Tennessee’s Elite Customs Serves Luxury & High-End Clients

This article originally appeared in the January 2025 issue of THE SHOP magazine.

By Maura Keller
Tucked in the heart of Franklin, Tennessee, Elite Customs offers a full-service customizing experience, specializing in luxury and high-end vehicles.

However, the shop’s specialties don’t stop there. Founder Rich McClellan and his team have worked on everything from boats to RVs, offering a wide range of services including body modifications, custom interiors, audio and lighting upgrades and more.

“I founded Elite Customs in 2015 after many years in the industry, learning everything I could. It’s truly my passion,” McClellan says. “So, when the opportunity presented itself to strike out on my own and start my own shop, that’s just what I did.”

Unlike other shops he’s worked in, however, McClellan always focuses on giving his clients a “voice” in what he creates for them.

ATTRACTING LIFELONG ENTHUSIASTS

McClellan’s journey into the world of custom automobiles began in San Bernardino, California, moving to Las Vegas and eventually settling in Tennessee.

“When I met my wife, Sam, in 2018, she had no clue about the custom world, but she immediately fell in love with it, seeing the endless possibilities of creativity and self-expression,” McClellan says. “There wasn’t much feminine influence in the local industry then, but she saw a market with women in mind. She closed her business and joined Elite in 2022.”

Together, the McClellans started their luxury car modification shop in a modest two-car bay totaling only 1,200 square feet. Within six months, they expanded by another 1,200 square feet to meet a fast-growing demand.

In another six months they moved to a 4,000-square-foot shop. Exactly a year later, they relocated to a 5,500-square-foot building in the heart of Cool Springs. Within two years, they had added another 4,000 square feet.

Now, Elite is thriving in a 12,000-square-foot space with plans to expand again soon.

“We get up every day, hit the ground running, and have the best time doing it,” McClellan says. “We have earned the reputation that everyone is welcome here. When a client experiences Elite Customs and says that the process is much more comfortable and exciting than they had imagined, we know we have a lifelong enthusiast on our hands. That’s the goal.”

Those enthusiasts can even include noted personalities. Building singer/songwriter Jelly Roll’s custom 1964 Lincoln Continental is particularly significant to McClellan, partially because he owns one himself.

“When Jelly Roll commissioned Elite Customs to build one for him and gave us full creative freedom, it felt like a dream come true,” McClellan says. “Every single detail of this car was meticulously planned and executed with Jelly Roll’s personality and heartfelt music in mind.”

Sam played a crucial role, helping with color stories and how textures interact. And the engraving, which garners the most attention, was entirely her idea.

“I even removed the rearview mirror to reflect one of his famous lyrics: ‘I took the mirror off of this old Ford, so I only see in front of me.’ A little-known fact is that Lincoln is Ford’s luxury division, adding another layer of meaning,” McClellan notes.

Another memorable project highlight for Elite Customs is a Mercedes G-Wagon Brabus 4×4 Square built for a close friend and client. At the time, the vehicles were only available in custom one-offs, as Mercedes had not yet offered them. As McClellan explains, the project combined all the luxury of Brabus with Elite Customs’ unique flair.

“People would stop him in traffic to ask about it, and even a foreign leader (who shall remain unnamed) offered him $1 million for it. He couldn’t part with it,” McClellan says.

The company’s diverse clientele, which includes athletes, artists, business executives, Suburban moms and first-time car owners, bring unique project opportunities each month.

“Currently, we have six employees. We’re a smaller team, but honestly, we prefer it to be that way,” McClellan says. “Finding employees is challenging because many people believe they can jump into this type of work without any prior experience. However, success in this industry requires extensive experience, dedication and sheer grit.”

There’s no instruction manual for what the shop does, he explains.

“A significant part of our job is figuring out how to make the impossible work. Retaining employees, however, is easier. If you make it past the first 90 days, it’s because you have a genuine passion for our work. We function as a family, working together, treating each other with respect and approaching each project as a group effort. Each of us has unique strengths, and we rely on one another to succeed.”

