PASS THE WRENCH

Welcome
Co-founders Kevin Brown and Steve Lazar have known each other for some twenty years and have been both strong family and business friends. Their daughters grew up together, and Max — Steve Lazar’s elementary school-age son — is the newest member of the family and already an eager and avid fan of what to him is a new and exciting hobby. (He’s so tuned into what Mantis Rodz is all about, his young eagle eyes spotted a Hot Wheels “Praying Mantis” die cast car across a broad aisle in a stocked-to-the-brim toy store!)

Brown and Lazar have always been looking for a way to start some kind of business together, but the timing and personal bandwidth only became right in 2007.

Founder Kevin Brown
My car addiction began in my backyard with a black, convertible '36 Ford. My buddies and I would play in the car without seats. The thing that most attracted me to the car was the image on the rumble seat lid; a mural and word "praying mantis." I was just six at the time, but from that day on I was hooked on cars.

As I got older, I would be up until midnight working on model cars. Memories of being in the garage handing my dad wrenches linger. I vividly recall my dad working on a red '62 Chevy BelAir Impala 2-Door Hardtop with 409, Dual-Quad, Posi-traction, and 4-Speed. When the finished car was ready for its maiden journey, it had to be pushed down the hill to start because the motor was so tight.

When I was 14, my parents gave me a '56 Chevy 2-Door Post that my dad and I worked on. I wanted a motorcycle, so I sold the car for $300 and bought a Suzuki 125. I worked on small gasoline engines and motorcycles for a couple of years and graduated to a '36 Ford 5-Window Coupe. It was white and hot rod maroon. While I was in metal shop, I built a floor board for it. I was a junior in high school at the time and my other classmates were building go-carts. I was even awarded “Sheet Metal Man of the Year” in 11th grade!

On the weekends during high school I helped a buddy of mine ― Steve Rasmussen ― rebuild a '39 Chevy 2-Door Opera Coupe. (We had been friends since birth. In fact Steve eventually bought the house I grew up-in which he stayed with us for a couple of summers in high school. To this day, Steve always seems to have a person or two that he is helping in that house, just as we helped him back in high school. Steve and I progressed from building model cars, to fussing with our motorcycles-to building the ’39 Chevy.

We also took "rod runs" over the weekends to various car shows. That's where I experienced first hand the “feel” of the car community. It was exciting to see people camping out, sharing stories and their passion about hot rods and classic cars. The highlight of my school days was being able to drive my mom's '57 Chevy Matador Bel Air 2-Door with red-and-white Hardtop. We often cruised Colby Avenue in Everett and Golden Gardens Park on the shore of Elliot Bay and drove through Taco Bell on countless Friday and Saturday nights in the red-and-white ’57 Chev. I even took my driver's test in that car.

I wasn't a brawler in high school, but the 6'7" senior center for our basketball team provoked me once, so I had to put him in his place. I was sent to the principal's office for “clean-up duty”. The vice principal knew that I was good with cars and trusted me to work on his chalk red '64 Ford Half-Ton Pick-Up. The clutch and pressure plate was frozen. I got them freed up and had his truck in running order quickly. My clean-up duty was limited that day.

After high school, I built a '72 Vega GT with a 215 cubic inch Olds Aluminum V-8 while going to sheet metal apprenticeship school. My father and I have owned a sheet metal company since 1988 and have helped build and restore several of my own cars and those of family, friends and business associates throughout the years.

Eventually, Steve Rasmusson and I bought a car together to fix and turn for profit. I ended up building 90% of the car in my garage and it morphed into the car it is today — the ’55 Handy Man Wagon, our "Praying Mantis". We both put money up for parts, collaborated on build ideas, did trades, whatever we needed to do to complete it. I ended up buying him out at the end to retain the car for its current use ― as the mascot for MantizRodz.com. This car just seems to have a higher purpose.

Thirty five years ago my dad's '55 Chevy was stolen. I recently helped him restore the Sebring Silver '55 2-Door, 150 Model that's pictured on this Mantis company site. Also shown in the photos accompanying this article is the '57 Chevy Bel Air, 2-Door that I restored for my mom. I am currently working on a '36 Ford Pickup that will be featured on the site.

Like most of you, I couldn’t "do rods" without encouragement from family or friends. Once my dad realized my affinity for sheet metal, he borrowed money against his house to help me start our architectural sheet metal shop in 1988 — Northwest Sheet Metal — which does high-end commercial and upscale residential metal work. Dad had had enough faith in me and my abilities to put his house and future on the line (crazy nut!)

But dad’s support wasn’t just financial, he also taught me true craftsmanship. He painted my mom’s ’57 back in 1976. He was one of the best painters in the Puget Sound area back then. He could lay down an enamel paint job (solid or metallic) that needed no rubbing at all. One of his friends liked to call him Michelangelo. Heck, he would paint model cars, bicycles, motorcycles, whatever we needed for me and my friends. My dad was the one that introduced Steve Rasmussen to the painting industry. Steve has had his own body shop now — Queen Anne Auto Body — for ten years.

