Internationally acclaimed automotive designer and master fabricator Chip Foose, president and founder of Foose Design Inc., is celebrating his 30th anniversary in design this year. The Hot Rod Hall of Famer best known for his starring role on TLC’s and Velocity Channel’s reality television show “Overhaulin’,” plans to commemorate this milestone by embarking on exciting new design projects in 2016.
It has been said that, without Foose, the attention and excitement of the custom car and automotive design scene may not have reached the heights of attention it has over the past three decades. He was a student at the prestigious Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, where his graduation project was a Chrysler-sponsored niche-market design concept called the Hemisfear, the inspiration, many believe, behind the Plymouth Prowler limited production car. Foose then began his career in 1986 as a staff designer and fabricator for ASHA Corp. of Santa Barbara, California, conceptualizing new proprietary ideas and fabrications of prototypes for OEMs. His talent and perseverance paved the road to Hot Rods by Boyd where his success led to the role of president of the company, where the term the “Boyd Look,” was coined, marking his distinct design stamp on internationally-known vehicles, the Boydster I and II, the Boyd Air and Roadster, among others.
Foose has been steeped in car design since his early childhood and he’s just as passionate about his creations today as he was then. In three decades, Foose’s style has always been one both remarkable and entirely his own. His “look” innately blends tradition and technology but more than that, each of his projects contains a consistent theme that integrally speaks to each piece. He doesn’t just incorporate classic elements or technology just for the sake of doing so, he ensures that each project has an artistic, elegant and meaningful flow throughout. His designs are subtle and understated and, uniquely Foose; he says he starts his designs from the smallest details and then builds around it, embracing the details that speak truest to the project and then aligning every piece of the puzzle to bring his projects to complete design.
Foose has been a lead customizer in Hollywood, building studio cars for films like “Blade Runner” and “Gone in 60 Seconds.” He was handpicked by John Lassiter to join the Disney Animation and Pixar design family to contribute to the paint schemes and graphic treatments for the “Cars” and “Cars 2” films, and those same designs are embodied, and were personally applied by Foose and his crew at Disney’s California Adventure’s “Cars Land” theme park. He has designed shoes and eyewear for Oakley Sunglasses and Oakley Three Palms Footwear and was a member of the Detroit’s MotorCity Casino and hotel design team, where he was responsible for the property’s unique look.
Although 30 years in design is something significant to celebrate, Foose says his career is just revving up. His achievements so far are vast, including: youngest inductee into the Hot Rod Hall of Fame, winning the coveted “Ridler” Award four times at the Detroit Autorama, designing and/or building eight America’s Most Beautiful Roadster Awards, first recipient of the Good Guys Trendsetter Award, honored on numerous occasions by the Grand National Roadster Hall of Fame, the San Francisco Rod Custom Motorcycle Hall of Fame, the Diecast Hall of Fame and so forth. His TV successes have inspired dozens of other shows and his vehicles have brought record values and attention at hundreds of shows, auctions and events around the world.
“It’s hard to believe it’s been 30 years,” said Foose. “I’ve grown up with an unbridled passion for this stuff, thanks largely to my dad, so getting to make this my life’s work and being a part of ‘Overhaulin’’ and other incredible design teams makes this milestone so much more meaningful. I’m so grateful every day to do this and to have been given the opportunity to design some incredible pieces for clients, from private auto manufacturers to entertainment giants like Pixar and Disney Animation.”
Foose continues to pave his own path in design and fabrication, developing automotive masterpieces as president and founder of Foose Design Inc. in Huntington Beach, California. In hitting this 30 year milestone, Foose, along with Foose Design Inc. plan to announce initiatives throughout the year to celebrate his three decades in design.
