Episode Transcript
[00:00:08] Host: Hey, welcome to the DIY Garage, the podcast for hands on, do it yourself automotive enthusiasts. I'm your host, Bryan Joslin, coming to you from inside the workshop studio of the Eastwood Company in Pottstown, Pennsylvania.
With me today is a perhaps familiar guest, Matt Murray from Iron Trap Garage. I say familiar because for more than ten years, Matt was the face of countless Eastwood project and how to videos. He also produced the company blog during his time and did the social media content. He left Eastwood in 2021 to focus on his other business, Iron Trap Garage, which we'll talk about here shortly.
Before we get into that, though, I just want to let you know that you can catch the DIY Garage podcast on audio format on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, and most other podcast services. And if you're not already doing so, you can catch the video version of the show on Eastwood's YouTube channel. You can also go to eastwood.com garage and click on the podcast tab for links to the podcast in either format. Whatever your preference, we hope you'll subscribe so you never miss a new episode.
With that out of the way, welcome to the podcast, Matt.
[00:01:09] Matt Murray: Thanks.
[00:01:11] Host: So I have to ask, does it feel strange to be back in here?
[00:01:14] Matt Murray: Not so much. It's just like, it's kind of like coming back to an old house, you know? You used to live like the family home, if you will. So I walk in and just, it feels like kind of sandits.
[00:01:24] Host: Someone moved the furniture a little.
[00:01:26] Matt Murray: Yeah, that's exactly it.
[00:01:27] Host: Yeah. So for more than ten years, you were essentially the face of Eastwood in project videos, how to videos, social media.
How did you fall into that?
[00:01:38] Matt Murray: So it was kind of a funny thing, when I was running my, I was with a friend running kind of our own business, importing european car parts and in Volkswagens and german cars.
[00:01:50] Host: I think we know who we're talking about.
[00:01:51] Matt Murray: Yeah. Yeah. So we did that for a while. And I had been doing that full time, just starting out, and I ran into a friend that I knew that knew a guy that worked at Eastwood and at a cruise inn or a show, and I just kind of jokingly said, hey, man, if you ever see that guy, let him know I'm perfect guy to hire. That's stupid thing. And he was like, yeah, I'll totally tell him. And he was actually the kind of dude that would follow through, which was crazy.
So, like six or eight months later, he goes, hey, my friend Nick that works Eastwood, he said, there's an opening. And I'm like, really? Are you kidding? He goes, yeah, just, here's his info. So it just so happened Eastwood figured out that social media was a thing, and they were like, we should hire a guy.
So I did the interview process, got hired, and I literally, my first day, I think there was 30 subscribers on YouTube and 300 followers on Facebook. And they gave me a little digital camera and a desk and were like, do social media do that thing we don't like? Nobody really got it.
[00:02:53] Host: There was no plan. Just make it happen.
[00:02:54] Matt Murray: No plan. So I kind of had to figure it out on my own. I mean, I was thankful that they kind of let, like, trusted me to be, like, one day, like, only a few months into working or half a year, I was like, hey, I bought this old pickup truck. I'm just going to drop it off. It would be neat if we shot project videos, and you're like, yeah, sure, I guess. And then it just went from there.
[00:03:16] Host: So video was not something you'd done before coming here either?
[00:03:18] Matt Murray: No, I had never done any video. I mean, I had been doing social media and forums, of course, for huge just before that. So I was huge on the forums every day, posting updates and stuff, but I'd never done video. So I think one of my first.
Yeah, I mean, I did video here, and it was, it was kind of, it was awkward at first.
[00:03:39] Host: You know, it always is.
[00:03:40] Matt Murray: And I remember my, the most awkward thing was literally, we didn't even have a video guy yet, a camera guy. And I went to SEMA, and we had v eight tv was doing some contract work for us, so they had the VaTV guys. It was like, literally landed in Vegas, and they're like, all right, shoot an intro for the seamer coverage. And I was like, okay, you're the guy. And, and then I shot it outside of Sema, my first time there, first time in Vegas, and it was like. So it was just thrown into it. And I, you know, as the years went on, I learned how to be more comfortable and forget about the camera.
[00:04:11] Host: Yeah, I always thought you were comfortable in front of the camera. Of course, I came in later.
[00:04:15] Matt Murray: Yeah, the early days, it was kind of hard. And, of course, with the company trying to structure, I don't do very well with reading a prompt or having a script. I'm more of a, like, off the cuff, bullet points type guy. So that was the hardest part. In the beginning, we were trying to, like, memorize a script, and I'm telling you, terrible with that.
[00:04:32] Host: So that that was in a marketing position. There's things you have to hit. There's communication points you have to make sure that are in there. So it's a tough middle ground. I know we worked together for about a year and a half. I managed the store over here for a period in the middle of your tenure there. And it was always, I was more interested in being out here in the garage, which is probably how I ended up back here. It was always fascinating to watch you work and to work on camera, but also work on the vehicles you left in 2021 to focus on iron trap garage, which you had kind of already started before you left, or.
