By Michael Hart
 A SEMA Show panel discussion of some of the industry’s most famous and successful hot-rod builders will include: Bobby Alloway, Alloway’s Hot Rod Shop; Mike and Jim Ring, Ringbrothers; Troy Trepanier, Rad Rides by Troy; Alan Johnson, Johnson’s Hot Rod Shop; and Pete Chapouris, SO-CAL Speed Shop. | |
If you’re starting your career as a builder, or even just thinking about it, you can’t miss Thursday morning’s session on “Building Tomorrow’s Hot Rod” at the SEMA Show.
Rick Love of Vintage Air will lead a panel discussion with some of the industry’s most famous and successful builders.
“These are six of the premier builders in the industry today,” Love said. “Every award you can win is represented in that group.”
Joining Love on the panel will be:
- Bobby Alloway, Alloway’s Hot Rod Shop
- Mike and Jim Ring, Ringbrothers
- Troy Trepanier, Rad Rides by Troy
- Alan Johnson, Johnson’s Hot Rod Shop
- Pete Chapouris, SO-CAL Speed Shop
Love said the traditional hot-rod and street-machine segment of the industry is undergoing something of a revival today.
“So this is an opportunity for a young person starting out in his shop, or a young builder, or just somebody who aspires to be a builder to hear from the best in the business,” he said.
Love said he will begin by asking all the panelists how they got started, what’s the best advice anybody ever gave them and what’s the best advice they have for any ambitious builder today before opening the discussion for questions from what is sure to be a standing-room-only crowd.
There should be some interesting anecdotes too.
“It’s going to be an entertaining session,” Love said. “I’ve been with this bunch of guys before, so I know there’ll be some pretty good banter among them.”
Not only is the panel diverse in terms of geography—with builders from Southern California all the way to Alabama and Chicago—it also represents the wide range of styles in hot-rod building today.
“There’s nobody that builds a more traditional hot rod than a Bobby Alloway or a Pete Chapouris,” Love said.
But you’ve also got somebody like Trepanier, who is famous for his Bonneville street liners.
“You just have a whole lot of segments of the hot-rod industry represented in that bunch of guys,” Love said.
Register now to attend this session. View a complete list of SEMA Show education sessions available.