Back in 2004, when then Elgin, Ill.-based The Roadster Shop’s new owners, the Gerbers—father, Neal, and brothers, Phil and Jeremy—set out to build a display vehicle to showcase the company’s killer custom street rod chassis, none involved quite understood the magnitude of the move into custom car building.

 

Now just a handful of years later, turnkey custom resto-mods make up a substantial percentage of the company’s annual revenue and have vaulted the well-respected chassis builder—which delivers between 300 and 400 chassis annually—into the rarified air of the nation’s top custom vehicle builders. 

 

According to Phil Gerber, the company’s vice president of sales and marketing, to say the move was serendipitous is a fairly substantial understatement. 

 

“In the first year, we did not have a single (custom vehicle build) in the shop,” says Gerber. “We were strictly a chassis manufacturer. In our second year in business we decided to build a 1932 Dearborn Deuce roadster to show off our chassis as well as our design and build capabilities. That build quickly turned into two or three more once people saw the car. Soon, our shop was equal parts turnkey car builds and chassis manufacturing.”

 

And the expansion into a new revenue stream did more than merely lift already soaring spirits in the shop; it generated a tremendous amount of overall growth for the company as well. So much so, in fact, that the company quickly grew from three employees to 19, and outgrew its 12,000-square-foot facility in Elgin, necessitating a move to a sprawling, 30,000-square-foot shop and showroom about an hour’s drive to the Northeast in the Chicagoland area city of Mundelein. 

 

Through all that growth and change, says Gerber, The Roadster Shop has stayed true to its original course by maintaining a laser focus on the values the company was founded on: attention to detail and an undying dedication to build quality. 

 

“The key to the great success was the attention to detail and constantly trying to turn out a better end product, whether it’s a chassis or a turnkey build,” says Gerber. “Our attention to detail, design and build quality, and constant drive to build the best also escalated the level of car builds that we took on. We are proud to be recognized as one of the elite car builders in the industry.”

 

That’s not to say this new direction is taking away from the company’s bread and butter, however. Street rod and performance muscle car chassis manufacturing, which Gerber describes as the company’s “backbone,” will certainly remain a key part of the business for years to come. But the rod shop side of the company will increasingly focus on high-end turnkey car builds, parts sales, service and component installation.

 

A Dedication to Process

 

In its beautiful expanded facility, which features about 5,000-square-feet of showroom space alone, The Roadster Shop is able to bring nearly all necessary steps in the custom vehicle building process in-house, alongside its chassis production capabilities. 

 

For Gerber, though, as much as the space itself, the company’s success is largely due to the process it takes with turnkey vehicle buyers. 

 

“Each car starts out with several discussions with the owner to figure out exactly what they are looking for, and how we can put our style into that build,” he says. “Once ideas are solidified and a car is onsite, Jeremy will begin the design process. He will come up with a list of modifications and components tailored to the customer’s desires. 

 

“We will have a series of renderings done so we can portray these ideas to the customer and get the OK on paper before going to the metal work,” he adds. 

 

Every build starts with a Roadster Shop chassis, ensuring they take advantage of the built-in advantages acquired and applied over the company’s 25 years in the business. And on very high-end builds, custom chassis are designed to ensure the look, stance and performance the customer desires is achieved. 

 

“Drivability and performance are extremely important in every RS build,” says Gerber. “We want to build show cars that can handle and perform like today’s supercars—not just sit on a turntable and look good.”

 

Upon completing the chassis, the project moves into the metal work phase, where every car will be reduced down to bare metal by utilizing media blasting or acid dipping processes to determine the true condition of existing sheet metal. Gerber notes that at that time, damaged panels are replaced and the shape and style is modified by designing and modifying the sheet metal—all of which is done in-house. 

 

“Once the metal work is completed, the car is then moved to the body and paint side of the shop,” he adds. “Body work is completed and the car is then sprayed in the desired color. We generally custom-mix colors to give our cars a unique look.” 

 

Once the cars are assembled and wired, they’re sent off to have the only substantial part of the build that isn’t done in-house installed: upholstery. The Roadster Shop works with a number of high-end upholstery shops to apply its vision for the vehicles’ interiors. 

 

Once the car returns, a final tuning is performed and each car is driven between 100 and 200 miles to ensure all remaining bugs have been smoothed out. 

 

If the vehicle is a pro-touring muscle car, says Gerber, “the car is taken to a nearby road course where the suspension is dialed in and tuned on track. Once everything is completed, the car is delivered to the customer.”

 

This intricately detailed process has produced rather astounding results, including a string of recent successes in 2009 and 2010 that have effectively put the company on the national map in terms of elite high-end vehicle builders. 

