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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

‘Spokane guy’ builds hot, custom rods


Rich Gortsema, left, and his sons Brad, center, and Mike, right, stand by an unpainted car in the Spokane shop, Power Plus Inc. They're building it for a customer in Austrailia. 
 (JESSE TINSLEY Photos / The Spokesman-Review)
Mike Lynch The Spokesman-Review

You probably can’t hear the cars that Rich Gortsema built in his North Side shop being revved up and driven for fun, but it’s happening in places as close as Post Falls and as far away as Los Angeles and Sidney, Australia.

Gortesma has operated Power Plus Inc., in his shop at 5727 N. Florida St., for the past seven years producing hot rods and street rods, automotive rolling stock he describes as “fair weather cars.”

Although Gortsema has built cars of varied styles well-known to local car buffs over the years, the focus recently has been on the 1930 Ford Model A sedan, and the product has received gratifying attention.

He built the first Model A last summer, listed it on eBay and got immediate responses. The first car went to a buyer in Los Angeles and another to a car fan in Post Falls.

“We’re building one now for a guy named Garth Hannaford in Sidney, Australia,” Gortsema said.

Gortsema has experience putting cars together. He built the Jolly Rancher wheelstanding firetruck, the Spokane Diesel top fuel dragster, the Alien jet-powered dragster and various other cars familiar here.

“I’m no rookie to cars,” he said. “And I have been in business in Spokane since the 1970s when I built spec houses here.”

The obvious question about the Model A production is where do the bodies come from?

“They’re still out there,” Gortsema said, adding, “We have started with some pretty rusty stuff. I just bought a car to get the body so now I have a rolling chassis for sale.”

The assembly process begins with the body going to the sandblaster. Following that the body finish is taken down to bare metal. In fact, his first customers asked that the completed car be left that way, Gortsema said.

Each car’s chassis is built from scratch. Brakes and three-speed transmissions are new. Gortsema’s first two Model A’s received Buick engines, the next two Chevrolet engines.

Aluminum seats – Gortsema calls them “bomber seats” – are installed and, he adds, “minimal upholstery.” A wood kit is installed for the old Ford’s open roof. “There was a lot of wood in those cars originally,” he said.

Obviously, assembly is a bit more complex than that, but you get the idea.

“It’s a fair weather car,” Gortesma said. “It’s not something you expect to drive to work every day.”

“Fair weather” or not, the car has attracted attention. “We’ve done pretty good with the suit-and-tie guys so far,” Gortsema said.

Gortsema works with his son, Brad, at the Florida Street shop, a building he recently purchased. Another son, Mike, works at Extreme Customs, an auto painting specialty shop in the Valley. “We try to keep the business in the family,” Gortsema laughed.

Gortsema describes himself as “basically a Spokane guy.” His family moved here from Idaho when he was 15, about 40 years go, and he attended Rogers High School.

The business is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, he said, “and sometimes on Saturday. I don’t like to leave the place.”