Business is 'Kikin'
Family turns hobby into successful car shop
By DAVID LOWE Staff Writer

Brant Martin, owner of Kikin Street Rods, works on his 1963 Chevrolet Nova in high school. Martin and his brother Lee, who also works at Kikin Street Rods, developed their interest in classic cars during childhood, when they learned from their father, Dean Martin.

Most men drive to work, but Brant Martin and Lee Martin actually drive in their work.

Brant Martin, owner of Kikin Street Rods, and his brother Lee started working on classic cars at age 11. Their father, Dean Martin, gave them old vehicles, which they could drive once they earned their driver's licenses -- but only if they rebuilt the cars themselves.

"We bought a $300 piece of junk and made it into a hot rod," Brant Martin said.

After working alongside his father as a child, Martin turned his attention during his teenage years to his 1963 Chevrolet Nova.

The project gave the car shop owner a ride throughout high school -- along with a passion for hot rods.

Now the Martin brothers and their father make a living from their pastime.

"We've turned Dad's hobby into a business," Brant Martin said. "So he gets the old-school experience, and the young guys -- me and Lee -- give it the new flair."

PHOTO BY DAVID LOWE Kikin Street Rods owner Brant Martin, far left, poses with his co-workers, from left, Dean Martin, Rudy Rodriguez Jr., Frank Larson, Jesse Shelton, Austin Johnson and Lee Martin, in front of several vehicles at the shop on Fourth Street. Brant Martin and brother Lee began building classic cars with their father, Dean Martin, and specialize in pre-1957 vehicles.

Kikin Street Rods, which has been in Lampasas for eight months after five-and-a-half years in Copperas Cove, specializes in vehicles from 1957 and older, although workers also customize cars manufactured as recently as 1972.

The Martins shifted their focus to older vehicles after an initially high number of muscle car jobs. Brant Martin remembers walking into the shop in Copperas Cove one morning early in his career and seeing four 1964-1967 Ford Mustangs lined up for work.

"I don't like doing muscle cars as much," he said. "Mustangs are like belly buttons. Everybody's got one."

Completely rebuilding a vehicle usually requires eight months to a year of work. Specialists work from bottom to top and front to back, rebuilding a car's suspension and frame, fixing the engine or installing a new one -- with as much as 800 horsepower for specialty muscle cars -- adjusting the wiring and then painting the vehicle.

"We build cars to drive, not just to sit in a garage," the shop owner said.

Part of making the hot rods road ready is adding modern features customers typically want, like air conditioning and cruise control. "We update the old cars to the new car standards and comfort," Martin said.

While trying to modernize their vehicles, most customers still entertain some nostalgia. Most clients come from the "Baby Boomer" generation, he said, and they want to customize their favorite car from high school -- or the car they dreamed of owning in high school.

"Every car is different," said Martin. "The car represents you and your attitude."

Customers have come from across the state, and Kikin Street Rods has rebuilt vehicles from Oklahoma and Pennsylvania, as well.

The shop mostly customizes vehicles their owners bring in, but Kikin Street Rods also has built hot rods to sell in the Barrett-Jackson auto auction, which features custom cars, muscle cars and originals.

Kikin Street Rods also will offer paint and body work for classic cars once Martin moves his shop from Fourth Street to a building at 1204-A North Key Avenue.

Car shows give the Martins a chance to show off their shop's work. Kikin Street Rods displayed a 1960 Ford Fairlane and a 1950 Chevrolet pickup at this year's Sulphur Creek Car Cruise and traveled to shows in Fredericksburg, Boerne, Waco and Brownwood.

The shop workers are eyeing 2008 Truck of the Year honors for the 1954 Chevrolet pickup they are building, which will feature a chop top, custom sheet metal, air-ride suspension and a Ram Jet 502 Big Block engine.

Car shows aren't the only place the Martins get to display their work, though. Brant Martin drove a 1933 Ford two-door sedan in college and now travels in a 1955 Chevy.

Lee Martin drives the Fairlane that Kikin Street Rods has taken to car shows. Each vehicle at the shop hits the road for at least 200 miles of test driving, as well.

"It's one of the perks of my job," Brant Martin said.

Getting to pursue the family hobby never hurts, either.