[00:05:06] Matt Murray: Yeah, I mean, it all kind of. I always tell people it's a hobby blown out of control. So, like, like I mentioned, before I started Eastwood, I was doing buying and selling of old car parts, but they were german car parts. And then as my time went on at Eastwood, I got more interested in old hot rods and american cars more. And I kind of made the switch one day. And then I started, like I had always done, buying and selling parts to fund the hobby. And then it started to grow and get more. And then, I don't know, I bought my new shop, my new property, and had a really interesting looking shop. And one of my buddies was like, you should start a YouTube channel. This place looks cool. So we did it, and it kind of started growing. And then when I put, like, my full interest in the channel, then it just, I was, like, focused on trying to grow it. And, I mean, we were literally doing, it was like two full time jobs. You know, we were doing the channel, and then I was doing the Eastwood stuff here. And then it just started to grow. And then one day I just flipped the switch and it was like, okay, let's do this. And then I think a few months after that, I hired my best friend Mike full time. And then a few months after that, I hired a helper, Steve full time, and we never looked back. It's been crazy.
[00:06:12] Host: What's behind the name? Talk about the name.
[00:06:14] Matt Murray: So iron trap garage, the whole iron trap name was just literally, I was looking for a new username on forums.
I was looking up just terms or whatever, and I was thinking how this hobby, when you get really in depth into this hobby, you're like, you're in it for life. I'd meet all these older guys are in their eighties and nineties, and I'm like. They're, like, talking about their next project and they got 1ft in the grave. So, like, I found this term somehow. I don't even know how I found it. Just googling or I have no idea. And iron trap was like a medieval torture device that once you were in it, you could never get out of it.
[00:06:46] Host: Interesting.
[00:06:46] Matt Murray: And I was like, that's his hobby. Like, once you're all in, even if you don't have, like, you sell all your cars, you're still thinking about cars, or you're looking at cars, or, you know, you're walking with your wife and you look at an old car on the street. Like, it doesn't cut out of your blood. So that's where it came from. And the iron thing obviously ties in nicely.
[00:07:04] Host: So definitely you got started in Volkswagens. Like a lot of us, actually.
But you're probably best known what, in the rat rod scene these days. I mean, what's. What's the genre that you kind of fell into once you moved away from the german stuff?
[00:07:17] Matt Murray: So, yeah, not. Definitely not rat rod.
[00:07:20] Host: Not rat rod.
[00:07:20] Matt Murray: Okay. That's a story.
[00:07:21] Host: Hope I didn't offend a little bit, but it's okay. That's all right.
[00:07:25] Matt Murray: No, that's good. No, just like, we like to call it nostalgia. Hot rods and customs. So building stuff original, like steel cars, how they were built back in the day, using the styling techniques and old parts. So we try and use as much original parts as we can when we're modifying cars, but we're also kind of restoring old hot rods. So it's much like you would restore a car to how it was built originally. We're restoring it to how a guy would have built it in 1947. So it's kind of an interesting little, like, corner of the hobby where we're pretty. It's pretty fun. It's like stepping back in time and driving a hot rod from the fifties. It feels like a hot rod for the fifties, and you're just maybe using tools that are newer. You know, I use a tig welder instead of a gas welder. But, like, in the end, the overall product looks the same and feels the same. So that's. That's what we're focused in. And I found that little corner of it. And our business, our parts business revolves around because we sell all those hard to find parts to recreate a hot rod.
[00:08:27] Host: So what kind of parts are you into? Engine parts, body parts, everything.
[00:08:32] Matt Murray: We have literally a 10,000 square foot space of antique car parts. So mainly, Early Fords was kind of king with the type of cars. I mean, people did other types of cars, but early Fords, you know, from model t to, like, 50 ish Ford, you know, that era, were kings for hot rods, customs. So we focus on body parts and mechanical from that. But then we also stray into the, you know, it was cool to put an Oldsmobile engine in a 32 Ford, a fifties olds engine. So we stray a little bit, but most of it's old Ford parts.
[00:09:08] Host: So a lot of swap meet kind of tours and things, hunting down parts or is it mostly Internet? Are you looking at stuff mostly in person or online these days when you go to source?
[00:09:20] Matt Murray: It started out with swap meets. So when I worked at Eastwood, that's what I'd do. On the weekend I'd go to swap meet, look for a deal. I'd get there at dawn at a flashlight and find deals, and I'd make a couple bucks. Well, as time went on, I started learning that if you buy in bulk, like, I needed to beat everybody. So everybody else is going to the swap meet. How do I get to the stuff? Before it got to the swap meet, so I started learning how to get networking and stuff. And basically now with the channel, it's. We get content. I don't look anymore, and now I do buyouts. I don't buy one part, I buy everything. So if there's ten cars and all the parts, I go in and buy everything.
[00:09:55] Host: So you're buying up, like old shops and things are going out of business, or barn find kind of stuff, or barn finds.
