For well over 20 years, famed Bay Area street rod builder Roy Brizio has been busy building some of the most uniquely styled, and arguable most beautiful, hot rods, street rods, and classics of all sorts. In fact, the word "unique" may just be one of best ways to describe a Brizio original. Along with names like Bobby Alloway, Boyd Coddington, and Rick Dore, just to name a few, Roy Brizio injects his own style into every project he builds, so much so that Brizio-built cars can be easily picked out amongst hundreds of beautifully built cars.
With one of the industry's finest reputations, Roy Brizio is no stranger to building very high-end cars that are destined to be seen from coast to coast competing for the most prestigious awards a street rod can obtain. Winning most of these awards a few times over has place Brizio Street Rods into the minds of some very famous faces. The likes of Reggie Jackson, Eric Clapton, and Jeff Beck are just a few big names of those who have looked to Brizio Street Rods for one-of-a-kind hot rods that not only perform perfectly on the road, but also in the show car arena. This must be a daunting task as these cars are created not only to make the Brizio shop look good, but also must be able to properly represent the famous faces who own them. Roy takes all of this in stride as each car built in his shop is done with the same attention to detail and level of perfection.
As with many builders out there in the street rod world today, Roy's childhood was spent learning from one of the true greats of the hot rod and drag car world. Roy's dad, Andy Brizio, is not only a veteran of all things fast, but also a hot rod builder of immense fame and talent. With this kind of upbringing, along with the ever-important hot-rod genealogy, Roy was almost destined for the life he now enjoys. With over a dozen under-construction vehicles being worked on at any given time, over a dozen employees making Roy look good, and a now-thriving parts business, Roy's achievement in this industry is very well deserving of the Darryl Starbird National Rod & Custom Car Hall of Fame induction back in 1995.
As of late, the Brizio shop has had quite a run completing some of its finest cars yet. One example of this point is the recent restoration of Tom McMullen's original '32 Ford roadster. The black and flamed famous roadster has been copied, cloned, and reproduced in countless ways over the years, but it was Brizio's immaculate restoration of McMullen's original car that stopped everyone right in their tracks at the '04 Grand National Roadster Show in Pomona, California, and, well, everywhere else the roadster has been since. This special restoration speaks volumes to the skill of everyone who had a hand in the construction. Another simply flawless creation to come out of the Brizio camp as of late can be seen on the cover and inside spread of the October 2005 issue of our sister publication, Rod & Custom. Slightly newer than most of Brizio's builds, this 1936 Ford three-window, owned by Jorge Zaragoza of El Paso, Texas, is stunning to say the least. Then again, Jorge know full well how the '36 would turn out, as Jorge and Roy worked together to make the previously mentioned Tom McMullen '32 roadster restoration a reality.
Over the years, Roy and his crew have built some of the most memorable hot rods of all time, like the unforgettable Ferrari V-12-powered roadster built for Jim Ellis back in 1987. Not only did Jim's car look as cool as can be, but with it's unusual powerplant, it was also an impressive achievement, even to today's standard. But the absolutely coolest aspect of every car built at Brizio Street Rods is the fact that the main purpose and goal of Roy is to build show-winning drivers. This is one part of the equation that, in my opinion, is left out of too many show-quality street rods today. So with a winning combination of attention to detail, one-of-a-kind styling, and the driving (no pun intended) force behind each car being a driver, it is no wonder why Roy Brizio was honored with the National Rod & Custom Car Hall of Fame induction.