I dont want to speak for Phil and Jeremy but I spoke with Phil at SEMA and congratulated them on their success. He kinda gave me the short version of their story and it isn't anything like what you might persevere from the outside looking in. It's like GW stated........ old fashion hard work. It was actually pretty inspiring to say the least. Maybe Phil can jump in and give a quick summery.You guys would be surprised.

I dont think anybody should have taken your post the wrong way.

I had heard they were planning on bringing only few cars but it just worked out where many long term projects got wrapped up at the same time. I can't wait to see how many top 5 SMOTY's are picked up by the RS crew in 2015- Congrats!

The one part of your question that interests me is where the clients come from. Its just amazing to me that there are that many people willing to spend an average of almost half a million on custom muscle cars.

Its not that I don't realize there are a lot of people with money, or that there are a lot of car people with money, but people who want this type of car with that kind of money seems like a small market. Between Rad Rides, Ironworks, RS, Divers, and all the other high end shops large and small how many $400k+ classic modified cars are being turned out a year ? 40 ? 50 ?

Interesting market and can't be easy making a good profit in this business.

I seriously doubt 40-50 $400k cars are turned out per year. I'd say that number is double reality. I could be wrong.

Either way, glad people with money like muscle cars. They're the ones pushing the envelope and leading to us getting cooler parts!

you can do it. Remember there are a lot of cars going overseas.


Even with your Mustang(s) Preston...how many billable hours do you think you have in it alone? You could easily top 100K-175K in labor alone.

A lot of these cars are 4000-7000 man hours easy.

The formula
 

Like GW said, business 101. However there is more to the story. I was privileged to hang out with them and work with one of their first IRS cars. Just hanging out with these guys make you tired. In short, they are HARD working, dedicated people. I heard one story where they came back from Columbus Goodguys (after working all weekend). They got home around 4ish in the morning after having a flat on the rig. The shop crew thought Neal would be in "late". NOPE he was there before anyone else got there around 6ish. These guys are machines. Here is the formula:
Insanely hard working people + Good Capitol (that they earned) + Business (Phil), Fabrication (Jeremy), A good old fashion dose of both (Neal) + True GEARHEAD MENTALITY + dedication = Roadster Shop Success. They earn it every day.
Good Job Guys and the whole Roadster Shop Crew!!!
Neal sets a great example for his team and sons. You can't blame Phil and Jeremy, they don't know anything but to work smart and hard. It's the only way Neal ever taught them.

They are definitely top notch, I think it is great that they can work together, That within itself is priceless. They obviously have a very well reputation. Some serious money in building those cars. I wonder how the resale value is on a car built by one of the big builders?
:G-Dub:

Like I tell anyone working for me -- "don't do my project with YOUR pocketbook".... LOL

The number of U.S. households with a net worth of $1 million or more, excluding primary residence, rose to 9.63 million in 2013, according to a new report from Spectrem Group, a consulting and research firm.

There were 1.24 million households with a net worth of $5 million or more last year, up from 840,000 in 2008. Those with $25 million and above climbed to 132,000

To put it briefly, the people who want a top notch build and can afford it are likely going to take the time to ensure that their car/property is only being worked on by a top notch crew, and will pay accordingly without question.

Establishing a standard of workmanship and craftsmanship is one thing...maintaining it day to day is another thing. There's no room for slackers at the top. That rule applies in the industry I'm employed with, and I'm sure it applies to the automotive side of things.

I was up at the Roadster Shop facility back in March to check on a a chassis I had on order. I got the full tour of the facility and they were bursting at the seams!! Even with as many cars as they had going on I'll give them credit and say it was organized chaos. Everything had a place, everything was in a line, everything had paperwork attached. They had to have close to 40 cars in some stage of build not to mention at least another 20+ chassis in process. They had chassis stacked on racking up the wall just for space!! Are they suffering growing pains? Maybe but if so they hide it well! Everything I've seen on that floor and finished product has been top notch and I'm not easy to impress. They delivered my chassis about two weeks later and its beautiful. The welds are so good they look machine quality.

And I'll second the notion that good shops will always be busy. Look at how many of us boutique builders here on this site have more work than we can keep up with with most of it fixing cars built by other people. For them to be building custom pro-touring muscle cars is tough enough; for them to be doing it at a production level and keeping the quality and timelines in check takes an inordinate amount of organization. My chassis was done within a week of their promised delivery date given 12 weeks earlier.. that is amazing for this industry.

If it wasn't so damned cold up there I would have probably applied instead of reinvesting my whole life in the new shop. I love pouring through their build pictures for ideas. I'll put my name in if they ever want to open a "Roadster Shop South" down here in TX. :lol: