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"I
want people to walk into a
car show and say
they never saw that
before; I don't want to do
what they've
already seen a dozen times."
Curtis
MacLean
Curtis MacLean was born in
Cape Breton but
spent most of his growing
years in central Nova Scotia,
surrounded a large family.
Like many young boys at the
time Curtis loved collecting
and making models of cars,
but he also enjoyed drawing
and art class.
Curtis spent several decades
operating a sign making
company in
Halifax/Dartmouth, one of
the busiest markets in
Atlantic Canada. His
work in neon and other
signage techniques was
instantly familiar to metro
commuters on buildings such
as the C100-CJCH Studios on
Agricola Street, and the
massive scrawl on Atlantic
Car Stereo in Dartmouth.
 Radical
Customizing - In 2005,
the MacLean family moved to
Prince Edward Island to
pursue Curtis's dream of
customizing cars, opening
his Radical Garage not far
from Summerside.
Why PEI you may ask? Not
only to be near the right
welder, but for the quality
of the life for himself and
his growing family.
"I've had offers, good
opportunities, to move to
the US to work and it's
flattering, but I'm a Maritimer. I want my
family to live & work here,
and there's no reason I
can't work here too. There's
lots of skilled talent."
In the following years
Radical Garage attracted
plenty of
media
attention and customers, and
Curtis let his creativity
range far behind merely
re-inventing classic cars,
he developed and patented
designs for the world's
coolest garage gear.
Biker
Box gear holders
and
Wrench
Bench tool boxes
have become Curtis MacLean
classics and appeal to the
truly dedicated tinkerers in
the best equipped garages.
In early 2007 Curtis
personally packed up his
unique
Ultimate Tool Box
for an epic cross-continent
trip, driving to the
SEMA
show in
Las
Vegas
where
they were both hits.
Curtis takes the Tool Box to
Vegas
-
photos
-
online
video
 One
collector from Dubai offered
Curtis $100,000 at the show
for the Tool Box; Curtis
ending up keeping it as his
prototype and Showroom model
but has produced several
others since.
Video in Shockwave Flash Curtis drawing the
Ultimate Tool
Box
The tool box drew many
amazed comments at SEMA and acquired
some impressive autographs
from various celebrities and
big names in the auto
industry
including:
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● Tom Meentz ~
Maximum
Destruction
(monster trucks)
● George Barris
~ Custom Cars
(The Batmobile)
● Thomas DuPont
~ DuPont
Publishing Inc.
● Bill Goldberg
~ Wrestler
● Cherie
Westrich ~
Overhaulin
● Dennis
Anderson ~
Gravedigger
(monster trucks)
● Ryan Anderson
~ Gravedigger
(monster trucks)
● Vinnie
DiMartino ~
V-Force
(Formally from
Orange County
Choppers)
● Cody Connelly
~ V-Force
(Formally from
Orange County
Choppers)
● Natalie Green
~ Model
● Al Dimora ~
DiMora Motorcar
● Gene Winfield
~ Custom Cars
● Arlen Ness ~
Custom
Motorcycles
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● Dave Periet ~ Formula 1
Race Car Driver
● Rich Evans ~ Rich Evans
Designs
● Butch Patrick ~ Eddie
Munster
● Rod Saboury ~ Retired Pro
Street Racer
● Mark Gerisch ~ Genaddi
Design Group
● Larry Wood ~ Chief
Designer (Hot Wheels)
● ”E” DUB ~ DUB Wheels
● West Coast Customs
● JKR Customs
● Richie Weinstein Mattel
Design
● Mitch Lansine ~ Overhaulin
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and most
recently here at
home was signed
by Nova Scotia's
own Trailer Park
Boys! |
 Curtis Custom Design
- In 2009 Curtis took the
next step forward,
relocating Radical Garage to
larger premises in Elmsdale
Nova Scotia, closer to the
hub of international
business, but still in the
heart of the Maritimes and
minutes from quiet
countryside. The new
shop & showroom is situated
in a prime location in the
Elmsdale Business Park,
convenient to many neighbouring and local
businesses that cater to the
automotive industry, and a
short trip to the
Halifax Stanfield
International Airport.
 The
new location not only
provides Radical Garage with
a roomy, well equipped
machine
shop
but also an impressive
auto
Showroom as well,
along with office and
boardroom space.
Curtis wanted his new
premises to allow for
hands-on
workshops with
international level guests,
retail display,
commission car sales
and even
auto
auctions, the
first of which was a
featured event during Curtis
Custom's official
Opening Week,
April 6th to 11th, 2010.
 Curtis
on Design -
Given
a choice, Curtis isn't
interested in doing anything
that's been done-to-death before, so designs start
with a unique visual conception, hand-drawn by
Curtis, not by computer. His favourite
project delivers
a 'one-of-a-kind'
result to the customer.
 His
slanted vision sees
vehicles & gear in new and special ways, from convention
displays, to the
Ultimate Tool Box,
right down to his own
merchandise counter
at the Curtis Custom Design
Showroom, still recognizable
as half a vintage pickup
truck. (The other half
is mounted on the exterior
wall above the back bay
doors of the garage!)
 Today,
Curtis is keeping the creative juices flowing with
on-going commissions, from private individuals to
commercial enterprises, even providing custom
vehicles for movie production.
A self-admitted
workaholic, Radical's resident artist is currently
involved with many widely varied projects such as
customizing, car shows, planning promotional events,
and even has his own television series in
development with
Ocean Entertainment.
In his own words
"you ain't seen
nothin' yet!"
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