Lance Troupe

Lance's signature on a 1962 California Spyder that he upholstered in 1988. Photo courtesy of O'Rourke Coachtrimmers & Supplies.

Lance Troupe was in the custom interior business for 38 years. When he got out of the Navy Sea Bees in 1975 he wanted to do something with a 1950 Chevrolet truck he had stored at his dad's house; "I began fixing it up. When it came time for the interior I found out about a guy, David High, who at that time, was a member of the Hard Times Car Club, but he was also an auto trimmer. Dave was also a cartoonist a the Hanna Barbara Studios in Burbank. But most importantly, Dave was a Hollywood hot rodder back in the day. Dave knew all the cool guys from the automotive market supply market. I had Dave do my first cool interior I ever had. I did all the others since then. While I was learning from one of the best trimmers at the time, Dave, would take me on many of the "Hard Times" car club local rod runs. I learned a lot from Dave in those days. After a couple of years with Dave I wanted to do something on my own and had a friend offer me one of his many garages to work from. During the short time I took to set up a shop, I was tipped about a man, Dick Magoo, that was looking for an upholstery guy to work at his hop. I took the job and started doing super cool cars for Magoos Auto Shop right from the get go!"