Catering to classic hot rod enthusiasts from around the world is an everyday natural event for Dan Laughlin and Eric Sanderson of Dan Laughlin Customs & Restoration in Anderson.
Last week, they completed a Merlot pearl colored 1949 Ford Coupe specially crafted for guitarist Eric Clapton.
Through their seven year association with Roy Brizio's Hot Rod Shop in South San Francisco, Laughlin and Sanderson have also built three hot rods for the Mariani family Mark, Dennis and Dennis, Jr., all of Winters as well as "a few for John Mumford," Laughlin said.
He and Sanderson also assisted Roy Brizio with a 1932 Ford four door sedan built for Bob Nickum that will be featured in the October issue of Street Rodder magazine, as well as a 1972 365 GTC Ferrari V-12-powered 1933 Ford Roadster built for Ferrari collector Larry Carter.
In fact, at a current August 22 gathering of 130 Brizio built cars at a show in Pleasanton, Laughlin and Sanderson caught glimpses of at least six of their creations.
According to the Brizio Web site, a custom built hot rod of the quality that Roy Brizio is known for typically fetches between $80,000 and $160,000. From there the price only goes up, depending upon what the customer wants as well as what the customer can afford.
"We aren't millionaires. We just work for a lot of them," Laughlin said with a wry smile.
The most current hot rod acquired by Clapton is the second such project car that Laughlin and Sanderson have helped build for the world famous guitarist.
The first, completed several years ago, was a classic green 1932 Ford Victoria, Sanderson said.
This time around, the British born rocker needed a right hand drive show stopper in which he can tool around his native countryside, according to Brizio's
The car has a specially ordered Art Morrison chassis, shaved door handles, frenched headlights and taillights, a peaked hood, a trunk lid lengthened by nearly 5 inches and a 2-inch chop to the vehicle's top. The entire floor has been replaced and wide tire wells have also been added, Sanderson said.
"This one will be a show driver. It's meant to be driven around. It will probably do a year on the show circuit before it is driven primarily for pleasure," he explained.
The power train includes a Roush built 402 cubic inch small block Ford V-8 engine matched up with a Tremec 5-speed transmission, Sanderson added.
"This combination should be capable of turning out 450 to 500 horsepower," said Sanderson, a 1994 graduate of Enterprise High School in Redding.
"Right out of high school, I started doing some detailing. At age 20, I had my own auto body shop here in Anderson," Sanderson explained in late June between sessions in the paint booth where he was spraying six coats of Martin Senour base paint as well as three coats of clear on the Clapton vehicle's door panels.
For the past five months, Laughlin, Sanderson and another part-time employee stayed busy. One week in early April, a visitor to the shop would have seen the three of them carefully jacking the coupe's solid body off of a temporary chassis prior to attaching it on either end to an auto body rotisserie so that rough spots on the car's roof, sides and undercarriage could more easily be sanded smooth.
The work that Sanderson and Laughlin do is often more akin to sculpting than auto mechanics.
"We need to remake the body panels so that they all line up and everything fits just right," Sanderson explained. "It just takes hundreds and hundreds of hours."
Sanderson estimated he and Laughlin have put in somewhere between 800 to 1,000 hours on Clapton's latest project by the time it was rolled onto the showroom floor in South San Francisco on Saturday, Sept. 12, for delivery to Clapton.
"We only do three or four cars a year for Brizio because each of his projects takes about four months," Sanderson said.
Clapton, who only currently started collecting custom hot rods, was on the West Coast this week to make a live appearance Thursday, Sept. 17, with Bruce Hornsby on NBC's new live variety show, "The Jay Leno Show." Clapton plays guitar on the track "Space is the Place" on Hornsby's new album "Levitate, which was to be released Tuesday, Sept. 15. Hornsby and the Noisemakers kicked off their latest tour Saturday, Sept. 12, with a concert in Hampton, Va.
Hardly had the Clapton car left the Anderson shop floor Saturday, Sept. 4, when Laughlin and Sanderson were soon wading into two other projects. The first is a 1932 Ford two-door sedan delivery van that was currently retrofitted with a rear delivery door. Second is a 1968 Mustang Fastback described by Laughlin as a "Bullitt"-like retro car.
All that hard work obviously pays off for Laughlin and Sanderson. Normally, Dan Laughlin Customs & Restoration is booked solid for two years in advance.
"They only do the best," said Al Naticchioni, 64, of Redding, broker and owner of Re/Max of Redding. "They only repaired my 1959 Corvette because a friend recommended me to them. I banged up the car pretty good when someone pulled out in front of me."
"The work they did was just perfect," Naticchioni said of the resulting repairs. "I've never done business with a better pair of guys. They are artists. Every line and every seam was just perfect."
After the restoration, Naticchioni said the car appraised for $150,000. He recently is offering it on-line for $119,000.
"My wife gave it to me five years ago for a birthday present when I turned 60. I've still got the car in my garage," he added.
Dennis Kliever, owner of Quality Lube & Oil in Anderson, has had Laughlin and Sanderson work on his 1941 Cadillac, which Kliever describes as a "work in progress."
"Their ideas, their imagination is amazing. They have been doing custom work for so many years that they complement each other's skills so well. When I brought my '41 Caddy to them, the car was actually rusted out. They had to put in a whole new trunk and floorboards," Kliever said.
While Sanderson was working on the trunk, he suggested to Kliever that the car's brake lights could easily be concealed in the bumper, giving the real end a more streamlined and custom-car look.
