Story: Michael Crenshaw

Photography: Scott Dukes

You’ve seen Chris Castellanos pressed in ink between these pages before: His cars have garnered praise and RIDES covers for their custom skins, flaky paint and award-winning interiors. Though his cars obviously show his dedication forthright, it’s Chris’s job behind the scenes that is his real passion. Stemming from an apprenticeship with his uncle, his craft began to develop when he was just 10, and the rest, as they say, is history.

“[My uncle] taught me pretty much how to work on cars, and once I had my own shop, I started doing something different,” Chris recalls. Beginning with auto body and custom metal at his first shop roughly five years ago, his initial groundbreaking custom was his BMW 745 on 26s, which he says enticed all the attention and customers. “It brought everything!” he exclaims. “I took it to a local show, and everybody started trippin’ out! That’s how I started getting more and more customers.”

With clients came an influx of projects, and his staff of two wasn’t going to cut it anymore. More employees were brought on, and soon his shop would need to expand as well. Enter the new JC Custom Paint of Bellflower, California, with more employees, a bigger space and wilder designs in its future. As for the present, JC Custom Paint is making waves in the custom matte-paint game. “I’ve probably done 12 [matte cars], and we’re still trying to spray another five,” says Chris. “People think they’re wraps, but they’re just like a normal paint job.”

With a reality TV show about the shop and the lifestyle that surrounds it being discussed, big things are happening in the world of JC Custom Paint and the trendsetting mentality they are trying to achieve. Trendsetters keep the custom-car world fresh and new, and we’ll be keeping JC Custom Paint, along with others, under close watch as the trends progress and the game moves on.