Wes Rydell: Honestly, I like to build things, and have always been very interested in mechanics, so I can’t imagine doing anything else! I like to build cars and drag racers. GG: What kind of job do you think you would have right now if you weren’t in the automotive industry? We also talked about what it’s like to drive his Chip Foose-built concept Cadillac, Madam X! We chatted with Rydell about his corral of cool cars, as well as why he feels it’s important to help young entrepreneurs. To date, Rydell has helped more than 50 people in 18 states to become dealership owners. “There are so many people who work for us that deserve a chance to own a dealership business, but it requires a lot of financial investment that’s often beyond their means, so we’re there to help them get their dream,” he added. Eventually I became the dealer, bought other dealerships and now my job is to get the people who work for us to achieve their dreams of owning their own store. “I worked at my dad’s dealership when I was a kid and I’ve never worked anyplace else. “I have always been in the car business,” Rydell said. Rydell purchased his father’s Chevrolet dealership back in 1976 and has grown it into the Rydell Group, which is currently the largest dealership group in North America. Perhaps even more impressive, though, is Rydell’s passion for helping other entrepreneurs and car lovers achieve their dreams. Whether it’s his Ridler-winning ’35 Chevy known as Grand Master, his ’35 Chevrolet Phaeton, which took home the AMBR award in 2015, or his ’40 Oldsmobile sedan known as Agness that won the Goodguys 2016 March Performance Street Rod d’Elegance honor, Rydell’s car collection and passion for the hobby is something to marvel at. You can see his trademark design in the steering wheel or the 5-spoke wheels.Wes Rydell is well-known in the automotive world for his network of car dealerships, as well as his collection of hot rods and classic cars that have been awarded the industry’s most-coveted accolades. We think that by 2005, when the project started, Chip had a number of billet aftermarket parts he could share between different products. The powertrain consists of a 392 Hemi mounted behind the driver, sending power to the wide rear wheels via a ZF five-speed transaxle. You can see the rocker arm-actuated coilovers mounted behind the grille shell. Foose liked to hide modern tech wherever possible, so the Hemisfear had fully independent suspension at all corners. The body is mostly tubular or square steel. However, from what we understand, the original was kept by Foose, and it's the green one you see here. They were sold to customers for $300,000 or more. Over a decade later, Chip was a world-famous designer when he received a contract from toymaker RC2 Corp to build a working prototype as a promotional vehicle.įrom what we gather, five units were produced by Metalcrafters. The car looked like your average hot rod drawing but featured all-aluminum construction and the most amazing mid-engined HEMI layout. His graduation project was a Chrysler-sponsored concept the Hemisfear. More specifically, he attended the prestigious Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. Like many of you hardcore car rendering artists, Foose studied it in school. But for a pre-historic project, this one has some pretty modern details. But it was never featured on and, in fact, almost predates mainstream Internet. The Hemisfear is, admittedly, a really old project.
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