TWIN FALLS, Idaho — Since junior high, Grady Bowman has been buying and selling cars. His interest has only grown over the years, eventually leading to him customizing cars. Grady also loves the outdoors and lived on the road with his family in an RV for a time.
These two passions soon came together, and Grady shifted his focus on building a business that would provide other outdoor enthusiasts affordable, four-wheel-drive vehicles which they could live out of.
“I really love cars, and I love the outdoors, and so combining those two was just a no-brainer,” said Grady.
These past few years, Grady has been working on his family business which he co-owns with his father, SUBOVERLAND. The work entails Grady buying and renovating used cars.
“We go through all the mechanicals, redo a lot of things, and from there, we start doing the interior. That’s probably what sets us apart. Giving a used thing a second life.”
Grady specializes in customizing SUVs with the most common model being the Suburban but still does work on Tahoes, Yukons, and Trailblazers. For each project, there are four models that can be selected with prices ranging from $5,500 to $15,000. They are the Base, Ichi, Ni, and San model, which is the most popular option for customers.
“It has the solar panel vent fan, the roof set up, the interior wood that you’ll see on the website and stuff, and the battery and refrigerator. It’s got it all,” said Grady.
The payoff for Grady is not just getting to build these vehicles but being able to interact with his clientele.
“All the clients are great and we have great relationships with all of them and that’s probably the most rewarding thing about this. There are just really cool people.”
Many of Grady's customers also feel the same way about him. Lucas Muniz had the pleasure of purchasing a vehicle from Grady in September.
“Grady was super friendly, I mean, he's one of the warmest people that I’ve met here and he was super excited to have some random guy show up, who was just super stoked about his shop,” said Muniz.
Like many customers, Muniz shared the reaction of being beyond satisfied with his purchase, having already put thousands of miles on his car, planning to put on more once the weather gets nice again.
“It’s more than a convenience, it’s for sure a luxury. I would say a convenience would be having a tent and then just being able to do that. But with this thing, it just makes getting outside and finding a place to sleep that much easier,” said Muniz.
While the beginning of this venture was tough at first, things have become much more steady for Grady. He currently has a waitlist spanning over a year and just recently sold his 100th customized vehicle.
