The lot
Four paid-off acres in the Arizona desert — no rent, no loan, no landlord’s rules about what gets welded in the driveway.
About Nick
Automotive engineer turned content creator, building and collecting vehicles on four paid-off acres in the Arizona desert.
- Role
- Automotive engineer
- Started
- 2010 · Local Motors
- First build
- Rally Fighter parts
- Signature build
- 6x6 military camper
- Base
- Arizona desert, 4 acres
01 · The path
Two single-wides and a welder
Nick’s path into engineering started at 18 in a fiberglass shop, then as the 11th employee at Local Motors, working on the Rally Fighter.
From there he became an early hire — employee #6 and #51 — at two more automotive startups, both of which went on to IPO, building EV and Class-8 truck manufacturers. Along the way he worked the full spectrum of the job: from CAD to the welding table, city transit buses to side-by-sides, concept to crankshaft.
In 2016, in a parking lot, he built a one-off 6x6 camper out of a surplus military truck — the project that became the seed of StartupSlick. Today he documents real automotive engineering: welding, wrenching, and fabrication, explained by the guy who actually does it.
02 · Where it happens
The shop
Fabrication, welding, and full teardown bays — everything shown on camera is built on this property, by hand.
The fleet
A rotating collection of unusual builds: a cab-swapped 6x6, a century-old Moreland, and whatever is next.
03 · Get in touch
Sponsorships & booking
For brand partnerships, product features, or build collaborations, send the details below and it goes straight to Nick.