[00:10:00] Matt Murray: But collectors, I mean, you'll find with this, especially with old american cars. With the old timers back in the day, so to speak, the stuff was cheap and easy to find. So before the Internet, you could find a farmer with a 32 Ford. He didn't really know it was worth. He'd buy it for $25. They'd shove it at a barn. So now that age group is aging out and either getting out of it or retiring or passing away. And most of them have amassed buildings like, they don't just, you know, again, the iron trap thing, they just kept collecting and hoarding. So now, and I say that affectionately, a hoarding. I'm a hoarder.
But they get all that stuff and then at some point they either need to sell the property to simplify their lives, or they pass away and the family's selling it. So they usually contact us. It's a turnkey thing where they can call us and either we buy all the parts or all the cars, we take a big chunk. So I've realized that we created a solution for people, because a lot of people, they don't want to deal with it or, like, it's easy to sell cars. But a family doesn't know if you're not into this stuff, you don't know what if this part is good or this part's junk? So we go in and kind of help them with that. And really, it's my selfish way of getting the best stuff. So, like, I just skim, like, 5% off for my good, for the personal stash. And then everything else gets sold and makes money, and you get the cream.
[00:11:17] Host: Of the crop because you're in a. In a market there first. Yeah, that makes sense. You alluded to the fact that genre is kind of aging out. How did you find that community receptive to you? I mean.
Cause you're a lot younger than most of the guys that were in that scene originally. So how'd they take to you as a young guy? Were they excited that you were enthusiastic about it, or are they skeptical of you from.
[00:11:41] Matt Murray: I think a lot of it in the be when you first meet a lot of the older guys. And I started coming around, swap meets and going to shows because I have tattoos and I wear a backwards hat, and I just look different, you know, look like some punk kid, even if I'm in my forties, you know, they're like, so they. They weren't mean, but they didn't take you seriously. And then when they started seeing, like, I had to skill level to build these cars, or a guy would come visit my shop, and then obviously now that started YouTube channel, like, we're on a platform that people see us. So now they. That's not an issue. They. They love that we're trying to keep the hobby going. So that's a big part of what our channel is for. What I do is trying to teach some of the, not so much like what Eastwood does with teaching how to weld. I'm teaching how to build the car, period. Correct. So I'm saying you use this steering box. A guy would have done this. So they like that we're passing on that info to the next generation tradition.
[00:12:33] Host: You're getting it, keeping it moving.
[00:12:35] Matt Murray: Yep.
[00:12:36] Host: As a fairly young guy in that subculture that goes back at least 70 years, riding culture and stuff, how do you see the future of the hobby? As someone with fresh eyes, I think.
[00:12:47] Matt Murray: It's discussed a lot in the antique car community. I think it's changing. I think most younger people are into modified cars. So if they are into a world war two era car before, usually they're in. Especially what I see from our business. They're building old hot rods. They're not really restoring like the days of restoring a Model T to originally is phasing out. Unfortunately, there's still going to be some people holding onto it. But I think with some of those really old cars, they're hard to drive on modern streets regularly, other than doing a little tour. So that's where the hot rods come in, because you're making it a little faster, a little, you know, more able. I still. These cars still can't keep up with a, you know, a brand new highways, so to speak. But yeah, I think you're seeing more of the guys and gals grabbing onto modified cars now. I think it's different when you get into fifties and sixties cars. Cause those cars, they can change some tires and do a little thing, they can keep up. But with the pre war type cars, yeah, I think you're seeing a lot more of the hot rod stuff, but it's changing. But the people that are into it are really into it. So it's not like. I think there's not as many people as a percentage, but I think the people that are into it are like really, really into it. They're not just casually into it, they're, you know, their life revolves around it.
[00:14:11] Host: Are you seeing new ideas or are people kind of building what they've seen in magazines for years, you know, trying to replicate what they've. What others have done before them? Like, is there. Is there any new ground to be gained in such an established community like that?
[00:14:24] Matt Murray: I always joke that nothing with hot rods and customs, nothing's new. Everything's been done, whether it's been done crude before, somebody's kind of done it. But I think you're seeing with some of the higher end shops and having the technology of 3d scanning and 3d printing and even like CNC mills and stuff, you're getting. People are able to create things that are a higher quality, much easier. So I think the bar has been raised on the quality of builds. For sure there is some little things here and there, but like in the end of the day, it's all kind of been done. It's just a guy might have did it a different way. Instead of building it out of one piece of billet a guy would have cobbled together out of some round bar stock or whatever.
I think it's just, it's. Again, they're doing modifications that are new to keep up with modern highways and driving is a lot of the stuff I'm seeing, which is super cool because.
[00:15:14] Host: People want to use the cars, they don't want to build them and then just sit in the garage. They want to take them out and show them off, share them.
[00:15:20] Matt Murray: Yeah, that's the goal.
[00:15:21] Host: You have to get somewhere.
[00:15:22] Matt Murray: Yeah. And some people are really into the long distance thing. They want to drive their car from here to California. So, like, I can. You know, with the period cars, you can drive them that far, but it's a lot harder. So you do some small changes that are maybe nostalgic looking. Put a modern rear, but make it look nostalgic. Then you can do 90 and you can drive it on the highway. And so all that stuff, I think, is good. It's just, what do you want to.
