Car enthusiasts in hot rod heaven; Fixing up the classics has; meant

The walk is distinguishable. From one car to another, arms crossed, strolling at a pace that says, "Not bad, but I've seen better."

Eyes dart back and forth, under, over, inside and out. Each glance is a calculation - of the work that's been done and the cash it took to get it there.

Finally, the comment. Maybe to a wife or son-in-law, perhaps to the guy with a pack of smokes rolled up in his sleeve sipping a bottle of beer. "The nicest one I ever saw," said Coeur d'Alene resident Richard Ochoa, after finishing his examination of an orange 1959 Chevrolet Impala with custom you-name-it and, by his tally, $100,000 worth of restoration and customization.

The location is always different, but car shows like the one Ochoa attended Aug. 10 in Post Falls give enthusiasts the chance to put on display their hard work and hard-earned dollars.

The hot rod industry is seeing its biggest boom ever because of youth interest, empty-nester spending and more than 30-some television shows, said Peter MacGillivray, vice president of marketing and communication at the Specialty Equipment Market Association, an aftermarket group composed of more than 5,200 companies.

Consumers annually spend $4 billion on products used in customizing and restoring hot rods, the group reports. Media mainstreaming may lead to even more growth in the years to come.

"There are millions and millions of people who watch these cars shows every night and they get excited, and that's driving this industry," MacGillivray said.

The Inland Northwest may not be the hub of hot rodding - that title surely can be given to California - but it's gaining a reputation nationally, if not for its enthusiasts then for its cars. Recently, an Otis Orchard man sold his hot rod for a record $432,000. Similarly, a local shop was featured on "Monster Nation," one of the well-watched cable hot rod shows.

"Our area, for whatever reason, it's strong here," said Rob Elder, owner of the Hot Rod Cafe in Post Falls, which regularly hosts car shows. "This isn't Podunk Washington or (Podunk) Northern Idaho." Elder founded the River City Rod Run seven years ago, and each July the show draws an estimated 20,000 enthusiasts and fans.

While some hobbies might have been tossed by the wayside in recent years because of a struggling economy, the hot ride industry thrives because Baby Boomers with disposable incomes are its foundation. Of the more than 65,000 members of the Goodguys Rod & Custom Association, the largest hot rod group in America, more than half are 40 or older. A majority of the association is made up of individuals in professional or management fields, and 38 percent had annual incomes greater than $60,000.

Hot rods can be segmented into two distinct groups, Goodguys spokesman John Drummond said.

About 40 percent are devotees of classic and custom cars, ranging from 1950s sedans to early-'70s muscle cars. The remaining 60 percent drive hot rods and street rods, which were typically made before the 1950s. Nearly all of the cars in this latter category are street rods, which Drummond said are elegant and geared for long trips. Still, a small group gets a kick out of owning hot rods - cars customized to be sporty and fast.

"These kinds of classic American cars extract human emotions like nothing else, the bright colors, the chrome," Drummond said.

Not only do these cars take people back to past generations, but, coming from an era that predates sophisticated auto electronics, they also allow for hands-on maintenance. Because of this, Drummond said, enthusiasts don't need to have unlimited cash flow to have fun.

"You can be just as cool with a $10,000 car, if you know how to make it look right, as the guy with the $100,000 car," he said.

Still, many first-time customers are surprised that labor and parts for a project can start at $30,000 and jump well into six digits, said Tim Hein, owner of Hein's Hot Rods, a one-man customization shop in Spokane. With such prices, Hein said, customers need to decide whether they want to soup up a car for personal reasons or because they want to try and sell it someday.

"It seems like most people are willing to spend money on cars because the value on them doesn't drop like say, stocks," said Hein, who estimates his business will net $100,000 this year. "It's an investment for sure."

Hein, for example, built a 1932 Ford Roadster for his cousin, who invested $35,000. The cousin turned around and sold it for $45,000 using the Internet, a popular hot rod tool that lets buyers search high and low for cars and customized parts.The Inland Northwest is home to a dozen hot rod customization shops that do just about everything except for paint and upholstery work (there are specialty shops for that, too).

At Tim's Hot Rods in Greenacres, demand keeps owner Tim Stromberger and his three-person staff busy - so busy that the shop is scheduling work 60 days in advance. Aside from full rebuilds, the business most often installs air conditioners ($2,000), suspensions ($3,500), and engines and transmissions ($7,500). Those figures are only estimates, Stromberger said, noting that a hot rod owner typically does 50 percent of the work himself (or herself - women are a growing minority in the hot rodding world, national organizations say).Of course, the exception to the rule keeps businesses like Stromberger's going.

"It seems that the whole thing keeps kind of growing, especially with all the California people moving" to the Inland Northwest, Stromberger said. "A lot of (the Californians) aren't wrenches - they don't work on their own cars." he added.

One Wichita, Kan., couple - who came to the region last week for a Chevy convention in Coeur d'Alene - take their car to the shop only if it needs work that they can't do themselves.

Glenn and Emma Krumm purchased their 1955 Chevy 210 in 1978 as a commuter car, but it quickly became their project. The teal-and- white auto, which the Krumms drive regularly, appraises at $22,000. Working on the car is a hobby they both love, they say, and they can't even begin to figure how many hours they've spent in their four- car garage.

"I don't even know if we can come close on that one," Glenn Krumm said. "Like I say, it's a lot."

Richard Ochoa, the Coeur d'Alene man who eyed the expensive 1959 Impala at the Post Falls show, knows how that goes.

Over the years, he's accumulated a cigar box worth of receipts for the upkeep of his wife's 1961 Impala. But while standing behind the orange lowrider that draws repeated stares, he's ready to dream.

"Someday," he said to his daughter and her husband, "I'm gonna buy this car."

SIDEBAR: COMING UP K&N Filters/Goodguys 3rd Great Northwest NationalsDate: August 20, 21 & 22, 2004Place: Spokane Fair and Expo Center Features: More than 1,500 rods, customs and classics through 1972For more information: www.good-guys.com

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