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Sport Truck: Who originally got you into cars and trucks and can take credit for your hands-on interest?
Foose: My father who liked to draw and started his own shop in Santa Barbara, when he was 14. I watched him, and from age 3 on up, I started drawing with him, and it led me to building when I was 7 years old.
Sport Truck: How would you describe your design style?Foose: Timeless. I like to build vehicles with good design that are not trendy.
Sport Truck: What is your favorite color to paint a vehicle?
Foose: I don't have a particular color that is my favorite. I generally pick a color that fits the needs of the car and owner. Each owner has a character that I go along with and tailor to their needs. The color is not the statement, the design comes first.
Sport Truck: What was your favorite vehicle that you have built?
Foose: The next one. I am always trying to make my client happy and expanding from there. If you go backward, you are getting lazy.
Sport Truck: What difficulties have you run into with your career?
Foose: That you are only as good as your clients. Limitations are how far your client will let you go.
Sport Truck: What have you learned from your experience in the business?
Foose: Teamwork. Everyone needs to get along and have the same goal. It's all about the different personalities that pull together for the same objective. I always want to use professionals who are having fun building something that they like.
Sport Truck: What do you think was the key to your success?
Foose: It's going to show if the builder loves what he is doing or not. For me, it would be loving what I do. You can't see it as another job or the quality of the work will show that in it. I choose my builders by those who are passionate about working on their projects.
Sport Truck: What advice would you give someone who would like to build and design vehicles like yours?
Foose: Follow your heart, as I have done throughout my career.
Sport Truck: How old is your son, and is he influenced by you in the same way you were by your father?
Foose: My son Brock is 6 years old and is extremely into cars and likes to draw. I don't take him to my shop, and I haven't put him to work either, but eventually I can see him being influenced by me, like I was by my father.
Sport Truck: What vehicle would you build if given unlimited money?
Foose: At the time when I was working for Boyd, I tried to build something with a European flavor. I would build something with a Mercedes or Bugatti influence. A design like that would be like my "Hemisphere" design that I came up with in 1990, when I was at Art Center. It was a rendition of the modern early '30s coupe with a fast-back, and when you looked through the back glass, you would see a 426 Hemi with a Pantera trans axle. When I drew it at Art Center, one of its renderings went to Chrysler and was developed into the Prowler. But, I always wanted to build my coupe version of it. Now, RC2 (Racing Champions/Ertl) is now helping me fund the build of the car as a cross-promotional vehicle. It should be done and debuted at the '06 SEMA Show along with RC2's die-cast version of it.