Who is Bryce Green?
Born on 20th July – year unknown, but probably 1988 – in Utah, USA, Bryce Green is an investor, reality TV personality, and former body shop manager known for being a regular on “Bitchin’ Rides” and “Beyond Bitchin’ Rides”. Thought to be in his mid-to-late thirties, Bryce’s love for cars stems from his childhood, with his favorite make being the Ford Mustang.
At the age of 16, the future TV star wrecked his 1968 Beater Mustang, and was told by his father to fix it himself, so Bryce did a full restoration involving body work, fabrication and painting, which inspired him to enter – and win – local car shows to get his name out there.
The same year, Bryce worked painting airplanes at the Ogden airport and went on a two-year mission with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to Hong Kong.
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After graduating from Utah State University in 2012 with a degree in International Business, the skilled entrepreneur enrolled in Wyotech-West Sacramento in California. While working at a car shop in Utah, he heard of Kindig-It Design and sent in his resume: the rest, as they say, is history.
What is “Bitchin’ Rides”?
“Bitchin’ Rides” is a reality show that airs on the Velocity TV channel. Featuring Dave Kindig of Kindig-It Designs, a Salt Lake City car shop, and his team while they restore and rebuild vehicles, the series also airs in Italy and other countries, under different names such as “Salt Lake Garage” and “Kindig Customs”.
Having become Velocity’s most popular series, each episode follows a repetitive but trusted formula in which Dave and his team meet the clients, review the vehicles, create a design, and then take apart and rebuild the cars, often adding their own twist.
The most popular projects to date have been a GM Futurliner #3, a ’69 Chevrolet Camaro, an Audi R8 Spyder, a ’33 Ford Tudor, a ’62 Volkswagen bus, and a ’57 Chevrolet Corvette.
There are eight seasons of “Bitchin’ Rides” so far, with the latest episodes available on Motor Trend OnDemand since September 2021.
Kindig-It Design Employees
As of 2022, the team at Kindig-It Design is made up of over thirty invaluable members, who ensure the smooth running of the legendary car shop. Although it would be impossible to name them all, each and every one of them fulfill specific functions in the workplace, and have proven themselves to be majorly skilled professionals.
Dave runs the ship as the president, owner and designer of the shop. Known for his one-of-a-kind customs and unique vision, when asked, Dave always says that his favorite build is the next one.
From getting to know the clients and their vehicles, to breathing new life into each restored car, Dave truly enjoys each step of the process, and is considered a master in the field.
Next up is Dave’s wife Charity, the vice president and co-founder of Kindig-It Designs. The mother of two has been a car fanatic since a young girl, which is little surprise given that her father was a hot rodder and car club member, and her mother was also a fan of classic cars. In fact, the blonde’s first car was a ’67 Chevelle Malibu, that she built with her father.
As a teenager, Charity and her friends often frequented dance clubs, where in a twist of fate she met her future husband. To earn money, the Utah native got a parts-runner job at a local automotive shop, and worked her way up until reaching a managerial position, and overseeing the warehouse. Now married to Dave, she helped him fulfill his dream of opening his own shop, after spending years working out of his garage on projects for friends and family.
By encouraging Dave to quit his job and start his own business, Charity made Kindig-It Designs a possibility.
Dave and Charity’s daughter Baylee began working in the shop as a parts runner at the age of 16, just like her mother. After a brief stint as a front office receptionist, she became the head of websites, marketing and apparel and also manages the shop’s social media accounts. As well as sharing her parents’ interest in vintage cars, and owning a ’67 Beetle, Baylee also enjoys photography and graphic design. The hardworking young adult is the proud “mother” to her pet dog Hooch, and recently married Kaden Cornett, who also works at Kindig-It Designs.
Having worked alongside David since 2004, Kevin Schiele is the shop foreman, with an “unparalleled passion for the industry”. Supervising each project from start to finish, he’s a jack of all trades, but who specializes in the chassis and suspension.
A member of Severed Ties Truck Club and the Salt Lake Chapter, when not busy with filming, the charismatic TV sensation also enjoys boating, long walks on the beach, and building custom sports trucks.
Valerie Gillies, the business office manager, has also been working at Kindig-It for almost two decades. Responsible for customer relations, collections, and managing client builds, the outspoken blonde is a pin-up model in her spare time.
Head engineer Will Lockwood, enjoyed hot rod magazines and playing with RC cars during his childhood. As a high school student, he took vocational classes in mechanics and auto body, putting his knowledge to good use while working on tanks during Operation Desert Storm. He met Dave in 1992, when both were studying at the University of Utah, although neither could’ve imagined that they’d be working together thirty years later, and maintaining their rock-solid friendship.
Kaden, Baylee’s husband, grew up in the Northern Utah and Ogden area, and attended car shows with his parents as a young child. His first job was doing metal work, welding, painting, and assembly at a company that helped private owners convert and customize surplus military trucks into survival and rescue vehicles. After meeting his future wife, he moved to Salt Lake City and was hired by Kindig-It in the summer of 2016. Today, Kaden works in the showroom, apparel store, and shipping department, and also runs the Kindig-It booth at car shows.
