Like many automotive tales the story of Rad Rides by Troy begins with family. The Trepanier family is fifth generation in the small town of Manteno, Illinois. The land that the shop sits on started out as the family truck repair shop. Troy ran around the shop with his father Jack and even learned to weld there by fusing together aluminum cans. When he was still very young, Troy learned from his grandfather to strive for perfection and how to hone his attention to detail.
The ’54 Plymouth Savoy Sniper owned by George Poteet was Troy’s first big customer build. It featured a donated Viper drivetrain and Mercedes headlights. It now sits at the Petersen Automotive Museum where the build idea was conceived.
In 1986, Troy’s grandfather gave his blown ’66 Chevelle to then-14-year-old Troy to fix up for his first car. Troy went a bit further than most would have imagined, creating a custom street machine. After going to a few car shows, he reworked the car, borrowing some of the styling from street rods of the era. His next car, dubbed Pro Box, was a ’61 Impala, a model rarely built at the time. The Impala ended up being named Hot Rod of the Year—Troy was only 19 at the time. The car was driven to SEMA as part of the Victory Tour, and Boyd Coddington, whom Troy had always looked up to, saw the car at SEMA and remarked, “That’s pretty good, let’s see what the kid does next.” The blending of techniques from different genres and unique detail work would become a trademark of builds to come. A monochromatic, color-matched paint scheme and a clean and detailed engine bay became signatures and helped launch his career.
Troy and wife Angie next to his first build, his grandfather’s ’66 Chevelle. In 1995, Troy and his dad Jack started Rad Rides by Troy, initially it was just the back garage of the family repair shop, where the machine shop currently resides. As the years and builds progressed, the shop expanded throughout all of the buildings. Each build was used to help finance the next car, and the family toured the cars around the country gathering momentum and attention via word of mouth and magazine features. The first customer car for Rad Rides was Dan Jacob’s Predator, which became a Great 8 selection at Detroit Autorama. It also attracted the attention of future customer George Poteet. The pair would eventually build the Sniper. Rad Rides by Troy created several cars for George throughout the years, which helped the business gather a strong customer base and has allowed Troy to see his visions come to life.
Rad Rides by Troy has always tried to push the envelope of innovation. Matte paint inside of the engine bays and molded-in modern headlights were some of the techniques that Troy helped develop in the early years, and have continued to show up in cars like Blowfish and the Mariani roadster. Not only were these competition show cars, both were tested in the Chrysler wind tunnel, which helped each of them set land speed records at Bonneville. That combined race and show mentality has been a mainstay for Rad Rides, as function and drivability have remained key factors in all of the crew’s builds. Clean twin-turbo setups have been used in several builds because the setup offers plenty of power while keeping the engine drivable and reliable.
The year 2002 was a milestone for Rad Rides. A car that received wide attention and brought even more street rod styling into street machines was the Chicayne. It won Street Machine of the Year at Goodguys that year and helped grab the attention of the Rides television show that featured several of the company’s builds. The detailed muscle car also drove across the country, proving that Troy’s cars are built to drive as well. Key to each build is high function; every car has to be not only drivable but also reliable. That has been the greatest marketing tool according to Troy, with several show cars also competing for land speed records and touring the country. Troy will look at a car and the ideas and style most appropriate to it will start to crop up in his highly creative mind. The sheer variety of his builds was apparent at the recent Detroit Autorama where Troy was named Builder of the Year. On display were several street machines, salt flat record holders, hot rods and classics. The shop tries not to fall into a rut with one specific style, instead the crew explores the entirety of the custom car world. As Jack jokingly puts it, “We’re not smart enough to do the same thing twice.”
One of Troy’s most memorable moments is actually an entire year. In 2007, Rad Rides completed several builds and took home some of the most prestigious awards and records. The first was the ’32 Ford roadster that was named by Ford as one of the 75 Most Significant Roadsters of all time, even though it had just recently been finished. A quick follow-up occurred at Detroit Autorama, where a ’36 Ford dubbed First Love garnered the coveted Ridler award. Rad Rides isn’t just known for show cars, either. Blowfish, the salt flat racer ’Cuda, ran over 270 mph at Bonneville and was later named Hot Rod of the Year. The build began with the idea of making the most power from a Mopar four-cylinder engine. Each year at the salt flats, Blowfish would improve its record in various classes as the engine was swapped for a V-8. As such, the Grand National Roadster show named Rad Rides by Troy Builder of the Year in 2008. Six years later, after several entries into the America’s Most Beautiful Roadster competition, the crew won the AMBR award with Wes Rydell’s ’35 Chevrolet Phaeton, Black Bow Tie.
A prime example of detail work, all of the door jambs are reworked in order to use 2014 Silverado weatherstripping for a noiseless ride.
2014 America’s Most Beautiful Roadster
Black Bow Tie | Wes Rydell’s ’35 Chevrolet Phaeton
After winning the Ridler award in 2007, along with setting several Bonneville records that year, the guys at Rad Rides by Troy had another milestone in their sights. The America’s Most Beautiful Roadster is one of the most prestigious and strict awards in the automotive world. They had competed several times throughout the years, and in 2014, they took home the coveted award with a car that was not only rare to begin with, but being a Chevrolet, it differed greatly from the Fords or custom cars that have won in past years. The Phaeton was one of only 217 built that year. Rather than keep or restore the rare car to original specs, Wes Rydell, like many of us, loved the classic style but wanted custom work, reliability and the custom detail that Rad Rides had become known for.
Black Bow Tie was designed by Chip Foose more than seven years ago and began its creation at Rydell’s Toy Shop and then Rad Rides. The car is a perfect example of Troy’s philosophy that “subtle is harder to pull off than obvious.” Many may view the car as a resto-mod or stock at first glance, until they take a closer look at the foundation or sitting next to a factory version. The underpinnings include a Roadster Shop chassis with pro-touring Heidts IFS and IRS suspension. The car was lengthened a few inches and the grille was shortened and laid back for a sleeker look. A 383 Chevrolet crate engine was modified to look like it featured 1957 Rochester injection for a ’50s era period look. Custom-machined wheels from Curtis Speed, a luggage rack and art deco-style interior finishes things off. The car’s heritage itself dictated the style and design of the build.
“Subtle is much harder to pull off…” –Troy Trepanier
Rad Rides by Troy followed up the AMBR win a few weeks later and was named builder of the year at Detroit Autorama. On display were eight of the shop’s creations spanning the last two decades and showcasing the wide variety of builds and styles the shop has become known for. Unfortunately, Jack Trepanier passed away shortly after and is remembered by many not only for his contribution to the hot rod world, but his sense of the importance of family and his great personality. Currently, Rad Rides by Troy consists of 14 professional team members, a 5,000-sq-ft fabrication shop with 800-sq-ft machine shop and 3,750-sq-ft show room attached. Recently an 1,800-sq-ft body and paint facility was added. Everything from tear down and fabrication to paint/body and assembly can be done in-house, allowing for more control and tight deadlines. He expects the best from each member of the team and each vehicle is a collective effort. Troy always sees the next build as being better than the last and the crew has several in the works. Visit Maxdrivemag.com for a video interview with the Trepaniers.
With a machining and a body/paint shop on the premises, every aspect of a build from start to finish can be accomplished in-house, allowing for quality control and tighter deadlines.
Dedicated to Jack Trepanier | 1943-2014 | “Godspeed”
Please wait...