New-Age Rods Alive and Well at Newstalgia Custom Paint and Design

Hot rod culture is about love and dedication. Not only do rodders put the time and passion into building their cars, they also do the same to enjoy their rides once they’re done. This is the case even when a little bit of rain threatens to deter the dedication of some, as we found out this last weekend at the Newstalgia Custom Paint & Design open house in Fort Collins, Colorado. Not only did those who attended the event drive their prized rods out in the rain, they also stood around swapping stories not phased by the precipitation for the day. Now that’s the kind of dedication we like to see in the hot rod community!

Relatively new to Fort Collins, Newstalgia Custom Paint & Design is owned by hot-rod guru Adam Lucier and his wife Ann. Originally from Arizona, Lucier grew up with the hot rod niche in his blood, having a grandfather who’s career revolved around restoring classic cars back to their factory original conditions. It was in Howie Lucier’s footsteps that Adam Lucier found himself following, working at Squeeg’s Kustoms in high school.

Attending Wyotech after graduation, Lucier breezed through the collision and refinishing program thanks to his previous rod shop background, heading back to Squeeg’s to start his career. It was there that Lucier learned everything he needed to know about designing, building and finishing unique hot rod creations.

Vibrant green, this gorgeous T-bucket was built by Lucier and his father and truly showcases the quality work Lucier prides himself on offering at Newstalgia Custom Paint & Design.

When the opportunity to move to Colorado arose, the Luciers took it, with Ann pursuing a career working with animals and Adam looking for a career in the hot rod industry. As it turns out, however, Lucier’s dream job was hard to come by so he took matters into his own hands, opening Newstalgia, aptly named from a “hot rod slang” Google search, in North Fort Collins.

Soaking wet, this classic pickup owned by Jay Thompson and painted by Lucier looks fantastic even in the rain.

Opened May 1st of 2011, Newstalgia hasn’t been around very long but has already attracted several well-known clients and has acquired a reputation of greatness. Currently, Newstalgia does custom hot rod work, from full restorations to custom paint schemes, for individual customers, as well as some paint work for Pinkee’s Rod Shop in Windsor, Colorado.

Lucier also dapples in some unexpected projects, like painting things from refrigerators to toilet seats for “man caves,” doing custom motorcycle work, and even laying all the paint work for local bike shop Panda Bicycles.

Equipped with colored pencils, even the smallest hot rod enthusiasts were able to create their own customs at the Newstalgia Custom Paint & Design open house.

In total, Lucier told us he’s done 8 to 10 complete paint jobs, something that takes at least a good 6 weeks, and 20 to 30 custom paint components on cars since Newstalgia’s start. Additionally, Lucier is now painting nearly 100 bikes per month for Panda.

The front room of Newstalgia Custom Paint & Design showcases plenty of hot rod pictures as well as a few examples of Lucier's unexpected projects, from the Panda bike to the refrigerator. .

While this may sound like a lot of work, Lucier doesn’t seem to mind. After all, working for himself, painting and working on cool projects is what Lucier likes best. “I get to choose what I work on now,” Lucier told us. “So inevitably I get to work on cool stuff,” but he says his favorite things to work on are pre-1940s vehicles.

What does the future hold for Newstalgia? Well Lucier hopes to eventually paint exclusively for high-end hot rod shops. That, and diving even further into the industry in future years couldn’t make Lucier any happier. “I could only hope to have something as cool as Squeeg’s,” Lucier told us.

With dedicated clients and rodders coming out to celebrate Newstalgia’s accomplishments thus far last Saturday, Lucier is well on his way to becoming one of the big names in the hot rod industry. No matter how big he gets, however, we are convinced that Lucier will stay close to his roots that his grandfather so passionately passed along. In fact, Lucier will even be honoring his grandfather in a future build project, taking the factory-correct 1953 Ford V8 Crestline his grandfather left him and turning it into a one-of-a-kind hot rod.

“We’re going to destroy a really nice car and make it cool,” Lucier told us with a grin. Purists watch out- the modern hot rod era is here and it’s alive and well at Newstalgia Custom Paint & Design.