Other main team members include Brandon Jones, Eric Larsen and Jason Pringle, who work as the body shop manager, the fabricator, and parts manager respectively.
Former Cast Members
Manuel Bellazetin joined the crew of Kindig-It way back in 2008, and soon earned the nickname “The Craftsman”, thanks to his skills as a custom painter and bodywork specialist.
His departure from “Bitchin’ Rides” in 2017 went by largely unnoticed, until news outlets began reporting his death; soon, the link to Manuel’s online obituary was shared, leading to an outpouring of support from casual viewers and dedicated motorheads.
As the show’s producers didn’t put out a statement regarding Manuel leaving the show, it took netizens a while to realize that the custom painter hadn’t passed away; the deceased Manuel Bellazetin was actually his father, who had died aged 80. One of Manuel’s relatives eventually spoke out, adding that the bodywork specialist “wanted to be sure people know he’s alive and doing well.”
Despite never speaking out about his reasons for leaving Kindig-It Design, it was probably that today Manuel runs his own body shop in Murray, Utah, which appears to be doing well.
Controversy
Fans love “Bitchin’ Rides” because the show is educational and light-hearted, with no unnecessary drama or fighting between cast members. However, Dave’s integrity has been called into question several times, and Kindig-It Customs has seen its fair share of lawsuits which have somehow managed to stay out of the headlines.
In 2017, Boyd Coddington’s son Chris wrote a lengthy statement entitled “The Truth about the 1929 Roadster Dave Kindig Sold at Barrett-Jackson”. A month earlier, Dave had put the aforementioned vehicle up for sale with the description reading: “This 1929 Ford Model A roadster was originally built by Boyd Coddington for a good friend of his, Vern Luce”.
Those who follow the car scene are well aware that Boyd became something of a legend following his untimely death in 2008. A talented hot rod designer and the owner of Boyd Coddington Hot Rod Shop, the Idaho native also starred in his own hugely successful TLC show for years.
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Dave claimed that the 1929 Roadster was a project Boyd had been working on before passing away, but a long-time employee of the latter called Chris, and asked him to verify those claims.
“He was concerned because he was around the time this car would have been started… The story being pitched just wasn’t adding up,” Chris explained on his website. After making a few calls, he realized that no one remembered the car, or could corroborate Dave’s story, which led to Chris trying to reach out to Dave and the crew at Kindig-It via social media, before the vehicle was sold.
Coincidentally, Chris would be flying out to Barrett-Jackson the next day. There, he ran into Dave and introduced himself, and the owner of Kindig-It claimed to have bought the car from Jerry Covington of Covington’s Customs. Dave showed Chris a letter signed by Jerry which clearly stated all the details of the vehicle: although Boyd had worked on the chassis, the car was built by Covington Customs.
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“Dave told me he had only received that letter just a week before the auction. I asked him why he went through selling the car as one built by my dad, and his only response was: ‘The brochures were already printed.’”, Chris stated. Obviously, a car built by Boyd would fetch a much higher price than one built by other auto shop workers, no matter how talented.
Over the next few days, a disgruntled Chris got in touch with Jerry and then called Dave, telling him to take his father’s name off the car, and give Jerry the credit he deserved. “I made it clear I was willing to give him a chance to do these things before I put the information out there,” he added. Nevertheless, Dave ignored Chris’s texts and emails during three weeks, and also deleted all posts referencing the 1929 roadster off his social media profiles.
Despite Chris making the matter public and exposing Dave’s unsavory business practices, the owner of Kindig-It Design largely got away with it, and has never publicly spoken on the matter.
Where Is Bryce Now?
Bryce’s departure was especially shocking to fans, and was announced on Kindig-It’s Instagram profile in February 2020, in a post that read: “We are sad to announce that Bryce Green is no longer part of Kindig-it Design or affiliated with Bitchin’ Rides. After 5 years at Kindig-it Design, Bryce has decided to move on to other opportunities!”
For some reason, the comments on that particular post were disabled, and it was rumored that Bryce left due to off-screen conflicts with other cast members. Whatever the case, he soon started his own cutting-edged apparel company named DirtCult USA, which specializes in selling streetwear, hats, and motor-cross gear.
With the empowering slogan “Become the hero of your own story”, DirtCult soon found a niche market, and racked up thousands of followers across social media platforms.
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Around the same time, Bryce and his wife also expanded their family and welcomed their third child, which could be another reason the entrepreneur decided to leave “Bitchin’ Rides”.
Business slowed down for the couple in late 2020, and there were whispers of Bryce being forced to shut up shop and try his hand at something else. Around the same time, his brother JJ suffered a heart attack and was hospitalized for months on end, with the whole family pitching in and taking care of him and his pricey hospital bills.
Luckily, JJ recovered completely, and in April 2022, Bryce proudly announced DirtCult’s relaunch. The former body shop manager told fans to keep an eye out for new design drops, products, and event dates. Some of his other business ventures include Big Kid Blocks – which sells custom sanding blocks, body shop tools, and waxes – and Big Kid Customs, a bustling auto shop with plenty of happy customers.
