Kustom …. By Kyzer

In-depth

15 Feb

Up around the back streets in one of Shepparton’s industrial precincts sits a neat, tree-fronted building with a ‘temporary’ sign proclaiming it to be the home of Kyzer Kustoms. Although in the building for four years, Kyser Kustoms owners, Luke and Sheree McIntosh have been under the pump to the point where they have not had time to erect something more permanent. That is A-GOOD-SIGN!

Leaving school, Luke did a TAFE course in Motorsport and then went to Brad Jones Racing in Albury as a fabricator, also doing the tyres at race meets. A year and a half later he got homesick and returned to Shepparton where he picked up work driving for Frank Gattuso Transport, eventually doing interstate. Along the way he suggested that he could ‘trick’ up a couple of Frank’s trucks. “It started off with louvre grills on a couple of his Western Stars. Eventually we did a whole truck for the Alexandra Truck Show some five years ago. That was a K104 which we did it in collaboration with Shep Motor Panel and it won the age group it was in.

**Craig Trezise from Ballarat had his 900 worked over by Kyzer.**

“It snowballed from there. We started advertising the 104 on eBay as a package kit. Mark Tobin Transport in Brisbane saw and liked it. For his first truck we sent the bits and pieces up to Brisbane for him to fit. Eventually we did a brand-new K 200 for him. That’s when we moved out of the 10 x 4 shed at home and moved into our first premises. And it’s gone from there.”

The business doesn’t stop with just fabrication. “We can organise full paint jobs and scroll work. We are effectively a full in-house shop for anyone who may want to trick up their truck from metalwork, paint, scrolling, lights, to wheels.”

“We’re in a good location we feel. It’s quite easy to get off the truck bypass. We’re just around the corner from Thomson’s (Kenworth dealer) as well, for whom we do a lot of work.

**Thompson's, The Shepparton Kenworth Dealer, often use Kyzer's services.**

Frank Gattuso’s trucks are regularly winning awards at truck shows around Victoria, a nice reflection of the work that Luke and his team at Kyzer Kustom put in. In the short time Luke has been in business, he has put his mark in some way or another upon well over 2000 trucks.

**Frank Gattuso’s multi-award winning Peterbilt, thanks to Kyzer Kustoms and a lot of cleaning and polishing**

It’s a big step for a young couple to risk everything and step out into business on their own.

Sheree: “I think that’s why we started off in a garage to see how Luke would go. He did really good work and keep getting more and more. That was word-of-mouth back then. That was when we decided to take the plunge and hire a small shed – which was bigger than the garage. 12 months later we had to move to a bigger shed which we also outgrew and moved to a bigger shed for another 12 months. Now we’re here and we’re not moving again!”

**Black and chrome was Gillieston Fresh's wish, and Kyzer delivered.**

Where does Kyzer come from?

“We heard the name Kyzer many years ago on a TV show,” said Sheree. “We liked it and kept it in the back of our minds. Then when we started the company we needed a name. We always knew if we had a son we would name him Kyzer but then we needed a name for the company and we thought, well, why not? Then followed Kyzer our son. It won’t be a problem if he decides to take over the business sometime in the future.”

The couple also invested in a laser cutter. “It’s worth around the price of a house but it streamlines the business and allows us to cut when we want to, rather than waiting for someone else to do it for us. It allows us to do a lot more difficult stuff. It really helps in our design work. Some gear we can pull ‘off the shelf’, but one in ten truck owners want something completely left of field, something brand-new that you have to design. Everyone is looking for that individuality.”

The Kyzer Kustom ‘Shed’ has seen some great trucks, such as the 1987 SAR with an 892 V8 belonging to the Cricelli family at Lancaster. It only had 147,000 km on the clock! (Yes, you did read that correctly.) The paintwork was original and in as-new condition but the family decided it could do with a bit of tricking up. “They are orchardists and only run it into the Cannery in Shepparton for three months of the season. We replaced the original exhausts with chromed stainless steel, adding Chrome stacks, wrapping the tanks and a few more odds and sods.”

**Cricelli's '87 T610 SAR undergoing the Kyzer Kustom treatment.**

Fred’s Transport has also dropped in a couple of T909’s for the Kyzer Kustom-ization.

“We modified the front bumper by putting a lip on the bottom, added a swing plate and mudflaps. We’ve done the lights under the grill, put a swan on the bonnet, and changed the grill mesh. There’s a stainless visor. It’s got Vortex air cleaners on it with air cleaner pipe covers. It’s got mirror lights, 7 inch monster stacks and stainless wings. It’s got stainless guards the tanks have all been wrapped with hundred mill stainless straps and we have done stainless steel steps. There’s a stainless battery box on it as well.”