Divine wheels: Henderson shop owner repairs, refurbishes custom, classic cars
If it has wheels and a motor, Las Vegas resident Misha Munoz is probably interested.
After tinkering with cars as a teenager, the motorhead quit his sales job to open Divine One Customs, 100 Cassia Way, about 10 years ago to restore and customize vehicles.
“We’ve offset our custom work with quick-turn work, which is basically a same-day job for, like, new rims or leather interior,” Munoz said. “If there’s too many custom jobs, we can’t be as creative because we feel pressured to get them out. It’s a delicate balance, but we make sure everything we work on has a piece of us in it.”
Each of Munoz’s employees has years of experience in the trade. Michael Rios joined the Divine One team in December and specializes in electronics and paint.
“My family owns a body shop, so I’ve been working with cars since I was about 10,” Rios said. “The best thing about working here is the difference in all the vehicles. We’re never working on the same type of car twice.
“We’re also always challenging each other. If someone says you can’t do it, you work hard to prove them wrong.”
Although Munoz said most of his customers are everyday individuals, the shop has catered to a handful of celebrities, such as customizing a ‘64 Volkswagen Beetle for Nickelback drummer Daniel Adair; a 2015 Jeep Rubicon for disc jockey Deadmau5; a ‘67 Ford Econoline van for Corey Harrison from “Pawn Stars;” and a ‘51 Ford Shoebox for BMX rider TJ Lavin.
“Celebrity jobs are super flattering because it’s cool to get that notoriety and exposure, but you know these guys can usually afford it,” Munoz said. “It’s almost more satisfying working with average, everyday people because they’re spending their life savings on something they’ve always wanted. I like seeing people’s reaction when they look at their vehicle for the first time.”
A Las Vegas native, Munoz said his parents were always scolding him as a teenager for playing in the garage instead of doing his homework.
After graduating from Green Valley High School, Munoz studied managerial finance at UNLV but still made time to help friends who worked at local body shops and garages.
“When I wasn’t at work, I just found myself always busy with cars, whether it was by myself or helping my buddies,” he said. “I was having way more fun working in a garage than working for somebody else, so I thought about starting a business.”
Munoz worked sales for a construction equipment company when two contractors, who knew he worked on cars, approached him to restore an ‘82 Chevy C10 truck and an ‘82 Chevy Nova. The projects were enough for Munoz to leave his “real job” to pursue his passion.
“I think I was just young and naive. I don’t know if I would just quit my job like that again,” Munoz said. “You’re always so ready to do something wild when you’re younger, and then you look back at it when you’re older, and you’re just like, ‘Well, that could have been a very stupid move.’ ”
Although Munoz and his team are busy working on vehicles for others, he said they occasionally get the opportunity to work on personal projects.
“I recently bought a four-door, hard-top ‘66 Lincoln Continental. It’s like the ‘Entourage’ car,” Munoz said. “I have plans to build it as a shop vehicle, but we’re always so busy that we chip away at it when we can.”
Before his Lincoln, Munoz owned a ‘56 Chevrolet Bel Air for a few years before selling it to a local collector; however, he said he still gets to drive it once in a while.
“A lot of these guys just have cars because they’re cool to look at, but they’re not like fine china; you have to drive these things around,” Munoz said. “The collector I sold my Bel Air to is out of the country, like, nine months out of the year, so he’s asked me to drive it around to make sure it’s good.
“I’m really lucky that I got to build it, keep it for three years, show it off, sell it for a decent amount of money and still get to drive it in the end. I’m totally winning on that.”
Munoz said working in his shop has satisfied a lot of his cravings to purchase new projects, especially any classic cars or hot rods.
“People always ask me why I would spend so much money on an old car instead of using that money to buy a new Mercedes or Porsche,” he said. “If you’re at a traffic light, someone will pull up next to you in that same new Porsche or Mercedes, but no one will pull up next to you in an old Impala or T-Bucket. It’s the pride of owning something special. That’s what really gets me.”
Visit divineonecustoms.com or call 702-407-1600.
Sin City Misfits
Sin City Misfits has a a Henderson and a North Las Vegas chapter. The group accepts all kinds of Volkswagens, whether they be air-cooled, water-cooled or project cars, as well as any Porsche or Audi vehicle.
“We are all about the heritage and family that a club creates rather than the politics of a ‘car club’ — just a fun group of people who like to work on, talk about and gather around their pride and joy,” said Christa Myers, secretary of the club.
Visit on.fb.me/1LIRbUw.
To reach Henderson View reporter Caitlyn Belcher, email cbelcher@viewnews.com or call 702-383-0403. Find her on twitter: @caitlynbelcher.
