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Owners drive new business with passion for cars

Melvin and Mary Larson and their dog Gizmo stand in the showroom of their Middletown business Cruisers, Customs and Rods located at 460 N. Verity Parkway on Tuesday, Nov. 3. The Larsons, along with a work crew, revamp classic cars.

Contributed photo by Jessica Uttinger Melvin and Mary Larson and their dog Gizmo stand in the showroom of their Middletown business Cruisers, Customs and Rods located at 460 N. Verity Parkway on Tuesday, Nov. 3. The Larsons, along with a work crew, revamp classic cars.

ENLARGE PHOTO

A 1933 Continental Flyer believed to be the only one of its kind still in existence sits in Cruisers, Customs and Rods Tuesday, Nov. 3.

Contributed photo by Jessica Uttinger A 1933 Continental Flyer believed to be the only one of its kind still in existence sits in Cruisers, Customs and Rods Tuesday, Nov. 3.

ENLARGE PHOTO

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By Jessica Heffner, Staff Writer Updated 9:16 PM Wednesday, November 4, 2009

MIDDLETOWN — It’s not hard to see what drives Melvin and Mary Larson to open a new business: just take a look at the 1955 DeSota Hemi they’re restoring.

The couple recently moved their shop, Cruisers Customs & Rods, to 460 N. Verity Parkway in Middletown from Liberty Twp. The new location offers convenience, great visibility and the ability to put all their car rebuild and restoration operations under one roof.

“We drove past here every day and we just kept looking at this building and then there was a ‘For Rent’ sign in the window and my husband said ‘we’ve got to call that number,’ ” Mary said.

Years of free work on friends’ classic cars turned into a good business about two and a half years ago when the Larsons opened the old Liberty Twp. store. However, Melvin’s love affair with restoring cars started much earlier as Mary jokes, “his umbilical cord was attached to a car instead of his mom when he was born.”

His father owned antique cars and was a member of the Middletown Pacemakers, a hot-rod car club. When he was 14, he began restoring his very first car, a 1934 Ford 5-window coupe. At 19, he was building his own race car engines and today is known around the shop as “the engine doctor.”

Customs Cruisers & Rods works exclusively on classic, cruiser, street rods and muscle cars from the 1970s and older. It is a complete service center, offering services such as custom engine rebuilds and detailing, custom interiors, restorations, welding and fabrication and paint work. Melvin said the specialty comes from his own personal love of older cars.

“I’m 60 years old this year and I grew up playing with cars and when you get into one of these old cars, it is just like you are young again,” he said.

As Mary laments, “they just don’t make cars today like they used to.”

Right now, the Larsons are fully-loaded with about 20 cars in the shop, including the rare 1933 Continental Flyer. Melvin said he convinced the owner to do a frame off restoration instead of the cutting it up to make a street rod since it is believed to be the last of its kind. The National Automobile Dealers Association does not even include pricing for the car in its guide due to its “uniqueness and rarity,” according to the listing.

“One of the unique things about this business everyone talk to we have something in common with,” Melvin said. “We all love cars and we all talk the same language so it works out.”

For more information on Cruisers Customs & Rods, call (513) 217-7239.

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