A Touch of Class – Rick Dore’s Hot Rod Lincoln Pickup

Posted by Kevin Whipps on Jul 17, 2010 in Muscle & Style | 1 comment

There are a lot of famous street rod builders out there. Guys like  Chip Foose get a lot of the press, but out of one quiet shop in the corner of Phoenix, Arizona, Rick Dore has been building some of the cleanest rides in the country.

It’s not like his name is unheard of. Rick is in 6 hall of fames, has won tons of awards at the prestigious Oakland Rod & Custom show, and has even been on TV a few times. The man is huge in the hot rod world, having built dozens of immaculate vehicles over the years, even before he opened his shop. For the past 10 years he’s been building head-turning rods, customs and trucks.

For 9 months out of the year, Rick and his crew of customizers are building customs for customers. High profile people such as rock stars, athletes and others come to him when they require that one-off look. And then, for a three-month span, the shop shuts down to regular customers and becomes a factory for SEMA cars and trucks.

Rick does a lot of image work for major manufacturers like Ford and GM. He regularly turns out up to 10 cars a year at the show of all shows – the SEMA show. One of his projects was this 2006 Lincoln Mark LT.

It was just a few months before the SEMA show when Rick took delivery of the truck. The options were limitless – bodydrop and shave, lifted to the sky, but Rick wanted to go custom without taking away from the classy lines of the truck.

There are tons of little details on the truck that most people would just glance past. Like the custom radius and sculpting done to the license plate box on the custom rollpan. Or the machined spears done down the side of the truck that were built out of aluminum and then chromed. It’s the little touches like that which really make this truck stand out.

True to his word, Rick had the Lincoln on the floor of the SEMA show on time, and looking awesome. It was just one of the many rides he built for the event, and each one was just as unique.

You may not have seen him on a weekly TV show, but if you ever get the chance to meet Rick Dore,do it. He’s building killer rides; trucks, customs, you name it! Here’s a fisheyed look at a Rick Dore custom Caddy showcased at the 2010 Grand National Roadster Show. Click on the picture for more pics.