Chip off the old engine block
It’s not everyday we get to meet one of our heroes.
But Ken Friesen, owner of Calgary’s Concours Collision Centres recently had that opportunity. Enter Chip Foose. Foose, legendary automobile guru and star of the television show Overhaulin’, works closely with 3M and its collision repair products division. His company, Foose Design, is based in Huntington Beach, Calif. He was here as part of the 3M Foose Global tour, and his only Canadian stop was Calgary.
While here, he visited several locations, including Gasoline Alley at Heritage Park. But one of his stops was at Concours Collision’s central location.
“Foose is a hero of mine,” Friesen said. “I’ve seen him at various other auto events ( such as SEMA in Las Vegas). He’s an important man in the autobody industry. I have a tremendous amount of respect for him.”
Besides meeting Foose, who Friesen described as a “regular jeans and T- shirt kind of guy who is absolutely passionate about cars,” the body shop proprietor has plenty of reasons to celebrate.
In 1980, Friesen founded the first Concours Collision Centre on 42 Ave. S. E., and Foose helped recognize the 35th anniversary during his visit.
Friesen opened a second Concours facility in 2001, and the highly advanced Royal Oak location was ready for business in 2012.
“A couple of years ago, Jim McManes ( of the McManes Automotive Group) came to me and asked if I’d like to be a part of his new South Trail Auto Mall,” Friesen said. “I wasn’t interested in renting space, but I was interested in buying a piece of property in the mall.”
What Friesen was able to secure is a small parcel of land, a tiny bit more than a half- acre.
“It’s not big enough for a full shop,” Friesen said. “But the central ( 42 Ave.) location wasn’t running at full capacity, so I decided the South Trail shop would be a small repair centre, and the larger fixes would get trucked to the central location.”
Bumpers, headlights and other non- structural body repair will be looked after at the South Trail shop.
“I designed the facility to make use of every square inch of the property,” Friesen said. “There are some unique features, and it will utilize a production system that will roll cars through in less than a day.”
Friesen realized, though, that he would also have to renovate and slightly reconfigure his central shop with the introduction of two production lines — a rapid repair line for smaller jobs and a main line for larger repairs. He said the two lines allow for a more balanced flow of work as vehicles move through the shop.
To make the changes, Friesen had to replace an older paint booth. He also cleaned and painted the floors, upgraded the lighting and installed high- quality “point of use” tooling.
At Concours, auto- body technicians don’t have to maintain their own set of tools. Instead, everything is to hang on sliding tool boards that can move along with a job. Friesen enjoys mentoring youths who are interested in the auto- body repair industry, and learning the jobs with good quality tools helps make a difference.
“The tooling helps bring young people coming into the industry up to speed so much faster and easier,” Friesen said.
Concours has also invested in a bay where the only work that takes place will be specialized aluminum body repair — made necessary by the introduction of vehicles such as the new Ford F- 150.
While visiting Concours, Foose spoke about his auto career. He got started working with his dad at the family body shop. Before he was 10, Foose was learning the secrets of auto bodywork.
To further expand his horizons in the late 1980s, Foose attended Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, and graduated with honours. He went on to design and build hotrods with Boyd Coddington, opened his own shop and studio with Foose Design and also worked with Disney on both Cars movies and Disney California’s new Cars Land theme park.
While at Concours, Foose sketched a Lakester race car concept in less than 25 minutes — the finished drawing will be framed and hung in the reopened Concours Collision central location.
Friesen said, “Chip is such a humble guy, and thanks to 3M, it was a real privilege to have him here.”