Driven by Passion, Fueled by Automotive Culture
Our Story and Bold Mission
Big Eddie's Speed Shop was born from a love of hotrods and classic cars, committed to delivering raw, bold apparel that reflects genuine car culture. Our mission is to empower automotive fans to wear their passion with pride through top-quality, edgy designs infused with energy and authenticity.
About Big Eddie's Speed Shop
Despite the name, Big Eddie’s isn’t a speedshop in the traditional sense. It’s a design studio—born from a lifelong obsession with classic cars, hot rods, customs, and motorcycles—specialising in artwork and illustrations for garments and merch.
In the Beginning
I’ve been drawing cars for as long as I can remember. Growing up in the 60s & 70's, I was mesmerised by the murals on vans, bikes, and the wild custom paint jobs featured in magazines like Custom Car. I kept seeing the word airbrush, but I had no idea what one actually was.
That changed one day when I was wagging off school and caught a TV programme—Pebble Mill at One. They had a guy demonstrating how to airbrush bubbles. From that moment, I knew that was it. That was my thing.
Unfortunately, my careers teacher had already written me off as “factory fodder” and told me there was no future for artists. He should’ve had a word with our art teacher, who clearly thought otherwise. But as it turned out, he wasn’t entirely wrong—I did end up working in a factory after leaving school.
Still, the passion for hot rods and airbrushing never left. Eventually, I managed to get hold of a cheap modeller’s airbrush. Needless to say, I had no luck with it.
Years later, when circumstances changed and I found myself out of work, I decided to go to college and properly learn airbrushing. The course required twelve months of graphic design before they’d even let you touch an airbrush. While I waited, I bought my own airbrush, grabbed a few books, and started taking on small jobs. Some went surprisingly well. My best piece from that era was an iconic portrait of Marilyn Monroe on the bonnet of a Rover SD1. It was genuinely show‑worthy, even if I say so myself. But work like that was hard to come by, and I gradually found myself doing more and more graphic design—especially for the print trade. I did get some work from the custom car community, and I had pieces featured in Street Machine, Motorcycle News, and a few others.
And Now…Here we are. Still drawing cars. Still loving every minute of it.—Clive. P.S. Why “Big Eddie’s”? Simple—it’s just my middle name.