"It's trick. I just can't say enough for them," Kliever said of the car.
Last week, they completed a Merlot pearl colored 1949 Ford Coupe specially crafted for guitarist Eric Clapton.
Through their seven year association with Roy Brizio's Hot Rod Shop in South San Francisco, Laughlin and Sanderson have also built three hot rods for the Mariani family Mark, Dennis and Dennis, Jr., all of Winters as well as "a few for John Mumford," Laughlin said.
He and Sanderson also assisted Roy Brizio with a 1932 Ford four door sedan built for Bob Nickum that will be featured in the October issue of Street Rodder magazine, as well as a 1972 365 GTC Ferrari V-12-powered 1933 Ford Roadster built for Ferrari collector Larry Carter.
In fact, at a current August 22 gathering of 130 Brizio built cars at a show in Pleasanton, Laughlin and Sanderson caught glimpses of at least six of their creations.
According to the Brizio Web site, a custom built hot rod of the quality that Roy Brizio is known for typically fetches between $80,000 and $160,000. From there the price only goes up, depending upon what the customer wants as well as what the customer can afford.
"We aren't millionaires. We just work for a lot of them," Laughlin said with a wry smile.
The most current hot rod acquired by Clapton is the second such project car that Laughlin and Sanderson have helped build for the world famous guitarist.
The first, completed several years ago, was a classic green 1932 Ford Victoria, Sanderson said.
This time around, the British born rocker needed a right hand drive show stopper in which he can tool around his native countryside, according to Brizio's
The car has a specially ordered Art Morrison chassis, shaved door handles, frenched headlights and taillights, a peaked hood, a trunk lid lengthened by nearly 5 inches and a 2-inch chop to the vehicle's top. The entire floor has been replaced and wide tire wells have also been added, Sanderson said.
"This one will be a show driver. It's meant to be driven around. It will probably do a year on the show circuit before it is driven primarily for pleasure," he explained.
The power train includes a Roush built 402 cubic inch small block Ford V-8 engine matched up with a Tremec 5-speed transmission, Sanderson added.
"This combination should be capable of turning out 450 to 500 horsepower," said Sanderson, a 1994 graduate of Enterprise High School in Redding.
"Right out of high school, I started doing some detailing. At age 20, I had my own auto body shop here in Anderson," Sanderson explained in late June between sessions in the paint booth where he was spraying six coats of Martin Senour base paint as well as three coats of clear on the Clapton vehicle's door panels.
For the past five months, Laughlin, Sanderson and another part-time employee stayed busy. One week in early April, a visitor to the shop would have seen the three of them carefully jacking the coupe's solid body off of a temporary chassis prior to attaching it on either end to an auto body rotisserie so that rough spots on the car's roof, sides and undercarriage could more easily be sanded smooth.
The work that Sanderson and Laughlin do is often more akin to sculpting than auto mechanics.
"We need to remake the body panels so that they all line up and everything fits just right," Sanderson explained. "It just takes hundreds and hundreds of hours."
Sanderson estimated he and Laughlin have put in somewhere between 800 to 1,000 hours on Clapton's latest project by the time it was rolled onto the showroom floor in South San Francisco on Saturday, Sept. 12, for delivery to Clapton.
"We only do three or four cars a year for Brizio because each of his projects takes about four months," Sanderson said.
Clapton, who only currently started collecting custom hot rods, was on the West Coast this week to make a live appearance Thursday, Sept. 17, with Bruce Hornsby on NBC's new live variety show, "The Jay Leno Show." Clapton plays guitar on the track "Space is the Place" on Hornsby's new album "Levitate, which was to be released Tuesday, Sept. 15. Hornsby and the Noisemakers kicked off their latest tour Saturday, Sept. 12, with a concert in Hampton, Va.
Hardly had the Clapton car left the Anderson shop floor Saturday, Sept. 4, when Laughlin and Sanderson were soon wading into two other projects. The first is a 1932 Ford two-door sedan delivery van that was currently retrofitted with a rear delivery door. Second is a 1968 Mustang Fastback described by Laughlin as a "Bullitt"-like retro car.
All that hard work obviously pays off for Laughlin and Sanderson. Normally, Dan Laughlin Customs & Restoration is booked solid for two years in advance.
"They only do the best," said Al Naticchioni, 64, of Redding, broker and owner of Re/Max of Redding. "They only repaired my 1959 Corvette because a friend recommended me to them. I banged up the car pretty good when someone pulled out in front of me."
"The work they did was just perfect," Naticchioni said of the resulting repairs. "I've never done business with a better pair of guys. They are artists. Every line and every seam was just perfect."
After the restoration, Naticchioni said the car appraised for $150,000. He recently is offering it on-line for $119,000.
"My wife gave it to me five years ago for a birthday present when I turned 60. I've still got the car in my garage," he added.
Dennis Kliever, owner of Quality Lube & Oil in Anderson, has had Laughlin and Sanderson work on his 1941 Cadillac, which Kliever describes as a "work in progress."
"Their ideas, their imagination is amazing. They have been doing custom work for so many years that they complement each other's skills so well. When I brought my '41 Caddy to them, the car was actually rusted out. They had to put in a whole new trunk and floorboards," Kliever said.
While Sanderson was working on the trunk, he suggested to Kliever that the car's brake lights could easily be concealed in the bumper, giving the real end a more streamlined and custom-car look.
"It's trick. I just can't say enough for them," Kliever said of the car.
