People of RPM

Kassidy Nixon, of Lillington, North Carolina, was only 15 when she got her dilapidated 1984 Chevy K10 pickup. But she had a supportive family and the kind of unique mechanical confidence that comes when you’re a homeschooled farm kid who grows up fixing stuff with your dad. “It had a blown transmission and 43,000 on…

Just like rock or jazz is to pop, pickup truck racing runs counter to stock car racing’s mainstream appeal. Modern fans love the rebellious nature of the sport. The trucks look different, drive different, and take fast and furious racing to another fun level of spectacle. But what many don’t know, Israel Acosta says, is…

At his internship gig in Auburn, Indiana, Lucas Cauley has learned that not all historical research is created equally. Two to four times every week, 22-year-old Lucas Cauley breaks from his grad-level history studies at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, to make an 80-mile trek north. There, at the Early Ford V-8 Foundation Museum…

When he was 14 years old, Kevin Kyle bought a rusty Chevy S-10 pickup for $500 and another one for parts. His stepdad owned a hot rod shop, so together the two did all the needed body work—new fenders, new doors, everything. Kyle took his driver’s test in the S-10, which he still drives today.…

Randy Elber has traveled a long way from the beater LeMans he transformed in a friend’s garage. From Randy Elber’s place in Mount Kisco, New York, it’s a 45-minute drive to Fishkill. For the entire trip, Randy can’t keep the smile off his face, because he knows what awaits him. Just off U.S. Route 9…

A high-school field trip brought Brianna Wickard to Lowell’s Boat Shop, founded in 1793, and an apprenticeship in boat building. Back at Amesbury High School, Brianna Wickard easily could have been voted “Girl Most Likely to Never Pick Up a Tool.” The self-described “musical theater nerd” was terrified of shop class. “I was always the…

LIFETIME LEARNER Boyhood experiences and genuine curiosity are Michael Krukowski’s keys to success. By any measure, Michael Krukowski had a perfect upbringing for a kid who loves cars. His father was a car nut, and the two made regular weekend trips to swap meets and car shows. When Krukowski was 10, his dad opened a…

Trevor Andis says his first challenge as an engineering student at Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) was to design an AC generator wind turbine on a budget of $10. Bragging rights went to anyone who could build a transformer that produced more than 32 volts, the class record. “Mine produced 166 volts,” he remembers. “I…