Who are the most important builders these days?

We got to jawin' here at the shop about who's building what these days and a good question came up:

Who are the best hot rod and custom builders these days? Who are the young builders consistently creating great stuff?

Whaddaya think?

STONER

 

Cole Foster!

 

I'm gonna say this and promptly take cover...Troy Trepanier has done a couple super nice hot rods here lately...if you go to the rad rods site and look at the "projects" file, you can see what I am talkin' about. Ritzlow's 32 is darn nice too.

Taking cover,
Lux

 

Littleman, Plowboy, Clark, Bob Bleed, and the list goes on. The not so well known (ouside of the HAMB) rodders.











Alright guys, you can pay me my money now.

 

Ditto!

 

Anyone who is building a traditional style rod is the most important builder. Around here, even 5.0 Mustangs are becoming scarce, but there's lots of stock Cavaliers (Cobalts?) with bolt on aluminum fins. So anyone who can keep the torch lit gets my vote.

Jay

 

Jimmy Shine comes to mind, but there are people building in their garages we'll probably never know about unless some magazine catches them at a local car show. I think the quiet ones are the best.

 

The friends that come to help you with a project just because they love the creative process!

The person that will take a second to show you one little trick he's learned that saves you so much heartache!

All that smile when they hear open pipes!AND stop everything to see where the noise is coming from!

It's more about how you feel about it than how many you built!

 

Me....That's who.........A real hot rod is built at home by it's owner.......Both my 62 Pontiac and 51 Ford were done 100% by me.....for me.

 

West Coast...

Vern Tardel
Keith Tardel
Cole Foster
Kennedy Brothers
Rudy Rodriguez
Jimmy Shine
Jimmy White/Circle City
Hollywood Hot Rods

Midwest

Andy Didio (abomber30)
Bill Mize
Bob Bleed
Kevin Tulley
Aaron Grote (plowboy)
Bill Kriwko

Texas/SW

Mercury Charlie
Reggie Hill (Hot Wheel)
Gary Howard
Pinkees in Colorado

East/Southeast

SoWhat in PA
The Rolling Bones guys
The young guy from Joe Smith Hot Rod Parts... forget his name

 

The stuff Jimmy White and his guys at Circle City are putting out is quite impressive.

 

That's pretty much it.

 

Bare in mind that I'm old. It used to be that very few could do really good work. In the past few years, the number of people that can do really good work has grown tremendously. To make a decision now seems to come done to style and personal choice. There's so many people that can do good work but only so many that have "style". So who has the style that you like?

 

Gildner also..for the West

He did some of the work on the Choppers cars..

 

Anyone who can pick up a hammer and bang the crap out of a piece of metal, hold a welder, turn a wrench, spread bondo, sand bondo and hold a spray gun........no matter what style of rod they are building.

 

Bass build a nice car,too.
as does HRH. I would love to count myself among those ranks, but we won't have anything to really show off until round up.
I also think there are a large number of "homebuilt heros" on here, too. some really innovative stuff.
I guess what level of building we are talking about raises questions,too.
Traditional? the "next wave's" interpritation of traditional?low buck, High buck or in between (as alot of nice cars get built in all three catagories...)

 

Dang, I forgot

Brian Bass (TX)
Sam Strube (CA)
Carl Urbaniak (WI)

I'm also trying to remember the name of the guy in Massachusetts who redid the Kougaz roadster...

 

There are so many good and talented builders now [both old and new] ,That it is redundant to even attempt to list the ones we know personally......

 

Paul Bragg :
http://public.fotki.com/Rikster/11_car_photos/beautiful_custom_cars/paul_bragg/

 

Gotta agree with Mike Z and Lux. Things are changing fast, the bar is getting raised on every level. Money, workmanship, creativity, interpretation. The fact that so many people are exposed to so much now, thanks to the interweb, has changed all the rules.

I'm not a builder, a mechanic or a money guy. I am blown away every damn day by the guys I see here on the HAMB who are envisioning something and going ahead and building it. Plowboy's Spacetruck and Lunar Lander blow my fucking mind. I can't even imagine what goes into actually pulling something like that off. Likewise Cole, likewise Bleed, the list goes on... I'm in awe of the lot of ya.

 

The list could go on and on, but some of the guys I really dig seeing work by are:

60s Style
Killer
Kulturepimp
Josh Shaw
Nads
TX Rat
Roadstar
Cole
Littleman
Choprods
Hemi Coupe
Rudy Rodreigez (saw his truck in person...AMAZING!!)

and so many more...impossible to list 'em all, just glad they hang out here to show us what they do from time to time...all good stuff!!

 

The most important builders are the ones doing it for the love of the building, with no bottom line and no deadlines.


Of course that's the individuals, doing it in their own garage.

 

Yep, to the above and don't forget Kenny Baker (aka:choprods) and Roger Ward from the mid-west.

Chris

 

Damn Fat Hack, me, on that list????

Sheeeeit, no way 'bro.

I vote for Fonz Carloni, no, fuck, sorry, he's dead.

I like what's his name's work a lot.......'erm, I forget, Wilfred, yeah Wilfred Brimley, rolled oats eating, colon cancer evading summbitch, although I'm not sure he's ever built anything other than a pile of steaming man-dung.

But seriously, I'm not sure what his name is, but them Japanese blokes are building some wild shit.....bikes AND cars.

 

Hey thanks Mike and Lux! I'm only 28 and still trying to get my shit together, but give me a couple of years...

The guy from Mass. you're trying to think of is Dave Simard...for sure one of the best when it comes to traditional hot rods.

Josh Mills is the young guy that used to work with Hank Young.

 

On the Left Coast, I'd like to toss another "Jimmy" in the hat.. Benitez, aka Rogue on the HAMB...

 

Hey this is a bit off topic but does anyone know the link to the video where Jimmy White gets in the car and goes out and raises hell in the street.

 

GAWD, this is a great list, y'all.

OK, so let's whittle it down a little: I appreciate and agree with everyone who said that some of the most important builders are the ones doing it themselves, for themselves. BUT, for argument's sake, let's list JUST the guys doing it for a living. The ones who've absolutely not taken anyone's advice when they said, "Building your own shit is great, but you don't want to do it for a living. Trust me," and taken the plunge.

You've mentioned some of these guys already who I know - like Cole, Jimmy White, Keith and Vern, etc. - but forgive me, some of the others you've mentioned I just don't know. Are there pics of some of the cars they've built? My guess is that some of the others on the board would be interested to know a little more about what some of these guys are up to, as well!

STONER

 

Your Packford and Chevy got attitude, Bro...and bulldog beauty!!

 

Man, I am honored to be mentioned on this list, Thanks everyone. It makes me feel good seeing stuff like this, especially after days like today. Having a shop is HARD!!! I am lucky to have a good employee and an understanding wife. Thanks again for mentioning me and my shop..
Jimmy White
Circle City Hot Rods.
P.s. We have some pretty cool projects in the shop right now. If any of you are in the area feel free to stop by.