In the mid-1980s, a pale green 1950 Mercury with Memories written in script on the rear sparked Rick Dore’s interest in building custom cars. Thirty years later, his custom car business, Rick Dore Kustoms, is one of the most recognizable brands in the custom car industry and has earned Dore many prestigious awards and recognition.
Atlas Copco, Discovery Channel and James Hetfield’s Aquarius
Since Dore launched onto the custom car scene in the early 1990s, his passion for finding and rebuilding American roadsters from the 1930s through the 1960s led him to a television career as the co-host of the 2014 Discovery Channel reality series Lords of the Car Hoards, now called Rusted Development. The show follows Dore and co-host Chuck Palumbo, a retired WWE wrestler and mechanic, as they rescue legendary cars from car hoarders and refurbish them into one-of-a-kind dream cars.
During the show, the body shop was powered by an Atlas Copco GA 7-37 VSD+ oil-injected, oil-cooled rotary screw compressor, an energy efficient and compact air compressor with low noise levels.
“It’s incredible,” Dore said. “Not only is it efficient, it is quiet. I could be in the same room with it running and take a call from a show promoter (or James Hetfield himself) and be able to talk no problem.”
The innovative GA 7-37 VSD+ range of oil-injected rotary screw compressors reduces energy consumption by up to 50 percent, compared to a traditional load/unload compressor of the same type. Its compact footprint and low noise levels are particularly advantageous for customers in the automotive service and body shop industries, where air compressors are often installed near the point of use. In addition, the GA VSD+ can save an auto body shop more than $10,000 per year based on the potential energy savings of just one 15 horsepower machine.
“I have a complete shop with some of the best guys on the planet,” Dore said. “When you go into a shop and it’s clean and the cars are filled with style, attitude, and elegance, and you look over in the corner and see the Atlas Copco? Yeah, it belongs there.”
Rick Dore to Sign Autographs at Atlas Copco SEMA Booth #10209
Dore has an Atlas Copco GX5FF oil-injected rotary screw compressor in his shop at Rick Dore Kustoms, which he used to style and construct Aquarius, one of his coach built cars, crafted for James Hetfield of heavy metal band Metallica. The car is projected to win multiple awards upon completion.
The finished Aquarius will be displayed at this year’s SEMA Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center in the main corridor of the North Hall, booth No. GL15, from Nov. 3-6. The car will have a plaque showing that it was built using an Atlas Copco compressor. Dore will sign autographs at the Atlas Copco booth #10209 on Wednesday, Nov. 4 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 1 to 3 p.m.
Products on display include the reliable Atlas Copco GX 7 oil-injected rotary screw compressor available in floor mounted or tank mounted versions and with or without an integrated dryer, and the AR series of intermittent, two-stage piston compressors available in vertical or horizontal models.
Will we see you there? Let us know in the comments below or fill out our Request a Quote form and an Atlas Copco representative will be in touch with you shortly.
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