Sam Hard
From the age of 9, Sam worked on cars with Derek at their house garage. Sam's first American car was a 1977 Cutlass and Sam has also owned a 1982 Pontiac Trans Am like the one in Knight Rider. This car stayed with Sam for a long time and when talk of selling the car came up the answer was no. Sam did eventually sell the car to a neighbor. Sam trained and qualified as a mechanic with Mercedes and works on all of the cars that come through the garage. Sam is also currently in possession of some of the panels from Black Hawk Down and a Door from The Fast and The Furious.
Derek Hard
Derek told me that his love of cars began with him drawing cars at while at school. At 17, he bought his first car, a Chrysler Newport custom. This has been followed by other such as a Dodge Ram, a Ford F150 Pickup truck, a 3 litre Ford Capri. Derek trained as a mechanic and worked for Renault and went on to work on trucks for Dateless, a Piston Fitter and Southampton council. Derek has also worked on boats and heavy plant machinery. His philosophy is "if it's broke you have to fix it". Derek's knowledge of cars is vast and wide. Derek works solely on the American cars that come through the Hard Up Garage
The Hard Up Garage
Sam started his business 9 years ago, the name came about after Sam's gran would say the names Hard, Hard by name, Hard Up by nature. Sam liked the idea of having a garage that worked like the Gas Monkey Garage from Fast and Loud. Every Monday before work, Sam would take a projector to work and show his staff the latest episode of Fast & Loud.
Derek told me that his love of cars began with him drawing cars at while at school. At 17, he bought his first car, a Chrysler Newport custom. This has been followed by other such as a Dodge Ram, a Ford F150 Pickup truck, a 3 litre Ford Capri. Derek trained as a mechanic and worked for Renault and went on to work on trucks for Dateless, a Piston Fitter and Southampton council. Derek has also worked on boats and heavy plant machinery. His philosophy is "if it's broke you have to fix it". Derek's knowledge of cars is vast and wide. Derek works solely on the American cars that come through the Hard Up Garage
The Hard Up Garage
Sam started his business 9 years ago, the name came about after Sam's gran would say the names Hard, Hard by name, Hard Up by nature. Sam liked the idea of having a garage that worked like the Gas Monkey Garage from Fast and Loud. Every Monday before work, Sam would take a projector to work and show his staff the latest episode of Fast & Loud.
Sam and Derek went on a trip to America that would be pivotal for the Hard Up Garage. Derek took Sam to El Passo Texas and met Micheal Lightbourn, one of the most respected car finders in America. While discussing cars with Micheal, Sam said that he would love to meet Richard Rawlings. Michael said that Richard was a friend and that he would call him to arrange a meeting. Sam and Derek were skeptical but when Richard Rawlings answered the phone and agreed to meet Sam two days later they were amazed. Sam made the 3000 mile journey from El Passo to Dallas to meet Richard Rawlings. Sam had to wait a while but once they met, they went drinking. Sam and Richard have met several times since then and Richard knows what the Hard Up Garage is about.
Once back in El Passo, Sam and Derek were looking at buying two Plymouth Roadrunners and to to a father and son roadtrip across America. Michael then told them that "they were thinking with the wrong head" as this would not make them money. They eventually bought a Ratrod and a Chevelle. The Ratrod was built by Street Toys in Juarez Mexico and made money, they broke even on the Chevelle. These would be the first two Hard Up cars and this is where their reputation began. Since this trip, Sam has gone on to meet people like Jay Leno, Chip Foose and Slick from Highway To Sell, who invited Sam to help finish his car for SEMA 2015. While on a drinking session during SEMA 2015 Sam was challeged to a Ratrod build of for this years SEMA. Thanks to Slick and his wife Jane, Sema 2016 wouldn't have been possible. They had taken me under there wing and shown me the road to success as a business. Sam will fly out to Mexico to help build the car at the beginning of October. All of this was made possible by Michael Lightbourn. Sam and Derek's respect and gratitude towards Michael Lightbourne is huge and on the Hard Up website he is described as The El Passo Connection.
Once back in El Passo, Sam and Derek were looking at buying two Plymouth Roadrunners and to to a father and son roadtrip across America. Michael then told them that "they were thinking with the wrong head" as this would not make them money. They eventually bought a Ratrod and a Chevelle. The Ratrod was built by Street Toys in Juarez Mexico and made money, they broke even on the Chevelle. These would be the first two Hard Up cars and this is where their reputation began. Since this trip, Sam has gone on to meet people like Jay Leno, Chip Foose and Slick from Highway To Sell, who invited Sam to help finish his car for SEMA 2015. While on a drinking session during SEMA 2015 Sam was challeged to a Ratrod build of for this years SEMA. Thanks to Slick and his wife Jane, Sema 2016 wouldn't have been possible. They had taken me under there wing and shown me the road to success as a business. Sam will fly out to Mexico to help build the car at the beginning of October. All of this was made possible by Michael Lightbourn. Sam and Derek's respect and gratitude towards Michael Lightbourne is huge and on the Hard Up website he is described as The El Passo Connection.
Currently Sam has filmed a Pilot Show of Hard Up Garage and their has been interest from TV Companies.
Below are some of the cars that the Hard Up Garage are working on and have for sale as well as some of Sam's memorabilia.
Below are some of the cars that the Hard Up Garage are working on and have for sale as well as some of Sam's memorabilia.
Ford F1 Pickup with Airbrush work for sale
Dodge Ram
Mk 2 Continental. This one could prove to be a very rare car, only 444 of these were made. This one is missing something that the other 443 had. Lincoln are investigating.
45th Anniversary Camaro V6
A Mini that has been customized for one of their customers. Superb paint job and a good will make this owners day.
A Mk 1 RS2000 Mexico with a Burton Engine
Allan teaching Dave the Apprentice about stripping engines down.
A fire damaged F1 Tyre, from a Tyrell that was raced and crashed by Ukyo Katayama
Wheels from Detroit Steel Wheel Co.
Panels from Black Hawk Down
A Door from the Fast and The Furious
Hard Up wall art
Just as things were finishing off for the morning, I mentioned to Sam and Derek that i had driven a number of American cars and I asked what was it like to drive a Ratrod, they answered "Would you like to drive it"
