Hot Rods by JSK – Lone Star Cool
Jeff Kinsey of Hot Rods by JSK is a no frills, no fuss kind of hot rod builder. He will pass you on the freeway and smile as he goes by, foot to the wood. He will be the first to crack a beer with you at the end of the day and talk shop. He will help you get your car sorted out if you have roadside trouble. He just so happens to also build really, really nice cars. He’s one of the best in the Lone Star State. That is a fact.
What’s even cooler is that he’s in the same Cumby, Texas-based shop he worked in right out of high school, albeit a little more expanded these days.
Kinsey says his family wasn’t really into cars, but his brother messed around with a few and that set the hook. He took a job doing repairs at his current location when he graduated in 1986, back when it was just an automotive shop. While in school he also built a T-bucket and brought it to the Goodguys event at South Fork Ranch. That was back in the 1990s when hot rods were bound by billet, pastel colors and lots of other ugly fare. But Jeff never followed those trends.
Over the years he’s added on to the facility several times, and currently employs four people, with his wife Traci handling the books. They do everything in-house, including fabrication, paint, and even upholstery. They are a tight knit operation with Jeff overseeing every phase of the build process insuring only the highest quality cars roll out of the shop.
The shop recently finished up a phenomenal ’55 Olds for George Poteet which was well received at the Goodguys Lone Star Nationals taking home a Builder’s Choice award. Kinsey also has a slew of other cars and project fodder waiting in the wings, and if you need a fully tricked out ’47 Metro milk truck that will turn heads, you need to hit him up. He’s got the perfect one that needs finishing.