Stella’s Body Shop–Its not what you think…

As I made my way from Pipestone, MN, to New Ulm, I passed through Springfield and (almost) drove past Stella’s Body Shop.

Wow, where did this place come from?  Prior to this Minnesota consisted of large vistas of cornfields.  Cornfields that went on for miles.  At times they went from horizon to horizon.  Leaving a person to wonder just how much corn this country could use. 

But here was something beyond corn.  Stella’s was something I would expect anywhere but in the middle of all those cornfields.

So what I’ve shown you is just a teaser,  of sorts.  The front of the building with plenty of gas station memorabilia.  But there is more.  So much more.

Take a look at these cars:

 

Take a good look:

Look at the detail of these rat rods:

This stuff is real art.

The interior carries it even further…

I had to see what was inside the building:

Then I received a tour of the inner sanctum…

Now you purists might well be shocked by the conversion of Studebaker tailgates into benches, but understand that the tailgates used here were all that was left of the original pickup trucks and you can see that upper photo of the tailgates, a previous owner had welded a signpost to the bottom part in order to reinforce it.  So try to appreciate that this creativity has saved what would have been a discarded or recycled piece of steel and allowed it to continue to exist as a stunning piece of art – that is also functional.

Now take a look at this motorcycle.

This is an amazing business and it has been creating a rat rod each year for the past six years with more to come.

I love finding these places.