Reinventing the Classics with Rob Howard

Rob Howard doesn’t just restore cars. He reimagines them.

As the founder and CEO of Kindred Motorworks, Rob has built a company around a clear vision: honoring the timeless silhouettes of classic cars while rebuilding them with modern performance.

“The business model is kind of like a flywheel,” says Rob. “We choose one old model, and we spend a lot of time tearing that down, building it up, tearing it down, building it up till it’s perfect.”

That process—relentless iteration, never settling until it’s right—is what makes Kindred Motorworks unique. It’s a commitment to the classics with a shared vision for the future. Even when it isn’t easy.

“Oftentimes I think about how much harder it is than I thought it would be,” says Rob. “And this is my third company, so realizing that is kind of ironic. But we embrace that here. When it’s hard, that means others aren’t gonna do it.”

It’s that willingness to take on what others won’t that drives Kindred forward.

“What makes Kindred unique, and you just don’t see in vintage cars, is the amount of engineering that we put into these cars. It is the highest quality car because of the engineering work that we put into the car.”

Kindred isn’t about preserving museum pieces. It’s about designing cars people actually want to drive every day—vehicles that blend classic lines with modern performance, safety, and reliability.

For Rob, the measure of success goes beyond the cars themselves.

“I define success for Kindred as the job creation. We are creating great jobs. And the product—we are really super proud of the product. But ultimately, success is making time for food and drinks with friends and family.”

It’s a vision that ties business to people, and work to life outside the office. And it’s this shared philosophy that unites Kindred Motoworks and Mizzen+Main.

“There’s actually a lot of similarities between Kindred and the way we think and Mizzen+Main,” Rob says. “Kind of reinventing menswear as you have is very similar to what we’re doing with our cars. We want that car out on the road, and to make that happen, you have to modernize it.”

Just as Kindred re-engineers vintage cars to fit the way we drive today, Mizzen+Main redefines menswear—taking the timeless look of a button-down and modernizing it with comfort and performance.

Both brands start with tradition. Both embrace innovation. And both prove that reinvention, done right, can feel as natural as it does necessary.