own. The 156 is rare in North America because it was never officially sold here. The people who own them are part of a fiercely loyal global community of enthusiasts who understand what Alfa Romeo achieved with this model. Mine is powered by the legendary Busso V6, 24 valve, designed by Giuseppe Busso and produced at Alfa Romeo's Arese plant. It is the engine that EVO magazine called the most glorious sounding six cylinder road engine ever, and it was named International Engine of the Year in 2000. Enthusiasts refer to it as the Violin of Arese. Once you hear one run through the revs, the nickname makes sense. The 156 is running on KW coilovers, which is the right choice for a car of its heritage and handling character.
My Italian heritage shows up in the garage, but so does a lifelong love of American muscle. I grew up owning Mustangs and Camaros, and that thread has never left me. I grew up owning Mustangs and Camaros, and that thread never left me either.
The red Chevrolet Camaro convertible pictured at my Florida home is proof of that. It is the same car featured in the video on this website, and it is running on BC Racing BR coilovers. The detail shot shows the BC Racing damping adjuster on the strut top. When I say I run the products we sell, I am showing you, not just telling you.
All of this matters for one simple reason. The advice on this site is written by someone who actually lives this. Not someone selling parts for a category they do not personally engage with.
When I weigh in on a technical topic in a guide, whether it is geometry, damping, brand selection, or track versus street setup, it is from the perspective of someone who has lived with performance cars across decades and across continents. British roadsters. Italian rarities. American muscle. Not someone reading from a product catalog.
The Operator Behind the Car Guy
That is the enthusiast part. Here is the business part, because it matters too.
I have been running enterprises for more than four decades. That work began in my youth and has not stopped since. Across that time I have founded, built, led, and in some cases sold a range of businesses, employing several hundred persons across those ventures combined.
The way I manage people and projects has always been the same. Precision. Dedication. Real passion for doing the right thing. And a focus on the best possible outcome, every time. I have never run a company any other way, and I do not intend to start now.
You will see specifics below from before 2015. Inventions, a published novel, a digital signage platform that still operates today, strategic papers, community leadership, and more. All of that is real, and I am proud of it. But I want to say this up front, before you read any of it.
Coilovers.com has been my core business. Not a side project. Not something I run in between other commitments. It is the company I spend my time on, the team I work with every day, and the work that has my attention.
The rest of this page tells you where I came from and how I got here. It is long, and that is on purpose. You deserve to know who is behind this company before you trust us with a purchase.
Nearly a Decade of Cars on Camera
I have been filming car events since 2017. It started as a way to capture what I was seeing at shows, rallies, and museums. Nearly ten years later, it has grown into an archive of the scenes, the people, and the cars that matter to me.
All of these videos are from my own YouTube channel. Here are some of the ones that tell the story best.
Of all the car places I have been in my life, the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles is the most extraordinary collection I have ever seen. World-class, in every sense of the word. If you are a car enthusiast, this is a must-see. Put it on the list.
I went with my friends Pino and Fabio, and walking through the galleries with people who share the same passion made the experience even better. You do not need to say much when you are standing in front of the right car together. You just know.
Carroll Shelby's legacy and the story of the company he started in 1962.
Corvettes in their element, captured among fellow enthusiasts.
The earliest video in this archive. Hollywood, Florida. Where this started.
Every year, the Old Cars Club di Bari in southern Italy organizes the Giro del Mediterraneo, a classic car rally recognized on the national ASI-FIVA calendar. Around forty vintage vehicles gather each June and travel together through a different Mediterranean route. Italy. Greece. Croatia. The destinations change, but the tradition does not.
I have been attending this rally every year since 2022. I am registered for the 2026 edition, which will be my fifth year as a participant. When I return, I will report back here with the video from that event too.
Here is the archive so far.
XVI edition. Croatia. Slano, on the Dubrovnik Riviera. A parade in the colors of the Italian flag for Festa della Repubblica.
One featured car from the 2025 edition, captured on the road.
The 15th edition. Part of the Old Cars Club di Bari's annual calendar.
The 14th edition of the rally.
My first year at the rally. The 13th edition, through the Peloponnese region of Greece.
Filmed just before departing for the 2022 rally. The prelude.
