
Advanced Plating is 60 Years Young!
The roots of Advanced Plating started with founder Elton Cole, who first opened shop in Old Hickory, Tennessee, during the spring of 1962. Like several businesses, the shop changed hands a couple of times through the years. Then, in 1985, while racing motorcycles, Steve Tracy started his relationship with Advanced Plating, leading to he and his wife, Sheri, becoming sole owners in 1989.
It would be nice to say the rest is history, but it has not been an easy 35 years of ownership for the Tracys and Advanced Plating. They have had their unfortunate share of devastating events over that time, including a catastrophic flood in 2010 and then a total loss fire in 2018. In fact, the fire of 2018 is what led to the most recent relocation to the small town of Portland, Tennessee, which is situated north of Nashville at the Tennessee-Kentucky border.

For more info on Advanced Plating, call (615) 313-7147 or visit advancedplating.com.


Our omission was in leaving out the significant contribution to the project by Richard Wells. Wells handled the fabrication and the build throughout. The roadster does feature a tubular chassis with the body channeled over the frame that corrals an all-aluminum Ford DOHC 32-valve Lincoln V-8 bolted up to a Ford T5 transmission.

As mentioned in the article the roadster did take home a handful of well-deserved awards that clearly reflect the efforts of Wells in the AMBR Achievement Plaque, Outstanding Detail, and Outstanding Undercarriage.
Our apologies.
