“I have a very creative mind. I don’t sleep much,” says Dave Kindig of Kindig-It Design, a premium custom car shop and the subject of the reality TV series Bitchin’ Rides, now in its seventh season.
Dave built a special ’58 Lincoln Continental named Maybellene.
Dave Kindig built a special ’58 Lincoln Continental he calls Maybellene. Photo by Jon Glover
“It’s still one of the greatest custom cars we’ve ever built,” he says, outfitted with an all-aluminum 600c.i. V12 supercharged engine.
Dave started the custom build by translating the ideas of the client to visual drawings his craftspeople could actually build.
“That’s my biggest job,” he says.
Dave’s crew has sophisticated rapid prototyping machines and 3D scanners, but he says his most used tools are basic 11-by-17 laser printer paper, Prismacolor markers, and a pencil. Plus, he always has a Sharpie.
Dave’s shop has grown; he now employs a crew of 31, but he still manages to draw for about 20 hours a week. “I can draw a ’69 Camaro off the top of my head.”
“When somebody has to run a business and be creative at the same time, one can typically cog up the other,” says Dave Kindig of Kindig-It Design. Photo by Dezember Photography
Part of the reason he’s able to focus so much time on the creative side of the business is his wife Charity looks after the books. “I don’t have to mess with that. I just stay on the creative side, which allows me to be a lot more open-minded and free-floating,” he says.
A version of this article originally appeared in Sixtysix Issue 05 with the headline “Dave Kindig: Automotive Designer, Salt Lake City, Utah.” Subscribe today.
