Welcome to Burn Out Gear!   Bud Bagdasarian has been in love with hot rods all his life. His father Harold "Baggy" Bagdasarian founded the " Sacramento Autorama" in 1950. And Bud's been involved with hot rods ever since. Bud has created a line of apparel for hot rod enthusiasts, which is offered online and at hot rod shows around the USA.   Join us in celebrating the history and future of hot rods.

I was born in April of 1947 to Willie & Harold Bagdasarian, and have one older sister named Linda. I felt very fortunate to have grown up in the middle of the Custom Car Show Industries. My parents started the Sacramento Autorama in 1950 and turned it into one of the best Car Shows on the West Coast. Because of my parents, I was fortunate enough to meet and befriend people like George & Shirley Barris (The King of the Kustoms), and Big Daddy Ed Roth (Mr. Rat Fink himself).

My parents would also hire entertainers such as Evil Kanevel. At the 1969 Autorama he performed his famous dare-devil show for them at the Old State Fair Grounds. Other entertainers I was lucky enough to meet included Reggie Jackson, Dick Clark, Wolfman Jack, and Ricky Nelson. It was so great to meet these people and so many others over the 41 years of shows my parents produced.

Not only did I attend the shows annually, but I also participated in the 1963 show. I built and entered one special entry in the Sacramento Autorama. It was the smallest motorcycle to date and I named it Mini Motor Cycle (Dubbed the Honda Chopper). It was only 16 in. tall and 19 in. long. I was even able to ride it around my neighborhood!

Big Daddy Ed Roth liked it so much that everytime he saw my father he would ask him if he could buy it. I finally gave in and sold my pride and joy for $100 dollars. It seemed like a lot of money at the time, but looking back I can't believe I gave it away like that! Years later I asked Ed about the bike but unfortunately he told me that it had been lost over the years. However, he did get a picture of it in one of his published books.

It wasn't until 1996 that Peterson Publishers sent a picture to my mother that they had taken of my bike at the 1963 show. With only the picture and a duplicate motor I had found at a swap meet 12 years before, I was able to reproduce my original bike. I added a disc brake to the newer version. There were no brakes on the first one, but at the age of 15 who needs brakes anyways!

I graduated from High School in 1965 and joined the US Navy. I got out of the Navy in 1968 and went to work for my dad for a couple of years. After that I started my own business in 1971 building custom boat interiors. In 1974 I began building custom van interiors and seating until 1992. During this time I had two wonderful daughters: Shelby in 1983 and Lauren in 1986. They have both been a great help to me every since.

I started doing photo transfers in late 1995. I print on T-Shirts, coffee mugs, dash plaques, awards, and hats for the outdoor car shows in Northern California. This is where I saw the need for some cool looking Burnout Gear (no pun intended but you will see that most of my Burnout Gear will have some sort of flames on them). And so my creation came to life.