Coilovers.com — A Decade in the Performance Suspension Business
We launched our coilover e-commerce business in 2015 with a simple premise. The coilover market needed a retailer that treated customers like enthusiasts rather than like transactions. A decade later, with more than twenty thousand kits shipped, that premise has held up.
What has grown alongside the order volume is the depth of our industry relationships. Over the years I have built direct, personal relationships with the brands we carry. That has meant hosting brand representatives at our business locations, including visits from partners like Fortune Auto. It has meant visiting manufacturers at their own facilities. It has meant attendance at Performance Racing Industry, known as PRI, which is the motorsports industry's leading trade event. And it has meant sponsoring local drift and car culture events, because the grassroots side of this industry matters as much as the trade side. Coilovers.com and Coilovers.ca have been the main sponsor of drift events in our region, which has given me full track access to document these events and be part of the driver community directly. That is not a position a typical retailer occupies. It is earned by showing up, backing the scene, and being present on the ground.
These are not arms length vendor relationships. When I recommend a kit, or when our team does, it is usually based on conversations, factory visits, and product knowledge that you cannot get from a spec sheet.
Coilovers.com is operated by eliquidMEDIA International Inc., based in Windsor, Ontario, and by BC Performance Parts USA Inc., our United States corporate entity.
A Note on Where We Actually Are
Linda and I divide our time between our home in Naples, Florida, and our home in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, where most of our family is. Windsor sits directly across the border from Detroit. Operating from the automotive center of North America lends itself very nicely to this business. The history, the culture, the infrastructure, and the talent pool are all part of what makes this region the right place to build a performance suspension company.
Our logistics warehouse is located at 45657 Port Street, Plymouth, MI 48170. That is where we handle RMAs, open box returns, and customer pick-ups. We have operated from this location since 2015.
I mention all of this because most of our customers at Coilovers.com are in the United States. When you are working with us, you are working with someone who spends a real part of every year living the way you do, operating from the same region that built the American car, with a physical US facility you can pick up from if that is easier than shipping.
Four and a Half Decades in Business
I have been an entrepreneur for more than four decades. My work has spanned invention, technology architecture, e-commerce, publishing, and community leadership. Here is what that actually looks like.
firmCHANNEL. Invented, Patented, Sold, Still Running Today
In 2005, while I was CEO of eliquidMEDIA International Inc., I began development of a digital signage platform called firmCHANNEL. I invented the platform and filed a technology patent on its architecture. Over the next six years, we built firmCHANNEL into a globally deployed digital signage solution.
On October 18, 2011, Corum Corporation acquired firmCHANNEL from eliquidMEDIA International. At the time of the acquisition, firmCHANNEL had deployed more than ten thousand displays globally through a network of resellers and distributors. Corum announced the acquisition in a press release on October 18, 2011, which remains publicly available.
Under the operation of Corum Digital Corporation, firmCHANNEL today powers tens of thousands of commercial displays worldwide. In 2024, firmCHANNEL was recognized by Frost & Sullivan with the North American Digital Signage Innovation Excellence Award. In 2025, Corum Digital was named Canada's Most Innovative Digital Signage Company by Frost & Sullivan, recognition tied substantially to the firmCHANNEL platform.
Twenty years after I invented the platform, the architecture is still leading the category under its new ownership. That is a legacy I am proud of.
RoundTail. A Patented Invention, Now in The Bicycle Museum of America
In 2011, I introduced the RoundTail bicycle. It is a patented frame design that replaces the traditional rear triangle of a bicycle with two parallel rings. The rings redirect road impact vibration away from the rider. Laboratory testing documented a significant reduction in vibration transfer, which was reported by Popular Science as a fifty fold improvement over traditional frame designs.
The RoundTail received international press coverage. In the United States, it was covered by Popular Science, the Los Angeles Times, Gizmag, BikeRadar, Bicycling.com, Mountain Bike Action, and Road Bike Action (which placed the RoundTail on its cover). In Canada, it was covered by The Windsor Star in multiple feature articles and video interviews, along with Canadian Cycling Magazine, AZURE magazine, CTV News, and A News at Six. Internationally, it was covered by BiciSport and Il Quotidiano del Molise in Italy, and Go Outside in Brazil.
The full press archive is available at roundtail.ca/press.
