Kindig/Kevin Hart Challenger

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ProjectBazza said:
I have no issue with what they build, or how they look, as it's all a matter of personal preference and taste, but Kindig frequently says he's "updating" cars and making them "timeless", but his designs are going to "date" the cars pretty damn fast, IMO.

Regardless, I appreciate the skill and craftsmanship that go into his cars, but I've yet to see even one of them that was my "cuppa", as I'm not into trailer queens.

Boyd Coddington used to say he built timeless cars, but nowadays you can spot one a block away. Same thing will happen to Kindig's cars some day, I imagine.

But that what the heck do I know, right?
:lol:
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I used to watch Chip Foose's show way back when we had satellite. I was always flabbergasted that in no way shape form or fashion could that guy EVER just do a factory correct resto and there were a few episodes where he was asked and still didn't do it. I know no custom shop is gonna do that with everything, but it'd be nice to see one every now and then.
 
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RustyRatRod said:
I used to watch Chip Foose's show way back when we had satellite. I was always flabbergasted that in no way shape form or fashion could that guy EVER just do a factory correct resto and there were a few episodes where he was asked and still didn't do it. I know no custom shop is gonna do that with everything, but it'd be nice to see one every now and then.
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I remember thinking the same thing. The families would stress how the person wanted the car to be OE or stock appearing and the next minute it came out with some hoopty wheels and graphics down the side!
 
67Dart440GT said:
I remember thinking the same thing. The families would stress how the person wanted the car to be OE or stock appearing and the next minute it came out with some hoopty wheels and graphics down the side!
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Exactly. He used that show for nothing but a vehicle to showcase his tacky *** wheels.
 
I watch Bitchin' Rides regularly, plus a lot of other "car" shows, and I see plenty of things that I would never want done to anything I owned. Not that I am ever likely to be able to afford to have anything built by one of these shops, but I also realize that the person who owns the car is the only one who can decide what they want to do with it.
I watched the 2 episodes of the Kevin Hart Challenger and I was really impressed with the quality of the work, as usual, that was done. I was skeptical about the front end design, but it looked good in progress, so I waited for the end result. Much like most in this thread, I was not impressed with the finished product. It looked good from some angles, but overall, not great.
I watch "Rust to Riches" (I think that's what it's called), with Gotham Garage and some of what they do just leaves me shaking my head. Some of their projects are pretty cool, but most just seem poorly executed. Same can be said for many other custom car shows.
I can appreciate the talent, skills, and effort that goes into the projects, but not always the best results. Just my opinion.
 
jeff alder said:
I guess you are confusing your personal experiences with a totally different situation. Once again the point here is a person doesn't know unless they personally see it. So that would leave you out as I am quite sure you didn't. I see detailed free estimates all the time at body shops everywhere...and they are a must for collision repairs and most especially for factory warranty paint defect repairs done by independent shops when a dealership doesn't have a paint shop. I actually have to use General motor's warranty paint claim policy and figure the estimate and then present it to a body shop and compare it with their estimate before a warranty paint claim repair can take place and be processed. This experience has nothing to do with you.
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I’ll give you my example.

If someone comes in and wants heads ”freshened up” and the port work cleaned up, I drop a massive price on it.

Unless your name is Chad Speier, Darin Morgan, Larry Meaux or like them I’m not, will not unless I’m getting a boat load of money touch those heads.

So rather get into a discussion about even looking at the heads (or manifold) I just price it high enough that if it get it I make the money I want or it just goes away.

Same with body shops. What makes you think your car was any different than the last 100 cars that came in? It’s not like you were their first customer.

And it seems like it worked. They are busy enough they don’t need the work and if they take it on they will make the money they want.

Looking at your car would have changed nothing.

Hell, I was in the shop I last worked at a couple of weeks ago and they FINALLY (about 2 years ago) instituted the policy of 50% down for ALL parts and 50% down for all estimated labor.

I was on them for years to do it. Finally he got sick of dealing with people who waited until the engine was done and then you have to wait 2 months (if you are lucky) to get paid.

