Heaton Hot Rods

Heaton Hot Rods is a hot rod, muscle car and classic car shop and dealership at 1437 N. Larkin Ave in Joliet, Illinois, southwest of Chicago. The company's own site says it builds, restores, repairs and sells hot rods, muscle cars and classic cars, and that it can find or build a car for a customer who does not see the right one in stock. According to that site, the business officially began in 2015 and opened its showroom in 2019.

Who is behind Heaton Hot Rods

The business is built around Tom Heaton. Its About page says his interest in cars began as a child and that he attended WyoTech, the automotive technical school, before working for the Thomas Auto Group as a body repair technician and eventually managing that group's large body repair facility. The page says he kept building and restoring muscle cars and hot rods for more than thirty years and that the Thomas family's backing made it possible to open a place of his own to build, restore and sell them in 2015. These are the company's own statements, and we have not verified them independently.

How the business works

Heaton Hot Rods is a mix of dealer stock, custom work and, by its own description, consignment. A business description on its Birdeye listing says "We Buy-Sell-Consign-and Build" and says the company advertises cars, arranges shipping, storage and test drives, and can finish a customer's unfinished project car. Its own consignment page, however, says only "Sell your car to us today" and "More info coming soon," so fees and terms are not published online. Anyone thinking of consigning should ask for the terms in writing. The site also says it can discuss finding or building a car to order.

What it sells

When we checked the dealer's website in early October 2026, it listed 12 vehicles, mostly American cars from the 1950s through the 1970s. They included a 1965 Chevrolet Chevelle, a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro, a 1970 Chevelle SS, a 1966 Chevrolet Nova, a 1965 Ford Falcon, a 1955 Ford Thunderbird, a 1969 Plymouth Road Runner, a 1951 Ford F-3 truck and a 1951 Henry J, along with a custom 1973 Volkswagen Thing. Two newer cars, a 1992 Dodge Viper RT/10 and a 2014 Corvette Stingray, were also listed. Asking prices on the site ran from roughly the low $20,000s to $260,000. Its ClassicCars.com page showed 13 vehicles and included older cars such as a 1927 Pontiac coupe, a 1933 Plymouth coupe and a 1946 Chevrolet custom truck. Inventory changes often, so treat any list as a snapshot.

Shop services and financing

Beyond sales, the site describes mobile cosmetic services, available at the shop or at the customer's location. It lists paint work, body work, paintless dent repair, interior repair, headlight restoration, window tinting and windshield repair. The company says it offers free estimates and a lifetime warranty on this work, though the terms are not published. Pages for builds and restorations and for the collision center currently say information is coming soon.

A finance page offers a payment calculator and points to finance partners, and vehicle listings show monthly payment estimates based on 20 percent down over 84 months. Those figures are estimates, not offers. For a long-distance purchase, ask for the VIN, title status and extra photos, and consider an independent inspection before sending money. If you are thinking about selling a classic on consignment, our guide explains the usual fee structures and what to ask a seller's agent.

Reputation

Birdeye shows a 4.5 star average across 67 reviews, all of them sourced from Google. The Birdeye profile has not been claimed by the business owner, so it is an aggregator page rather than the company's own. We did not find a Better Business Bureau profile for the company. Read recent reviews yourself and judge the specific car in front of you. The company has been operating for about a decade by its own account.

Visiting Heaton Hot Rods

The shop and showroom are at 1437 N. Larkin Ave, Joliet, IL 60435, and the phone number is (815) 207-5985. Business hours are not published on the company's website, so call before driving out. If you want to compare it with other sellers nearby, browse Illinois classic cars for sale on Classic Cars Arena. Heaton Hot Rods is an independent business and has no partnership with Classic Cars Arena.