Earlier this week, we featured Vern Tardel’s shop space. It was built over decades of hard wear and tear and has the soul and personality to prove it. Today’s feature, in contrast, is brand spanking new and fresh… See, my pals over at Vault Garage were given the opportunity to do a makeover of Hot Rod Magazine’s tech shop. The job will be featured on an upcoming episode of Garage Mahal on the DIY Network, so they wanted to do something that featured their cabinetry work as well as something that would be impactful as all hell on the small screen.
So… The fellas at Vault took some of their “Forged Cabinets” and rather then powder coating them, they had them clear coated by IFS Coatings. The result is a bare metal look that is capped off with some pretty incredible art by the legendary flamer Mike Lavalle. The final touch was some custom fabricated pulls and hardware by BS Industries Inc.
The end result is quite a bit different than any working Hot Rod Shop that you are likely to see. Under typical situations, I would shy away from a work space like this. I’m a guy that likes substance and functionality over style. However, I like that this space tips its hat to the tradition of Hot Rod Magazine and I absolutely love the fact that this is space is actually going to be used and used hard. Plus, there is no denying that it is fun to see what some of the most talented folks in this industry can come up with when give the opportunity.
With some luck, maybe we can get some shots of the space in a year or two… That would put some real substance to this story.
The Hot Rod Work Shop before:
And now:
