Bad Cat Engineering was started in 2022, and was the result of two people being in the right place at the right time. Both Carl and I had experience working at several shops, and were at a point where we were ready to branch out on our own. We shared similar values and ideas for how a business should be run, and we each had a vision for how that would go. I can remember countless times where we would each express "I just want to build cool stuff, and try to have fun doing it". We wanted less drama and to be able to express ourselves creatively. Additionally we wanted to priotitize customer relations, and stucture the business in a way that would prevent the common pitfalls that many high performance automotive shops fall into. The fundamentals of this is open communication with customers, and not taking deposits for labor that has not been completed to avoid getting upside down.
Shortly after, several opportunities fell into place and we were able to get setup in our first shop space. We hit the ground running, and began settling into a comfortable work flow. Year by year we have carved a space for ourselves in this community, and have been able to do some really great projects, and meet some wonderful people. In 2024 we moved into a larger space, and have continued to grow the business at a steady pace.
Sometimes things happen in life that make you feel as though you are right where you need to be. When we started moving into our first shop space, we had the name of the business decided, but did not have a logo yet. We used our landlords trailer to transport our things and when we opened the trailer there was an old rat rod sitting there that looked like it had been rotting away for several decades. Hand painted on the trunk lid was this greaser cat figure flicking us off. We practically said in unison "Now that is a Bad Cat!". And our Logo was provided to us right there.
Carl and I are grateful to all who have supported us in this endeavor, and it has been a joy to watch several customers become close friends. We truly believe we are on a path to make some waves in this community, and can't wait to see what is to come.
-Justin Mitchell