![]() RideTech: If you could build any car for yourself what would it be? She gets driven hard then returns to Rad Rides by Troy for freshening. I think professionally, that was the point that I thought, “I can make a living doing this, and possibly be successful doing it.”Īgness, Wes and Vivian Rydell’s stunning 1940 Olds, won the 2016 Street Rod d’Elegance in Del Mar and other accolades. Having such great exposure early on, I gained the attention of individuals like George Poteet who then asked me to build the Sniper for him. Pro Box in 1990 and Bumongous (named by the late great Gray Baskerville) in 1992. Two of those cars were chosen as Hot Rod Magazine car of the year. ![]() My first several builds were for myself, not for customers. Troy: I think the recognition my first few cars received had a large part to do with the transition into a successful business. RideTech: At what point in your career did you know your shop was going to be successful? The list of iconic Rad Rides builds is quite long and spans three decades. Remember the eBay “Fast Forward” Mustang? Like a lot of Rad Rides cars, it used RideTech Shockwaves (then Air Ride Technologies). One of my earliest connections in the industry was Bret Voelkel, who then was working for BDS (Blower Drive Service) or Auto Meter and now, of course, owns RideTech. The other part of building those early cars for myself was getting to meet new people at the shows and talking about what we had built. I guess I was just having fun creating something of my own on the side. At the time, I was working for my dad during the day. I really wasn’t sure where it would lead. Troy: I don’t know that it was, initially. RideTech: When you built your first cars, the 1966 Chevelle and “Pro Box,” the Sea Foam Green 1960 Impala, was it your goal to turn your hobby into a career? Troy Trepanier, like most hot rod greats, started out building cars in his garage and showing them off at shows for all to enjoy. While these “Ten Questions With…” articles may not be a weekly occurrence, we intend to feature this series on a regular basis, chatting with car builders, business owners, and other groundbreaking people in the hot rod industry! Look for RideTech’s weekly email every Thursday. 30 years later, I am proud to call him a customer, the world’s finest car builder, and most importantly, a friend. Troy was just 16 at the time, but he already had a bundle of talent and energy. They inquired about a choice parking spot for Troy’s first car build, a raspberry-colored 1966 Chevelle. He and his dad Jack stopped by the Auto Meter display where I worked at the time. I first met Troy in 1988 at the Street Machine Nationals in DuQuoin, Ill. We are very proud to debut a new series of articles called “Ten Questions With…” Our first guest will be Troy Trepanier.
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