We were lucky to catch up with Brandon Yousko recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Brandon, thanks for joining us today. What’s something crazy on unexpected that’s happened to you or your business
Firstly let me say that my business should be a show cause we have a lot of crazy stories but mainly gunna focus on the one that got me pegged as the manic mechanic and made my business take off. So I’ve been doing crazy things for years but this one was a bunch of emotions built up I was freshly rehabilitated off of drugs and alcohol and just served my divorce papers I could not sleep at all I was about to start my manic episode which usually ends bad for me. I a week earlier order a brand new Mopar 6.2 hellcrate supercharged engine for a replacement in a hellcat red eye the customer ended up not having the funds to do the build and I had a 1991 Chevrolet s-10 sitting in the shop well one night I got a idea which was not a good idea. To swap this engine and components into this s-10 it took about 3 days of working about 18 hours a day with very little sleep when I finally got it finished I wanted to test its power I ended up not reinforcing the chassis and frame. And when I stepped on it I took off and ended up flipping the vehicle wasn’t hurt had a harass I installed in the cab just a few cuts from glass. Anyways one of my workers decided to video this test drive and post it on TikTok with the caption manic episodes it circulated for about a week and got a lot of attention TikTok ended up taking the video down but not before cruising times seen it which started the article the manic mechanic of hot rot auto
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I own and run an automotive custom shop in cortland known as hot rot auto if you can dream it we can build it. The process goes as followed we have a warehouse where we do all the work and a check in/inspection shop that use to be the old driving school you need to have a appointment and we will not take people looking to get a oil change or tune up we are not that kind of shop once you set up the appointment we either call or email you you bring your id and few pictures of your vehicle and your ideas you meet with either our receptionist or the owner we discuss your ideas your budget and time frame and if we can come to a agreement the next thing is a vehicle inspection you bring the vehicle to our office that has a single car bay that we pull it in and completely inspect it and if other issues come up we advise you on it we ask that the customer stays so issues can be worked out right then and there if we need to adjust anything we do it right then and there print out a contract and sign then we bring either our rollback or trailer and pick up the car and move it to our warehouse where it gets added to the line up the warehouse is climate controlled and all parking is indoors we don’t disclose the location of our warehouse until contract is signed and deposit is made we then work on the car then once finished contact you to have you pick it up or we drop it off at which time the final bill is due we are working with a few places to set up a payment plan situation and that’s that.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
I had to pivot both my personal and business life when I found out I was getting a divorce I talked up my ex wife and how everyone would love her and told a lot of customers I took a break to get married ended up having to explain a lot.
We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.
A lot of partners I just reached out to I knew the sold good quality products and I didn’t wanna cut corners a lot of dinners and meeting till we could strike a deal.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Hotrotauto.com
Image Credits
Thanks to the customers for sending In amazing photos of these beautiful cars we worked on together