My Biz: Cedar Rapids business can rebuild a car 'from the ground up'

Scott Wharton was 14 years old when his grandmother gave him his first car - a 1969 Torino.

“I just tinkered with it until I finally got it running,” he said.

He drove it all through high school and then sold it.

But it's his third car purchase that remains his favorite to this day, and one he drives to work every morning - a racing-red 1963 Ranchero that he restored.

“It's not for sale,” he grinned.

Wharton had been working out of a two-stall garage in Marion when he decided to expand the business five years ago and bought the current building.

“In order to get into the wholesale end of the part business, I had to have a storefront,” Wharton explained.

In addition to rebuilding and restoring cars and kits, the store also is a dealer for a variety of auto parts.

The Cedar Rapids Kennedy High School alum attended a year of auto mechanics training at Kirkwood Community College, but much of his knowledge has come from hands-on experience throughout his teen years and working for other shops in the Cedar Rapids area.

“I've been working on cars my whole life,” he said.

One of the unique builds the shop took on was a 1950 Healy Silverstone, an all aluminum car.

“There were only 105 of those cars ever manufactured,” he added. “It was a barn-find that needed a hood, so we created a new aluminum one for it from scratch.”

Wharton's own expertise is in welding aluminum.

“We can build a car from the ground up,” he noted. “If someone brings me a chassis, we'll do the body, all of the fabrication for it, mount the motor, transmission, rear end, wire it, plumb it - everything.”

He and his three employees work on a range of projects.

Wharton admitted that it's his love for the classic cars of days gone by that drives him.

“I love them and refuse to let them die,” he confessed

• Name: Scott Wharton
• Title: Owner
• Company: H&W Speed Shop
• Address: 251 Classic Car Court SW, Cedar Rapids
• Phone: (319) 362-3790

Know a manager or Corridor company in business more than a year that would be a good fit for “My Biz”? Contact business editor Michael Chevy Castranova at michael.castranova@sourcemedia.net.