Commerce Boulevard in Rogers is a curious street. Its numbers go down and then back up. If the road's planners seem to have lost their way, the tenants at 21010 have not. That number marks Vescio's Customizing and Restorations, where projects move forward and cars get done. Inside, an assortment of old and unusual vehicles make the journey from rusty and plain to bold and beautiful.
Shop owner Bo Vescio is a young man whose easygoing manner dismisses any fears that this is some Hollywood-style TV-show shop where egos are big and tempers taut. That's not the vibe here. While Bo's dad does frequent the shop, he doesn't bark at his son like the "Orange County Choppers" cast; instead, he helps out some and admires his son's handiwork, and that of Bo's employees, Mike Jenson and Ryan Ladda. Between them is enough body work, paint and metal fabrication skill to turn you-name- it-wreck into a show winner. It just takes time, persistence and a keen eye.
Vescio decided to work with cars professionally shortly after high school, when a bout with cancer and six months of chemotherapy gave him time to think and a new view of life. He wanted to do something fun, and it didn't take much reflection to realize his interests. Vescio painted bicycles and Hot Wheels cars as a kid, jumping to full-size vehicles in his teen years. He owned about 20 cars in high school. His friends would come over to play hoops in the driveway, but most days Bo never made the game. He usually stayed in the garage working on cars.
He opened his own shop about eight years ago. Like his employees, he worked in the auto body industry for several years first. About the time he was thinking of opening his own place, Vescio got hired by another hot rod shop. "That was a crash course," he says, where he "found a whole new level" of skill and craftsmanship.
Together he and his crew have turned their passion into a number of show-winning cars. One they built and painted several years ago - a '32 Ford five-window coupe - had the help of legendary customizer Chip Foose, who came out and "flamed" at Vescio's shop. Foose was at Kinko's working on a flame pattern and someone in the store recognized him and struck up a conversation. Foose told him he was working on a car at Vescio's and about 30 people showed up. They worked until 3:30 in the morning, a bender not uncommon in an industry often up against car show deadlines. That Ford, "Medeusa," turned out spectacular; with a set of coiled custom headers, it looks like nothing else on the road.
Uniqueness is a point of pride for a Vescio's hot rod or custom: "Nobody will mistake it for another car," he says. An attribute that helps Vescio's cars stand out is vibrant candy-color paints. After Vescio's built up a candy-yellow '50 Dodge convertible, some customers talked him into entering it in the GSTA (Gopher State Timing Association) show. Vescio wasn't so sure, but he finally agreed. Not only did the car win two or three awards, but a representative from famed paint supplier House of Kolor, whose paint the car featured, hunted Vescio down and said he wanted cars like that to showcase the company's products.
Other standout projects include a '60s-style 1941 Willys gasser and an Impala SS Vescio and his team rebuilt with a four-door car. The '64 two-door was a genuine 327 SS car with bucket seats, but it was so rotten the chassis was unsalvageable. Fortunately, one of Vescio's employees spotted a nice four-door, same year and model, right up the street from the shop. They got a good price on that car, shortened the frame, put the SS doors on it and used the rear door skins to make new rear quarter panels because they share the same contour. Like its peers from the shop, that car has also won awards.
Part of Vescio's success comes from striving continuously to make the cars look great. "You work, you work, you work," he says, "but you're not sure [how well it turned out] because you've been staring at it for a year." Well, show goers have their say. And their word is that Vescio's cars look good.
(The shop's website has many photos of vehicles they've worked on. You can see these at www.vescioscustomizing.com)
