Surfing and hot rodding converge in the South Bay with custom surfboard builder Tyler Hatzikian. Enter the modern day version of the Southern California spirit, born by the breath of sea water, and by the headlights of roaring racing engines; Tyler Hatzikian of Tyler Surfboards embodies the youth that time has forgotten in Southern California. Tyler has become the master of many lost arts.
Heath Pinter's BMX career has paralleled his love of building and cruising custom cars. Heath had dabbled in building newer trucks as tie ins with his BMX sponsors but always had his eyes on the early classics including classic trucks, motorcycles and now period correct hot rods.
Joe Yezzi has turned his childhood memories into a lifelong pursuit of early '70s Chevy trucks. Many of his early memories involved riding shotgun on the old bench seat. Everything from the "skinny key" to the distinct tick of the turn signal, to the way the interior smells was like comfort food for Joe. He had to have that truck.
Jay LaRossa has built trucks, hot rods and now after battling cancer, builds his own style of motorcycles. The bike builds kept flowing in and the fame from magazines, shows and television put Jay at the forefront of the revival of Cafe Racer bikes. A second bout with cancer clicked in Jay's head and he basically said 'screw it' and decided to build bikes how he wanted to see them done.
Maybe it's their history of vast farmland and proximity to hot rodding origins, but the Central Valley of California has always been home to custom trucks. See how a mobile glass installer has gone from mini trucks to classic trucks and Cadillacs. All with a crunch before SEMA time. With SEMA time fast approaching another local shop preps a brand new Tahoe to be displayed at the show.
Born a competitor; Paul Lee of McLeod Racing was a wrestler, martial artist, competitive skydiver, investment banker and champion nitro funny car drag racer. That competitive edge has transferred into success with clutch and transmission manufacturer McLeod Racing. The rush of a 10,000 horsepower funny car as Paul leaves the line is a childhood dream come true.
Hank "Hanro" Robinson has made a name for himself in the engraving world, tackling everything from art pieces to show cars and bikes to veteran tribute and memorial pieces. His art has become an outlet from his time in the military which converge on his fully engraving the body of an entire truck to debut at the SEMA show.
As part of our Behind the Wheel - Tradition Recrafted with Meguiar's Mirror Bright...we explore the stories of those who take pride in celebrating automotive heritage in the modern era. Bobby Green of Old Crow Speed Shop has a knack for restoring vintage cars, period specific bars, restaurants and maintaining racing history.
When Gunther Werks set out to build their limited production car The 400R; they sought to continue the lineage of the Porsche 993 and bring the air cooled car up to modern technology.
Looking back through the decades; Chris Coddington's life has always revolved around wheels. Now, Chris is putting a modern twist on the classic hot rods, sport trucks and wheels that built his father Boyd Coddington's legacy.