By Rich Hail
Established in 1999, Garrett’s Rod Shop out of Columbus, Ohio, has been creating works of automotive art. Founder, mechanic and fabricator Garrett Kitchen has been building hot rods since he was 14. His uncle would take him out to the drag strip to race his ’57 Chevy with a 409 under the hood. Around the same time, his uncle gave him a small-block Chevy engine and asked Kitchen to rebuild it for him. He did so successfully, and he was hooked. Kitchen’s first car was a ’39 Ford that he rebuilt with his father.
His entry for this year’s SEMA Battle of the Builders competition is dubbed the P-33 Roadster. The build is based on a ’33 Ford featuring a Bobby Alloway body. Hints of the P-51 Mustang fighter plane have been infused into the body panels suggesting some aeronautical influence into the grounded cruiser.
The Garrett’s Rod Shop touch includes a custom exhaust exiting out the side panels just behind the front wheels, tons of chrome, and an Army-green finish. The P-33 may not be fitted with the same Rolls Royce Merlin V-12 as its namesake, but the built-out V8 is sure to pack a punch. Kitchen won’t unveil the finished build until the SEMA360 event, so make sure to follow us on social media for all the latest updates.
Visit the SEMA Show YouTube Channel for more videos and builder interviews, and be sure to subscribe so that you don’t miss future episodes. For more details about the SEMA Battle of the Builders competition, visit www.semabotb.com.
Qualified industry personnel interested in attending SEMA360, the exclusive trade-only online marketplace taking place November 2-6, 2020, are invited to register at www.sema360.com.