ShareThisA terrible accident led Mike McArdle to launch a new business, one that has seen revenues double and yielded unimagined perks -- including a role for himself and his art in a major new feature film.
McArdle opened Brokeneck Kustoms, a custom car and motorcycle shop, after an on-the-job fall while delivering water left him nearly paralyzed. He built up his business by airbrushing anything that came his way, from surfboards, cars and motorcycle tanks to swordfish, a child's wheelchair and a golf cart.
Last year, revenues at Brokeneck jumped to $320,000 from about $160,000 in 2007. McArdle, a hobbyist artist all his life, has become the go-to-guy for high-end, far-out custom designs and paint jobs. And his cars will be featured in Benjamin Bratt's new movie, "La Mission," making its West Coast premiere April 23 on opening night of the San Francisco International Film Festival. McArdle himself appears briefly in the film.
"I'm growing this business," said the 45-year-old McArdle, standing on the floor of his 6,000-square-foot warehouse. "I'm living my dreams."
None of it is easy, noted McArdle, who is big and gregarious but likes nothing better than working in solitude on a tricky paint job. The shop's volume of work calls for seven full-time employees, but McArdle's budget allows for four people. Revenue held steady for the first three months of this year, but McArdle says the climate has radically changed.
"A year ago, we were able to easily get a $100,000 small-business loan," McArdle said. "Now, forget it. You can't get a $15,000 credit line. We're a little nervous. But we're determined to make it work by working more creatively."
McArdle's business partner is Jesse Campillo, a self-taught welder and designer whose love of custom cars began in childhood. Campillo manages the shop's payroll and inventory, and works on cars. Their customers range from serious car collectors and weekend road warriors to ballplayers and rappers.
"Mike and Jesse do all of my custom work," said Delanie Walker, a tight end for the San Francisco 49ers. "Whatever you can imagine, they can do."
They recently worked on Walker's Iroc-Z Camaro, repainting the car, fitting it with new ostrich-leather seats and finding a way to have Walker's signature burned onto chrome plates and installed on the inside and outside of the car.
"The artwork Mike does is amazing," Walker said. "I'm addicted. And, with Mike and Jesse, you can tell they love what they do."
Joe "Sparky" Bullock, a major custom-car collector in the Bay Area -- with 20 hot rods and street rods -- met McArdle seven years ago.
"Mike had a tiny booth at the car show and was handing out fliers," said Bullock. "What caught my eye was he had this big sailfish that he had painted flames on. I thought that was pretty cool."
Bullock started giving McArdle small jobs and soon entrusted him with bigger projects. McArdle recently worked on Bullock's prized 1941 Willys Coupe, painting it with gold leafing and elaborate graphics. The car is winning major awards at West Coast car shows.
"He's done a tremendous amount of work for me," Bullock said. "There are other people in the Bay Area who do this, but Mike has real talent and imagination."
McArdle had worked for nearly 14 years for a bottled-water delivery service when, in 1997, he slipped on steep, dry-rotted steps. He ended up fracturing two vertebrae and was deemed 45 percent disabled.
"I'm a big guy," he said with a laugh. "When I fall, I don't fall lightly." He eventually won a lawsuit against the building's owner and rolled the money into his first small garage.
"My whole life had been about making my art happen so I could give up driving a truck," McArdle said. "This accident was a twist of fate. I had always been a laborer, but could no longer do heavy labor. It made me turn to my art."
Campillo and McArdle share more than a love of cars. Campillo, too, had a crushing accident. "I was diving into a lake in eighth grade and I hit the bottom and crushed vertebrae three and four," said Campillo, who came up with the name Brokeneck Kustoms.
"We're now at a point in our business where expectations are high," Campillo said, standing near a 1964 Impala Super Sport owned by actor Bratt. "There is no room for errors. For our customers, a car is not just a car. It is something they have envisioned and dreamed of since they were young."
McArdle looked around the shop and said, "This recession has put more pressure on us to work more hours. But, this is the funnest job I ever imagined. I've had customers come in to pick up cars and they start crying. I live for that wow factor."
(E-mail Julian Guthrie at jguthrie(at)sfchronicle.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
Must credit the San Francisco Chronicle
