Ryan Butler 1979-2011
Last weekend was a weird one for me. As I was in Columbus taking in all the great things that make Columbus and all the incredible SMOY entries, I recalled my first time there exactly 10 years earlier when I shared a room with my friends Douch Schultz and Ryan Butler. Together, they had built a killer blue 67 Nova at Doug's shop, Street Works. They entered with high hopes of Street Machine of the Year going up against the Ring Bros who were there with their first entry as well. The Nova from a little shop in Washington with a lot of subtle touches hand fabbed by a 22 year old kid from Pennsylvania who nobody had ever heard of took the top honor of Street Machine of the Year. The next year, the duo were back with an incredible 62 Impala with an efi injected 409 with a one-off intake fabbed by Ryan. Next year, Ryan was back with a 62 Buick that he put 1000s of hours into in an incrediby short time, fabricating all kinds of super subtle touches only to be beaten by the brilliant Rad Rides creation; Chicayne but he got noticed big time and held his head high. An SMOY trophy and a solid Top 5 car, multiple magazine features, 2 Boyd's Pro's Pick trophies and 2 covers before he was even 25. His star was rising and he was so humble, you wouldn't have known him from the kid who changes your oil. He has continued to build some awesome cars that have gotten their share of notoriety and had more in the works.
Last weekend while I was back in Columbus marveling at how things have changed in the last 10 years, Ryan was following his latest passion; hydroplane racing. He was fatally injured in a violent crash.
Ryan was a regular lurker here but so quiet and so humble, he wouldn't dare post pics of what he had worked on but he knew about everything being built around the world and in fact, was the first one to tell me about Lat-g. His exact words were "I like it, it's a more polished version of P-T.com without all the attitude" That's just his style. He liked well executed design and didn't like drama.
Here is the official obituary written by a mutual friend and some pictures to remember him. If you have pictures of cars Ryan built, post them up for everyone to see.
Ryan Butler -- 1979-2011
With great sadness we report the passing of hot rod builder and fabricator Ryan Butler, 32, who was tragically killed in a hydroplane boat racing accident in Olympia, Washington, on Saturday, July 9, 2011.
Ryan was known through the Northwest hot rod scene and on a national level for his soft-spoken, kind demeanor as well as his talent for metalworking, machining, and an overall creative approach to building award-winning street machines and street rods. Originally from Maryland, young Butler debuted on the scene by building a '67 Chevy Nova that won the 2001 Street Machine of the Year Award, followed in 2003 by "BuWicked", a '62 Buick Special featured in the Sony Gran Turismo video game series. Butler's latest recognition was the "ShowLow" '62 Chevy Bel Air, winner of the Mothers Shine Award at the SEMA Show in 2007.
Ryan's love for performance and craftsmanship led him to create his own fabrication operation in the Seattle area, where his passion and talent was recognized thoughout the Hydroplane boat racing community, where he fabricated components for many teams as well as for his own racing boats.
Ryan Butler was well loved within the automotive community not only for his talent, but for his positive attitude and support of others work in the community. You didn't hear criticism from Ryan, as he understood how difficult it was to get these extensive buildups to completion and that everyone had their own taste and style, which should be respected.
A celebration of Ryan's life will be held on The Hydroplane & Raceboat Museum in Kent, WA, Thursday, July 21, 6-10pm. To see more of Ryan Butler's work, log onto ryanbutlerfabrication.com
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