Meet Joe Sulpy

Today we’d like to introduce you to Joe Sulpy.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I got started at a really young age. My father owned a hot rod shop in northwest New Jersey ever since I was born. I would play at the shop as a child smashing my Matchboxes with body hammers and in the vice. I had grown interested in working on cars at a very early age and knew that is what I was going to do for a living. By the time I was 8 years old, I was spreading and sanding Bondo, at 11 I was welding and at 13 I chopped my first top.

I worked for my father part-time in my teens and once I was out of high school I was full-time. At 25 I opened my first hot rod shop and my father in turn worked for me. I owned a shop in Jersey for 10 years with up to 5 body men/ fabricators and 2 secretaries. In 2008 I downsized to work by myself in a commercial building in Goodyear Arizona.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has never been a smooth road. If you are going into business for yourself don’t ever expect it to be easy. I started with nothing but a little skill and passion. I had no money, no employees, and no idea how to run a business. It all comes in time. You make mistakes along the way and you learn. It does get easier with time but it’s never easy.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a metal shaper, custom car builder, and a teacher of metal shaping. I specialize in one of the custom cars, all finished in metal. I don’t use body filler. I believe when you have a car built for $100,000-$250,000 you should have as good or better quality as a new luxury car.

I definitely have my own style. I like to have modifications on a vehicle that appear that it could have come that way. I want you to look at my cars and say “Wow, this is amazing, this is the way they should have been made.” I am most proud of my son. I am a third-generation custom car builder and now my son has an interest in metal shaping and street rods. That’s what makes me smile.

What was your favorite childhood memory?
I remember at 9 years old being in New York Colosseum, where my father was showing a few cars. I started walking around the show before the spectators were there and stumbled across Ed Roth’s “Outlaw” ‘23 T bucket. I remember stopping in front of the car when no one was around and just staring at this work of art for at least 30 minutes. I was absolutely stunned by his creativity. I knew at this point I was going to build custom cars for a living.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @joesulpyscustomcars
• Facebook: http://facebook.com/joseph.sulpy
• Linkedin: http://linkedin.com/in/joe-sulpy-525a9a52
• Youtube: https://m.youtube.com > JoeSulpy