West Coast Customs
West Coast Customs
Burbank, CA
The Rhino team took a trip down to Burbank, CA and visited the world famous car shop, West Coast Customs. We learned about their history all the way back from the "Pimp My Ride" days to custom making Justin Bieber's 458 Ferrari. This is their story.
Starting the Build.
Chad Utt, the operations manager, explains that West Coast is more than just a shop. He believes that the best thing about the shop is that they are constantly innovating. West Coast is always working on a new project each week and they welcome a creative challenge. He says, "Repetition kills creativity." Chad loves to build and getting his hands dirty. He started his career out as a fabricator and he even owned his own shop back in his hometown. Some people might think it's insane that they chop up a brand new half million dollar car. But Chad mentions that all cars are made of mostly the same material, just with different price tags.
"What separates West Coast Customs from any other car shop is our ability to do everything in-house and take on builds that aren't the standard paint and body...and we take on stuff that a lot of shops aren't willing to do.
- Chad Utt
The Design Process.
During our visit, we met Musa, the car designer at West Coast. Musa started loving cars at a young age. His father and him shared the same passion for building cars. He attended the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA. There, Musa was able to get better at his craft and started doing some freelance work after he graduated. Then he met the owner of West Coast, Ryan. They met at the SEMA car show and Ryan took interest in one of Musa's designs. The rest is history. West Coast works with a wide range of different cars. They work with everyone from celebrities to big corporations. Musa explains that the first part of the design process is determining the function of the build and what it will be used for (company, racing, luxury, etc).
Once they have determined the function of the vehicle, Musa draws up sketches of what the car should look like. One thing he mentions is that all the custom builds at West Coast have a story. If they are making a car for Nike or Google, they want it to feel like a Nike or Google vehicle. This may be a hard task at times, but the team there strives for greatness. After getting the green light, they bring the design to the fabricator and bring their idea to life.
The Value Factor.
So why is West Coast Customs so popular? Chad Utt says that,
" What separates West Coast Customs from any other car shop is our ability to do everything in-house and take on builds that aren't the standard paint and body...and we take on stuff that a lot of shops aren't willing to do. "
The team at West Coast isn't afraid to take a brand new car and chop it half or change the dimensions. They stand out from their competition and they make sure that their clients are satisfied. Aside from a quality build, their creative mindset is like non-other when it comes to building cars. They truly do make the impossible, possible in the car scene and continue to set trends.
Thank you for following along on our journey as we share stories around the world. One of our main goals here at Rhino is to tell stories. By creating motorized sliders, we are able to help others move their stories as well. Our Rhino Slider system was used to film 90% of this video.
Behind The Scenes
