Chris Brown

Born in Ohio, Chris Brown grew up obsessed with the automobile. He collected over 1,300 die cast cars as a child, collected every auto-related book and magazine he could get his hands on and spent his evenings drawing countless hot rods and concept cars. After high school, he attended The Columbus College of Art and Design for three years, but it didn't quench his automotive thirst, so he left for the heart of car culture out west.

Brown moved to California to attend The Art Center College of Design, in Pasadena where he earned a Bachelor of Science, Transportation Design degree. After Art Center, Brown founded Chris Brown Auto Design, which specializes in the design of both custom vehicles and automotive products and accessories. In 2001, Brown also joined the staff of Barry's Speed Shop, where he eventually became the General Manager. The Learning Channel (TLC) featured the shop to in two seasons of Wrecks to Riches, in which Brown played a pivotal role. He also appeared on Monster Garage, Hot Rod Buildoff, Chop, Cut, and Rebuild, and Rolling Art TV.  Chris has participated in a wide variety of projects. Many of these vehicles have won awards including America’s Most Beautiful Roadster, and Good Guys Street Rod of the Year, as well as countless other awards. Chris not only designs and illustrates cars, but also has experience in designing wheels, products, body kits, logos, catalogs, and a myriad of other things. For more examples of Chris’ work, go to www.brownautodesign.com .

Chris left Barry’s Speed Shop in 2008 and moved on to become the Marketing Director at The Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, California. He helped create many of the fundraising events for the museum, including Deuce Week 2012, Corvette Day 2013, Mustang Day 2014, Breakfast Club, Caruso Concours d’Elegance, and several other galas and special events. He also represented the Petersen at off-site events such as Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, and the Kuwait Concours d’Elegance. Brown also was the press liaison for on-site filming and interviews, and often appeared on camera as a representative of the museum.  He helped create the museum’s Car Stories Podcast, which he and A.J. Gordon co-hosted for 50 episodes. During the facility’s renovation in 2014, Brown became the Curator of Special Collections to assist the Curatorial Department in creating content for the museum’s extensive redesign.

The end of 2014 marked Chris’ return to full-time custom car design. He teamed up with Bob and Kent Matranga of Matranga Hot Rods (MHR) to design a 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air named Brute Force, which has won Battle of the Builders, 2021, GoodGuys America’s Most Beautiful 2020 and was a Great 8 Finalist at the 2020 Detroit Autorama. Projects with MHR continue, including a 427SOHC -powered 1964 Ford Galaxie (which represented Ford’s performance history in their 2021 SEMA booth), updates to several hot rods in the Matranga Collection, and a 1960 Chevrolet Impala currently in the works.