Hi, I’m Johnny Hatch!

I believe that vintage and enthusiast vehicles are in fact, complex artforms. When you get behind the wheel, you’re experiencing a cooperative masterpiece. Ask yourself, how many people put thought and ingenuity into creating this thing that has weathered decades of use and enjoyment? 

Artists, designers, engineers, marketing teams, test drivers, quality control squads, mechanics and countless other souls showed up at work for several years to collectively gift you the insanely pure smile on your face when you drive it. I created Rocky Mountain Retrofit to preserve and further these artforms for enjoyment in their natural habitat - The open roads and trails of wherever they take you - Whether that means restoring them or retrofitting them with more modern running gear.

My Background:

I’ve always been obsessed with cool cars and trucks. Fixing them and modifying them constitutes a truly unhealthy proportion of my thoughtstream and the fever’s introduced me to amazing places and to my closest friends, one way or another.

I grew up outside of Detroit, Michigan in the 90’s where and when it seemed everyone had some kind of intriguing contraption not-so-hidden away in the garage. Everywhere I went, people talked about cars, all the time.  We’d go on field trips to the Henry Ford Museum, which is a Smithsonian-grade institution of American innovation where I learned about so many different types of inventions. Inspiration for someone like me who just wanted to build stuff was everywhere.  I’d take apart anything I could get my hands on to fix it, see how it worked, or incorporate parts into some other project.

I graduated college with a Mechanical Engineering Degree concentrated in race car design via the Formula SAE program in 2011 from Michigan Tech University. Through Formula SAE, my teammates and I learned how to build a purpose-built, high performance vehicle from the ground up. I optimized component designs in CAD to be as light as possible, TIG welded our space-frame chassis, built and tuned our high-revving motors, tuned dampers and learned how to improvise in a racing environment where time was of the essence. We got to use all the cool tools the University had, that none of us could have afforded otherwise, and it was absolutely addicting (though also sleep depriving).

Between 2013 and 2017, I worked at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, (FCA) and was able to turn my passion for off-roading into a professional pursuit. I worked on Jeep programs as well as all kinds of experimental architecture stuff.  My product development colleagues and I wrote several test procedures focused on preserving the off-road reputation of the Jeep brand while incorporating important new advancements in safety and technology. It was the coolest job I could imagine. I got paid to go all over the country, validating test procedures and testing Jeeps to their limits. I was also the “gatekeeper” to the off road facilities at the proving grounds and a high performance driving instructor there, where I taught incoming product development engineers how to drive off-road and how to safely use the facilities to do their jobs.

The services listed on this site represent the things I love most in the wide world of automotive culture and the types of work I’m most interested in doing. I’ve always been more of a “master of special projects,” more than anything involving monotony. If you’ve got a special vehicle or event approaching, and you like what you’ve read here, I invite you to reach out. Life’s an adventure. Let’s keep it interesting.