LUNCH DATES

One of the Elite Customs’ team’s favorite traditions is something Sam started back when she and Rich were dating. Every Friday, she would cook lunch for everyone and bring it to the shop.

As things got busier, she had less time to cook every week, so the company now caters lunch, closes the office and sits together to catch up and decompress from the week.

“Everyone looks forward to this all week,” Rich McClellan says. “Our kids are friends, and we face life’s ups and downs together. When you spend so much of your waking time with the same group of people, it’s hard not to become close.”

When it comes to pricing projects and services, Elite Customs (elitecustomstn.com) tries to be extremely fair. Many factors go into setting prices, from the list/retail cost of parts to the number of hours a job will take, what portion(s) will require a subcontractor and so forth.

“It’s a daily balance that has to be visited often. Danielle, our operations manager, really does a great job with the details and organization of all of that,” McClellan says.

When it comes to marketing the company, for a long time the shop simply relied on word-of-mouth advertising. Now, social media also plays a role in building the brand.

“The cars honestly promote our business better than anything we could ever do. Sam began to really harness the power of social media when she came on board in 2022,” McClellan says. “She has built a great team to support that part of the business. We don’t use social media to sell; that’s the first rule. Instead, we use it to build relationships with potential customers and followers.”

The goal is to educate and inspire drivers about what’s possible while genuinely engaging with the audience.

“We share behind-the-scenes looks at our process and what goes into customizing their vehicles,” he adds. “This transparency helps demystify the process, making it less overwhelming when they decide to work with us.”

Sam firmly believes in the “know-like-trust” model for the company’s social media presence.

“Authenticity is key—people can spot insincerity from a mile away, so we always strive to be as genuine as possible,” she says.

EMBRACING CHALLENGES

One of Elite Customs’ biggest challenge is fighting against misconceptions regarding vehicle customization.

“The TV shows that you generally think of really aren’t what this industry is at all,” Rich notes. “We’re not putting hot tubs and fish tanks in minivans. We aren’t Frankenstein-ing a boat and a truck together. We are improving on what’s already there to elevate and personalize your vehicle.”

The proposed timeline is also a significant factor of each project. As McClellan explains, people generally think that the “Hollywood edited timeline” is realistic for tearing a car completely apart, redoing whatever it is they are doing, and then putting it back together with attention to the smallest details.

“It just isn’t realistic. If we rush it, something gets overlooked or corners get cut,” McClellan says. “Customizing your car the right way will take a little bit of time. But 10-times-out-of-10, it’s worth the wait.”

To streamline the overall process, Elite Customs has established strong alliances with local businesses that have proved beneficial. McClellan stresses that no one is an island in this industry and that working with other experts and professionals is important.

“Think of it like a network of people that work together. We’re always picking up the phone and calling one another when we run into a new issue or solving a problem after we’ve exhausted all our familiar options,” he says. “And this isn’t just local. I’ve built a network that spans worldwide. And referring people is a big part of that. My mantra for years has always been, ‘It’s not what you know; it’s who you know,’ which has served me well.”

For McClellan, the best part of working in the industry has always been the projects themselves—figuring out how to push the limits and reinvent the wheel, so to speak. Cars evolve, technology advances and the customization industry works to keep pace.

“The joke around the shop is that nothing challenges me more than being told something isn’t possible; I’ll exhaust myself to prove you wrong,” McClellan says. “Sam constantly finds new ways to expand our business and bring Elite Customs to new heights. She focuses on converting new people into custom enthusiasts. Her favorite clients are the first-timers—she loves seeing the moment it all clicks for them when they realize the vast possibilities and start dreaming up their unique personal builds.”

Looking ahead, the Elite Customs team hopes to become a household name in the industry and set new standards for automotive customization. Its goal is to bring the custom automotive industry out of the garage and into the mainstream, making it an attainable and accessible option for everyone.

“We want ‘revamping’ your vehicle to be as commonplace as ‘revamping’ your home,” McClellan says. “Just as you wouldn’t move into a builder-grade house without painting the walls or hanging pictures, why leave your vehicle stock when you can personalize and enhance it to reflect your style?”