[00:15:44] Host: Do with the car aesthetically? Is there anything that's, like, too far for that crowd? Like led lights and things like that? Or is it risk of going too modern?
[00:15:54] Matt Murray: I think that's the difference between a street rod and what we call a real hot rod or custom. I like to use the nostalgia. A lot of people say traditional, but I like to use nostalgia. I think that's the difference between a street rod and a nostalgic hot rod is you're trying to keep it looking like it would have looked in the forties, fifties. So when you start putting led lights and bucket seats that are from a minivan. And again, that's all for comfort. I understand it, but that's where the street rod and hot rod break is. And it's totally cool. Whatever you want for looks wise, I like that. I want it to look like it was, you know, a guy after World War Two was driving it.
[00:16:31] Host: Yeah. So I find a deal with rat rod. Talk about rat rods a bit.
[00:16:34] Matt Murray: It wasn't a. It's a joke amongst my friends, because every. Generally, the community, the car community as a whole, doesn't even fully understand. They think anything that's a hot rod has now become a. Like, hot rod and rat rod have become the same word.
[00:16:48] Host: Okay.
[00:16:49] Matt Murray: To me, a rat rod is more trying to make something that's shocking, whether it's crappy or whatever it is. Super low chopped so far, that looks like a more of a cartoon and putting diesels and big wheels or mud tires. It's just, again, that shock value that is much different than what a nostalgic hot rod is in custom. It looks right. It just does.
But I think that's what the route rod thing, I'm okay with it. Different subgenre of all of this. But, like, you're definitely trying to make a shock value when you roll in with saw blades on the visor. And I think it's like anything. The hobby guys get so into it that it kind of gets gaudy when you're putting rubber rats on the. Gluing them to the hood of the car, it kind of becomes a cosplay rather than a car. So that's. I know people probably don't like that, but. So the rat rod thing, it's a little frustrating sometimes. Cause anybody thinks anything that's not shiny is a rat rod. Where I. I always say that, like, the cars we have are survivors. Like, we try and bring the old paint back, and it's much like an old piece of furniture or a piece of artwork. You're trying to, like, trying to keep it as nice as you can for the age it is without restoring it because it. With reproduction bodies now, it's kind of like a badge of honor to have a car with old paint because it's not a re. You can't. You can't fake real old paint. Right. You know, so.
[00:18:15] Host: So is patina a little played out at this point, you think, in the scene, or is it?
[00:18:21] Matt Murray: I don't know. I think it's, again, like, everything. If you're fake patina, doing fake patina on a car that shouldn't have it. Like, I'm all for having a car.
[00:18:30] Host: Steel body or something.
[00:18:31] Matt Murray: Yeah, I don't. Or fiberglass car seems kind of odd.
[00:18:34] Host: Rusty fiberglass is always odd.
[00:18:36] Matt Murray: Yeah, just, like, just buy an old, crappy car. So, I don't know. It's like, every trend, guys, somebody wants a patina car, but they don't want the work of actually trying to bring old paint back or do rust repair. So I get it. But you could tell a patina car from a real original paint car that's just worn through from a guy polishing it all these years. So that's. Again, that's my preference. I like the real deal. Don't fake the funk. You know, that's just how I am about it.
[00:19:03] Host: Let's talk a little bit about the projects that you built partly while you were here, but also what you build now.
Are you self taught in terms of fabrication, or did you grow up doing any of that? I mean, how did that all come about? Or did you learn it on the set here at Eastwood, like a lot of us are doing every day?
[00:19:18] Matt Murray: Well, I was fortunate enough that my father was a mechanic and could weld, and he did heavy equipment welding. So when I was a kid, he just showed me how to make sparks with a Mig welder. And, you know, so I was self taught, 100%. Other than my father teaching.
[00:19:32] Host: You didn't go to tech school or anything?
[00:19:34] Matt Murray: No, I went to high school, graduated high school, and just been. That was it. So I just figured it out. So my father showed me how to turn the welder on the concept. But my father was a heavy equipment welder. He was never make it nice or restore a car. So as the years went on, even before Eastwood, I was starting to. I had a Mig welder and was fixing cars and building old german cars. But then when I got to Eastwood, it was the. I was exposed to the higher quality work because we started traveling around, going to California, seeing some of the hot rod shops you're touring, and you're seeing the quality of work these guys are doing. You're like, man, I want to do that. And then, like, I was fortunate enough that when I started at Eastwood, we didn't even have welders. And then welders came out and they're like, well, we have a Tig welder. We gotta, you know, we gotta start showing people how to tig weld. So I literally, we had one guy come in and kind of show a few of us how to tig Weld.
And then I just literally, for a year, I took my lunch break when the studio used to be in the other part of the building. And every day for my lunch break, I would go and sit down and tig weld for an hour a day, I would tig weld. And for, like, a year, almost every day, that was my lunch. And by. After, like, a year, I started feeling proficient, that I could at least do some stuff. And then I started, you know, showing on camera a little bit. And it was always awkward because I still don't feel like I'm a good Tig welder. But it was.
[00:20:54] Host: Does anyone ever feel like they're a good Tig welder? I mean, there. I know.
