The ‘us’ at Kustomotive is my lovely wife Gina who keeps everything going and the help of some very talented friends to do the:

Framing
Silk-screening
Vinyl and computer graphics.

If you would like a Kustomotive painting, or design call us:

Toll free at:  1-888-262-1949    
Local:  1-408-265-1949

or you can go to the How to order page for more info.

My dad recalls that at age 2, I walked out of a store with my first copy of Rod & Custom, for which my dad then went back in and paid for.

I was drawing cars at 3 years old and by high school I was airbrushing all my friends’ cars on their t-shirts. Like a lot of boys, I drew cars, played with Matchbox Cars, Hot Wheels, and slot-cars. I had Briggs & Stratton Go-Karts and finally a Mac B-1 powered Kart, which I started racing, until I got my first car.

I worked at a car wash and did landscaping until I saved enough money for my first car – a 1953 Chevy Sedan Delivery – which I drove home the day I turned 16. I still have the ’53. In the meantime I owned a ’49 Chevy, ’66 Olds, ’69 396 Chevelle, ’70 Chevelle, ’70 Monte Carlo and my beloved ’69 Suburban.

I first made myself a t-shirt with marking pens because I wanted a picture of my go-kart on it. I started airbrushing around 1972, to paint my model cars and bicycles.  I won dozens of first places with my model cars, and I then sprayed custom paint jobs on my friend’s bicycles, and soon I was painting cars and motorcycles in my dads drive way.

Rat Rider Custom Airbrushing, History:

A kid in the neighborhood called me ‘Rat’ because I had a cage full of rats (pets) in my garage as a 14 year old kid.  A ‘Rat Rider’ was also someone who rode a beater motorcycle. A rat on a bike became my logo, and I used to sign my shirts with a small drawing of a rat. I still sign the T-shirts with the Rat logo, and I sign all my paintings with my last name ‘Riccitelli’. ‘Kustomotive’ is the business that contains ‘all’ my painting and illustrations.

Saturday nights during the summer I was airbrushing cars on shirts at San Jose Speedways Super-modified and stock car races. I painted at the drag races at Baylands Raceway (Fremont) for years, it was fun, my booth was right along the staging lanes so all day long, as I was painting, I could see and feel all the cars rumble past to the starting line (talk about inspiration). And if I wasn’t at racetracks I was at a car shows and races all over northern California.

Rat Rider airbrushing was very successful and I’ve airbrushed over 2000 shirts. I opened a retail store front, and soon I was doing race car graphics and lettering behind the store. So I moved to a large warehouse location in downtown San Jose. But when Baylands Raceway closed in 1990, I closed my shop and focused my artwork talent in sign painting, but my love of cars brought me back to painting cars.

My love and interest in cars and machines extends from the Cugnot steamer to Chrysler Airflows, the Dymaxion, Crosley Hotshots the Muira and the P38 lightning. I dream about the chrome and fins of the fifties, chopped Mercs and Gullwing Mercs. The Bruce Mclaren M6&8s, Jim Hall Chaparrals, Pininfarina and Spadas DB4. I can’t stop staring at cars like the 1930’s Talbot Lagos and Delahayes.

I try to express the beauty, fun and energy of the cars in my paintings and designs