Combine the patina of a throwaway 70 year old car with the coolest wheels you can imagine and the proper modifications to scrape it to the ground, and you’ll know what John Ludwick’s YouTube channel is about. Some of the strangest and rarest machines on the planet are under the knife, including a whole bunch of stuff that most enthusiasts would dismiss as not worth saving. Don’t let your dreams remain dreams, just go out and create something to make it happen. At this point he has owned and built about 100 cars, and he has more to come. So you have to start watching, because it is guaranteed to be entertaining.
Last year a good friend introduced me to Ludvik Garage and ever since then I’ve been obsessively following every new video from the channel. There’s something about the patina and wear mixed with the ancient building under the hood that appeals to my inner dirtbag. I like cars with a little rust and worn paint, they don’t make things that age well anymore. Ludvik sees it, I see it, and I hope you do too.
That’s why we’re taking it upon ourselves to highlight some of our favorite underrated builders in a series we’re calling Ranchers You Should Know. The series eschews big-powered high-dollar corporate-backed YouTube slop builds in favor of home-built DIYers. Ludwik is building serious machinery, and Auto Union even took prime billing at SEMA last year, but he’s doing it his own way and building things that no one else can. It’s less automotive excitement and more artistic endeavor. Some of these solutions are so incredibly creative that I’m always in awe. Check it out!
Auto Union 1000SP
As mentioned earlier, this Auto Union 1000SP made its international debut at the SEMA Show last fall. According to Ludwick, only a dozen of these machines exist in North America, and he found this one in rank size in rural Ohio. Most of the car was completely useless. It was a multi-year project, taken out of a shop where it had stood for over thirty years. The parts basically don’t exist, so this was always going to be a wild build project, and it seemed like no one else could do it.
There is so much rust on this chassis, and so many components missing that it was a start-from-scratch build process, with little more than the bodywork used for the final result. To get it up and running, Ludwik decided to build a full tube frame for the body to sit on, and combined it with a Volkswagen Beetle floorpan, suspension, and engine. Not only does this make the running gear incredibly simple and easy to operate, the suspension and chassis setup is already well proven when it comes to airing it and dragging it across the ground.
The front-wheel drive two-stroke engine was dropped, probably for the better. There aren’t many engines that would be less dynamic and engaging than the Volkswagen Type 1, but I think the stock 1960 Auto Union drivetrain would have been significantly less fun. It’s been in the news for quite some time, and the end result is pretty incredible.
BMW 700 Sport Coupe
John Ludwick, Jr. didn’t start his Volkswagen pan rebody journey with Auto Union, but instead found this wildly rusted BMW 700 Sport Coupe several years ago. To fit the car on a Volkswagen pan, the pan needed to be shortened by over a foot, which gives you an idea of how small the BMW 700 is. Strangely, the pan also needed to be narrowed substantially to house the wheels inside the stock BMW fenders. Ludvik will not allow any of his creations to be flared or bolted to overfenders.
These are modern day rat rods that you can build with access to a plasma cutter, welder and some nice high quality air suspension parts. Considering that the BMW 700 was powered by an aircooled flat twin behind the rear axle that made about 35 horsepower in 1960, the Volkswagen powerplant is probably a solid improvement for the car, and modern airbags, wider wheels and fresh tires will certainly make it handle and run better than it did when new.
If you remember BMW 700s as an enthusiast, you’re probably remembering the motorsport-oriented 700RS model, which pushed the brand into racing after World War II. With air-cooled twin power, these little beasts shared more similarity with the company’s motorcycles than any other cars on the road. However, the standard 700 was a slow and stagnant economy coupe. Considering how far it went, I think it’s fair to say that nothing significant was harmed in the construction of this device.
Corvairs
You probably won’t be surprised to learn that when this channel started as a weird car vlog in 2018, Ludvik was already going off on weird car tangents, like a bagged Lada 2101, or watercooled Volkswagens and BMWs with different types of airbags. But it seems that the car that started this obsession was a well-bellied, chop-top, airbag-laden, floor pan dragging Chevrolet Corvair.
This is one of those long-running projects that floats around in the background of Ludwik’s other videos, but rarely gets a dedicated episode. It’s so well executed, and he’s been working on it for so long, that it doesn’t seem much of a necessity these days. I, personally, would like to see more of the Corvair. This is very good. And it has the license plate “UNSAFE” which makes it even cooler.
If you have suggestions for some lesser known builders on social media, please feel free to leave them in the comments section as well. I’m always looking for people who are doing cool things. It doesn’t even have to be just a car. Although I’m well-versed in the car and motorcycle building scenes, I would love to delve deeper into the intricacies of some more specific topics. Do you follow some of the cool guys building snowmobiles, jet skis, or DIY fighter jets or something? I want to know about it.
And yes, you’re welcome to do some self-promotion in the comments, too. Let everyone know where they can follow your creation and what you’re up to. If it is unique or good, we will feature it on the blog.