[00:20:57] Matt Murray: Not when you look at the Internet, it's really sad. When you look at the really good guys, it's terrible. So I don't. That was always a hard part for me because we were showing people how to tig weld in videos, right. But I. It was awkward because I never felt like I was to the quality. And I. Even to this day, I don't feel like I'm. You know, that's. I think that's a lot of us. When you're welding or fabricating, you never feel like you're good enough to be teaching other people.
[00:21:20] Host: Right?
[00:21:20] Matt Murray: When are you good enough? When you're, like, 80, and you're, you know, you're at the peak of your. I don't know.
[00:21:25] Host: So, yeah, I think. I think we all run into that challenge, you know, producing content for, you know, for Eastwood because we don't. We all come out of different elements of the hobby and in some cases the business. But, you know, we're not plucking people off of, you know, iron workers off of bridges to come in and teach people how to weld. But I think it speaks to the kind of diy mentality around here. So we're learning on the fly, we're building the plane as it's taken off and all that.
But I think we all learn in the process as well.
[00:21:56] Matt Murray: Yeah, yeah, for sure.
[00:21:57] Host: How much did you learn in your time here at Eastwood? How many new skills did you learn out of necessity?
[00:22:02] Matt Murray: A ton. I mean, a lot of my, the fabricating stuff, 100% like the actual metal shaping. Now, again, I was fortunate with Eastwood and my position. I was able to meet and, and take some classes with, you know, Winfield. I hung out with Winfield a ton and got to be friendly with him. And Covell came and did some classes. So it was like I was able to kind of really get jump started because we were doing, and I was soaking up every bit of knowledge I could get. I was going to local friends that had higher end metal shaping shops. After work at Eastwood, I would go there at night and help them for till midnight and then come back into work next day because I was so focused on trying to quickly get my skills up. But, yeah, I mean, being able to do it almost every day was you. That really helps. It was kind of a nice thing you had to pay to play, so to speak, and learn.
[00:22:54] Host: Sure.
[00:22:55] Matt Murray: It was just, I was learning myself. There wasn't, you didn't have winfield next to you or Covell here every day, so you'd learn a little bit in a class and then you're trying to figure it out here and show it on camera.
But it was, yeah, I learned a lot of my skills here at Eastwood on the fly, which was great. Fortunate.
[00:23:16] Host: Out of all those guys you got to work with, who probably inspired you the most?
[00:23:21] Matt Murray: Definitely Winfield. Winfield.
He's the dream.
He's almost 100 years old. He's done it all. He's seen it all. He's literally lived in most hot rodders eyes, the dream life because he's kind of run his own shop and lived life on his own terms and paid the bills. He may not be a rich man at his age. Currently but, like, the experiences and everything he's done and been on his terms is, you know, so not only, like, fundamentally for my life, how I live my life. He was impactful, but also, like, seeing his work and it, like, you meet your. You meet somebody and you hold it on a certain standard. I'm not saying that Winfield's work was terrible, but, like, it made me, like, okay, the work that I see on the Internet, and then you see a legend, you're like, okay, he was building beautiful cars, but it's okay to put body filler. He was doing that, and he didn't care. He was fine with, like, he's like, this is what I did. This is how I build cars. And it's totally fine. If you don't like it, you don't like it, but this is how I build them. And his thing was like, they're bitching in the end. And he's like, oh, all right. You're right. Like, who cares if it's painted and nice or it looks cool? It doesn't matter.
[00:24:34] Host: He was building show cars. I mean, that's what he did. And I think most people probably know George Barris more commonly, but, yeah, Barris.
[00:24:43] Matt Murray: Was better at promoting himself.
And his brother Sam was doing some beautiful customs. George and Sam were doing beautiful customs before Sam passed away. And those are the cars. I gravitate more towards where George kind of went in the tv cars and show cars. He was great at marketing himself. He was a great photographer. So, like, George did so much so.
[00:25:04] Host: He had a built in PR machine around him.
[00:25:08] Matt Murray: Yeah, he knew what he was doing.
[00:25:09] Host: Yeah, but Winfield was right there with him building same kind of cars in the same scene at the same time.
[00:25:14] Matt Murray: And, yeah, that was it. I think Winfield just. I mean, he was getting almost as much promotion. I mean, traveling around and doing all that stuff in the. In the height of all of that. But, yeah, I mean, he. From racing at Bonneville and racing it at the dry lakes to building customs. I mean, literally from. He was a young man all the way through. So, like, it was super cool to see that and learn about that stuff. And that inspired me a million percent. You know, the time I spent with him.
[00:25:41] Host: Yeah. Is he still inspiring? Young, young guys? I mean, I know we had him in the shop here several times over the years. And it seemed to be an older crowd that grew up reading him and magazine coverage and things like that.
Is there anyone that's coming after him? The guy's 100 years old at this point. Like, he's clearly not going to be with us forever, unfortunately. Or he maybe he will, I don't know.
