Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephen Ramsey.
Stephen, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I grew up loving old vehicles since I was 16 years old, and I get the joy of going to work every day and doing what I love!
I have been in Fort Worth, TX all my life and started my restoration shop to work on my own cars back in 1979.
In 1991, I married the love of my life, Denise, who I met by buying her car for my daughter. After a brief courtship, we wed and have been together for 26 years!
Denise was a principal working for the Grapevine-Colleyville ISD, and I was traveling abroad very frequently to Germany for business and working on my classic vehicles in my free time.
However, in 1992, Denise and I took our careers in a whole new direction. We formed two corporations and started operations formally as Ramsey’s Rods and Restoration and Stated Value Automobile Appraisal Co., Inc. Denise and I have been working side-by-side every day for the last 26 years running both of our corporations.
After a short time, because of friends and acquaintances bugging us to work on their vehicles, Ramsey’s Rods grew so much that the shop no longer has time to work on our personal vehicles.
We own the property and the two large hangars where we operate our businesses on a daily basis. One location (629 Aviator Drive) is the restoration work shop, and the other location across the parking lot (633 Aviator Drive) is where we keep our personal vehicles and customer’s vehicles waiting to have work done in the shop. This latter location also houses the paint booth for our in-house paint work.
We also have another location in the same area (910 Aviator Drive) where additional vehicles are parked while waiting for parts or work to be done on them.
Our shop was even honored by General Motors when this major manufacturer celebrated 50 years. They chose two vehicles to be displayed at GM Headquarters in Detroit, MI for their 50th Anniversary. One of those vehicles was a 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air Sport Coupe built entirely by our shop. We have photos of the car on display at their site during this event.
We are also very proud to list another accomplishment. A 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Pace Car Convertible that we built for a customer took top honors as the 2008 and 2010 Muscle Car Finalist for the GoodGuys Classic Car shows held at Texas Motor Speedway every year.
These are not our only accomplishments. We have tons of satisfied customers along with many awards for Best in Shows and Class Winners from the many years of being involved in creating beautiful moving art and receiving outstanding accolades for our achievements!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
No, the road has not always been a smooth one.
We have had to assist customers believe that we could do the work right after they had a previous bad experience dealing with an unscrupulous, dishonest, unprofessional and/or unethical classic vehicle restoration shop in the past.
Dealing with employees and/or contract labor always has it issues. Some people tend to have their own agendas in work environment situations, and it isn’t always for the benefit of the customers or the company for which they work.
Doing business with parts’ vendors or other sublet vendors for specialty work, at times, has been a struggle.
When purchasing from a new vendor, we’re uncertain as to the quality of their parts or the country of origin. On occasion, we will receive an inferior part from a first time purchase with a new vendor, and of course, we return it immediately never to purchase from that particular vendor a second time.
Secondly, using a sublet vendor to do outside work such as custom muffler installations, springs, transmission rebuilds, soda blasting, etc., we are at the whim of that company’s sense of quality and reliability of their finished product. We have found most sublet vendors stand behind their work, but some have proven that is not the case.
All in all, the problems are pretty basic, but the company always takes a stand on any issues so that it benefits the customers and protects the company’s reputation.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Ramsey’s Rods is a one-stop restoration and repair shop for classic vehicles.
We put the customers first!
Cars don’t gather dust in our shop, we work on them, and our customers get weekly updates emailed to them outlining the work progress on their vehicle along with photos of the vehicle.
We love working on old cars!
We can repair, paint, modify, build, restore, fabricate, etc.
We are also “LS” conversion experts.
We can rebuild a classic to original factory specs or customize it with today’s high-efficiency engines, transmissions and suspensions. We even do repairs and/or maintenance to keep the vehicles on the road.
Over the years in business, our continued success has allowed us the opportunities to give to a multitude of charitable organizations.
We are proud that we have tons of satisfied customers who are loving and driving their vehicles that we built or worked on for them.
We put our work on a high level of quality workmanship, professionalism and expectations.
Each job is performed as economically as possible without comprising the integrity of the vehicle or the quality of our workmanship.
We want our customers to say that we did what we said, on time and their money was spent wisely and fairly.
What were you like growing up?
I enjoyed working on old cars with my grandfather and dad. I was always motivated to move ahead of the pack and start-up businesses on my own. However, I kept going back to my true love of old cars, and with the help of my wife, Denise, we were able to bring those dreams to fruition.
I also spent a big part of my time in my 20’s working with the Fort Worth Moslah Temple, and becoming the youngest candidate to earn the Shrine ring. At one time, I was President of the Moslah Model A Club in Fort Worth, TX. Today, we are still active members, and my accomplishments are: Master Mason, Chapter Council and Commandery, York Rite and Scottish Rite, 32nd Degree, Moslah Shriner and Knights Templar.
I am a book of knowledge on old car facts, and I love to see a small portion of an old vehicle sticking out from behind a barn and be able to identify the year, make and model!
I love the looks, the designs, the power and the sheer fun of driving a beautiful piece of art, because that’s what I grew up loving!
Pricing:
- Labor Rate – General $75.00 per hour
- Labor Rate – Electrical $100.00 per hour
Contact Info:
- Address: 633 Aviator Drive,
Fort Worth, TX 76179 - Website: www.ramseysrods.com
- Phone: 817-439-1567
- Email: info@ramseysrods.com
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
