We visit Jellybean Autocrafters
The perfect car doesn’t exist, not because there aren’t great builders, but because cars are as much about art as they are performance. Art can be divisive, one person may hate a painting another may love it, and only the truly great artists have been able to get general concensus that their work is in fact great. Most of us don’t and can’t ‘do art’, so just as we commission a painter to paint a masterpiece for our living room, we must commission a Craftsman to build our custom cars.
The essential part of commissioning someone to build your masterpiece is finding a builder who can bring your vision to life and make it better than you imagined, and in the city of Langley BC you can find such craftsmen.
I had an opportunity to spend some time and tour Jellybean AutoCrafters which is owned by Ewald and Kurt Penner. I saw a couple of their builds at the Vancouver International Auto show and I liked what I saw, so I contacted Ewald and asked if I could come tour their shop. I had no real expectations before I got there besides that I knew they were building a 66 Mustang for a customer who was going to compete in Targa Newfoundland , and I thought it would be cool to showcase it on this website. I was happily greeted by Ewald and he toured me around their shop and stopped at every car and gave me interesting facts about each one. Without any hesitation, he told me the background of the vehicle and every detail they were adding or refurbishing - he talked about them like an owner would. His ability to recall details of customer requests and details of what the particular vehicle would’ve been like in its day spoke to the level of care and desire to get it right on every build. What also stood out to me was that the brothers took ownership of these vehicles, because it was their name, their creativity and their work going into these cars. It was evident that they want to give their customer the best they could possibly build, and like true craftsmen they put a bit of themselves in every one. They have also surrounded themselves with a good crew of professionals that appear to have wholly bought into the brothers’ vision and turn out award winning work. The shop is clean, the vehicles are immaculate and I would have happily driven any one of the projects going through the shop.
We went into a second shop and I saw the 1966 mustang nicknamed ‘Unstabled’ that will race Targa in September of this year (if Covid-19 restrictions are lifted). It was on a stand and was in the process of being modified and built to compete over 1600 kms in the Targa Open class. Safety was their biggest concern with the car, as Ewald noted this car could be doing 150KPH the streets and towns of Newfoundland. The car will be fully caged and chassis reinforced to handle the strain of the race and the power that the 460hp Coyote engine paired with a Tremec 6 speed transmission will will be dishing out. The car will take on the Newfoundland roads with fully adjustable suspension designed, built, and sponsored by Alston’s Chassisworks. The car has three-piece custom wheels built by the iconic local manufacturer Fikse Wheels. And they are beautiful. As Ewald explained the plan for the car, I could visualize what it would look like complete and I started to take some photographs so I could document where it started. I had the privilege to go back the following week and take some more pictures of the car as it was being prepared for an alignment and the fenders were being clearanced for the lower stance. The car is not complete yet, but even unfinished it has the look of a badass race car. I look forward to following its progress and hopefully showing you all the final product.
I’m glad I called Jellybean and asked to tour their shop, it’s inspiring to be around people who love what they do, and I hope you will follow the mustang build as it progresses to completion. And check out the pictures of the mustang and a couple other projects from Jellybean’s shop.
Check out the sponsors of the Mustang build below: