With the free-wheeling, no-holds-barred perspective that comes with being the self-proclaimed “leisure capital of the world,” it’s no shock Las Vegas has additionally develop into generally known as a sizzling spot for over-the-top automotive tradition. The place vacationer {dollars} circulate freely by the native economic system, customized autos are certain to be a part of the native panorama. And for almost 20 years, Divine One Customs has been part of that scene.
Las Vegas native Misha Munoz based the enterprise in 2005 when two purchasers at what was then his day job every requested him to construct their customized tasks. It was a big gamble, however the work was profitable sufficient for Misha to leap ship and go work for himself. In the present day, Divine One occupies a ten,000-square foot workshop in close by Henderson with a workers of ten and rising.
One of many more moderen additions to the workers is Jamey Jordan, who arrived full-time a few 12 months in the past. The grasp fabricator and founding father of Handmade Seat Co. had previously dropped in for weeks-long stints to assist on particular tasks. Now he’s the resident fabricator and self-described artistic engineer. He’s additionally a detailed ally at Eastwood, the place he’s serving to develop new bead curler equipment in addition to educating bead rolling abilities to the general public at its Pottstown headquarters.
Whereas we have been on the town for the latest SEMA Present, we dropped in to attach with Jamey on his dwelling turf and to see what the store was engaged on. What we found was a mixture of basic American high-performance customs and classics with the occasional European thrown in for good measure. Divine One works on just about something with wheels, however clearly its clientele leans towards specialty autos.
The workshop options an incredible vary of capabilities given its compact footprint. At one finish is a side-draft paint sales space with a tidy prep space close by. An internal “clear room” features a full upholstery and trim store in addition to a ending house for remaining meeting. A handful of service lifts simply past this house permits for underside work. Lastly, a big open house on the different finish serves as a floating store house for welding, fabrication, and tuning.
We watched as upholsterer Danny “The Needle” stitched collectively hand-cut leather-based upholstery for a Porsche inside. He identified a few of the different work he’d lately accomplished, together with the total inside on a late-‘60s Chevelle customized. Simply toes away from him, a crew was placing remaining touches on the darkest-green first-gen Mustang we’d ever seen. An hour later it was on its method to the Las Vegas Conference Middle to make its debut on the SEMA Present.
The storage is clear and nicely organized, with an area for all the things. Wanting round, the array of CNC equipment tells you this no old-school setup. State-of-the-art gear like a CNC plasma cutter, 3D printer, laser cutter, and CNC router permit Divine One to create absolutely anything.
In reality, due to its intensive capabilities, the store typically works on a wide range of non-automotive customized fabrication tasks. “We do a bunch of customized work for a number of of the close by on line casino design companies,” explains Jamey. Stating a CNC-routed wooden venture on of the workbenches, he tells us it’s an idea piece for a wall design in a high-end restaurant.
Being so near Las Vegas, it’s not unusual to tackle work for superstar purchasers, each native and world. Misha walked us round one particular venture beneath means for one very main superstar. Whereas particulars are non-public about each the proprietor and the construct, it’s new territory for the crew at Divine One. “We are able to’t wait to indicate this one off when it’s completed,” says Misha. “It’ll be a very distinctive mixture of an almost 100-year-old design with completely trendy mechanicals.”
We’ll wait patiently to see the ultimate consequence. But when it’s like all the things else we noticed, we count on it to be really distinctive.