Meet Jose Martinez of Santa Ana

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jose Martinez.

Hi Jose, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My story began as a kid who loved playing with hot wheels, legos, and noticed the cars driving around me. I grew up around lowriders, muscle cars, 4x4s, and customized daily drivers with shiny wheels and loud sound systems. My father worked my entire life as a machinist and I developed an appreciation for industrial shop environments. I also was a dreamer who loved sketching cars in high school studio art. This all culminated in my pursuit of a mechanical engineering degree at UC Irvine. My ultimate goal was to do engineering work with cars in some way. I always told myself that I wanted to design car parts, even if it was just the cup holders!

After graduating, I eventually found my way into the automotive industry. I started in aftermarket truck parts, moved on to auto show concept cars, and eventually landed in the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) accessories business at Mazda R&D for almost 9 years.

I came across the opportunity to do modern engineering work on my childhood dream car, the air-cooled Porsche 911 and I absolutely could not pass it up. I spent the next 5 years working with incredibly talented people at Singer Vehicle Design and Gunther Werks.

While all this was happening, I acquired a 1983 Porsche 911 as my personal restoration project. After rebuilding the entire car, I started a website (www.joe-engineer.com) to document the build and to share DIY articles and videos focusing on classic Porsche 911 repair and maintenance. The goal of the site is to inspire people from all walks of life and show them that it is possible to pick up an affordable fixer-upper, some tools, and turn it into the car of your childhood dreams. The site led to the creation of a supplementary YouTube channel on the same subject.

I then combined all my prior work experiences to create my own original parts for my own personal Porsche 911 and share them with fellow classic Porsche enthusiasts. I still do OEM automotive accessories work full-time at Hyundai-MOBIS but at night I bring my own creative ideas to life.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
By far the toughest part was staying motivated through the unknowns. As the first in my family to graduate from college there was a lot of pressure to succeed so deviating from that path to pursue creative ventures generated a lot of self-doubt, especially when something did not generate results quickly.

There is no blueprint for what I am doing so there have been a lot of mistakes and hard lessons learned. I still continue to make mistakes and learn from them. However that lifelong feedback cycle has created a very unique skill set for me that I utilize to do what I love, as much as I can, for the duration of my time on this planet.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I do automotive engineering work specializing in parts and accessories. I do this on a contract basis for clients’ special projects and for myself designing, developing, and manufacturing my own line of classic Porsche 911 accessories.

I am most known for my DIY articles and videos and for the OEM appearance of the parts I design. I am most proud of the front bumper oil cooling duct I created that looks like it came from the factory. It has been very well received among Porsche enthusiasts and is my most successful product so far.

What sets me apart from others is that I am one of the few creators of aftermarket Porsche parts that has actual OEM engineering experience.

What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
The most important lesson I have learned is that learning is a non-linear journey. You may learn several lessons separately that seem insignificant at the time, but it only takes one future experience to tie all those things together and realize you are more knowledgeable than you originally thought.

Pricing:

• Design Work: Contact for quote
• Porsche Accessories: See online store

Contact Info:

• Website: https://joe-engineer.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joe_engineer/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@JoeEngineer