You can’t stay in business like that.
 
Here’s what he did to his last Mopar.
He’s an ldiot
Go get a Mustang instead.

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Newbomb Turk said:
I’ll give you my example.

If someone comes in and wants heads ”freshened up” and the port work cleaned up, I drop a massive price on it.

Unless your name is Chad Speier, Darin Morgan, Larry Meaux or like them I’m not, will not unless I’m getting a boat load of money touch those heads.

So rather get into a discussion about even looking at the heads (or manifold) I just price it high enough that if it get it I make the money I want or it just goes away.

Same with body shops. What makes you think your car was any different than the last 100 cars that came in? It’s not like you were their first customer.

And it seems like it worked. They are busy enough they don’t need the work and if they take it on they will make the money they want.

Looking at your car would have changed nothing.

Hell, I was in the shop I last worked at a couple of weeks ago and they FINALLY (about 2 years ago) instituted the policy of 50% down for ALL parts and 50% down for all estimated labor.

I was on them for years to do it. Finally he got sick of dealing with people who waited until the engine was done and then you have to wait 2 months (if you are lucky) to get paid.

You can’t stay in business like that.
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I 100% agree with this. The best part is when a customer wants you to do something you already KNOW you won't make money on, will clog your shop and basically waste your time and they think you are so desperate for work that you will take on anything because you can. Having enough work to be selective is the best position to be in. I had a customer come in a few weeks ago for an "estimate". After he showed me the **** box he wanted me to work on I flat told him that I'm not interested in repairing his truck and explained to him that I have so much collision work that we don't have time to do this type of work. He got pissed and asked me "where am I supposed to take it then"? I told him take it somewhere that likes working for free.

Times have changed. There are over 35,000 open body shop jobs and 400,000 service tech jobs in the country right now. This has been a known issue in the industry (automotive in general) for 20 years. This lack in staff has created an overload of work and thankfully it has left the shops that are still alive in a position to make money and do it in a way that doesn't kill the employee's anymore.
 
When I worked in an auto repair shop long ago we would occasionally turn people away by flat out telling them that we were not interested. Some of them got really pissed off, too bad. I was the lead mechanic and I hated working on junk or something that I simply knew would never be "right". Sometimes the owner would get pissed at me, but I would just tell him that the job wasn't going to be worth the aggravation, and if he really wanted it, by all means go ahead and do it yourself.
 
MidnightSwinger said:
Ugly just like all the cars they build. The owner has one of those faces you just want to punch.
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I pretty much disagree with all of this, but I don't like hitting the red X.
1. "Ugly just like all the cars they build" Obviously I have not seen every car that has come out of Kindig's shop, but they have been far from ugly. There have been some that I did not like some of the things that were done, but they were still stunning. Stunning body work, stunning paint, stunning fitment and panel gaps, stunning engine compartments, stunning interiors. As per the new Keving Hart car, I did not care for some of the body modifications, but the work was flawless, and the overall car was beautiful. Would I have it done to my car? No, but I judge the car by the beautiful, flawless work. Plus, don't forget, these high-end shops are just doing the work the customers want, and the customer can do whatever they want with their car.
2. "The owner has one of those faces you just want to punch." Why? I like Kevin Hart's work, plus he is a hard-core car guy. I might like different things being done to a car than him, but I can still appreciate his passion and enthusiasm. I remember looking at a "High Boy" car at a cruise night once. It was an Oldsmobile Cutlass with a nice paint job, a very nice crushed velvet interior and some nice 24" rims. That kind of car may not be my cup of tea, but the work was all top notch, I the car actually looked very nice. I talked to the owner for at least 20 minutes. He told me all about his car and explained the High Boy movement to me. I was shocked when he told me how expensive his tires and wheels were. He asked me if I had a car there and he came over to look at it. We talked about my car for a while. My point is that even if a car is not my cup of tea, I can still appreciate it and appreciate the proud owner, and I would never want to punch them in the face for doing something to their car I would not do to mine. That is why they make more than one kind of ice cream.
 
