Chip Foose is a custom car builder and artist, born on October 13th, 1963 in Santa Barbara, California, USA. Chip’s father, Sam Foos, was very famous in the custom scene. As Chip himself said, “if you had bought an issue of Hot Rod Magazine in the 70s, you would have more than likely discovered one of my father’s works in it.” Thus, again, according to Chip himself, he does not remember being introduced to cars. He was literally born among cars and started helping his father in the garage from the age of seven.
Subsequently, Chip graduated from the famous ArtCenter College of Design and worked for Boyd Coddington, after which, at the beginning of the two thousandth years, he opened his own workshop. Fuz’s talents quickly gained recognition, as already in 2000, his 0023 hot rod won the America’s Most Beautiful Roadster award, and in 2003, another car, the Stallion, received the Don Ridler Memorial Award.
However, Chip became really well-known when he actually became the host of the show Overhaulin’. This TV show aired from 2004 to 2008, and then again from 2012 to 2015, and during that time 113 episodes were filmed. Besides Overhaulin’, Chip Foos was also the host of such TV shows as American Icon: The Hot Rod and American Icon: The Muscle Car.
It was his long-term presence on television that made Chip Fuza perhaps the most famous person in the modern custom scene. And while Overhaulin’ was purely an entertainment program, the American Icon’s series aimed to introduce the viewer to the history of the custom scene. The programs featured a variety of archival footage, as well as interviews and stories from various customization pioneers.
By the way, unlike most, Chip believes that a great future awaits a custom culture: in his opinion, looking at the development of the principles of so-called “rapid prototyping” in the automotive industry, we can conclude that modern technologies will soon allow many of us to create our own unique cars. In fact, there will be a return of body building, and it will be possible for many to create a dream car either on their own, at home, or at a dealership with the help of a professional designer.