[00:26:05] Matt Murray: Hard to know, a gene. I know. He told me his mother lived to like, 103 or something like that, and, like, a bunch of people in his family, so somehow they got great genes and a bunch of their people, family are living long, but, yeah, I mean, there's a lot of people in the community that are coming up that are, I think, you know, following, but nobody can follow. Those are the ogs.
[00:26:25] Host: Yeah.
[00:26:25] Matt Murray: None of us could ever hope to be to that level. Those guys are original badasses. They did it when there wasn't as many rules and the world was kind of wild. And so, like, even today, like, we're trying to replicate it, but, like, we never get to that. But there's definitely a lot of people that are, like, we talked about continuing the tradition, so to speak. So with social media, it allows a lot more people to kind of be on blast, that you get publicity. But I think we're in good hands. I think there's a lot of people.
[00:26:54] Host: You see in much in the way of new trends with young guys that the old guys never did. I mean, beyond, beyond, like the 3d printing and things like that, which is obvious, but like, any, any new metal shaping or, you know, wild skills that are coming out of current generation stuff.
[00:27:13] Matt Murray: I think it's just the quality of work is better. I think that's like, we're smarter now. We're more educated on what is safe and what is good work and bad work. So, like, back in the day, you didn't know. You didn't know any better. There was nothing, and you just welded it and you drove around your town and that was it. So now we watch all this stuff. I think everybody's skill level and quality work has to go up. So I think 99% of the cars are being built now by the average guy is probably something in the 1950s would have been like Winfield quality work because we have more tools. You know, companies like Eastwood are able to produce tools that are more affordable for the average guy. So back in the day, you couldn't when a MiG welder was very expensive when it came out. Now everybody can get a MiG welder and do the same work. So I think the quality of work as a whole, because of things are more accessible and cheaper, it just makes it better. So I wouldn't say there's anything new. Metal is metal. There's not much you can do that's new in that terms of that. But I mean, again, it just goes back to technology. See a little bit of hydroforming type stuff starting to happen, but I think that's really just the quality work.
[00:28:25] Host: Yeah. Cool.
Any advice for someone who's building their own custom project and trying to get their feet wet?
What's the best advice you've got from someone who started with Volkswagens and starts building hot rods?
[00:28:41] Matt Murray: Well, I think it's the same. I don't care what car you're building. The term I always use, and we say it a lot in our videos, is small victories. And that was my little thing. I've always put my head every day or every time you work, try and get some small thing accomplished that you can stand back and be like, awesome. And that's, you know, it's just little bits at a time, and then the car gets done. I think that's the biggest problem a lot of people get into as you get into this project, and it's so overwhelming because the car is blown into a thousand pieces. What do I do next? So it's like, okay, today I'm going to attack this fender and make it better, forget about the rest of the car. And then you just do one piece at a time. And the small victories is how I always do it. A lot of times it's like you're trying to get to a point where you get some monumental thing done, whether it's you get the car to fire for the first time, or you get that one fender and primer and it's like, okay, and then I did this one. It's a lot easier to move to the next one. You get inspired rather than you get nowhere doing a little bit on everything on the car. And, you know, that's probably the best advice I've gotten with a person that has, like, ten projects going at once. That's how I do it.
[00:29:44] Host: I tend to be in that mode as well.
[00:29:45] Matt Murray: Yes.
[00:29:46] Host: You can see behind me what I'm deep into here.
[00:29:48] Matt Murray: Yeah.
[00:29:48] Host: So tell me what you drove in today. It was a '41? What was that?
[00:29:53] Matt Murray: I drove a '39.
[00:29:55] Host: '39. Okay.
[00:29:55] Matt Murray: '39 Ford deluxe Coupe.
We found that in December survey right around Christmas.
[00:30:04] Host: Survivor car.
[00:30:05] Matt Murray: Yeah, I found that in a... I bought that in a Lincoln. 41 Lincoln Zephyr. Continental. Well, continental convertible. And that from the same estate in a garage falling down garage in Jersey. And it hadn't been driven in years. Had all kinds of crazy wiring. So that was like a couple days before Christmas. And then I've been driving it, you know, we polished out the old paint, rewired a bunch of stuff, and literally, I just passed like week or two. Been driving as a daily just to work out all the bugs. And hasn't really been on the road for real, probably since like the seventies or eighties.
[00:30:38] Host: Wow.
[00:30:39] Matt Murray: I mean, it was driven a little bit, but, like, definitely wasn't driven. Like, I'm driving it where you're driving a half an hour, an hour or whatever. So trying to work out all the bugs and make sure nothing's, you know, weird with it.
[00:30:50] Host: So you got plans for it as a project or you keep it? Just a driver?
[00:30:54] Matt Murray: It's kind of good as is. I did it. It's 99% original. The car has. It's kind of crazy. It's 99% original paint. I just wet sanded and buffed it out. And then I put a better. It had like a cobbled together dual exhaust. So I put Fenton manifolds and dual exhaust, like, better dual exhaust on it that's not falling apart. And then some suspension stuff lowered it a little bit and kind of just left it. That's one of those cars. You can't really do too much. It's at the point where a guy could totally put it back to 100% original, the next person. Or you could leave it as a mild hot rod like that. But I just.