harrisonm said:
I pretty much disagree with all of this, but I don't like hitting the red X.
1. "Ugly just like all the cars they build" Obviously I have not seen every car that has come out of Kindig's shop, but they have been far from ugly. There have been some that I did not like some of the things that were done, but they were still stunning. Stunning body work, stunning paint, stunning fitment and panel gaps, stunning engine compartments, stunning interiors. As per the new Keving Hart car, I did not care for some of the body modifications, but the work was flawless, and the overall car was beautiful. Would I have it done to my car? No, but I judge the car by the beautiful, flawless work. Plus, don't forget, these high-end shops are just doing the work the customers want, and the customer can do whatever they want with their car.
2. "The owner has one of those faces you just want to punch." Why? I like Kevin Hart's work, plus he is a hard-core car guy. I might like different things being done to a car than him, but I can still appreciate his passion and enthusiasm. I remember looking at a "High Boy" car at a cruise night once. It was an Oldsmobile Cutlass with a nice paint job, a very nice crushed velvet interior and some nice 24" rims. That kind of car may not be my cup of tea, but the work was all top notch, I the car actually looked very nice. I talked to the owner for at least 20 minutes. He told me all about his car and explained the High Boy movement to me. I was shocked when he told me how expensive his tires and wheels were. He asked me if I had a car there and he came over to look at it. We talked about my car for a while. My point is that even if a car is not my cup of tea, I can still appreciate it and appreciate the proud owner, and I would never want to punch them in the face for doing something to their car I would not do to mine. That is why they make more than one kind of ice cream.
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I was talking about the owner of bitchin rides, not Kevin hart.

As for the rest of that, I’m glad you like them but they are ugly as **** and lack any creativity when you compare his builds to any builder that has come before them. He is like Boyd Coddington with Down syndrome.
 
i qan't a fan of the front end treatment.. too boxed off or something.. the tail light looks too torino-ish too. the paint is incredible. love the interior and the stance is great. i'd drive the hell out of that thing. that shop does some incredible work.. like most shops, some cars of theirs i love and others not so much.






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Newbomb Turk said:
I’ll give you my example.

If someone comes in and wants heads ”freshened up” and the port work cleaned up, I drop a massive price on it.

Unless your name is Chad Speier, Darin Morgan, Larry Meaux or like them I’m not, will not unless I’m getting a boat load of money touch those heads.

So rather get into a discussion about even looking at the heads (or manifold) I just price it high enough that if it get it I make the money I want or it just goes away.

Same with body shops. What makes you think your car was any different than the last 100 cars that came in? It’s not like you were their first customer.

And it seems like it worked. They are busy enough they don’t need the work and if they take it on they will make the money they want.

Looking at your car would have changed nothing.

Hell, I was in the shop I last worked at a couple of weeks ago and they FINALLY (about 2 years ago) instituted the policy of 50% down for ALL parts and 50% down for all estimated labor.

I was on them for years to do it. Finally he got sick of dealing with people who waited until the engine was done and then you have to wait 2 months (if you are lucky) to get paid.

You can’t stay in business like that.
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That's a wonderful example of your experiences.
 
Frankly, I couldn't care any less about that show or the car. There's plenty of old cars, and I really don't like boring OEM restorations. ZERO imagination.
 
I think they are probably the best craftsman around at Kindig it. Most of what they do is not my cup of tea either but they are true craftsman. There are a lot of things on this car that are not for me but, I can appreciate the time and effort that went into it. The Coronet they did is even uglier than this car but, they slanted the windshield back on it and I thought that part of it looked good. I bought a set of thier exhaust cut outs they use on thier builds, they don't actually make them but they are thier own design. I chose them because I figured they aren't building cars that cost that kind of money to have them come back over exhaust cut outs. They are a nice piece and have been problem free for a couple years now.
 
MidnightSwinger said:
I was talking about the owner of bitchin rides, not Kevin hart.