 

The company has had five Goodguys Awards “Of the Year” finalists and a 1956 F-100 pickup that won Truck of the Year. Gerber readily rattles off a number of The Roadster Shop builds as highlights, including a “C1-RS” 1962 Corvette that was named 2009 Street Machine of the Year, a 1970 Challenger that was a Street Machine of the Year Finalist, a 1933 Ford Track Nosed Roadster that was a Street Rod of the Year Finalist, a 1957 Suburban custom that was a 2010 Truck of the Year Finalist, and a 1928 Ford Roadster that was a Hot Rod of the Year Finalist, among them.

 

New Avenues

 

With such unqualified success under its belt in recent years, The Roadster Shop seems to be developing quite a loyal following. Gerber notes this following is not only loyal, but dedicated to high-end quality and durability as well—two great traits to have in a customer base.

 

“On the chassis side it is a pretty wide range (of customers),” he says. “Our chassis are higher-end products that generally find their way under higher-end cars. Our customers are other hot rod shops and individuals that want the best and recognize us for that. 

 

“On the turnkey car side, we have customers from all over the country,” he adds. “Most of our customers have worked with us on multiple builds and have one or two still to come.”

 

Also indicative of the The Roadster Shop’s growing success is another “first” for the company in 2011: the company for the first time took two cars to the high-end Barrett-Jackson auto auction, widely considered the world’s most prestigious collector car auction.

 

While not a big part of the company’s business model in terms of revenue, it’s certainly a feather in its cap, says Gerber. 

 

“It is definitely not a normal part of our business, but it is a good outlet to sell higher-end cars,” he says. “We had two previous cars that we were ready to sell and move on to a new build.”

 

The Price is High, but Right

 

Gerber says that a big part of The Roadster Shop’s success is based on positioning itself as a high-end product and vehicle manufacturer with goods that appeal to a more discerning customer base. Others are less expensive, sure, but he feels confident that the quality of its offerings is second to none. 

 

“All service work and turnkey car builds are done on a time and material basis. Our employees are some of the highest skilled in the industry, and our customers trust us for that,” says Gerber, noting that determining the appropriate price—especially on custom vehicle builds—can be challenging. “There is simply no way to quote a number on a complete custom build, or quote a number on a car that three or four other people have worked on and changed over the years.”

 

In regards to its chassis business, things are a little bit more straightforward. 

 

“Our chassis prices are based on the components and labor times that go into them,” he says. ”Many of the optional components are produced by other companies that have advertised list prices that we follow. Our chassis are on the higher side for the industry, but we have gained great market share by selling a quality product.”

 

At the end of the day, he says, the quality of product The Roadster Shop delivers comes from a simple fact: They’re built by car guys, for car guys. 

 

“We are car builders as well, which gives us a huge leg up in the chassis side because we can build a chassis around what we know will be needed later in the build,” he says. “This makes the installation easier for the end-user and their build goes smoother. These details take time to build into a product, but informed builders know what to look for and are willing to pay more for a better product.”

 

The Art of Good Business

 

While he notes that he enjoys most parts of The Roadster Shop’s day-to-day operations, Gerber says the highlight is his ability to follow a project through from inception to its final stage: delivery to a client. 

 

“Seeing a car come together after a complete build (is the best part of my job),” he says. “It is always amazing to stand back and look at what we have accomplished and see a customer’s dream car. It is truly the greatest art. We combine the skills of a designer, metal sculptor, painter, mechanical engineer and suspension designer into one complete project.”

 

That passion for the artistic aspects of the work will serve The Roadster Shop well in the future—one that most certainly includes a great deal more custom vehicle building. Gerber predicts the combination of functionality and style related to pro-touring muscle cars has both him and the custom car market showing new excitement heading forward. 

 

“The future is really moving towards the pro-touring muscle cars,” he says. “This is exactly where we want to see the market head and we are charging full steam ahead at it with new products, chassis, and several high-profile cars that will be out this summer. I briefly touched on it before, but the pro-touring movement is a great art: building elaborate show-quality cars that are then taken and raced to prove that they perform as good as they look.”

 

Having had such great success exploring new revenue streams just might lead them to continue exploring for others as well, he says. The company has recently set its sights on another area for potential growth: high-end luxury brands. 

 

“We have also ventured into the high-end luxury and exotic market to continue to grow the company,” he says. “These are the next hot rods. We have gotten into tuning and appearance packages on cars like BMW, Mercedes, Porsche and Ferrari.”

 

With such a thirst for new markets to tap, The Roadster Shop will certainly be one shop—or should we say, two shops—to watch for years to come. 

 

Jake Rishavy is a former managing editor of Performance Business magazine and current owner of Ricochet, a full-service advertising and graphic design collective based out of Denver. He always appreciates feedback at ricochetdenver.com.