(Published Saturday, August 18, 2007 01:07:21 AM CST)
A d v e r t i s e m e n t
By Stacy Vogel Gazette Staff
EDGERTON-You know luck's on your side when you open an auto company at 10 Gear Drive.
But Rich Bickle doesn't need luck. The Edgerton native has been racing cars and trucks for 30 years, and he's been tinkering with them even longer.
"Rich has an incredible working knowledge and an incredible knowledge of fabrication," said Deanna Hart, Bickle's friend and the owner, with her husband, Mike, of Newville Auto Salvage.
The Harts will be one of Bickle's first customers when he opens an auto fabrication business in his hometown. Bickle plans to work with his father, also named Richard Bickle, on anything from restoring and modifying old vehicles to building concept cars from scratch.
He hopes to break ground on a 16,000-square-foot facility next week and open in January, and he already has six orders lined up, he said.
"We can build anything you want," he said.
Bickle spent more than 10 years racing for NASCAR. He started building cars as a hobby at his racing shop in Mooresville, N.C., and it eventually grew into a business.
"All of a sudden, people walked in the door and said, 'Oh, you're building cars?'" he said.
Today, Bickle keeps about 10 cars in North Carolina and 10 in Edgerton, including a modified 1929 black Ford truck and a 1970 green Dodge Super Bee in his garage at 304 N. Main St.
But he grew tired of the focus on money and politics in NASCAR, he said. He retired from the circuit a few years ago but still participates in short-track races, he said. He plans to make Edgerton his permanent home soon.
"All of a sudden, it dawned on me," he said. "I want to have a full hot rod shop here and hang around my dad."
He already has customers lined up from as close as Janesville and as far as Kentucky, even though he hasn't decided on a name for the business yet. He's leaning toward Rock County Flatheads and Fabrication, he said.
The Harts have asked him to give "a little TLC" to their 1955 Chevrolet, Deanna said.
"I think we're going to let him get creative with it," she said.
She's not sure what they'll do with the car when Bickle finishes, but they at least hope to show it at Edgerton Heritage Days next summer.
Deanna said she shares Bickle's love of cars and is excited to see what he does with hers.
"They have a personality," she said. "It's kind of like dressing a doll in a weird kind of way."
