TMCP #396: Nathan Warren, Warren Customs; Job Complete! The Full And Final Restoration Story of Kibbe Lee!
This week I traveled to Warren Customs in Hamilton Alabama to hang out with Nathan Warren and pickup my freshly updated General Lee! I dropped the car off in January for the full “Season 2” Dukes of Hazzard conversion and after months of hard work he was ready to roll. Last week, he was done! This is the whole story of the restoration, soup to nuts.
Even before I purchased this car, Nathan had offered to be the one to do the work to make my dream come true. Creating this particular car seemed easy….but was really tricky as most of the subtle changes were fairly major. Other than the fact that my car was already orange and wearing the GL uniform, cosmetically almost everything else had to change. In episode 353 of The Muscle Car Place I did the first full interview with Nathan where we detailed the plans how to make it as TV correct as it could get. Little did I know that things would go way beyond our simple plans.
Kibbe Lee correct brown interior
The General Lee is as much a character in The Dukes Of Hazzard show as any other cast member. Like most actors the role changes and the actor looks different over several years of filming. To be as accurate as it can be, a specific season had to be chosen and I chose to make the car a season two clone with all the oddities that time had to offer. Nathan was more than up to the challenge and even has parts he can make for other General Lee creators out there.
One piece that REALLY pulls off the “Season 2” look is the amazing push bar that is the most accurate recreation I have seen. In order to make it that great it had to go through a couple iterations, and change more, even after it looked correct at first. There is a lot of work in any restoration but Nathan admitted that in some cases he made more work for himself by striving for the most accurate representation possible. Customers in his shop agree that he is a stickler and they trust him to make the job right.
TMCP 393: Jo Coddington: Women in Racing and Hot Rods, Promoting Automotive Products, and Life with Boyd Coddington on and off of TV!
This week I spoke to Jo Coddington, racer, car enthusiast, TV celebrity, and Motorsports spokesperson. She became a household name along with her husband Boyd Coddingon on the television show American Hot Rod, but that was not at all where she really gained her start in the industry. Jo was born in Woodvine Iowa, but grew up “out west” in Phoenix Arizona due to allergies that had no known cure at the time. She was raised in a racing family and after graduating from a go kart, she moved into dirt sports. Jo tells the story of her dad not allowing her to come home until she had rebuilt the race engine she had blown up. She worked on it at a friends garage and thought she could talk him into fixing it, but he was in on the plan with her dad. Years later Jo admits that making her build that engine just reinforced her desire to be involved and could not keep her out of the garage.
TMCP #392: Sean Holman of The Truck Show Podcast; Loud, Proud, and Sometimes Annoying – Ask Rick, Why Isn’t All Shipping “Free?”
In this episode I spoke to Sean Holman, half of the Lightning and Holman duo that hosts the hit podcast “The Truck Show” for Motortrend. Mike Finnegan introduced us and the two shows have collaborated on a few things over the last year. Sean has always been fascinated with automotive topics and trucks but his start is not the typical story. Early on, Sean obtained a degree in criminal justice and wanted to be an officer. Unfortunately he did not like the bureaucracy and started looking for alternatives to his chosen career. On Sept 11, 2001 he was working in a Boeing factory working security supporting the Shuttle missions and had to make sure the plant was shut down and secure right after the attacks. Employees were watching the skies and listening to silence, unsure of what would happen next. Sean made the jump out of security right after that, by making contacts at Primedia and working his way into being the associate editor of Truckin’ magazine.
TMCP #390: Steve Myers From Skunk River Restorations; Restoring European and Unique Vintage Cars and Truck, Running a Business, and Racing Internationally!
This week I spoke to Steve Myers Owner of Skunk River Restorations with an interview conducted – for the first time ever – right here in my own office! Skunk River is a local Ames, Iowa restoration business that specializes in working on the vehicles that most many other shops either cannot or do not want to work on. Steve will take on the high end and import vehicles that are sometimes hard to source parts for or that are so different that most people are scared to dig into them.
TMCP #388: 5 Years And Counting of Building Hot Rods at Street Metal Concepts – March Pro-Touring Update with Larry Callahan
In this episode I talked once again to my dear friend Zip Simons, co-owner of Street Metal Concepts in Orlando Florida. Zip and Don Endonino put the paint and finishing touches on my Chevelle in 2016. It is hard to believe that it has been that long since they have been on the show even though I talk to them often since then.