In April 2013, I was invited to present the RoundTail at the Yale University School of Architecture. The invitation was approved by the Dean of the school, celebrated architect Robert A.M. Stern.
On June 21, 2012, the RoundTail was added to the permanent collection of The Bicycle Museum of America in New Bremen, Ohio.
A Bridge of Time. My Published Novel
In October 2002, my first novel, A Bridge of Time, was published. The novel was inspired by a 1999 family visit to the Natural Bridge in Virginia. The story follows individuals trapped across time at that location. The manuscript was edited by a former Harper Collins editor. The book's publication was covered on AM800 CKLW's Windsor Now in early 2003, in an on air interview with Melanie Devoe.
The novel is available on Amazon and catalogued on Goodreads.
Earlier Ventures and Strategic Work
In December 2004, I founded eliquidTV, which launched Windsor's largest electronic billboard in the heart of downtown Windsor. The launch was covered in a live interview on The Rock 95.1 FM. eliquidTV later evolved into eliquidMEDIA International Inc., which is my primary operating company today.
In 2007, I authored a strategic vision paper titled the Guguads.com Discussion Paper. The paper laid out an architecture for programmatic digital signage advertising. In 2007, I was describing a concept that has since been realized across the industry. The paper remains publicly archived.
In 2014, I successfully crowdfunded a separate invention, a speaker system designed to mount on a bicycle helmet. The project raised approximately fourteen thousand dollars on Kickstarter. It earned coverage in The Windsor Star. The product did not reach sustained commercial release. I mention it here because honest profiles include the work that did not fully land alongside the work that did.
Architectural Training and Broader Background
I hold formal training as an architectural technician, which I completed alongside a closer interest in architectural design in my younger years. That training is probably visible, in retrospect, in everything from the RoundTail's structural logic to the way I approach product decisions at Coilovers.com. Form, load paths, and how things actually handle stress over time are interests that never left.
Linda and I have three daughters, Tiffany, Felicia, and Tina.
Community Leadership — Habitat for Humanity Windsor-Essex
Alongside the business work, I have been involved with Habitat for Humanity Windsor-Essex for many years in the following roles:
I mention this not because it is relevant to coilovers. I mention it because I think readers of any author bio deserve to know what the author has done beyond the commercial work.
Why This Matters to the Content on This Site
Every guide in the Coilovers.com library is technically researched and carefully written. But the articles that carry my commentary, the ones marked A Decade in the Coilover Business: Lou's Take, include perspective that only comes from running this business day to day.
That section exists for a reason. There are things you learn after your ten thousandth coilover order that nobody writes down in a how to guide. Patterns you see in customer questions. Kits that consistently over deliver or under deliver. Setups that sound right on paper and fall apart on the track. Brands that have quietly raised their game, and others that have not.
My job in those sections is to share what I actually see from inside the business. Straight, without varnish.
Two articles I wrote recently show you this directly. What Are Coilovers and Who Buys Them is the origin story of how I built this business and the kinds of customers who end up at Coilovers.com. Buying Coilovers Online is an honest look at how the online coilover market actually works, the 80/20 rule of delivery timelines, and where BC Racing sits as the exception. These are the kinds of pieces I will keep writing.
I also pay attention to trends, to cultural moments, to what people actually want to do with their cars. Articles like Coilovers and the Fast & Furious Legacy show how I approach this business. A coilover is not just a part. It is part of a story.
One Last Thing
My investment in the ownership of the awesome and valuable domain itself came along the way, a few years after we started this business. But the vision from day one was this. To be the authority. To be the place on the internet people turn to when they are serious about performance suspension. That is why, after all, this site is called coilovers.com.
Since 2015, building Coilovers.com has been my core business. Not a side project. Not something I run in between other commitments. It is the company I spend my time on. The team I work with every day. The work that has my attention.
The other projects are fun parts of my background. Coilovers.com is what I do now. That is what you are working with when you work with us.
Talk to Us Directly
If you leave a message for me or for my team, you will get a call back. That applies to me personally and to the people who work here. It is not a marketing line. It is how this company is run.
1-800-460-9106 lou@coilovers.comFor orders, technical questions, or general inquiries, the Coilovers.com support team is the faster path: support@coilovers.com