Brandon Hegedus is known for taking the title of car enthusiast, to a whole new level.
As an independent classic car builder, he started by building “Rat Rods,” cars that look like something out of the movie franchise Mad Max, but later he moved to building replica classic race cars that are hyper-rare in the world today.
His love for cars has always been strong. While spending lots of time in the garage from his youth, Hegedus discovered his unique skill of re-creating some of the world’s most sought after automobiles.
“I like the early eras, the hotrod stuff, and then the sixties European race cars they’re beautiful, they just nailed their lines of just, just pure beauty and the engines, the power behind them,” he said.
Hegedus says he’s always been drawn to projects containing rich and in-depth history, cars that would otherwise be seen as valuable in the car community. Re-creating these unique vehicles from scratch, his work also allows him to take his timely designs out on the streets.
“The cars I’ve completed up to this point, I have kept and enjoyed on the street and sometimes ice race in the winter. My average time for keeping a car before getting the itch to sell it and use the money to build something else is about two years,” he said.
Currently, Hegedus has directed his focus to working on a Ferrari 330 P4, a sports car that went head-to-head with Ford’s MKII GT in the historic 24-hour race at Le Mans in 1967.
To honour this history and heritage, he makes sure his replicas match as closely as possible to the overall accuracy and specifications of the original cars they are inspired from.
“I mean, hot rods and things, you can just kind of, you wing it, you just kind of build whatever you want and whatever comes to mind. Whereas when you are building something like this [Ferrari 330 P4], I mean, there’s a history and a pedigree and there’s a different kind of respect to it that you need to give it,” he said.
Prior to the Ferrari, Hegedus has also made lots of other impressive cars such as a model of the 1962 Ferrari 156 “Sharknose,” and 1966 Ferrari Dino 206 S/SP.
Building these cars to replicate their historic perfection, has meant that he has had to use some materials and methods that were foreign to him. This evolved new areas to learn and educate himself on to keep with the original integrity these cars once had.
“It was very different than anything I’d done, hot rod wise. And then also the fact that you’re working with tube, which I had never done as far as a tube chassis goes in structure, there’s a bunch of engineering and stuff involved in the suspension and a lot of geometry and stuff I had to learn,” he said.
Hegedus’s passion for this niche, is one of the most unique hobbies and takes great skill and patience to reach a final and functional product. With new projects on the horizon, he plans to keep creating these historical and authentic creations.