3 minute read
Easy Rider
Words: Bill Springer
Photography: North American Motor Car
Custom car and motorcycle heaven is in… Danbury, Connecticut?
I liked Chris Bishop when we first met in a VIP area on the inside of turn 6 at the Miami Formula 1.
Sure, he was into high-performance cars. And I learned he’d been quite successful in business. But what really impressed me about Chris was the aura of humility, gratitude, love for his family (he was at the race with his two teenage boys), and joy of bringing people together that I felt as we got to know each other.
So, when he invited me to see his latest venture, North American Motor Car in Danbury, Connecticut that includes: a full-custom hotrod and restoration shop, ultra-rare car and motorcycle sales, AND...a cool bar/ lounge/event space featuring music memorabilia that includes the black leather boots Elvis wore during his iconic 1968 TV special and lots of other historic items, I said yes immediately. And that’s where he introduced me to Josh Allison, the master builder and fabricator who heads up one of the coolest, largest and best-equipped custom auto and motorcycle shops I’ve ever seen.
“I worked with Chris on the Easy Rider build,” Allison says about the full-custom replica of the star-spangled bike Peter Fonda rode in the movie that I saw in the showroom. “And we just clicked. We both wanted to do something that had never been done before. One thing led to another. We’ve already built some amazing cars and bike for people and we’re just getting started.”
American Metal is dedicated to building, customizing, and restoring rare cars and motorcycles.
But the custom/hot rod/motorcycle shop-American Metal (a division of North American Motor Car) that’s dedicated to building, customizing, and restoring rare cars and motorcycles is only part of the state-of-the-art facility that also has space for close to 300 collector cars which are displayed on racks in a climate-controlled showroom. There’s also a full upholstery shop and comprehensive detailing operation too. Oh yeah, they’ve also launched American Metal Whiskey that’s available in bars, restaurants and liquor stores in Connecticut now, and will be available in more places in the future.
And I heard a rumor that they’re even thinking of building a track so they can run the one-of-a-kind cars and motorcycles they build as hard as they are designed to be run.
Cool, right? If you’re into custom cars and motorcycles, take my advice and make a pilgrimage to North American Motor Car and American Metal in leafy Danbury, Connecticut. It’ll blow your mind.
