GTO built from $1,400 parts
Achatz and his father spent two years rebuilding a 1970 GTO from a box of parts they bought for just $1,400 when Grant was 14.
Snapshot · Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard
Grant Achatz (award-winning chef)
Explore episode
Jul 15, 2026
Where this was said
Pre-Interview Banter: Michigan Roots and Nicotine
At 5:04 · chapter starts 3:23
In the few minutes before the interview properly begins, the three participants discover they are all Michiganders of nearly the same age. Dax and Grant zero in on the distinction between Saint Clair and Saint Clair Shores — a distinction that matters enormously to locals — and establish an easy rapport. Dax confesses that without a nicotine spray he cannot function, while Grant reveals he has never been a nicotine addict, which strikes Dax as almost implausible. The banter establishes both men as products of small-town Midwest culture, setting the stage for a deeper conversation about how that upbringing shaped their careers.
Rebuilding a GTO With His Father
At 14, Achatz's father bought a disassembled 1970 GTO for $1,400 and spent two years rebuilding it with his son using the factory manual. The project taught Grant hands-on problem-solving — the same obsessive attention to how things are put together that would later define his kitchen.
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