MEET THE JUDGES: COLE FOSTER

Building Hot Rods and Custom bikes since 1989

From Hot Rod Royalty comes classic customizing. Cole Foster, owner of Salinas Boys Customs, has been constructing rolling works of metal art since 1989. January 2013, Cole had the prestigious honor of being inducted into the National Hot Rod Hall of Fame. Similar to his father, Pat Foster who happens to be in the National Drag Race Hall of Fame for his extensive and successful race car driving career. At the 2001 Grand National Roadster show Cole left with the Chip Foose Design of Excellence Sweepstakes award from his 1956 Ford F100 Truck.

Cole creates cars that are so clean they don’t have lines – the simply flow, as evident from the thousands of magazine features written on these customs that roll from the bays of the Salinas Boys shop in the quiet California town. Cole’s first magazine feature was in 1989 and the press has snowballed ever since.

Fosters designs have been much coveted by rock stars who are in the know of hot rods. He has built customs and bikes for guys like Sammy Hagar of Van Halen, front man, Mike Ness of the punk band Social Distortion and a 1936 Ford for Metallica’s Kirk Hammett that has been exhibited in the Ford Museum in Detroit and worldwide such as the Moon Eyes show in Yokohama, Japan.