Rodney Prouty is our hero. He works at one of the most prestigious speed shops on the west coast, drives a bitchin ’68 Camaro every day, races said Camaro on the weekends, and does it all on a working man’s budget. Sideways is where he will tell us his story. The adventures of getting, building, driving, and racing his hot rod. From his point of view.

Throughout the year Rodney will tell us his story and bring us along on his adventures. Breaking stuff, fixing stuff, thrashing, driving, racing, and more, all right here at BangShift.com for you to enjoy. And you ARE going to enjoy it. We know Rodney really well, and he’s one of those guys that inspires you to get your project moving. Does Rodney have 1000hp in his Camaro? no. Does he have this weeks latest hoohaa part? no. Will he be driving his car this weekend? YES. Will he be fast wherever he’s is racing? uh yeah. This first Sideways introduces you to Rodney and his car. He’ll take us through the rest of the build, driving schools, autocrosses, and more over the rest of the year. It promises to be an adventure.

Below is the first Sideways, with Rodney Prouty. Enjoy.

I Could Be Your Neighbor

But once you learn more about me, I’m sure you’ll be glad I’m not. My name is Rodney Prouty and what I am trying to say is: I’m a regular guy. I picked up some skills building stuff as a kid growing up in a generation (and household) where if you wanted something you either bought it with money from your paper route or you built it from crap you found in your Dad’s (or your friend’s Dad’s) garage. I didn’t have a paper route.

I have owned and driven some great cars through the years but, like you, I always wanted a true muscle car and I had become infatuated with the Pro-touring movement. Mine is not a story of a guy who’s Uncle left him a stock ’65 Mustang as a parting gift after years of teasing about skinny adolescent legs. My story is of a guy who took a chance on a shell of a car, scoured junkyards, asked everyone he could for their project cast-offs, had Craigslist as a screen saver and wasn’t afraid to learn how to do a little paint and body. A big part of my learning curve was saturating my evenings staring at (and reading) every thread on every car build forum I could in hopes that it would help me learn how to do things and what choices to make in my build.

By day, I work at Gotelli Speed Shop – a great speed shop that has contributed to racing history for 50 years; but let’s be real, it has not made me a millionaire. I spend all day telling guys who throw money at their cars, how to make them faster, louder and ‘hotter’.I find a lot of our customers want a faster car but don’t race; A louder car, that is too loud to drive to work; And, a ‘hotter’ car to show off to their buddies and wear out diapers waxing. One of the most difficult questions, it seems, for my customers to answer is “why?” Why do you want your car to go faster, be louder and hotter? So many hot rod owners don’t have a goal in mind for what they hope their car will do and therefore, they are either in a state of a perpetual build or constant lust for the latest and greatest they just read about in some car magazine. My car was a rusty piece of crap that I paid $100 for. Yes, I realize that even the starting price of $100 was good for what I got but I want to be clear: for a hundred bucks you get an enormous undertaking. I am not sure if the look on my girlfriend’s face was sheer terror or intrepid enthusiasm as we pushed that beast onto a trailer in the pouring rain but the day I pulled that rusty bucket out of that lady’s garage, my life changed.

Isn't she pretty?

By night, I wrench on my 1968 Camaro to keep it racing and frankly, getting me to work every day. Yes, I drive my car to work every day (that it is running)—it is a muscle car after all so it spends a fair amount of time on jackstands. I drive my car to almost every event and if I trailer the car, it’s because I intend to beat the crap out of it racing and I’m too far out of my AAA tow range.

I tell you all of this so that as I write more for BangShift you’ll understand that I am a regular guy who spends his days talking the talk and his nights and weekends walking the walk. Anyone can have a hot rod, anyone can have a racecar – you just have to want it bad enough to (if you can’t throw money at it) learn some new skills, ask everyone you can “how?” and hunt down those parts like a junkyard dog.

It may not have been done, but it was done enough. This is one of the first times we took the car out "racing". It's a lot different now.

I hope that the stories I tell help you gain the confidence and wherewithal to get that thing in the garage moving on its own volition. After all, your dream is to drive a hot rod, not talk about a project in the garage – it’s kind of like your days on the high school football team, after a while, no one cares unless they see you playing. In two years with about Five grand, I went from a bucket to a bonafide (but still ugly) autocross car and I did it mostly by myself, in my garage – which leads me back to my first statement about why you might not want me as your neighbor. I’ve been running my car for about three years now in multiple autocross events on the West Coast. I’ve probably put about another eight grand and countless garage hours into the car as I learned what I needed and replaced what I broke. I promise to share my stories about how my enormous undertaking changed my life and maybe you’ll share a story or two yourself. This is just the intro. There is a lot more chapters to come.

Rodney Prouty

Eiditor’s Note: Big thanks to Rodney for contacting us and asking if we would be interested in his story. If you have an idea for BangShift.com content, please CLICK HERE and submit your idea, story lead, or whatever.