REVIVING FOSSILS WITH CREATIVITY AND OLD-SCHOOL COACHBUILDING.
What is the actual work in bodywork? You might picture panel beaters amid a whirlwind of pounding and thrashing metal. In shops that deal with modern cars, there’s liable to be more cutting, welding, and painting, as it’s often easier and cheaper to replace, rather than repair, damaged exterior components.
But the hardest jobs—cars for which parts are hard to find or nonexistent—require something else entirely: imagination. That’s the sort of bodywork Steve Hogue enjoys.
“Give us the one-off car where there’s no information—that’s what we like to do,” he says.
Steve Hogue Enterprises, now a three-man operation, opened 25 years ago as a more-or-less typical SoCal body shop. “First I was making muscle cars,” he says. “Then I did a lot of hot rods where a guy gave me a drawing and I built it.” As he gained experience, Hogue turned to large, coach built vehicles from Lincoln, Packard, and Stutz. Later on, his shop began working on cars that were once considered beyond repair—good enough only for spare parts. Then Hogue started restoring cars that were so far gone, some people wouldn’t even take them for parts.
These days, Hogue primarily sees vintage sports cars, which he has always liked best. “They’re just the right size, and they’re more fun to research.”
The rare breeds rolling into his Torrance, California, shop—Shelby Cobras, early Porsches—are often worn to flimsy skeletons by time, trouble, and neglect. “It’s kind of like working with dinosaur fossils,” Hogue says. “Not everything is there, so I have to figure it out and make it complete.”
Esta historia es de la edición June 2017 de Road & Track.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición June 2017 de Road & Track.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
TURD ON THE RUN
IN THE LATE SIXTIES, THE ROLLING STONES BUILT A MOBILE RECORDING STUDIO ON THE BACK OF A FARM TRUCK AND CHANGED MUSIC FOREVER.
I Got a Guy..
There exist people with very particular sets of skills. Skills acquired over long careers. Skills that make them a godsend for people like us. They are the specialists.
LONG TAILS
THE BEAUTIFUL AND BIZARRE RACE CARS DESIGNED TO CONQUER A SINGLE STRIP OF PAVEMENT.
EVEN BETTER THAN THE REAL THING
Winner, Over $100,000: Porsche Taycan Turbo GT
THE GREAT PRETENDER
Winner, Under $100,000: Hyundai Ioniq 5 N
BREAKS, NOT BENDS
SINGER'S DIVETRACK TELLS A VERY NICHE KIND OF TIME.
RADIAL FLYER
A MEYERS MANX WITH AN AIRPLANE ENGINE IS A WEIRD FIX FOR SPEED ADDICTION.
THE BALLAD OF CRAZY ROCKETMAN
WHAT A BUILDER OF PULSE-JET-ENGINE VEHICLES CAN TELL US ABOUT MOTORING PASSION.
SOCIETÀ UTOPICA
THE PAGANI UTOPIA IS MORE THAN JUST A CAR. IT'S A HANDCRAFTED INVITATION TO ONE OF THE WORLD'S MOST EXCLUSIVE MOTORING CLUBS.
ST.ELMO'S FIRE
AN INDIANAPOLIS RESTAURANT WITH FACEMELTING SHRIMP HAS BEEN A DE FACTO RACING CLUBHOUSE FOR MORE THAN A CENTURY.