admin
They call it a restomod, but what Kindred Motorworks is doing is pure American reinvention—taking icons of our motoring past and making them usable for the hard-working drivers who actually want to enjoy them. Where other shops tinker and patch, Kindred has built a disciplined, repeatable production approach that treats classic cars like products worth defending and scaling. That kind of ambition—rooted in private enterprise, not government cheerleading—deserves applause from anyone who loves American craftsmanship.
Rob Howard and his team didn’t stumble into this; they deliberately moved production onto Mare Island and invested in a large, professional facility to bring order to what used to be a chaotic hobby industry. The company openly markets its production playbook, staffing and production footprint as evidence that this is manufacturing, not a backyard hobby, and that means reliable cars and real jobs. For conservatives who believe in work, property, and responsibility, this is the sort of private-sector problem-solving government should get out of the way of.
Kindred’s Blueprint philosophy swaps one-off fiddling for standardized, repeatable builds that fold modern engineering into beloved old bodies, keeping the soul of the machine while curing the mechanical headaches that have driven countless owners back to the trailer shop. The company emphasizes engineering, testing, and thousands of hours of prototyping so a customer’s Bronco or VW bus actually drives like a modern vehicle rather than a museum piece. That’s the market producing real solutions for consumers, not bureaucrats handing down mandates from on high.
Let’s be honest about the money: these cars aren’t bargains. Kindred lists its gas Bronco starting around $199,000 and its EV Bronco around $225,000, with other models like the VW bus and even an EV 911 sitting higher on the list. But price signals aren’t a moral failing; they’re a fact of the marketplace—pay for quality and you get quality, and for buyers who want a classic that won’t leave them stranded on a back road, this is the obvious tradeoff.
Critics on the left will howl about electrification and nostalgia, but Kindred gives Americans choice: gas or electric, modern reliability or historic appearance, and the ability to own something beautiful without the constant fear of breakdowns. The company has also begun partnering with established dealers to provide service and warranties, proving that private networks can give customers peace of mind without more regulation. When entrepreneurs build service ecosystems instead of asking Washington to pick winners, that’s the free market working for ordinary people.
Most important, this is jobs and real manufacturing on American soil—Mare Island’s revival shows what happens when investment meets skilled hands rather than when bureaucrats reroute taxpayer money into vanity projects. Conservatives should welcome ventures that restore pride, preserve heritage, and create livelihoods while giving car buyers honest options. If you love the sound of a V8 or the shape of a ’66 Bronco, you should be rooting for companies that make those things reliable and available again for the people who earned them.
