“My father was always into cars, so I guess I got into it by osmosis,” says Tim Devlin, owner of Devlin Rod and Customs, a shop that specializes in full builds as well as restorations of hot rods and classics.

Devlin admits that he and his dad never really were the types to work on their classics. In fact, Devlin went to college in Denver, then spent the next few years working for a real estate company.

“I got sick of it and realized it wasn’t for me,” he says. “I thought, ‘I need to get involved with cars.’ So I went to WyoTech.”

When he graduated, Devlin came home to the ICT to look for a job. He met with the owner of a shop called Arcay Restorations and ended up founding DRC at that location. Devlin, who had never even worked in a garage before, was now the owner of his own customs shop. He and the five guys he works with are “in it to win it.”

“We’re a bunch of young guys having fun,” he says. “But what we’re building are some of the best cars around.”

Last year, one of the rods they customized, a ’55 Ford, won at the Darryl Starbird car show and went on to become a finalist for Custom Rod of the Year for Good Guys in the Fine 9 in Tulsa. The car was also featured in Street Rodder magazine.

That project was the result of a comfortable team: Devlin, Ryan James, Kevin Carr, filthy-minded Dave, Tom Potter and Connor Smith. They decided that, before tackling all the jobs for pay, they had to have a flagship. They chose Devlin’s car, which started out as a beat-up ’64 Sedan DeVille. They completely reworked the body, eliminated the trim and door handles, fitted all the door, hood and trunk gaps, and made sure all the body lines were aligned.

“We mixed our own candy paint which we named ‘Never Again Green,’” Devlin says.

They left the original 429 Caddy engine in, but rebuilt it with six twos that house a fuel injection system.
That’s what Devlin is all about: new tech with the old-tech look. But that doesn’t mean they don’t add some artistic flair. On the Cadillac, they changed the font on the gauges to the same lettering from the Devlin Rod and Customs logo.

He and the DRC guys are currently working on several projects including a ’56 Chevy with the stock body but a modern drive train and chassis so it rides and handles like a modern sports car.
There is also a 1952 Ford International pickup. The owner wants it to be a farm truck and have that look. So DRC took the paint job and gave it shine on the inside with a flatter, matte finish on the outside to make it look worn and sunned.

Devlin and his team do original, quality work. That’s why DRC is now one of Wichita’s premier shops. Devlin gives credit for this to his men. “A lot of this is just natural ability. It takes somebody with special talents,” he says. “The guys are the ones who made it succeed.”

And it is definitely succeeding - and churning out some sexy rides along the way.