Dream cars come alive in Spring Valley industrial complex

"Beep-beep'm, beep-beep, yeah Baby, you can drive my car."

That '60s Beatles classic you sang as a teenager is finally coming true.

Custom choppers and exotic or vintage cars can be found, purchased or driven at Hot Rod City.

"It's memories. It's people reliving their youth," Hot Rod City mayor Steve Levesque said about the industry's appeal. "You can actually buy cars now that you wanted as a teenager but could never afford. It's about driving your dream car."

The "city," as its tenants call it, is an industrial complex in Spring Valley at 5115 Dean Martin Drive, Suite 905, featuring dozens of auto-centric businesses and a hot rod museum.

While the complex is open to the public -- for exotic, vintage or custom car and chopper rentals, purchases and repairs from its various vendors -- it also serves as a permanent car show.

Hot Rod City calls itself a family, its members recommending one another for business and helping out when times get tough. The property manager, Jack Gedon -- who is looking for more tenants -- said he keeps rent low and works with businesses that can't pay the bills.

"It's a dysfunctional family, but it's a family," Levesque said, adding that the characters in the city would make a good reality show.

Tenants say the their business has improved, even in the sluggish economy, since moving to the complex, Gedon said, adding that a lot of the work comes from within the complex at times. For example, when Las Vegas Choppers builds a bike, a Hot Rod City business does the paint job, another the upholstery, and on and on.

"It's awesome. They have cool cars. I have cool choppers," said Marc Brattin, owner and founder of Las Vegas Choppers. "We like heavy metal -- not the genre of music but paint and chrome and loud things."

Aside from adding more small-business owners to its auto family, the city hopes to expand its mecca of classics through a larger museum and scheduled shows or events.

The museum hosts more than a dozen classics from a vintage mint green microcar to a 1954 moped to a '63 Israeli sports car painted fire engine red. Most belong to the city's owner, Michael Dezer, who has been collecting hundreds of vehicles since the '70s. Motorcycles from "Terminator," a '47 yellow DeSoto from "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and a stunt car from "Dukes of Hazzard" are just a few of the Hollywood collectibles.

When Dezer stocks his Florida 18,000-square-foot museum, he plans to ship several cars to Las Vegas to add to its current flock, Hot Rod City staff members said.

Las Vegas Choppers also is expanding and is in the works of building a 10-station tattoo parlor next to its new space that will feature even more of its custom gallery of motorcycles.

Brattin said his business' main draw is in its rentals, where locals or tourists can take a custom bike for the day.

"Clients think I'm nuts for renting a chopper. I'm the only one crazy enough to rent this," he said, pointing to a gold metallic custom bike. "But you know what? Everyone loves it."

Daniel Convertino, owner of Las Vegas Exotic Car Rentals, is also one-of-a-kind in the cars he rents -- high-end exotics, such as a Lamborghini, Rolls Royce or Bentley.

There are only about 50 other car rental agencies of its caliber in the country, he said.

It's easy to cater to Las Vegas' VIP crowd of movie stars, socialites and other celebrities.

Convertino said he can't pick a favorite of his fleet, calling himself jaded because he drives them all the time. Ironically, he doesn't own a personal car.

"I had to catch a ride home from work the other day," he said with a laugh, noting his entire stock was rented out for Fight Night.

What keeps their clients coming back for more is the same simple reason the owners got into the hot rod business: "It's cool."