The only Mopar I gave them would be a late 50's or very early 60's forward look car (no rare or 300 series). No LS, no cartoon wheels but otherwise go nuts. Anything mid 60's or later would go to my local shop owned by Le Hodge.

Money no object.

Steve Strope would be on my list. Dave Kindig would be right there as well With A LOT of my input. no way would I turn ANYONE loose with an open ck book with my car . Stock or otherwise

I think Kindig is being influenced by having a show. Look at some of their builds before the show, and they were actually drivable cars without stupid large rims. One in particular that stands out is this GTO. The owner actually drove it and I think did a power tour (or two) with it.




Then, later, after the show had gotten popular, we got this.......



One of my favorite cars that Kindig did was the '34 Dodge Sedan. This was finished the year the show started......




To answer the OP's question, I would still consider Bitchin but would check out Strope ........

[quote=resqguy]The only Mopar I gave them would be a late 50's or very early 60's forward look car (no rare or 300 series). No LS, no cartoon wheels but otherwise go nuts. Anything mid 60's or later would go to my local shop owned by Le Hodge. [/quote

Le Hodge has produced some absolutely outstanding cars. I live just outside Washington DC in the Northern Virginia suburbs where several Le Hodge cars are regulars at local cruises and shows. One is a 1971 EV2 'Cuda 440 727 that now has a built 1971 Hemi under the hood. The body and paint are superb. The same owner has a 1969 Charger R/T - with a modern 6.4 Hemi - in Black / Black. Both high dollar cars .... the owner also has Le Hodge completing a Challenger T/A.

I would definitely send my # Mopar to Le Hodge any day ...

The '52 Pontiac ragtop that Kendig did lives about 75 miles from me. I have it on good authority that he has north of $450,000 in that car. Moral of the story is that unless you have deep pockets, ANY shop is going to be expensive. And by that I mean in excess of $100K expensive.

LOL

Also letting Jessie James' Austin Speed Shop build your car might be another route. They build mostly retro street rods, but they appear to do nice metal work and seem to care more about how it's being put together mechanically vs some of the others. They fabricate/modify what they need more than pulling mail order parts out of a box from Summit.

I also like Pure Vision too. They have built some good cars that are not too trendy and should stay relative for a long time.

I am not a big fan of customs so I would doubt I would get either one to do a car but if I won a contest maybe an old Dodge Truck would be cool to get done by either shop. I watch both shows from time to time.
In the older episode's of Martin Bros. there is a 1970 Road Runner sitting in the yard...I was always curious about that car....does anyone on here know anything about it?

Dave

They helped a friend of theirs find a 70 roadrunner in one of the episodes,but it wasnt that one,and theyve got what looks like a 70 superbird under a tin roof at their shop not sure whats going on with either mopar.I just emailed told them we were wondering if they were gonna do those cars.

X3. But it would be a dream to have Chip Foose work on a car of mine. Actually my Power Wagon.

He'd probably convert it to two wheel drive so he could bag it.............

Back when Foose had his show and was doing peoples cars, I remember the episode where he 'lost' me, the one where he did a blue '70's Chevy Van. It was a short wheel base van the guy had special ordered new with 3/4 or 1 ton suspension because he hauled bikes, camped, etc, etc. The heavy duty suspension was supposed to be available only on the regular size vans or cab and chassis vans. The guy almost seemed proud of having been able to special order it. Foose and his team pulled it all out and went back with 1/2 ton suspension so they could bag it. As nice as the Foose team made the van, it lost a major part of what made it unique.

This one:

Just watched last week's episode the roadrunner is still sitting outside the shop...Superbird is inside the shop on a lift.

I don't like customs that much so I would probably choose someone else.

Plus, if I went with Martin Bros I fear that I would start using "dog" at least twice in every sentence.

I like the stuff done by these guys more than the more popular shows mentioned so far. I don't think you'd get a oem restoration out of them, but if you wanted a vintage day 2 muscle car/street machine build I bet you'd get what you wanted far easier than the other guys who have been proven to mess up Mopar styling by trying to be 'creative' when there is no reason for it.

https://www.austinspeedshop.com/builds/

I think I could work with any of those shops on a car project but there is no way I'd just turn one of my cars over to any of them to do. I think Strope at Pure Vision does the nicest work. He isn't wild and crazy on TV so his show doesn't get the same ratings but the cars he build look really nice. Some of the other guys put more energy into TV antics than the car.

They did the orange RR for a guy,,mostly stock,,,looked good

Yeah John I have noticed Chip wants to do what all the others do and always throw a modern flare on everything e.g. big wheels, low profile tires, modern flashy paint etc. I notice even when the insider suggested one thing he still would take it a different direction that he liked better. But as a paying customer who was calling the shots I'd take Chip's talent over any others. And he seems like a caring, sincere guy.

i met Foose at a show years ago, and he seems to be as nice in person as he is on the show.
you just get a gut feeling with him that he is truly as he seems, and is not putting on an "act", just because he is famous.

How bout the long hair dude of restoration garage or Roselle that does a lot of cool creative stuff like Big Daddy Ed Roth.

ian rouselle is extremely talented, but i don't think his finish work would be close to ISCA standards.
he is way capable for a daily driver you wouldn't be afraid to park at wally world, or take on a trip.