Hundreds of classic cars are cruising the streets of Saskatoon for the annual Show and Shine Weekend, but Saturday also marked the grand opening for a car enthusiast and his hotrod shop.
Rods Hotrods Customs and Sales features classic cars including muscle cars, hotrods and originals – all for sale. They have been in operation since April, but because of COVID-19, they decided to have their grand opening on Saturday.
The shop’s owner Rod Deschner said what started as a passion, evolved.
“I’ve been doing this for a long time as a hobby. My passion took over and it got a little bigger than I could handle out of my house,” Deschner said.
His father said business has been booming and, as a result, the stock is constantly changing.
Bob said they refer to the Shop as the Costco of Hotrod shops because if there is a classic car you’re wanting they likely have it.
Rod said so far the duo has sold around 1,500 cars since becoming involved with classic cars many years ago. The new shop has been opened for business since April. There are 23 in-house cars and 15 in their storage location.
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“If you come in and you like something you better take it, because tomorrow it may not be here,” Bob Deschner said. “There is a lot of turnover.”
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Marv Friesen is no stranger to cars, especially classic Ford Mustangs. He said it’s awesome to have a shop right here in Saskatoon. He says as far as he knows, it’s the only indoor hotrod shop in Saskatchewan.
“Where you can actually trade your hotrod in and buy a different one or buy one they have,” said Friesen. “It’s really exciting for the city and the province to have a facility like that.’
Friesen said he would have loved to open a hotrod shop but couldn’t find the time. He added he will be taking his son to the shop often.
“Oh yeah, I know Rod well. I will be taking my son to the shop frequently.”
Rod mentioned the ultimate is finding and purchasing a car and scratching it off the wish list.
“The rush for me is to go find the cars, that’s the thrill,” Rod said.
He added they will look into expanding their business with more focus on parts and potentially buying and selling outside Canada.
“Right now we buy from mainly close to home,” said Rod. “Alberta, Manitoba, B.C., I’ve bought cars throughout the country. We have also shipped cars to many places in Canada.”
The family also owns Family Pizza. Rod and Bob agree if it wasn’t for their families none of this would be possible.
“My wife gave me the push to get this business going,” Rod said. “She’s helping run the restaurant while I do this.”
He said he was surprised no one else had opened a Hotrod shop sooner, but he’s happy to take on the responsibility.
The annual Show and Shine event took place this weekend, along with it – a Saskatoon tradition known as “Cruise Weekend” which typically sees vehicle traffic volumes increase on 8th Street during the evening hours.
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