The Way It's Supposed to Be

I met Deke and Corrin Brown at last year’s Huntington Beach Cruise-In.  Deke ordered Factory Five Hot Rod kit #555 (that’s just good karma right out of the box).  Now as we prepare to return to Huntington Beach for our 7th annual Cruise-In, I get this amazing letter in the mail complete with photographs and a very nice letter.

deke-brown-hot-rod-build-2

The thing that struck me most is that in today’s world of kids and cell phones and video games, Deke is teaching 6 year-old Jaxie (in pink) and 2 year-old (!) Jaizlee (in yellow) how to work with hand tools as they help their grandpa build his Hot Rod. THIS is what is at the core of Factory Five, and I couldn’t be more proud of the company and our products, and even more of Deke for what he is doing!  Here’s the letter that I got.  Apologies in advance to Deke for sharing his letter.  It is just too good to keep quiet.

Lastly, special thanks to Factory Five customer Tim Noble and Paul Rutter, as well as Factory Five’s own Jay in Tech, for helping Deke along the way.  Can’t wait to see you at HB this year!

Dave Smith
President

deke-brown-hot-rod-build-3

deke-brown-hot-rod-build-4

Latest Factory Five News

Mark S. Graduates His Mk4 & Scores Magazine Cover!

Congratulations to customer Mark S. on graduating his Mk4 Roadster build! Mark came for a tour of Factory Five in March 2020 to meet Dave Smith and the team. After returning home to the United Kingdom, Mark ordered his Mk4, and it arrived at his garage in February 2021.  Marks good friend, neighbor, and fellow car enthusiast, Stuart H, helpedwith the build which featured a Gen 3 5.0L Coyote, Tremec TKO transmission, 8.8″ solid axle with 3-link rear suspension, 18″ Halibrand wheels, and of course, it had to be in right hand drive. Mark also had the chassis galvanised to…

Read More

Factory Five is Closed Today, Monday January 26, 2026.

I made the call to scrub FFR operations for the day. The drive in wasn’t bad, and most roads are clear. Unfortunately our plow crew was late, and the day dawned with 3-4′ drifts in the back parking lot! We will be at work and at full strength tomorrow. Sorry for any difficulties this may cause. Dave SmithPresident

Read More

Three Generations Embark on a Type 65 Coupe Dream Build

Dave Ryan’s Type 65 Coupe build is moving right along—and it’s become something even bigger along the way. In collaboration with Factory Five Racing, V6 Media is producing a short film documenting the build process. Recently, Dave’s father, Vaun Ryan, sat down to share his lifelong passion for performance cars and motorcycles—sparked as a young boy on the family farm in Utah, building a homemade go-kart powered by a hay-elevator motor. That curiosity for how things work turned into a lifetime of mechanical enthusiasm, passed down through generations and now culminating in Dave’s Type 65 Coupe build, which is a…

Read More
Top