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How We Began
Rhodes Performance Machine is the result of the Rhodes family's involvement in racing. In 1964 Ron and his father, Merle, built their first race car. Although neither of them drove, they had a great group of drivers to work with. Among them were: Wild Bill Ghastley, Duffy Johnson, Bill Rufner, Dean Barron, Roscoe Barnes, Tom Serokman, Dave Hite and Billy Eash.
In 1979 Ron and Merle quit building cars and became spectators for a year until Ron's oldest son, Scott, built his first race car at age 16. Ron's youngest son, Chris, helped out in the garage even though it would be a few years before he was even allowed in the pits.
Over a period of years Ron's two car garage became filled with equipment for machining their own engines. It wasn't long before other racers began bringing their engines to be machined and built.
Many years later in December 1986, Ron and his two sons decided to open the doors to the public. At first the shop only had evening and weekend hours, because at the time Ron worked for AT&T, Scott worked for PPG Industries and Chris was a senior in high school. When Chris graduated in June 1987, the shop acquired regular business hours.
By 1990 Ron's two car garage was over crowded with equipment. It was time to expand. They broke ground in 1991 for a 7,000 square foot shop in Somerset Township.
What started out as a hobby 30 some years ago has become successfully known as Rhodes Performance Machine. |
