Out Cruising With Your Baby in Style

Oh, baby, have we got a stroller for you!

It’s called the hot rod baby carriage, and it’s the brainchild of Rob Mercado, a 35-year-old Covina mechanic who builds them in his body shop, Rob’s Paintworks. A custom-car enthusiast, Mercado offers strollers in ’36 Ford, ’44 Plymouth and ’50 Mercury bodies in miniature form. He dreamed up the idea two years ago as a way to transport his young daughter in style.

“Instead of cruising her around in her regular stroller, I thought a cuter thing to do was to build her a little hot rod stroller.”

Apparently, other people think so too. On a recent trip to Santa Barbara, he sold one out from under his daughter’s little diapered bottom. “They attract so much attention, you can’t even get from one place to the next,” he says.

Prices start at $450 for a single pearlescent color. Custom paint costs extra, up to $800. The strollers take roughly two weeks to build.

It’s a wonder Big Daddy Roth, the man who started the custom car craze, never thought to make these.

For information, call (626) 338-4380.