I met Nate through Chaille's cousin. His shop is behing a body shop in old town lewisville hidden away. And if not for hail damage repair on my truck I would have never known who was behind the cars I had seen around town. Nate's specialty is completely custom airbag suspensions. He favors working on classic cars. He loves to really slam them too!
As I opened the door of my truck in the heat of a Texas summer I could smell the familiar smell of metal being cut with fire. The sound was just as unmistakable. It took me back to my college days, barely able to pay rent with my Muffler Shoppe (the second"p" and the "e" made it fancier) job. I looked over at the shop next to where my wife's cousin was working and saw the Suburban first. It was a late sixties or early seventies Suburban, like the C-10's. It was up on jack stands but those tires were tucked up inside those fenders so deep, that i could clearly see the frame lower than the bottom of the tires. On the other side of the parking lot was filled with classic trucks and cars. Some resting their weight on the framerails in the grave, and some still un-touched. There was a first generation Ford Ranchero in pieces next to a pretty Dodge pickup from the 5o's. And when i say pretty Dodge i mean, the engine was in the bed, two tires were flat, and the seafoam green paint was dotted with pretty orange-red surface rust. As I looked around I remembered that I had needed to meet with Justin (the dent guy who is also my wife's cousin). We did what business we had to do, and i asked all the questions I could about that guy next door. Justin told me about Nate and his love for rebuilding old trucks and cars, but leaving the body as is to maintian the character and history of these story telling machines. Then the mustang pulled up!! I heard it before I saw it. Flowmasters, I thought to myself, 40 series. Then it pulled up. WOW. It was amazing. I have never been a huge mustang guy, but when Eleanore looks you in the face and growls at you before stopping and squatting while the sun gleams off of the glistening paint you cant help but fall in love. That's when TJ got out. He is Nate's right hand man (Nate's only man really, in a two man shop). Then I had to get back to what I was doing. I tore my eyes away and left to finish what I had to do for the day. But those cars were on my mind.
A couple months later, after my truck was finished. I had though of taking some shots with one or any of Nate's work. I even drove around town looking for good shooting locations. Hoping to talk with him and see if he would even want to. I stopped by Justin's shop once in a while, looking and drooling at the 54 Chevy coupe with the flat black paint with red and white pin striping. Or the blue and white 58 big window fleetside that always sat by the door on it's framerails. Finally I decided it was time to talk to him. I was nervous, as if this guy was gonna be a jerk or something. Maybe I was intimidated by his talent or his show quality workmanship.
Im not really sure. But when I walked in and said hello, it was all gone. His longish hair, his long dickies shorts, dirty t-shirt, and worn out sneakers set me at ease. As we chatted I learned about him and his shop. He is only a year younger than I, and at 26 has a college degree and has been running this shop for over eight years. "I did my first suspension for 500 bucks. I just wanted the experience, and he wanted his truck low. I basically gave the first few away to my friends, and as they told people I started getting a reputation. A good reputation is really the most important thing in this industry." And I could tell that his rep was a good one if his quality was any indication. I asked if he would want to shoot some time and he seemed to like the idea. I wanted to do it for free, and he liked having some pictures to show off.
Ill tell all about the shoot in the next post.
As I opened the door of my truck in the heat of a Texas summer I could smell the familiar smell of metal being cut with fire. The sound was just as unmistakable. It took me back to my college days, barely able to pay rent with my Muffler Shoppe (the second"p" and the "e" made it fancier) job. I looked over at the shop next to where my wife's cousin was working and saw the Suburban first. It was a late sixties or early seventies Suburban, like the C-10's. It was up on jack stands but those tires were tucked up inside those fenders so deep, that i could clearly see the frame lower than the bottom of the tires. On the other side of the parking lot was filled with classic trucks and cars. Some resting their weight on the framerails in the grave, and some still un-touched. There was a first generation Ford Ranchero in pieces next to a pretty Dodge pickup from the 5o's. And when i say pretty Dodge i mean, the engine was in the bed, two tires were flat, and the seafoam green paint was dotted with pretty orange-red surface rust. As I looked around I remembered that I had needed to meet with Justin (the dent guy who is also my wife's cousin). We did what business we had to do, and i asked all the questions I could about that guy next door. Justin told me about Nate and his love for rebuilding old trucks and cars, but leaving the body as is to maintian the character and history of these story telling machines. Then the mustang pulled up!! I heard it before I saw it. Flowmasters, I thought to myself, 40 series. Then it pulled up. WOW. It was amazing. I have never been a huge mustang guy, but when Eleanore looks you in the face and growls at you before stopping and squatting while the sun gleams off of the glistening paint you cant help but fall in love. That's when TJ got out. He is Nate's right hand man (Nate's only man really, in a two man shop). Then I had to get back to what I was doing. I tore my eyes away and left to finish what I had to do for the day. But those cars were on my mind.
A couple months later, after my truck was finished. I had though of taking some shots with one or any of Nate's work. I even drove around town looking for good shooting locations. Hoping to talk with him and see if he would even want to. I stopped by Justin's shop once in a while, looking and drooling at the 54 Chevy coupe with the flat black paint with red and white pin striping. Or the blue and white 58 big window fleetside that always sat by the door on it's framerails. Finally I decided it was time to talk to him. I was nervous, as if this guy was gonna be a jerk or something. Maybe I was intimidated by his talent or his show quality workmanship.
Im not really sure. But when I walked in and said hello, it was all gone. His longish hair, his long dickies shorts, dirty t-shirt, and worn out sneakers set me at ease. As we chatted I learned about him and his shop. He is only a year younger than I, and at 26 has a college degree and has been running this shop for over eight years. "I did my first suspension for 500 bucks. I just wanted the experience, and he wanted his truck low. I basically gave the first few away to my friends, and as they told people I started getting a reputation. A good reputation is really the most important thing in this industry." And I could tell that his rep was a good one if his quality was any indication. I asked if he would want to shoot some time and he seemed to like the idea. I wanted to do it for free, and he liked having some pictures to show off.
Ill tell all about the shoot in the next post.
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