We had the good fortune of connecting with Chuck Stubbings and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Chuck, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Our whole business started by accident! I purchased a classic car for my 40th birthday. It was a nice looking 1966 Ford Mustang that I had always wanted since being a kid. I had no business buying a classic car because I knew nothing about cars. Turned out I was the sucker who got taken advantage of and I way over payed for a piece of junk. The car looked pretty but needed everything. I needed a way to pay for the full restoration process. I couldn’t spend my family money, my daughter’s college fund was out of the question! I needed to make money to not loose money on my own stupid purchase. Turned out you can rent classic cars to film companies and photographers and weddings. So I knew some people and put the car out there for work. It did really really well and started to make money . So we would use the money and jobs to redo the car and restore it. We had fun and turned it into a family project . My wife and daughter helped me in the garage restoring Matilda the mustang. After we finished restoring the car it did so well and was so busy we decided to do it again with a 1978 VW bus . Same process with the restoration and it also did very well. So we decided to make a real
Business out of this idea . We got a business license . My wife designed the website and we were on our way. The thought process was kinda super simple. Collect two iconic cars from each decade 50s, 60s,70s,80s. Make them available for production and photo shoots and have a profitable collector car business. It’s a job I will do full time once I retire from my current job as a Firefighter /Paramedic with the Huntington Beach Fire Department. It’s a great family business because my wife does the social
Media , accounting and website and I do the repairs and maintenance on the vehicles. Our collection is up to 6 cars and a classic boat. The business name is inspired by my wife who desperately wanted to move from to Chicago to the Beach in California.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Life isn’t always a clear path. Our road has been very windy one. I started out as an entertainer and toured with Ringling Brothers Circus as an entertainer for years. Then I became an actor for 10years, I eventually became a Firefighter/ paramedic in Southern California. That strange road and love for classic cars has led to this odd niche business. The fire department job has educated me on all things mechanical and the ability to maintain our classic cars. The acting and circus life has helped us understand how to work with production companies and how to behave on film sets and how the entertainment business works. My wife’s career as an art director for orange coast magazine has been so helpful! She has the skills to manage budgets, accounting, web design, photography, and social media . This keeps all our expenses in house. The profit margin on what we are doing is razor thin . If we had to farm out all of our skills from mechanic work to media this business would completely fail! It hasn’t been an easy road for sure ! We are most proud of our progress and professionalism. Our vehicles are top quality and well maintained. We have added many safety upgrades to all the vehicles. They all have disc brakes, three point seatbelts, and hands free Bluetooth. We provide a top quality service. It’s really quite difficult to keep our fleet up to date and safe and running properly! Many late nights in the garage !! We are also proud of being involved with so many important events in people’s lives. Our vehicles add to peoples weddings, anniversaries and special life moments. This year alone we have had vehicles on many music videos, including Sabrina Carpenters hit Espresso which features our classic boat and our 1966 ford mustang convertible. We also have a car on Netflix.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
We love to take our friends and quests out for a cruise in our classic little boat to Newport harbor , or Long Beach harbor . We also take friends tubing in Mission Bay with our 1957 Classic wooden boat! We also love cruising PCH in one of our classic cars and showing people the amazing California coast via classic convertible.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Our little business was inspired and possible thanks to my lovely and smart wife Kelly Lewis. Her support of my crazy ideas and her amazing skills make it possible. Also our business partners the Geigers who without their help and skills we couldn’t do this. It’s a very unique set of special people who make this possible and fun.

Website: https://Beachgypsyclassics.com

Instagram: @beachgypsyclassics

Image Credits
Flipsh0t
Wildandsageco

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