Pete Chapouris

{{Short description|American hot rodder and customizer}} '''Pete Chapouris''' (16 December 1942 – 6 January 2017<ref name="rodauthority">Kimbrough, Bobby. "in Memoriam: Great Hot Rodders We Lost In 2017", written 28 December 2017 at [https://www.rodauthority.com/news/in-memoriam-great-hot-rodders-we-lost-in-2017/ Rodauthority.com] (retrieved 18 October 2018)</ref>) was an American hot rodder and customizer. He is best known for creating ''The California Kid'' '34 3-window, and also as partner in Pete & Jake's Hot Rod Shop.

== History == Chapouris began his hot rodding career in the 1950s in Southern California, where he was a member of the Vintage Tin Hot Rod Club.<ref name="hotrod">[http://www.hotrod.com/events/coverage/so-cal-speed-shop-pomona/ ''Hot Rod Magazine'' online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150617192502/http://www.hotrod.com/events/coverage/so-cal-speed-shop-pomona/ |date=2015-06-17 }} (retrieved 17 June 2015)</ref> He is best known for the '34 Ford 3-window ''The California Kid'', featured on the cover of ''Custom Rod'' (along with a similar coupé built by Jim Jacobs)<ref name="hotrod"/> in November 1973 and in the movie of the same name in 1974.<ref name="rodauthority"/> ''The California Kid'' became one of the most-often copied hot rods ever.<ref name="hotrod"/><ref name="rodauthority"/>

The magazine cover led to a partnership with the builder of the other cover car, Jim "Jake" Jacobs, and the creation of their speed shop, Pete and Jake's Hot Rod Shop in Temple City, California, in 1974.<ref name="rodauthority"/> Chapouris was also SEMA Vice President of Marketing. He died on 6 January 2017, from a stroke.<ref name="rodauthority"/> He also helped re-establish So-Cal Speed Shop which to this day is thriving due to new ownership.

== References == {{reflist}}

{{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Chapouris, Pete}} Category:1942 births Category:2017 deaths Category:Kustom Kulture artists Category:American automobile designers Category:Vehicle modification people Category:American automotive pioneers Category:Businesspeople from California Category:20th-century American businesspeople Category:21st-century American businesspeople