As for the rest of that, I’m glad you like them but they are ugly as **** and lack any creativity when you compare his builds to any builder that has come before them. He is like Boyd Coddington with Down syndrome.
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First, the way your sentence was structured, you could have been talking about either Dave Kindig or Kevin Hart. The subject of your sentence was merely 'owner'. Kevin Hart 'owns' the car, and Dave Kindig 'owns' the shop. That left me to have to guess who you meant.
Second, if you carefully read my post, you will note that I NEVER said I liked them. Actually, I do like most of the cars that Kindig builds. But we are talking about the odd ones here, I guess. I carefully said that I did not like some of the modifications done at Kindig and that I would not have done some of the things to my car that Hart wanted done to his car. You will also notice that I said I judged the cars by the stunning work. You may not like the modifications, but you cannot deny that the paint, body work and panel fitment are stunning. The interior work, whether you like the overall result or not, is also stunning. Look at the black paint job on Hart's car. Can you deny that it is stunning. When I say that Hart's car is beautiful, I am referring to the stunning paint, body work, fitment, engine compartment, and interior work. Remember that I also said there were things I would have done. That is NOT saying that I like it, but I do admire the stunning work.
And finally, to insinuate that ALL the cars coming from Kindig are 'ugly as ****' makes no sense at all. I could provide dozens of pictures of stunningly beautiful cars that you would have to agree were very nice. I could also provide some pictures of cars the looked really odd, and I did not particularly like them, but the paint, body work, fitment, engine compartment, and interior work were still stunning.
 
Well I for one don't like most of these famous tv show shop builds. With the huge wheels and low profile tires and in the weeds stances.....I cannot stand that. It doesn't look right on these older cars, IMO. Their bodies don't flow over the wheels near enough to make it look "right" like some of the later models. I've seen few and far between that didn't look like infected dog butt. This is how "I" like cars to look. I think the stance completely compliments the car.
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harrisonm said:
First, the way your sentence was structured, you could have been talking about either Dave Kindig or Kevin Hart. The subject of your sentence was merely 'owner'. Kevin Hart 'owns' the car, and Dave Kindig 'owns' the shop. That left me to have to guess who you meant.
Second, if you carefully read my post, you will note that I NEVER said I liked them. Actually, I do like most of the cars that Kindig builds. But we are talking about the odd ones here, I guess. I carefully said that I did not like some of the modifications done at Kindig and that I would not have done some of the things to my car that Hart wanted done to his car. You will also notice that I said I judged the cars by the stunning work. You may not like the modifications, but you cannot deny that the paint, body work and panel fitment are stunning. The interior work, whether you like the overall result or not, is also stunning. Look at the black paint job on Hart's car. Can you deny that it is stunning. When I say that Hart's car is beautiful, I am referring to the stunning paint, body work, fitment, engine compartment, and interior work. Remember that I also said there were things I would have done. That is NOT saying that I like it, but I do admire the stunning work.
And finally, to insinuate that ALL the cars coming from Kindig are 'ugly as ****' makes no sense at all. I could provide dozens of pictures of stunningly beautiful cars that you would have to agree were very nice. I could also provide some pictures of cars the looked really odd, and I did not particularly like them, but the paint, body work, fitment, engine compartment, and interior work were still stunning.
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I’m not reading all that, the cars are ugly as **** on the ground. Zero imagination, 100% derivative.
 
Demonracer said:
Kindig, Count's Customs, Mark Worman and the rest of the TV car builders are egotistical A HOLES! I had a friend who lives outside of Las Vegas who went to Count's. They told him there was a $20,000 deposit and they wouldn't be able to touch the car for at least 6 months.
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I think that the guys at Kindig, Texas Metal, Iron Resurrection are very talented fabricators. I believe that Kindig has a 3 year back log. I'm also very impressed with Full Custom Garage, Ian has built some awesome one off cars from nothing other than scrap metal.
 
I've researched what some of the fabricators make and for the talent and skills that they have they are under paid. If I remember correctly some were making like 50k - 60k a year.
 
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