Cruising Through Austin Speed Shop

In this increasingly pre-fabricated, gotta-have-it-now world, it's nice to find artisans who appreciate the way it used to be done, making things by hand and taking the time to do it right.

Tucked away in a little corner of South Lamar is a group of artists who are keeping alive some of the skills that preserve some of Detroit's finest.

"This is a 1951 Mercury convertible and believe it or not, it's in pretty decent shape compared to most of the cars we get to start out with," said John Joyo, one of Austin Speed Shop's owners. "Part of the fun for people in the restoration business is not just restoring a car, but otherwise saving one taht might have gotten crushed or just been left to rot away."

They are able to do that with what they call frame-off restorations. And it's just what the name implies. Take the body off and, in many cases, re-build the car from the frame up.

Bob Merkt, also known as "Bleed" gets the first look at the underpinnings. And in a lot of cases he will build frames from scratch.

So, how do you learn this stuff?

"Some of them grow up aruond it and it's a family trade or hobby that's passed down from generation to generation, and thers go to school for it," he said. "Some know they want to do it, so they'll find a place that'll let 'em sweep the floors and pick up every little bit they can."

And the guys at Austin Speed Shop can do more than one thing. If you're gonna build frames, you gotta know how to weld.

Luke Diciurio is a Southern California boy who came to Austin for the Lonestar Roundup and decided to stay. His current project is a '49 Cadillac Fastback.

"This one is gonna be a radical custom," he said. "It's been chopped -- all sorts of body modifications. You can see the seams where this car has been cut and modifid. We're basically taking it from its stock form, changing up the lines to customize it and have a different flow to it."

The car's owner prefers to remain anonymous. And as for the cost? John says the tab is still open. But some car owners have spent up to $150,000 to have their babies restored.

Craig Willits is a master upholsterer in the shop. He's working on a '66 T-bird with an interesting history. It belongs to a local woman who is honoring her late husband.

"She wanted to finish out the car in her style, but basically finish it to a level he always wanted to do," said Willits. "It's meant a lot to us to be able to work with her and work within her budget to make it happen."

Willits is a California Bay Area guy who's been doing this the better part of 30 years wth a lot of show cars to his credit.

Then there's a '60 Cadillac that might be familiar. It was in the shot-in-Austin movie "Second Hand Lions" with Robert Duvall and Michael Caine. The owner brougth it in for upholstery and couldn't stop.

"He decided he wanted to restore it and drive his family around in it, and in the process, we decided to put a little of our own touch on it," Willits said. "We've shaved the door handles. It's got an aire-ride suspension, custom interior, a lot of little things, but it's just gonna be a real nice custom Cadillac."

Owner? Anonymous. Price? We don't know yet.

With all the projct cars like this, Joyo says they'll be busy for a long time.

They guys do have something a little bit cheaper you can take home. They've got a retail set-up in the office. So here's what you do. Stop in and see what they're building, they don't mind. They're a pretty friendly bunch of guys. Then, take home a little wearable art.

If you go in and ask for Rocco, every guy will say "That's me." Mike Rocco is one of the partners and it's kind of an inside joke for everybody to answer to Rocco.

And, yes, Jesse James is an investor. Buy Joyo says they don't see him much because he's too busy building bikes.