[00:31:28] Host: Showing it anywhere this year, or you're gonna just...?
[00:31:30] Matt Murray: I don't do a lot of shows per se. I just drive the cars. I don't. I mean, I do shows, but, like, for me, it's more like this. Like, I just drive them, like, everyday cars. Wherever I'm going. I just drive an old car. And it's just. We definitely do some shows throughout the year, but it's tough. I mean, with my schedule, it's. These days, it's very tough to plan on going to a show. But, like, there's a show in Michigan we do at the Gilmore museum every year now. That's. I like going to because it's different. Like, different cars. So I go to all the cruise ins in the area, you know, just because it's show up, leave, do whatever you want. We go to this one in Michigan because it's totally different cars. It's at the Gilmer Museum, which is a beautiful setting.
And we do some shows like that that are a little more like. But I'm more into, like, for me personally, it's like the smaller, more intimate. You know, a friend that has a garage, like, I'll have. Have a private barbecue and 70 cars will show up. But it's all private. And everybody has the type of car you enjoy and people you want to hang out with, rather than a, you know, the good guy shows and his real big ones, they're great. Fantastic. I just get a little overwhelmed. I'm not a big crowd person, so I go to those. I'm kind of, like, over it after an hour.
[00:32:38] Host: Yeah, I hear that.
[00:32:39] Matt Murray: Just me. Introvert. That's kind of how I am.
[00:32:43] Host: It's interesting you say that about the more intimate events. The event scene itself has changed a lot in the last few years. And we were talking earlier about race of gentlemen has kind of spawned a very aesthetic, very focused kind of event feel. And there's so many other events. Talk about what else there is other than just the community car shows, which seem to be everywhere these days. You can't get away from events.
[00:33:09] Matt Murray: Race of gentlemen put it on a public platform. So there was a lot of shows before race of gentlemen that were doing the same idea in this area in southern Pa. There was the jalopy showdown was a show at an old shut down dirt circle track, and you could run your car, basically, anybody could run an old car around the circle track for fun. And there was a car show, and that was going on for years. There was a lot of old nostalgic drag racing events. The Emmr museum ended up being there, and there was a racing museum and everything spawned from there. But, like, that show was going on. That was one of the first shows I went to that was like a driving hangout. There was a campgrounds next to it. And, like, the first time I went to that show blew my mind away because everybody was camping next to the show, and people were showing up days before the event to just camp and hang out and drive their cars to go do whatever. And it was like, the show was kind of like the last day, and people were like, they went to it, but was more about the, you know, driving on the track and doing stuff, so. But race of gentlemen was on a public platform, so it got big sponsors, Harley Davidson and all these people sponsored, so they were able to elevate it. Super cool. I went to that to first handful of them. Also changed my mind with all that, because you just saw these people and types of cars in one place that influences you. Like, oh, there's a lot more people into this stuff, so. But I think because of that event.
[00:34:31] Host: And it probably brought out people that don't normally go to car shows, right?
[00:34:34] Matt Murray: Yeah, yeah, yeah. A lot of stuff you see at those events, there's a lot of guys like myself that we don't go to a lot of the big car shows. And, like, they don't. You know, you show up to an event once in a while, and people were like, oh, I didn't know. I know. Senior car, not for around here. Like, well, I don't go to the same type of lawn chair shows. So you've got a lot of people that feel that way. And there's this little subgenre of people going. So there's a guy locally that is a second generation EJ Kowalski, that him and his father been doing it forever. But EJ's another guy who was doing it before racist gentleman got big. He was putting on these, like, races at all the circle tracks that they would do it, like, in between the big car racing. They would let the roadsters get on, and they'd let you run exhibition. And you paid your $20, put your helmet on, you could run around for fun in these cars. So he's been doing forever now. He's been slowly getting it to the point now where nowadays, every weekend, you can either go drag racing or go run a circle track with a pre war car and just have fun. Whether you're doing it for. To be competitive, or you just want to run it around and have fun in it, I think every part of the country now, you're seeing that where there's a little mini race of gentlemen type event without maybe it's not on the beach, it's period correct cars or nostalgic cars running. And then, of course, with the drag and drive events we kind of mentioned off camera, those events with the high power cars are huge these days. They want to drive the car and race it at the track. And you're doing a road trip on the same thing. So, like, all that stuff is like, it's about the adventure and the, you know, all of that.
[00:36:10] Host: That really, these kinds of events really keep the scene alive, too, because it's not a static display, you know. Now the car's gotta work.
[00:36:18] Matt Murray: Yes, yes.
[00:36:19] Host: You can't just pull it off a trailer, put it in a lot, and hope to win a trophy. You're actually out using it. And it's gotta be a runner. It's gotta be reliable.
