With the 4th season of The Crew Motorfest released on July 3rd, we're thrilled to put under the spotlight one of the most influential names in car customization: Ring Brothers.
Known for their meticulous craftsmanship and innovative designs, Ring Brothers have set the bar high in the automotive world.
In this interview, you'll discover their legacy, challenges, and the passion that drives their extraordinary creations. Customization is more than a hobby---it's an form of art, a unique expression of style and identity. From bold paint jobs to intricate details, every modification tells a story. The Crew Motorfest celebrates this culture, bringing the creativity and excitement into our open world for players to explore. Buckle up for an inspiring ride!
- Q1: Could you introduce yourself and tell us more about your story?
We are Mike and Jim Ring, the two brothers known as the Ringbrothers. As the youngest of seven kids, we were both born with a passion for building cars long before we were old enough to drive. As kids, we used to scavenge through the local junkyard and tinker with everything mechanical we could find with hopes of trying to get it to run. When Mike was 16 years old and Jim was 14, we had a Gran Torino that we would repaint in our mom's garage when she was at work. It would stink up the whole house, and our mom always knew when we tried to sneak in another paint job, regardless of all the shenanigans we did to kill the smell. In one month while in high school, we repainted the car every week. We rolled into the school parking lot every Monday morning, proud as peacocks, with what looked like a new car. We both spent a few years in the construction field before Jim started a fast oil change and collision repair shop in '93. A few months later, Mike hung up his tool belt to team up with Jim. Before we knew it, we were restoring a few cars, dragging them to car shows where everyone would call us those Ring brothers because they couldn't remember our names. Restoration work quickly bored us - too many rules. Plus, we thought these muscle cars needed better stances and a little more cool factor. Cutting into pristine cars made the purists crazy. Loving the controversy, we continued to push the boundaries. We're not a big shop, but we have managed to catch attention and have been fortunate enough to build cars for people around the world.
- Q2: Why did you decide to found Ringbrothers?
It was sort of an evolution. We're not the type who plan or look far down the road. You could say we live in the moment, probably more than we should. We'd be working on a collision repair and come across a cool detail or part that we had to have on our latest side project. As the work we put out from small-town Wisconsin got noticed, the more energy we put towards custom cars, but we never lost sight of the value collision repair brings to the table. To this day, collision repair makes up 10-20% of our business. It not only keeps the shop busy year-round, but it's also a great way to stay current with the technology OEs put out every year. Sometimes, we'd say to ourselves, "What were they thinking when they designed that?" And when we couldn't find something off the shelf, we'd make something better ourselves, like the adjustable, direct-fit billet hood hinges we invented.
We started a business 30 years ago that has taken on a completely different focus than we dared to imagine. Some might say our attention wanes with mundane; others say we're hell-bent on doing things our way and maybe breaking a few rules along the way. Whatever it is, it's led us down a very interesting path. From collision repair to making really cool cars badass to developing parts so everyday enthusiasts can step up their game on the street.
- Q3: What's the philosophy behind Ringbrothers?
We strive for the Ringbrothers brand to be synonymous with integrity and quality, merging form with function. Overdelivering is a big part of what we do, whether it's our craftsmanship, attention to detail, or relationships with customers, partners, and employees.
Cars (and trucks) from the past are cool. We make a point to not just change them for the sake of change, but instead to try to only enhance their beauty and reliability. To match the horsepower stuffed under the hoods, we pair it with a pissed-off, aggressive stance. If builders have a fingerprint, this would be ours. A key component in every build is that it has to drive great - from the moment the owner sits in the car and punches the accelerator, it needs to stick through the corners, finish strong, and hopefully turn a few heads along the way.
- Q4: What is your vision about car customization?
With our builds, we try to accentuate the lines of each build and shed the parts that would distract the eye. For us, it is a huge compliment when we see people return to look at our builds because most of the changes are so subtle that they often are missed at first glance. Even for someone very familiar with the factory version, it can turn into an Easter Egg hunt to find all the changes. It's a love for the intersection of design and technology that goes beyond customization and leverages the latest in material science and fabrication. In many ways, our vision centers around surpassing the possibility of bringing radical performance to classic cars.
- Q5: Can you describe your creative process and the way you iterate on your creations?
It's definitely a collaboration, but it ultimately starts with listening to what our customers want. Before we even tear the donor vehicle down, renderings are created based on several conversations with the customer, designer, fab team and us to ensure we're all on the same page. The rendering defines the direction of the build, and the client's budget is the guide rail. On the rare project, the client lets us build what's in our heads, and we feel extremely lucky to work with customers of that caliber. The client of Recoil gave us two specs for the project. It had to be race-inspired, and the color needed to not be about the color. With Enyo, we pitched a radical idea to the client where a farm truck collides with an F1 race car.
With all builds, the design process is constantly evolving. Renderings are inspirations, not blueprints. Many factors play into the finished design. Some can be structural obstacles to work around, and other times, it can be just aesthetic choices that a rendering can't accurately depict. Plus, our team is full of artists. Together, we work through design/build challenges, and in the end, the finished car is better for it.
- Q6: Which creation are you most proud of and can you tell us more about it?
We're asked this a lot, and it's honestly the hardest question of all. It's like asking us which one of our kids we're most proud of. We consider ourselves a boutique builder. Our shop is small; we typically work on 3-4 builds at a time that takes a couple of years to complete. Not only are we brothers, but everyone we work with is like family, and a piece of ourselves ends up in each of the cars. There's a point in every project where it's our all-time favorite, and then when we're tired, tensions are red-lined, SEMA is getting closer, and it's easy to question everything we've done. Then we roll into Vegas, pull the covers at the debuts, and finally appreciate what we've built.
The projects that have pushed our team and the industry are the ones that stand out in our minds.
- Reactor - our first commissioned build
- Producer - the first widebody Mustang we built
- Recoil - to this day, the most requested build we get asked about
- Valkyrja- our first all-carbon vehicle designed in CAD
- Bully - so many details it's crazy and probably our longest build
- Enyo - There's no other farm truck with this level of race engineering and design
