HEBER SPRINGS — “We were never sure if you liked to be called that,” muttered Melisa Gardner of Heber Springs.
Spanky doesn’t mind his nickname — not anymore.
“At the beginning it was kind of a slap in the face,” he admitted, “but then it started working for me.”
It worked for Mike “Spanky” Cooper so much when he owned a wholesale tire business that he decided to carry the nickname over to his new business — Spanky’s Hot Rods and Customs.
Cooper, originally of Olive Branch, Miss., said his shop isn’t so much a business as it is a hobby grown out of control. He restores cars. It sounds simple, but ...
“I take the cars totally apart and customize them and put them back together,” he said. “We do renderings and interview the customer about what they want.”
These interviews are done remotely because many of Cooper’s customers are from other states, and sometimes even out of the country.
“I just shipped one car back to Australia and got another one in from the same customer,” he said.
Oklahoma City, Dallas, Memphis, Atlanta, Philadelphia — Cooper said the cars he works on come from all over.
Cooper goes all over as well, following the cars for their grand unveilings.
“I like to see the customer’s face when it’s all done,” Cooper said.
His customers and fellow builders and restorers don’t find it too strange that Cooper keeps his shop in Heber Springs. He said it’s common to set up shop somewhere out of the way.
“There are hidden builders all over the country getting cars shipped in from everywhere.”
What makes Spanky’s different from the rest, Cooper said, is that he charges almost half as much as some other car builders. He hasn’t raised his prices in about six years, and if you ask him why, he might accuse you of sounding like his wife.
“You need to tell them ‘no,’” Susan Cooper tells her husband when he considers taking in new clients.
“When somebody calls me and says they have a 1960 Chevy convertible, before they get it out of their mouth I see it sitting there finished in a dozen different ways. I can paint a picture of it in my head.”
Cooper compares a lot about his business to painting pictures. Another unique thing about his business is that he is the sole employee.
“If you start painting a picture in the morning and you go to lunch, you don’t want somebody else to finish that picture for you and still put your name on it,” he said.
Often the only work Cooper contracts is upholstery.
“I can do upholstery, but not to the point where I’m happy with it,” Cooper said.
Cooper’s website explains that he specializes in the restoration and the customization of street rods (pre-1948) and muscle cars.
His shop — full of old treasures — has become somewhat of an attraction during the tourist season in Heber Springs.
Somewhat to his dismay, Cooper expects business to keep going strong, but eventually, he hopes to cut down on the number of customers he takes in and turn his historic building in downtown Heber Springs into more of a museum for the public to enjoy.
For now he will continue to check things off of his ever-growing to-do list.
“Today’s list will start tomorrow’s list, because I’ll only get about half of it done,” he said.