Still Building America—One automotive masterpiece at a time

I’ve known J.D. Hendrickson for a few years. We first met in person at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas, where some of the wild cars he helped create for Galpin Auto Sports were on display. This month’s Still Building America focuses on J.D.’s career arc, in which he began as a Midwestern kid growing up in an automotive family, moved on to trade school, and eventually became a supervisor for some of the most high-profile vehicle builds in the world.

Wait. Let’s do this in reverse:

Currently J.D. is a production manager in charge of the manufacture of Porsches by Singer Vehicle Design at Aria Group in Irvine, Calif.

If you haven’t heard of Singer and the Porsches they create, look them up. In my humble opinion, Porsches already are the perfect form of sports cars; all Singer does is take the best parts of each generation and make the most supreme version money can buy. Literally, automotive nirvana. Each nut and bolt needs to be, and is, spot-on. Due to nondisclosure agreements, J.D. can’t discuss in detail the other projects he is involved in—both in development and execution—at Aria Group. He can reveal that they are related to “technology-integrated automotive. It’s revolutionary.”

Before accepting the position at Aria, J.D. was the shop foreman at Galpin Auto Sports, also in SoCal. I visited last year and he gave me the tour. It’s legitimately one of the top hot rod shops in the country. From his start as a fabricator, J.D. had ultimately assumed a huge role at Galpin.

“I often took artistic renderings drawn up for clients and, through sometimes tedious planning and calculations, brought them to real life. This change [from fabricating] sparked an even stronger passion to learn and collect as many skills as I could from the people around me, many of whom I consider great friends.“

I can vouch for his desire to increase his skill set, as we have often discussed shop life over the last few years. Machining, welding, upholstery, fiberglass, etc., he wanted to consume it all.

Acoustic Edge in Edmond, Okla. was the trade school J.D. attended after his high school days. Because he grew up around automotive businesses and cars and was interested in building things as opposed to sitting in a classroom, a traditional four-year school was not in the plans.

“I knew early on that college wasn’t for me. My first interests developed around car audio, which led me to the Acoustic Edge Institute in Edmond. I started as a student studying mobile electronics and fabrication, and ultimately transitioned into the role of director after five years with the school.”

Back to present day, I asked J.D. what he digs about his current role and how he sees his future: “My favorite part is the diversity of what we do—a lot of conceptual and prototype work that could either be realized in the near future or something that will never make it out of a design studio. There is a lot of mystery and risk that goes along with that, and it makes it very rewarding, exhilarating.

“At this point in my career, being that I just recently started with Aria, the goal is to continue to evolve and build my skills within the company, not only for personal growth, but to help the company as well. I am always searching for better, faster, smarter ways to do my job.

“Through my experiences and hard work, I'm fortunate to be able to work for a company that values initiative and out-of-the-box thinking. Nothing is off the table; there’s no red tape or limited approval process. There is always a better way, and I have the freedom to research, develop, and implement those ways in days, not months.

“Always keep an open mind. You can learn from anyone regardless of age, experience, or industry. There are a lot of talented people out there, and you never know when you’ll run into that someone who could have a huge impact on your life. Be a sponge, soak it up!”

All images courtesy of J.D. Hendrickson.