[00:36:28] Matt Murray: Yep, yep, yes. Those events, I think, are very cool. Even if you're not racing, like, EJ has an event here locally at the Allentown Fairgrounds, which is coming up on, like, the June 1 this year, where it's, like, on the straightaway of the old reading fairgrounds circle track. And it's all early, like, flathead powered cars, real short track, but it's just a fun flag drop. But, like, even if you don't want to race that you can just show up and hang out in the pits with your old car, and you're amongst your people, and there's no awards. It's just hang out. So, like, even if I don't want to race, I'll drive an old car and sit in the pits and hang out with my friends, and it's like, so that's the whole idea. It's like you're still going there, and there's something more. Like you're watching people race the cars. Your buddies are racing their cars, or you're racing or whatever, and so you can come and go as you please. It's not like some of the big shows where you're stuck there all day.
[00:37:15] Host: And I hear more resistance to being stuck all day at car shows.
[00:37:20] Matt Murray: I'm terrible with that.
[00:37:21] Host: I know I'm not getting a trophy. Don't make me, you know, don't lock me into a parking lot for five, 6 hours or whatever. Yeah, I don't know. As you know, summers are hot, and, you know, depending on the venue, there may or may not be shade. You're on asphalt or whatever.
[00:37:33] Matt Murray: So, yes, I think a lot of us are kind of tired of the. You sit in traffic to get into the show, and then you sit all day in the hot sun, and then you sit in traffic to get out of the show, and it's like a whole thing. So I think a lot of people are liking these other events that are smaller, less involved. You don't have to pay big money to get into the. Like, some of these big shows that are good guys type shows. It's like, you got to pay a lot of money just to sit in a parking lot or sit in a. Like, I wanted to show up and pay $5 and hang out and watch some friends race, and if I feel like leaving in an hour and a half, I can, you know, I can stay all day.
[00:38:05] Host: So those big shows are still viable, though, too, right? I mean, they keep the scene alive as well. Just people move through different phases of, you know, the hobby.
[00:38:15] Matt Murray: Yeah. I don't want to say that those shows aren't cool. It's just not for everybody. But those shows are where the best cars are. So if you want to go see quality, high end cars, all the big builders are taking their cars to their shows to compete for the. So, like, it's fun to go to those shows as a spectator and look at the high end cars. So I think there's a huge following for that. I just, you're now seeing, it's nice because you're seeing there's more options. So where before you had to go to street ride like for the old cars had to go to a street ride nationals because that's all there was. And even though, you know, not all the types of cars you want to see are there, you have to go and there's 3000 cars and you're there all week. But now you can be like, you know what, instead of that, I'm going to go to this smaller event, you know, instead. So I just like that some of these driving events have created like splintered off into small little fun events that you can do and gives you more options if, you know, every weekend you can look and be like, do I want to go to a small event, a big event, a picnic or whatever. And it's a lot of fun.
[00:39:14] Host: There are so many events right now. I mean, I know we're in an area that's rich with car culture too. I mean, so maybe not everywhere in the country is slammed with events, but man, locally there's just so much going on every weekend and, you know, we're just, my wife and I were discussing, you know, next couple weeks. I'm like, I don't know, there's so many things I want to be at. And Mother's Day is coming up and it's like she wants to go elsewhere and I'm like, that's fine. I got like three shows I can go to if you want.
[00:39:40] Matt Murray: Yeah, good to see.
[00:39:41] Host: Go to the beach for, you know, with friends, whatever. So it's, yeah, there's so much, so much happening.
[00:39:46] Matt Murray: I think I end up, I know a lot of people on the east coast with the weather or anywhere in the country where the weather is poor over the winter. Yeah, you get the spring and you like, I always overdo it because it's like I'm so psyched to drive new cars, go and see friends. So I like do every weekend doing events and then by the time it gets to like July, I'm like so burnt out. I'm like, man, I just want to stay home this weekend because like every weekend you're going like here or there, you know, whatever, and you feel like you got to be preparing all week to go to this event or whatever. So like, I know April and May and June. It's like craziness. And then I kind of like, okay, I need to take July off yeah. Then around here, August is crazy. And then we get into Carlisle and Hershey and all that madness for the fall. So it's like you get very little window for breathing in the warm weather.
[00:40:31] Host: Yeah, I felt for like the last three years and partly being in the business, I understand, you know, the. We're trapped in it, so to speak. But I feel like I get to April and realize my whole summer's already set. Like I'm weaving between obstacles that are already, already set. So all the shows, I don't have anything to show. It's just things that I go to, you know.
[00:40:53] Matt Murray: So, yeah, that's usually how it is. Usually all the car shows, you know, the big car shows, their dates have been picked ahead of time and you kind of put in your calendar and it's like, oh, man, am I going to a birthday party I got to go to. But I wanted to go to the show and it's like, crap. Every weekend there's a conflict.
[00:41:10] Host: Well, hey, man, I really appreciate you coming by for the new podcast, and we're anxious to get this going. Glad that you could be part of it. And good to have you back in the building. We're going to go check out your car before we wind down. And for anyone who's listening to this, instead of watching it, you'll have to check out the website for pictures. What Matt drove in. It's pretty cool today.
[00:41:31] Matt Murray: Awesome. Thanks for having me.
[00:41:32] Host: Yeah, really appreciate it. It's great to have you back.
[00:41:34] Matt Murray: Awesome.
[00:41:35] Host: Thanks, guys. Yep.
