Thanks for stopping by and
checking out Du Pont Custom Classics. My name is Brent
Du Pont. I started out in this simple hobby of mine back
in 1986 when I was 17 years old. What started out as a
hobby 18 years ago has become one of my greatest
passions.
My first car
was a 1968 Camaro SS,
Ratguts, that I
built in my parents garage. I had a lot of fun and
great memories with that car. But as time moved
on, I wanted more. I started thinking of another
project. Which lead me to a 1957 Chevy that I found in
the locally in Livermore, California. I had some
great ideas that I thought would really make it stand
out in a crowd. I put together a budget and a
timeline of 3 years or so, well as I quickly learned,
double both ends of the equation and “Ricochet” was
finally born. You can read more about the build up
of Ricochet on this site.
I was
extremely fortunate to have received many awards and
media recognition with “
Ricochet”.
One of the most rewarding though was being asked to have
it on display at SEMA 2003 in Las Vegas. I have been
attending SEMA for the past six years while building the
project and to be apart of it is something I will never
forget. While
the car was on display, it was filmed by for 3 different
TV shows that aired on ESPN & The Learning Channel. One
of the episodes was with Don “Big Daddy” Garlits”. The
video’s can be seen on this site. Just when I thought
it could not get any better, I was notified that
Ricochet had been chosen to receive a special award
sponsored by Mothers Polish. It was one of twelve
awards that were given out. It was awarded "Best Street
Machine" at SEMA. To say I was taken back would be an
understatement.
As with most, all good things must come to an end.
Ricochet has a new owner in Indianapolis, where I know
it will be well taken care of. Since the departure of
the 57, it was time to move onto another new project.
This time the victim will be a 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air 2
door Sedan, which has been named “
Nickelback”.
If all goes as planned we will debut the car at SEMA
2006. Keep checking back to follow the build up.
One thing I
can’t get over is the fact that the level and quality of
cars over the past few years has increased
dramatically. The innovative design and concepts that
these guys keep
coming out with is unbelievable. It used to be that
there would be just a handful of cars that were “Over
the Top”. That number has increased ten fold. Whether
you are a professional building a mega buck car for a
customer or just an average guy doing the best he can
with what he has, it is all about going forward and
pushing the envelope the best that we can. That’s what
keeps this hobby alive and well!
The other
thing that keeps this hobby in forward progress is the
manufactures. The new products, designs and support are
unbelievable. They are on the forefront of technology
and find ways to keep this hobby on the cutting edge.
If it wasn’t for them I don’t know where this hobby
would be today.
I have
learned a lot and met some great people along the way.
I look forward to learning more as Nickelback
progresses, but most of all meeting more of the great
people along the way.
To those who
have helped, you know who you are, I couldn’t do it
without you. I can’t thank you enough!
I want to
especially thank my understanding wife & family for
their continued support.