Other friends have helped, too. Another Steve, Steve Razz, has painted cars for both my father and I, and his brother Kenny painted the Mantis.
I continue to find myself in that garage handing my dad that wrench nearly 40 years ago. Cars are fun to ride and a joy to build. It's a time to have a friend over and talk about family and old times. The journey in which one achieves the passion, the drive, the high is something to talk about for years and generations to come. The culture is in our veins.

Pass that wrench on and keep the car community alive. Mantis Rodz exists to help you do just that.

Co-Founder Steve Lazar
Even “normal” everyday folk can become car buffs and it's never too late to be passionate about something like the right automobile. I’m proof.

I was born in the mid 60's-and my first recollection of a classic piece of history on wheels was my dad's 1969 Dodge Charger. It was a brilliant purple with a white vinyl top.

My brother was the grease monkey in the family-having worked for a gas station his first 10 years of employment. He had a 1966 Dodge Coronet a 440 model with a 318 engine, and Crager rims with mag wheels — it was fast and loud. A few days after getting my license, this eager 16 year old borrowed his brother's car. I had a few friends in the Mopar and had the pedal to the metal. As I was rounding the corner, I saw the lights flashing of the police car. The officer said, "Son, I heard you long before I saw you." I was going 59 in a 35 and picked up my one and only speeding ticket that night.

My first car was a 1967 Chevelle Malibu that I borrowed from my dad. I gave him $20 for a down payment, but needed the $20 back for gas. We had a Mrs. Kravitz (the nosey neighbor lady on the 60’s TV comedy series Bewitched) next door. One day she was over at our house talking with my mom. She said, "I didn't know that Steve had his license." My mom replied, "Well, I didn't know that either." I had been making my driving debut for several months before I actually had my license. SSHHH! Don't tell anyone.

I was so proud of my car and took great care of it. One day I decided to put oil in it. After a few days, the car really began to smell. I told my brother about the problem. He lifted the hood and found my oil funnel melted to the manifold. At that moment I thought that if I get a flat tire — I'm selling the car! Instead, that time became yet another colorful incident in the thread of the tapestry of my life that has to do with cars. And we all have those threads.

Where We're Going With All This
With MantisRodz, you’re in the driver's seat and you decide how you want to cruise the "information highway". You just mouse over the objects in the innovative “live dashboard” masthead (including the hood ornament!)to navigate from one page to another. Each object brings up a selection lens. Just click to select that blog (column or content area). From any page, just move your curser back into the masthead illustration to instantly find, select and go to a new page.

To get started, go to the blog page Join Mantis by mousing over the instrument cluster on the masthead. You will need to obtain a Google ID, then request an Invitation to Blog by emailing the Request for Invitation form in the Join Mantis area. When you receive our acceptance, you then establish a User Name and Password. Once you are an approved MantisRodz Blogger, you Sign In at the top right corner of each screen (except About Us). This will let you interactively enjoy MantisRodz.com. (Signing in is unneccesary if you just want to passively visit our online "roadhouse".

This site uses a simple, effective blog engine, so go to the underscored Dashboard function at the top right of each screen to get acquainted with the posting tools you will use to be an active RodzReader and RodzBlogger.

Eventually, some pages will be open to everyone for viewing, others only to Registered Users; but during the premier of our online roadhouse, take a table anywhere you want!

The About Us page you are on is our exclusive soap box.

Join Mantis is where you tell us about yourself, determine the level of access and involvement you want with the MantisRodz.com community, and learn how to get started.

For controlled content blogs such as Buy & Sell, Eventz, Journal, Keep An Eye Out, Lifestyle, ShopTalk, Suppliers, and Lifestyle, just can email us your text and photos for consideration for us to post, or if you are a registered RodzBlogger, you will be able to more directly submit comments and new postings. After a quick review editors then paste your content into the right blog locations .(We do this, for instance, so that your posting of a really great supplier can appear in the right alphabetized Supplier category.)

MyRidz is an open content area where you can proudly blog about your rod, kustom or classic restoration project.

And if you so indicate your preference when you request your Invitation to Blog, you can converse with other RodzReaders on real time on the webchat blog ChatChannel . . . just as fast as your calloused, weld-sparks burned, sheet metal-scarred, fingerprints sanded-off fingers will carry you.

GearBag is a catalog of MantisRodz branded merchandise and portal to an order page.

Finally, nobody can be everything to everybody. So we also monitor and evaluate hundreds of car-related websites and incorporate Links to our favorite resources and solutions. Links (www.classicchevy.com) specifically related to the current topic or of limited time availability are listed inline in the text of each feature column; links that are broader resources (for instance, a directory of solutions site) or with a longer shelf life are included in the right sidebar column.

A quick word about editing ― we reserve the right to edit reader submissions on the basis of ABC (Accuracy, Brevity and Clarity) as well as appropriateness for family audiences, but opinions we let stand short of libel or slander. We may also retouch photo backgrounds for optimum visual impact, but not the cars themselves.

One quick reminder of Blog etiguette: take the time to include key words from your posting in the Labels box at the bottom of the input area; that way RodzReaders will be able to search and find your voice.

Because this is an interactive community, not just a column, Mantis Rodz cannot guarantee the efficacy or accuracy of any advisory content; you should consult expert providers before committing resources to any automotive solution.

Welcome to the Mantis Rodz online roadhouse. What it’ll be?