Stratford shop keeps muscle cars roaring
The following is part of a series of video profiles of Marshfield-area personalities called Hub City Stories.
STRATFORD - A career in classic American muscle cars began with $350.
Troy Kuyoth, started restoring cars when he was 14. He wasn't allowed to drive, but he loved to collect Mustang parts, and he began filling attics and empty boxes that would be later used in his restoration projects.
After hearing from a friend of a 1973 Mach 1 Mustang for sale, Troy purchased his first muscle car for $350. Half of the $350 was borrowed from his father and the other half came from working for him at his father’s body shop, Kuyoth Repair Shop.
“When I was in high school, everybody had cool cars ... and seeing who had the coolest car in the parking lot was a big thing,” said Kuyoth, 48, who today owns Kuyoth’s Klassics in Stratford.
During the 1987 Stratford Heritage Days parade, Kuyoth drove his Mach 1 in behalf of his parents’ shop. Unbeknownst to him as he drove through the parade, a curious buyer would later purchase his car for $4,500 just after the parade ended.
However, restoring muscles cars isn’t how Kuyoth got his start. At 18, less glamorous work was what paid the bills, “so we started doing fender benders, rust repair and a little bit of here and there, just body work on anything that needed paint,” said Kuyoth.
RELATED: How a Christmas train set made his radio career
RELATED: Thorogood boots: Central Wisconsin's enduring style
RELATED: Jurustic Park offers whimsical escape during cold winter months
Fast forward two decades.
What started out as a small, two-car garage fixing fender-benders has grown into an international business, for whom between 15 and 20 percent of clients come from overseas.
Kuyoth declined to say on the record for whom, but one car in the shop belongs to a celebrity from an upcoming D.C. comic book movie.
They have also worked on cars for actor Jack Haley (Tinman from the "Wizard of Oz") and Mike Nader from ABC primetime soap opera "Dynasty," and NFL players.
The shop’s specialty is Mustangs, but other cars such as the Dodge Challenger, Buick Skylark, and Chevrolet Camaro have passed through the shop and been restored by Kuyoth and his crew. There is no limit as to what Kuyoth can or will do, it just depends on what the customer needs.
Though their primary work is muscle cars, anyone who is need of rust repair, paint, or simple body work can bring in any car to the shop to be repaired by Kuyoth’s team. The shop is located at 211 South Weber Ave. in Stratford.
Without the help of 18 full-time staff members, including mechanics, managers and restoration specialists, keeping up with a two-year backlog would be nearly impossible.
“They are truly masters and artisans at their craft, and rarely receive the credit they deserve,” said Tammy Kuyoth, sister of Troy Kuyoth and head of sales and marketing.
Kuyoth’s Klassics builds between three and five complete cars each year along with the many partial projects that come in.
“Every project is unique and we work with our clients based on their budget and end goal,” Tammy Kuyoth said.
Mike Steines, a mechanic who has been working for Troy at Kuyoth’s Klassics from the start, a total of 30 years, said, “With every car there is always a surprise ... (but when they are finished) they are better than production quality.”
Vintage neon lights and old-fashioned gas pumps help turn back time as customers’ step through open doors leading to the showroom floor.
Guitar solos and rock n’ roll play in the background, complementing a collection of pristine American muscle cars on the showroom floor that began decades ago.
“It’s impressive how we’ve grown. I never really stand back and look at it that way because every day is work, work, work and things just pass you by. You kind of forget how fast you got to this point,” said Kuyoth.
Contact Photographer/Videographer Tyler D. Rickenbach at 715-207-1571 or trickenbac@gannett.com; on Twitter @TylerDBach and Instagram at @bachphoto_.
Hub City Stories
Do you know someone from the Marshfield area who we should feature in the Marshfield News-Herald’s Hub City Stories series? Call Tyler Rickenbach at 715-207-1571 or email trickenbac@gannett.com
