The Full 360

Open Road Driver • Summer 2011 • by Will Fong

Apparently Queen Elizabeth II prefers her Bentleys with cloth seats and a royal purple veneer. No problem. Jay Leno, would like jet turbines installed on his Ecojet concept supercar. Done. Tim Allan wants a 2008 Ford Mustang GT painted dark highland green a la Steve MqQueen in Bullitt. Just pull the trigger.

Abbotsford might be the best known for its farmland and airport, but co-owners Rick and Darryl Francoeur have built a growing business in the Fraser Valley to meet special requests just like these. 360 Fabrication is a custom shop and fabricator that carries an attitude that “nothing is impossible” when it comes to cars. And the company is on the move... fast.

In five short years, the Francoeurs have built 360 Fabrication into the second largest custom autoshop in Canada, winning over 500 awards along the way including the coveted George Barris Award. Today, they handle custom cars, hot rods, muscle cars, bikes and exotics – it’s a fantasy-come-true for boys and their toys. They also do collision repair, glass, upholstery and audio work all under one roof. Their business has expanded recently to include 360 Collision, Carstar Abbotsford, 360 Upholstery and 360 Car Audio and Marine Services. “The crazy million-dollar stuff gets the covers and the news, but don’t forget we also do $200 jobs and work on stuff for regular people, too,” laughs Rick Francoeur.

Their brand new facility is 22,000 square feet of clean and controlled activity with a Toyota 200GT in one corner, Red Bull’s next-generation Sugga 3 nearby, regular collision jobs, plus an AC Cobra in another bay. Everyone goes about their job with an easygoing sense of purpose. It’s a folksy, family-like atmosphere among the 25 staff but there is also pride and determination that appears to be common traits at the shop.

Older brother Rick is a certified auto body technician and frame specialist, while Daryl is a licensed aviation engineer, mechanic and machinist. Besides running the overall business, they’re both very hands-on with the actual vehicles. Daryl is more behind the scenes, so we caught up with Rick to ask about the recent expansion at 360 Fabrication.

You are already the biggest in Western Canada after only 5 years. What made you get into the business of custom cars and restorations?
We are the second largest in Canada now. We were in the collision business to start, but we liked the creativity and the attitude that their’s no ceiling. We can do anything your imagination can conjure up. The only limit is a customer’s pocketbook! (laughing) As a kid, we were always building things – a 40 foot fort, jumps on a lake. When Darryl was ten and I was twelve we had our own lawn maintenance company on Sproat Lake in Port Alberni earning $1,100 per month. That was good money in those days, even for adults.

360 has grown so big so fast, so what’s the secret to managing the growth?
It’s a full-time job managing growth. Sometimes you look at your bank account and you spent it all on growth, but we own everything with minimal debt. We bought our own building and bought our equipment with cash. It’s been very controlled even though our growth looks fast. The reason that we’ve grown so fast is we do what we say we will.

It’s unusual to see a custom fabrication shop, glass shop, upholstery centre, audio centre and body shop all under one roof. What’s the rationale?
360 means full-circle service. We want to make it easy to bring your vehicle to one place for everything. It keeps the costs down and it’s hard for competitors because the quality is high, the costs are down and there’s a greater sense of pride when everything is done here centrally. Everything from one division affects everyone else.

Is there a waiting list? you guys are so busy...
Not right now. We have 25 staff and everyone’s working, but we can always handle more. We’ll make the time!

Have some of your cars sold at the Barrett-Jackson custom car auction?
We did a Ford F-350 pickup dual-dual air ride with a matching offshore race boat in candy green. That was crazy! We totally rebuilt everything to match the truck and it sold as a unit together at Barrett-Jackson.

This is like choosing your favourite kid, but I’ll ask anyway. Over the years, which car are you most proud of?
Obviously we’re real proud of O-zilla, the Scion xB we did for OpenRoad Scion. that kicked us into a whole new league on the corporate vehicle side. The hottest car we just finished is a 1970 Chevelle that’s just over the top. It has a 572 inside, all hand-made interior. It’s the cover of Canadian Hot Rods Magazine.

What’s it like working with your brother every day? Does the eldest get to pull rank?
We grew up together and we still go for lunch together every single day. We live less than a block apart and you couldn’t ask for a better brother and business partner. Sure, we have arguments sometimes but we’re brothers first and business partners second. Yes, I’m the eldest, so sometimes I pull rank. On the technical side, he pulls rank.

What do you drive? And what do you want to drive?
I just got a Denali 3500 one-ton crew cab pickup truck. And I do want to drive a Ferrari. And the new Lexus LFA!

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