CLASSIC AMERICAN PEOPLE JIM TURNBULL OF ROYAL KUSTOMS
I don’t know about you, but I rather enjoy driving around industrial estates and seeing all those metal-clad units with thriving little niche businesses beavering away, and wondering what they do. There are some real hidden gems out there. Dig deep enough and you’ll unearth a specialist for just about anything you care to think of.
One such firm is Royal Kustoms, which is run by Jim Turnbull and his wife Julie. They are located near Poole in Dorset and they specialise in the rebuilding and modifying of Ford flathead V8 engines and the construction, development and maintenance of Pre-1941 Ford flathead powered classic endurance rally cars, hot rods and custom cars.
Through sheer hard work Jim and Julie have turned their long-term hobby into a successful business. The downside of that, if indeed it is a downside, is that, “I only had five days off work last year. I don’t have time for anything else,” says Jim. I asked him to tell us a bit about his background, to which he replied: “I am 44 now. I grew up in Stratford-upon-Avon. I’ve been into hot rods since watching ‘American Graffiti’ when I was 15 and two years later I started building my own rod, a 1932 Model B roadster.
“I had a few mates who were into hot rods and we got a workshop together where we worked
