Bryan Fuller grew up in a small town outside of Dallas, TX where bicycles were the main mode of transportation up until high school. From a very young age, Bryan took them apart, painted, changed wheels, ect. almost weekly much to the dismay of his parents. He bought his first chopper at the age of about 8 and had built his own halfpipe in the backyard by middle school. Any good BMXer in town rode over for the usual Saturday freestyle session. Bicycles were his life.
High School came along and Bryan's dad decided to buy and hot rod a '65 Mustang. The cycles were put aside and horsepower took over. Starting as the parts cleaner, and gopher boy for Dad and his drag racing buddy, James Foster; Bryan went on to build two of his own cars including a '30 Ford Model A before high school was over. He went to the University of North Texas earning a Biology degree with a Chemistry Minor spending summers painting friends cars for cash.
After graduating and deciding that the corporate world was not his cup of tea, Fuller decided that it was time to follow his passions. He packed everything up, enrolled in the Wyoming Technical Institute, working hard to become one of the outstanding students from their Street Rod program. WTI teaches you all of the basic metal, chassis fab, and painting techniques that are used in the custom field.
Bryan was hired by So-Cal Speed Shop in Pomona, CA to do sheetmetal and paint work. Apprenticing with some of the best in the business, Bryan furthered his skills before being hired by GMT. GMT is a specialty car shop in Huntington Beach where Geoff Mitford Taylor an accomplished metal shaper, taught Fuller many metal shaping techniques.
Bryan created Fuller Hot Rods in 2002 and was hired by Chip Foose to help him build some of his show winning creations. Bryan was an integral part of the Foose Design Team. In 2003 and 2005 the Foose Team won the Riddler Award for Best Car in Show at the Detroit Autorama. He also was a leading builder on the popular TLC show "Overhaulin". Appearing in 10 episodes, Bryan helped build the impossible; a completely overhauled car in less than 7 days. Check out the video with some of the funny clips on it.
In 2005, after completing the Riddler winning Impression, Fuller struck out on his own in downtown Atlanta, GA. Ben Logue's "Texas T" was the first motorcycle out of the shop and it received a very impressive 4th at the World Championship of Bike Building!
2006 we were invited to be in the prestigious "Artistry in Iron." Twenty builders are chosen to compete for $20K!! Fuller will have his 3rd opportunity to be inducted into this select club. FHR has also competed in the World Championship of Bike Building in Sturgis most every year against the world's best.
The "Biker Build-Off" that aired on TLC and Discovery featured an episode featuring Fuller Hot Rods and Greg Westbury. 10 Days to build a bike, then ride it for 500 miles! Speaking of TV, Bryan was chosen to co-host the oldest "How To" car show on SPEED (17 years!) Sam Memmolo has been very generous to share much of his wealth of knowledge to Fuller and the viewing audience of course.
2009 is going to be another great one!!! Just don't watch the news, just get out there and build something!