Passion to the Core at Hardcore Trucks

Due (that’s a library pun) to a DVD in the  named Hard Hat Harry: Racecars and MonsterTrucks, both of my sons love monster trucks. Before Hard Hat Harry, I had never paid much attention to customized pickups and SUVs.

Now I’ve begun to notice them, like at on Main Street (one block west of Pinehurst). The business usually has at least one huge pickup displayed in their parking lot. Every time we drive by my kids scream, “MONSTER TRUCK!” It makes me smile to see them so excited, and I think to myself, what a great place we live in that we have our own monster truck shop right in town.

I’m not sure what I imagined the owners of Hardcore Trucks would be like when I walked in their door last Thursday. Was I expecting huge hairy men in leather, growling at me? I don’t think so, but I was certainly not expecting co-owner Kirk Cole, a young, reticent man with a sweet smile. Cole seemed like he was more comfortable out in the shop rather than in the office, but he told me his younger brother and business partner Kyle Cole would be happy to speak with me.

I met with Kyle and I ask him how Hardcore Trucks came to be. Cole explained that after being laid off from his job as a diesel mechanic in 2008, he decided it was time to take his passion for trucks and turn into a business.

“My brother and I started out 12 years ago building racecars with our dad. In 2000, we built our first truck, and after that we were hooked,” he says. 

The brothers started the business with the help of their family, and they have been slowly building it up. Last year Kirk was able to quit his job as a sales manager for  Interstate Batteries to start working full time with his brother, and they moved the business to a larger Main Street space in April.

“We think it is important for Hardcore Trucks to give back to the community,” Kyle tells me. “Right now we are one of the sponsors of the SPCA Tampa Bay’s 21st Annual 3K Pet Walk in Downtown St. Petersburg. We just did a truck show in April to raise money for leukemia research, and we love Dunedin’s Touch-a-Truck event.”

“We really love Dunedin. It has great stuff to do and the people are very friendly. And we are happy to be here. Our business is a luxury industry,” Kyle tells me. “And it’s certainly a bad time to open any company, but we told ourselves if we can survive in times like this, then we can survive anytime. And it’s a career of passion, we love going to work every day, so money is not our only reward.” 

So now when you drive down Main Street, you can scream, “MONSTER TRUCK!” and know that Hardcore Trucks is owned by two guys who live what they love.

Looking for a lift? Get some work done at Hardcore Trucks and then on Dunedin Patch.

Want to go?

• Where: Hardcore Trucks, 1260 Main St.
• Contact: 727-734-8949
• Hours: Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Sunday, closed.