For many fans of the Ford Mustang, there is one ‘Stang that stands out—a car that rolled into your life and swept you off your feet. For Randy Allgood, the master builder who started Kenwood Rod Shop in Sharpsburg, Ga., it was a 1968 GT 500 with a 428 cubic-inch V8 from his teenage years. “I can remember that car like it’s sitting right here today,” Randy told eBay Motors. “It was a green-mist fastback,” he said, with a faraway look in his eyes.
Randy Allgood of the Kenwood Rod Shop.
The distant memory of that green Mustang is partly what’s inspiring Randy in his work on the ‘67 Mustang Fastback that he is now building in collaboration with eBay Motors and Rutledge Wood, the famed TV host and racing analyst. Randy and his team at Kenwood Rod Shop are instrumental in turning Rut’s vision for a rowdy Mustang into a real car. “Everybody has a Mustang story,” said Rut. “We’re creating a new one with this project.”
Kenwood Rod Shop’s Jason Eskew (left) and B.J. Thompson (right) fabricate the Mustang’s rear spoiler.
The five-month project was launched in May. The ground-up rebuilding of the ‘67 Mustang is being shared with fans at prominent car shows throughout the summer, culminating in the auction of the car at SEMA, Oct. 31 – Nov. 3. The project is being chronicled here on the eBay Motors Blog, where you can follow the “On The Road with eBay Motors” tour.
A Magical Partnership
Randy Allgood (left) and Rutledge Wood (right) at the 2017 Carlisle Ford Nationals in Carlisle, Penn.
Randy has been working on cars since he was a kid, but building hot rods only became a full-time profession in 2007. That’s when Randy sold his construction business to open the Kenwood Rod Shop. The shop, working under the radar, produced a long line of outrageous cars including a stunning 1957 Chevrolet pickup truck that won Trick Truck Corral Pick awards at the 2014 Goodguys PPG Nationals in Columbus and 2016 Goodguys Nashville show, as well as a gorgeous mint green 1953 Plymouth Suburban two-door station wagon that was given to Rutledge by NASCAR legend Richard Petty. Randy’s handiwork has also been displayed in the pages of Chevy High Performance and Classic Truck magazines.
Richard Petty gave a broken-down 1953 Plymouth Suburban to Rutledge Wood. “The Kenwood Rod Shop took a rusted pile of a car and made my dreams come true,” said Rut.
Randy met Rut via his brother-in-law, Adam Young, a half-dozen years ago when Randy restored a truck that Adam’s father owned. The two hit it off and Randy subsequently built a number of cars for Rutledge. Then in 2015, Rut—at that point working as the host of the History Channel’s “Lost in Transmission”—brought the Kenwood Rod Shop on as the primary builder for the show. The shop went on to build all but three of the 12 cars in the series.
Randy’s award-winning 1957 Chevy pickup
Creating automotive magic under the glare of lights and camera was intense for Randy. Reality television car-build shows are notorious for short production timelines and limited budgets. “When you do a car for a television show, they give you three days to do it and $500,” said Randy, with barely a hint of exaggeration. “And they want it to look like a million bucks.”
He said the current five-month eBay Motors Mustang project is a different story. “It’s time-consuming to produce a quality build so we can achieve a lot more,” he said. The detailed work that goes into rebuilding a car can be lost in a quick-cutting television show. On the other hand, when the eBay Motors ’67 Mustang arrives at the 2017 SEMA show, it will face the scrutiny of thousands of fellow expert car builders examining every detail. (They’re usually not bashful about pointing at flaws.)
The crew at Kenwood flipped the rear axle last week to provide more clearance. The wheel and tire combo will be revealed on Aug. 19 at the Woodward Dream Cruise, Detroit, Mich.
If that makes the annual aftermarket event at the Las Vegas Convention Center an excruciating experience for presenters, it probably won’t faze Randy. The eBay Motors 1967 Mustang Fastback will be the sixth car that he has displayed at SEMA. In fact, the finish work and the fine details are Randy’s favorite part of the build process. “I’m going to do the very best I can to to make it look spot on,” he said.
Stay tuned here for details about the charity auction of the eBay Motors ’67 Mustang. When its lucky new owner drives away from SEMA with the car rebuilt by Randy, Rut, Jason, and B.J., the team won’t look back. They have other cars on their bucket list. “I’ve never built a ’32 Ford hot rod,” Randy said. “A couple of years ago Rutledge was all fired up to do one. But it hasn’t happened…yet.”
