First things first, I'm a third-generation body and paint man. Back in 1942, my grandfather Gordon Prewitt and my great-uncle Roy Prewitt started a body shop. All the knowledge and skills gathered through the years were passed on to my dad, Tom Prewitt Sr. My dad moved the shop from its original location in Bell Gardens, Calif., to what is now Prewitt's Quality Body & Paint in Klamath Falls, Ore. My brother, Dave Prewitt, currently runs that body shop. Cousin Rick Prewitt has his shop in Hemet Ca. specializing in collision and custom paint and body and framework to support his racing habit.
My introduction to custom body and paintwork came at a very young age. At 7 years old, I was already hanging around Big Daddy Roth's Garage, which at the time was located on Slauson Ave. in the city of Maywood, Calif. Big Daddy Roth was a close friend with my dad, and on occasion we would take a trip to his shop for a visit with him. On one such trip, I can remember seeing one of his projects in action, the Hovercraft named "Rotar."
By age 9, I had already built my first bike well, minibike anyway. With help from longtime family friend Jim Lemon, I was able to build the frame, front and rear suspension. My dad still has that bike. At age 16, I started building my '65 Ford Ranchero lots of custom body and paint with help from my cousin Rick.
After high school I decided to start my own body and paint business. I opened up shop in Brea, Ca.
It took me only about five years to be recognized as one of the top award-winning custom painters on the show circuit. Fifty percent of custom painting is talent; the rest is heart and determination. Many of the techniques and secrets we use today were learned through trial and error. Any slow time we had we used as "experiment time," trying out new ideas and techniques. With all that knowledge and experience, it wasn't long before we were on top of the custom-car painting biz.
Running a top-notch paint shop is tough enough on its own, but when the unexpected happens it can be devastating. Such was the case at a certain point of my career. Tragedy struck in 1984: I had a motorcycle accident that caused me to take a year off. Time to close up shop a while.
After I recovered from my injuries, I started working for a custom paint and body shop; I did metal finishing and lead work for six months. After a couple of years of working for other shops, I was ready to go on my own again. Luckily, my friend Damon Richie was getting ready to retire and had his shop up for sale. I purchased the shop in 1989.
Damon Richie has since passed on to a better place, but not before one last visit to say he was really proud of what we had accomplished. He too is still a big part of what we are today, as it was he who passed on a wealth of knowledge and responsibility to maintain the quality, creativity and honesty that is lacking in far too many of today's businesses. I travel some and teach custom work all over the states. I have been doing some paintwork for the big auto manufactures Ford, Toyota and took best of show at the S.E.M.A. show in Las Vegas 2005 with a new Mustang that I did For Ford. My kids are Jason and Shelby and they sometimes work with me. Jason is a rock star and is still in school; Shelby is beautiful and is twenty-three but still daddy's little girl. I pity the guy that mistreats her; if I don't talk to him first I am sure that Jason will.Some of my expertises are,
Dad, Artist, Custom painter,
Custom body man, consultant,
Custom bike and car creator.
Problems solved and assess kicked!!!
Pool hustler, Educational and motivational speaker
Monster garage painter (first two years).. ..This profile was edited with Thomas' myspace editor™ V2.5 TRUE LOVE (X)
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