Street Metal Concepts Humdinger on Diesel Power Magazine cover
Zip and Don have been working on cars for a very long time now and I wanted to get some behind the scenes info. He said that one of SMC’s biggest features is it’s record keeping. Every “valuable” hour is documented with what work was done and what decisions were made. This information is then provided back to the customer so they are comfortable with what is being done to their treasured vehicle. Zip says a lot of time is spent on project planning and documentation but in the long run it is all worth it. They also provide photo documentation on an ongoing basis and many customers look forward to the pictures of how the process is going. It keeps them involved and interested instead of becoming a drop it off and forget it relationship. Zip wants them to understand what is going on and what is involved.
Butch Poes ’63 Chevy II by Street Metal Concepts
Creating a custom vehicle is an emotional roller coaster and the guys want the customers to know this right up front. Quite often they get unfinished projects from other shops and this is usually due to the lack of a relationship. These vehicles are not a necessity and emotionally driven and the emotions run out before the project gets finished. Zip and Don want the customer to be comfortable and know the ball is in their court.
TMCP #384: Sean Barber; Anything Scout and New Legend 4×4 – The Business of Providing Parts and Building Cool (and Niche) Off Road Rigs!
In this episode I had the privilege of doing something rare; an interview with a local shop! I traveled across Ames to do a rare live interview with Sean Barber, owner of Anything Scout and New Legend 4×4. Believe it or not, but in the small college town of Ames, IA lives one of the premier businesses in the world of International Scout parts, supplies, and custom builders. This interview tells their story of specializing in the niche of Scouts – and of going ALL IN on the business of choosing the custom route for them vs factory restorations.
TMCP #382: “Small” Front Tire Cars Have a Shot Again! Ed Capen on The New Rules Changes for the 2019 Good Guys Autocross!
This weeks interview is with Ed Capen, Vice President, Sales and Sponsorships for Good-guys Rod & Custom Association to talk about the new rules for the 2019 racing season. Ed has been on the show previously and we got straight into the rules. Good-guys is first and foremost a car show with an Autocross added on. The customer is the car show attendee and the goal is to make it fun and so that car owners do not have to build their cars specifically for this race series.
The new rules are very exciting and make it possible for a normal or slightly modified classic car owner to be able to compete against other similar vehicles. Classes such as Pro-X now exist but the massive tire, super lightweight, race specific cars are not competing against Joe Normal’s heavy car with smaller tires.
TMCP #381: Taylor Hull – How to Be a Professional Drifter…starting as a Hobbyist!
This weeks interview is with Taylor Hull, a drift car racer that I met for just a minute at the SEMA Show in 2018. Taylor has always been into cars and his family supported his dreams of racing. His day job is at Allied Rentals is very forgiving of his racing schedule and gives him some leeway to pursue his dream. Taylor has tried many aspects of racing including some circle track experiences and some time in the NASCAR Truck series. His found he loves drifting and says that racing on your own is exhilarating and rewarding.
TMCP #380: Mike Gehri, Racing Cars as a Hobby To Develop Racing Games As a Profession, NPD’s Ask Rick: His Approach to Marketing, Goals, and Restoration Projects
Happy 2019! This episode marks the very first of another new year, so this month we’ll talk about goals for the year as well as to take an inspiring look at people enjoying the hobby or business of the world of muscle cars in new and unique ways. This particular installment featured Mike Gehri who is enjoying both the business and hobby side of our world, but not in a way we’ve seen before. Mike is the graphic artist and game developer behind the software company Beer Money Games, the business behind the wildly successful game Demolition Derby 2.!
TMCP #372: Feature with Colin Date, National Parts Depot’s all new Director of Marketing!
n this episode of the show our guest is Mr. Colin Date, the all new Director of Marketing for National Parts Depot! Colin has been around restoration parts industry and automotive media business for 20 years and is no stranger to the ups, downs, people, and passions that make it all go round. He and NPD’s Rick Schmidt new each other, had interacted quite a bit, and had a mutual respect for years. He is an all around car guy, not tied to any one specific brand (i.e. all muscle cars are good muscle cars, and loves the whole classic car culture!