Published: March 01, 2008 10:58 pm      

Custom rod shop develops new car lines

z Businessman surrounds himself with the things he loves for 30 years



By JESSE DAVIS

jesse.davis@goshennews.com

Tucked back on Industrial Drive in New Paris is an outwardly unassuming garage where one man has been following his dream for 30 years. From body shop to custom hot rod construction, Gerald Kupeerus has surrounded himself with the things he loves.

Kupeerus is a first-generation American, the son of a Dutch man who immigrated to the country shortly after World War II. While attending high school, like most of the other guys, he took auto shop. His first job was working in a Buick garage and he also worked in a garage with his dad. Throw in six years of drag racing and innumerable cruises around town and all that’s left is a man never happier than when the roar of an engine fills his ears.

“I remember Goshen’s heyday of racing, when we could fill Pike and Main Streets,” Kupeerus said. “Of course, in the ’70s we were always trying to get kids off the street and onto the drag strip.”

Today, Kupeerus and his employees are working on two new lines of cars that they hope will help push them to the top of the limited production custom rod shops. The first line is a build of a 1969 Camaro. They pulled the engine backward slightly and extended the hood to even out the weight and increase grip and have also included interior tubular steel framing to make it a car for all types of racing.

The second car will be a custom body Mustang, the prototype of which they hope to finish by the coming summer. Kupeerus is holding back from releasing details on the project as two other companies are working on a similar design.

500 horsepower, 30 mpg

Thanks to the time and care taken in designing and constructing the vehicles, Kupeerus can build a car with a 500-horsepower engine that gets up to 30 or more miles to the gallon. The shop has also gone to great lengths to reduce the time it takes them to finish a vehicle.

“Most times you order a custom rod, it can take months to get. We can do a ’32 Ford that sells for between $65,000 and $90,000, depending on features, in only five days,” he said.

The large manufacturing base in Elkhart County helps to keep costs low as well as giving the shop an opportunity to help local businesses. With metal crafting facilities, heat mold interior panel manufacturers and fiberglass/composites manufacturers all nearby, Kupeerus doesn’t have to spend much time worrying about shipping or where to get an item fabricated.

“Plus I like to spread the work around here a little bit,” he said, adding that “We’ve found a way to survive in the middle of nothing and everything,” pointing out the area’s rural nature as well as its proximity to businesses and towns in the rest of the county.

On the chopping block

Despite Kupeerus’ successes, however, he says the custom rod and restoration industry is in trouble. Trade agreements, foreign car companies opening plants in the United States, the decline of brand loyalty, recession and global warming all put pressure on entrepreneurs and their employees that Kupeerus is unsure they can take.

“Our industry has been fighting global warming for years and American hobby cars are on the chopping block,” he said. “Every year we have to do something else just to survive.”

He argues that issues such as global warming are blown so far out of proportion and tied so directly to pocketbooks that it is small business owners in his industry getting hit the hardest.

“People don’t realize that if you design a car right and burn the gasoline efficiently you can increase both horsepower and gas mileage, or that the scrapping of cars produces more pollution than rebuilding cars,” Kupeerus said. “I’d like to see hydrocarbon cars stay around. We can keep making them better.”

For now, Kupeerus is focusing on his new lines and the Australian Ute (utility vehicle) he is rebuilding and customizing for one customer. The vehicle is in the running for the Ridler Award, given to the most creatively designed vehicle each year at the Autorama car show in Detroit. It is currently in the top 20.