{"id":1025879,"date":"2024-04-14T13:25:52","date_gmt":"2024-04-14T20:25:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bangshift.com\/?p=1025879"},"modified":"2024-04-14T13:25:52","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T20:25:52","slug":"an-east-coasters-tour-of-so-cal-hot-rod-shops-part-1-circle-city-hot-rods-tour-photos-from-joe-grippo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bangshift.com\/bangshift-galleries\/an-east-coasters-tour-of-so-cal-hot-rod-shops-part-1-circle-city-hot-rods-tour-photos-from-joe-grippo\/","title":{"rendered":"An East Coasters Tour Of So Cal Hot Rod Shops: Part 1 \u2013 Circle City Hot Rods Tour Photos From Joe Grippo."},"content":{"rendered":"

(Words and Photos by Joe Grippo) <\/strong>We recently returned from a whirlwind week in California, we put a load of miles on our rental F150 crisscrossing the southern end of the state. We stopped at a ton of cool Bangshifty locations, culminating in a few glorious days attending Grand National Roadster Show at the Pomona Fairplex. I set up a few destinations ahead of time and others we just showed up unannounced. First stop was down in Orange, Ca to see my buddy Jimmy White, owner of Circle City Hot Rods. I first got to know Jimmy through the almighty Facebook, where I sold him a set of Mickey Thompson ET Wheels for his Fox Body. With a few mutual friends in real life, we got to chatting and ended up internet buddies and we were finally able to meet in person. Jimmy and his crew were knee deep in the busy Circle City shop with various early Ford hot rod builds. A few Model \u2018A\u201d coupes and roadsters were coming together, a sweet red A-V8 on \u201932 rails was getting a rear end welded up and was heading toward final assembly. Jimmy\u2019s personal Model \u201cA\u201d coupe was in hibernation off to the side, it\u2019s early Hemi looking ready to rumble back to life with minimal effort. This car put Jimmy on the map a bunch of years ago, and still looks flat out nasty.<\/p>\n

Like any quality Hot Rod shop, every corner, every shelf, and open piece of wall space, holds cool photos and artifacts. Hard core fab equipment and toolboxes are fully decorated with pinstriping and great stickers. Coolness everywhere. Circle City isn\u2019t just about highboys and old coupes though, a few muscle car projects are underway, also. A \u201868-ish El Camino is getting the Pro Touring treatment, with high end chassis and suspension upgrades and requisite LS swap power. A customer recently dropped of his NHRA legal Stocker for a transformation from track to street. Gotta be honest, it hurt a little watching the racecar rollbar being cut out to make way for comfortable road going gear. But like Jimmy said, the customer gets what he wants. Other bitchin\u2019 items sitting around included a cherry, chopped \u201936 body awaiting resurrection, a killer chopper and more.<\/p>\n

Jimmy White\u2019s \u201986 Fox Mustang is sporting Coyote power, a super clean appearance, my old M\/T wheels, and single digit timeslips. His other driver is a heavily patinaed \u201966 Mustang coupe, with a mild small block and a stick shift. A nicely detailed interior, and a great exhaust note, with steelies and Cragars completing the look. White\u2019s a two wheeled aficionado as well, with a few flat-track race bikes and some vintage pedal powered BMX bikes. Awesome stuff. Thanks again to Jimmy, Shop Cat, and the rest of the crew of Circle City for allowing us to disrupt their day, it was a fun visit.<\/p>\n

After we split from there, Stacey my wife and travel companion, googled hot rod shops in Orange, Ca and found a list of several. Old Anvil Speed Shop stood out as another Facebook acquaintance is one of the principles there. Jeff Allison is a renowned artist with many accolades in his pencil box like designing AMBR and Riddler contenders, and a client list of who\u2019s who in the automotive and pop culture world. He is the creative director and main dude in the Old Anvil design department. When we dropped in, the shop was in full thrash getting their 1968 Charger ready for the Grand National Roadster and in contention for the Al Slonaker Award. Check the gallery for photos of the incredible Charger and the Pro Street Novas on display at the GNRS.<\/p>\n

We didn\u2019t want to get in the way, but Jeff dropped everything and gave us the dime tour of all the other stuff going on in the shop. Pro Street is alive and thriving at Old Anvil with two killer big tire Novas getting final detail for display at the GNRS which was a mere 3 days from our visit. A few badass truck projects were underway as well, as varied as a slammed 60\u2019s Ford Unibody F100, a totally cool gasser\/street machine style International and a wild early Chevy Sedan Delivery hot rod. Dig into the gallery to see a bunch of other amazing and varied projects coming together under the roof of Old Anvil Speed Shop. It was great to finally meet Jeff and the crew in person and thanks again for the hospitality. Not wanting to hold up the Charger progress any further, we bounced from Old Anvil, plus it was burrito-thirty by that time, so we were off to dinner and then back to our VRBO in La Verne to rest up for the next day\u2019s adventure. Much more to come.<\/p>\n

Check out the shops and support the arts with a t-shirt, some cool parts or contact them about a project of your own\u2026<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Circlecityhotrods\/<\/a>
\nhttps:\/\/www.oldanvilspeedshop.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

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