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Measuring economic health via the hot rod

Darren YoungScott Bonowski, owner of Hot Rods and Hobbies in Los Angeles, with a 1948 Chrysler sedan he restored and customized for a client.

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch)--For wealthy women, some say, a good measure of their economic prosperity can be found in the so-called "lipstick effect" --when better quality lip color wins out over a new mink coat in troubled times.

Scott Bonowski thinks that the counterpart for rich guys may just be the "hot-rod indicator."

How does he know? Bonowski's Hot Rods and Hobbies shop in suburban Los Angeles, which specializes in custom car restorations, is overflowing with business after a few scary years, starting with the economic downturn in 2008. It wasn't long ago that Bonowski had to cut his staff in half.

"We were cranking and all of a sudden I got a phone call from a customer [saying], 'Hey, I need to hold out for a while. I lost my job.' Or 'Hey, I got laid off.' Or 'Hey, I need to hold out'," he said. "That was getting a little weird. On my mortgage at home, I was paying the least amount you could on an adjustable loan. I was just squeaking by."

Bonowski said his business never felt a thing when he was getting started during the 1991-92 recession or the post Sept. 11 drawdown. The 2008 crisis had a bigger impact. But he's managed to climb back and his workforce is again full strength.

"We've got a building across the street that has four cars in it just waiting. There's another car in the trailer waiting. There's two cars at another shop down the street waiting. There are quite a few cars that aren't even here yet. But they're in the works," Bonowski said.

Make no mistake, Bonowski's business caters to those heavy on the disposable income. He takes older cars and either restores them for display in various competitive events or customizes them to a client's specifications. His customers, which include the likes of business owners and entertainers such as actor Matthew Fox and comedian Mike Epps, can be rather particular.

Whether it be street hot rods, bulky old gas-guzzling sedans, pickup trucks, zippy sports convertibles or woodie station wagons, it's all fair game. Jobs can range from $20,000 for a paint job, or a full restoration that can cost anywhere from $100,000 to $500,000.

Even after Bonowski's done, much of that money is unlikely to be recouped in a sale down the road. His work is pretty much done for the pleasure of an individual owner, usually one with a lot of money and toys on his hands.

He got a baptism by fire when he started in the restoration business by working on Ferraris. He helped wealthy clients restore vintage Ferraris--think the car driven by Matthew Broderick in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off"--to as close to their original condition as possible.

That often means manufacturing parts himself that come close to the original because many of those simply are no longer available. At times, Bonowski and didn't just do most of the work getting a car ready for competitive shows known as concourses, he did all of it.

"Most of these guys don't want to touch their cars," he said. "They want their car to show up, prepped and ready. They want to take home their trophy and win, knowing they have the best Ferrari out there. So I was basically their little whatever-needed-to-be-done guy."

Bonowski also does custom jobs that, to the casual observer, would seem as though they're prime material for concourses. But a $500,000 custom job he did on a 1948 Chrysler sedan recently would never get close to a competition, thanks to a few bells and whistles thrown in at the client's request.

The gleaming, deep green convertible stands out for its polished "woodie" sides and trunk, rarely seen on roads today. There are a few modern wrinkles beneath the surface, however, such as an automatic trunk opener, a CD player behind a replication of the original dashboard and lighted controls on the dash.

Bonowski duplicated the interior hardware used in the '48 right down to the window rollers that feature flat wings instead of knobs. But the glass isn't manually rolled up or down; a slight press on the wings triggers a more modern power window.

Oh, and the bulky vehicle was having trouble climbing hills, so Bonowski installed a more powerful Dodge Viper engine under the hood.

The whole job took two years, and it took a year or more just to get the chrome parts right. All its custom modifications mean the car doesn't come close to adhering to original specs and wouldn't qualify for a concours. Still, that's the way the owner wanted it.

"That's why you go for the customer who can make that work," he said.

Bonowski's shop, which he moved into just as the crisis was hitting, isn't your typical mechanic's grease haven. It features its own enclosed drive-in paint booth that is unmarred by splotches of paint, and a sanding room equipped to vacuum particulates out of the air, sort of like a kitchen stove fan on steroids. The shop floor not only is uncluttered, it shines.

The whole operation can be costly, particularly with what is often considered to be onerous regulations on businesses like Bonowski's. Yet he can't imagine going somewhere else.

"I don't think I could get the clientele," he said. "It would be cheaper in other states, that's for sure."