A BUSINESS that began as a young man's hobby 33 years ago and is now serving an international market takes another major step forward tomorrow.
Magoo's Street Rods, which is moving into a purpose-built 800 square metre building in Edwin Feist Drive at Solway, is the biggest builder of custom-built hot
rods outside the United States. It supplies mail-order components to the New Zealand market, to Australia, and even to the United States
For founder and owner Lloyd Wilson, who has spent $500,000 on the building alone, the opening is the culmination of a longtime dream.
Up till now the business has been operating out of premises at his Tararua Drive home, but it has outgrown that as word has spread about the quality of the Magoos product.
The company builds anything from complete cars, often using one of the eight replica steel bodies available from the United States, to restorations. The degree of finish ranges from "turn-key" ? ready to drive - to doing the hard bits for do-it-yourselfers. Magoos is also in a joint venture with a Taurange company which supplies fibreglass bodies.
"Most of our customers are baby boomers. They are very busy people, business people, and they don't have the time to do it themselves," Mr Wilson said.
"But they've got discretionary income and they want a toy ... it's a hedonistic thing," he said.
The "toys" can range from the lower end of the market, a "simple" T-bucket, to very expensive, top-of-the-line models.
"We build to the customer's budget," he said. "We've got one customer who hasn't even seen his car," said Mr Wilson. "We imported it and we send him photos of progress, but he hasn't actually seen the car yet."
Another customer with royal connections has come back for a second car.
Magoos built a Cadillac for the Earl of Edgecumbe, who divides his time between Taupo and the UK. He was so pleased he's commissioned a 1940 Ford two-door street rod as well.
Mr Wilson says the sport of street-rodding is enjoying exponential growth, fuelled by American television shows featuring car-builders.
There is also strong growth in components, some made in-house and the rest imported from the States. Magoos does a lot of mail-order business via a strong internet presence, and he recalls with amusement one recent deal where he met an American order for a product made in America without the parts ever leaving that country.
There's no doubting the need for a business like Magoos. Mr Wilson recalls spending two years looking for a tail light stalk for one of his first projects. "Now you can buy them off the shelf," he said
Being based is Masterton is not a problem, with current car projects in hand from Nelson, Christchurch, Wanganui, Taupo, Hamilton, Feilding, Ashhurst and Wellington.
He said building the new premises was a calculated risk. "But my background is marketing, from my days with the Masterton Licensing Trust, and we've developed a market and established a reputation. I've also got an excellent team of craftsmen, one of whom has been with me since we started."
One disappointment for Mr Wilson was what he calls the Masterton District Council's "punitive" attitude to new business, with a $2000 "development fee" being loaded on top of all the other permits and licence costs.
"We're making a contribution to the town, bringing in people and business from all round the country, and we have six staff and are looking to take on one more, yet we're not getting the support of the council," he said.
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