History

A word from Arnie……. From the time I was in grade school I remember buying car magazines and sneaking them into my school books. Hot rods and customs were my passion, even way back then. I began building model cars and customizing them to look like the ones in magazines and books.

A friend’s father had a car shop, and I liked hanging out there, watching him tinker, dreaming about what I could someday build…….

My first Corvette was purchased at the age of 20, a ’64 that I modified following an episode in which the front end was crunched. Out of necessity I learned how to do fiberglass reconstruction, which branched into customizing.

My attention to cars was temporarily diverted by marriage and family for a season, yet I always kept the hot rod magazines coming and the dreams alive.

I learned the sheet metal trade and metal fabrication skills through employment in Portland, Oregon. My fascination with my childhood friend’s father’s shop sparked a dream of having my own shop someday. So, as I acquired tools and built my first shop building, it evolved into a full time business, and in 1986 Maplewood Industries, Inc. was born.

We manufactured parts for the medical industry, built prototype machines for various companies, fabricated architectural wrought ironwork and so on.

Along the way, my skills have led me to modify a few Harleys, rebuild a couple of Corvettes and customize friends’ hot rods, including chopped tops.

In regard to the ¾ scale deuce……. a number of years ago, Tom Black of Portland started this project, which was powered by a motorcycle engine. After a number of years of dormancy, we took over the project, changing the vision of the car to a front engine, we manufactured an exact repro chassis to scale, including dies for stock ’32 reveals. The molds were reworked to include stock reveals, an extended hood and more detail.

My wife and partner, Sharon, and I are at a stage in life where we can now follow our passions and mix work with pleasure. Investing more of our time in this particular interest is a definite pleasure! We’ve met some pretty wonderful people who share this common interest. We hope to meet you at upcoming shows!

Our Philosophy

Hot rodding started out to be an activity that people could enjoy on about any budget, whether you worked at a gas station or were still in high school. In an era of hot rodding where $30,000 - 50,000 hot rods are run-of-the mill, this car is a deliberate attempt to extend the opportunity to entry level rodders to build a car that is inexpensive, quick to build, and cool, at the same time.