With the free-wheeling, no-holds-barred attitude that comes with being the self-proclaimed “entertainment capital of the world,” it’s no surprise Las Vegas has also become known as a hot spot for over-the-top automotive culture. Where tourist dollars flow freely through the local economy, custom vehicles are bound to be part of the local landscape. And for nearly 20 years, Divine One Customs has been a part of that scene.
Las Vegas native Misha Munoz founded the business in 2005 when two clients at what was then his day job each asked him to build their custom projects. It was a gamble, but the work was lucrative enough for Misha to jump ship and go work for himself. Today, Divine One occupies a 10,000-square foot workshop in nearby Henderson with a staff of ten and growing.
One of the more recent additions to the staff is Jamey Jordan, who arrived full-time about a year ago. The master fabricator and founder of Handmade Seat Co. had formerly dropped in for weeks-long stints to lend a hand on special projects. Now he’s the resident fabricator and self-described creative engineer. He’s also a close ally at Eastwood, where he’s helping develop new bead roller accessories as well as teaching bead rolling skills to the public at its Pottstown headquarters.
While we were in town for the recent SEMA Show, we dropped in to connect with Jamey on his home turf and to see what the shop was working on. What we discovered was a mix of classic American high-performance customs and classics with the occasional European thrown in for good measure. Divine One works on virtually anything with wheels, but clearly its clientele leans toward specialty vehicles.
The workshop features an amazing range of capabilities given its compact footprint. At one end is a side-draft paint booth with a tidy prep area nearby. An inner “clean room” includes a full upholstery and trim shop as well as a finishing space for final assembly. A handful of service lifts just beyond this space allows for underside work. Finally, a large open space at the other end serves as a floating shop space for welding, fabrication, and tuning.
We watched as upholsterer Danny “The Needle” stitched together hand-cut leather upholstery for a Porsche interior. He pointed out some of the other work he’d recently completed, including the full interior on a late-‘60s Chevelle custom. Just feet away from him, a crew was putting final touches on the darkest-green first-gen Mustang we’d ever seen. An hour later it was on its way to the Las Vegas Convention Center to make its debut at the SEMA Show.
The garage is clean and well organized, with a space for everything. Looking around, the array of CNC machinery tells you this no old-school setup. State-of-the-art equipment like a CNC plasma cutter, 3D printer, laser cutter, and CNC router allow Divine One to create just about anything.
In fact, because of its extensive capabilities, the shop often works on a variety of non-automotive custom fabrication projects. “We do a bunch of custom work for several of the nearby casino design firms,” explains Jamey. Pointing out a CNC-routed wood project on of the workbenches, he tells us it’s a concept piece for a wall design in a high-end restaurant.
Being so close to Las Vegas, it’s not uncommon to take on work for celebrity clients, both local and global. Misha walked us around one special project under way for one very major celebrity. While details are private about both the owner and the build, it’s new territory for the crew at Divine One. “We can’t wait to show this one off when it’s done,” says Misha. “It’ll be a totally unique combination of a nearly 100-year-old design with totally modern mechanicals.”
We’ll wait patiently to see the final result. But if it’s like everything else we saw, we expect it to be truly exceptional.
