Putting wheels to the ground as a young teenager is all about freedom. The ability to get out on your own, hang with a group of friends and roam around town transfers to four wheels as soon as your driver’s license is earned. Many take that automotive freedom down a custom path and create a life of tinkering with and building classic cars and trucks. Many forget their humble bicycle beginnings. But Heath Pinter never did and has made a living in the BMX world and it has allowed him to continue and expand his love of cars as well.
Growing up, Heath Pinter, like most kids in Southern California got into BMX racing by simply riding around their neighborhoods and the foothills with friends. That riding around turned into jumping and racing when his friends down the street started building ramps. He traveled to races mainly as an excuse to hang out and get riding time in. As the sport grew and freestyle BMX contests became more popular he ventured into that world gaining notoriety with the introduction of contests such as the X-Games, DEW Tour and other events pushed Heath further into becoming an extreme athlete. The relationships he built then helped him gain media exposure and sponsorships allowing him to continue his career.
Many of those relationships of riders, managers and sponsors have crossed over into the automotive world. Heath started getting into custom cars as his career began to take off. He had little mechanical knowledge but wanted to do it himself and learn along the way starting with a 1965 Lincoln Continental that he tore into soon after picking it up.
With mainly a history of hot rods, kustom cars and motorcycles, Heath had dabbled in building newer trucks as tie ins with his BMX sponsors but always had his eyes on the early ‘50s Chevy trucks. He came across an abandoned project and slowly started to rebuild it until he got the call asking the truck to represent Red Kap clothing at the SEMA show. The problem was, it was only 6 weeks away and several contests were already on the calendar in the meantime. Thanks to some friends to help him get it all put together at their shop nearby. Now, next to the massive dirt jump course is a shop that Heath can call his own to start building cars at a more rapid pace. He was never one to follow exact styles and traditions and built to his own style, on his own schedule. Now he looks to build with his friends and with a purpose.
Currently, Heath is wrapping up a few hot rods with some custom and traditional styling. When the Chevy truck left the country to its new owner in Australia, Heath got heavy into building a roadster using only vintage Ford speed parts sourced from friends. The goal was to road trip the car across the country to The Race of Gentlemen in Wildwood, New Jersey to race the roadster beachside on the sand alongside many other traditional vintage hot rods. And of course, stopped to ride some BMX trails and jumps with friends along the way.
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