Some Ferraris arrive at Bob Norwood’s shop like wounded racehorses—engines sputtering, bodywork weary, their former glory tucked beneath layers of time and neglect. Most would admire the badge and call it a collectible. But Norwood doesn’t just see what the car was—he sees what it could be.
“I’ve always loved building more than repairing,” says Norwood, founder of Norwood Exotics, a North Texas-based facility known across the globe for its one-of-a-kind Ferrari restorations, performance enhancements, and custom supercar engineering. “Whether it was a nitrous system, a completely custom race car, or a thousand-horsepower Ferrari, I wanted to create something that hadn’t been done before.”
For over 60 years, Norwood has been building more than just engines—he’s been building a legacy.
Bob Norwood Is A Mechanical Maverick
Norwood’s journey to Ferrari legend status began in humble fashion. Born in 1943, he was only nine when he began repairing engines on his family’s 1950 Ford. By age 12, he was racing a modified ’46 Ford coupe at NHRA’s inaugural drag event in Great Bend, Kansas. The boy who could build anything soon became the man who built everything.
In the 1960s and ‘70s, Norwood made a name for himself in the drag racing world by doing what few dared: pairing elite engineering with experimental design. One of his most radical builds—a Sunbeam Alpine with a fuel-injected 426 Hemi—ran 9.50 seconds at 150 mph. But the turning point came in 1971, when Norwood won the Can-Am drag racing championship with his Hemi Barracuda and met Dale Armstrong, a racing pioneer who would change the course of his life.
“Dale saw what I could do and invited me to work on nitrous oxide systems with him in Los Angeles,” Norwood recalls. “I sold my shop and moved in three weeks. It was a career-defining moment.”
That collaboration unlocked a new era in racing technology and sparked Norwood’s lifelong pursuit of performance innovation—a drive that would eventually find its most enduring expression in Ferrari.
Reimagining Luxury Sports Cars
Bob Norwood bought his first Ferrari in 1976. It was a 330 Series 2. It wasn’t long before the car became a catalyst. What started as a side project turned into a calling. Norwood quickly earned a reputation as one of America’s leading Ferrari restoration and performance specialists. But he wasn’t just fixing these cars—he was redefining them.
By the 1980s, Norwood had accomplished what many thought impossible: he built the first 1,000-horsepower Ferrari Testarossa. In the early ’90s, he led a team that developed a series of endurance vehicles for a major manufacturer, breaking 47 world records and toppling Mercedes-Benz from the books.
Today, Norwood Exotics specializes in high-performance Ferrari and exotic car restoration, tuning, and custom builds. While Norwood still consults on heritage preservation projects, the heartbeat of the shop is innovation—Ferrari, reimagined.
A Modern Shop Built On Six Decades of Experience
Norwood Exotics combines cutting-edge diagnostics and fabrication with decades of old-school expertise. The shop handles everything from full engine rebuilds to complex powertrain conversions and modern performance enhancements.
“Sometimes we get cars that nobody else wants to touch,” Norwood says. “But those are my favorite. The ones where people say, ‘This can’t be fixed.’ That’s where we step in.”
Tools may evolve, but the mindset remains consistent. Norwood has embraced modern technology, from AI-driven diagnostic support to upgraded versions of smoke testing—an old plumbing leak-detection method that’s been refined for autos since the 1990s.
“We use tools today that solve problems ten times faster than before,” he says. “AI has been a boon. Sometimes it finds information I’ve never even heard of. But at the end of the day, you still need experience. The machine won’t tell you what your hands can feel.”
For Norwood, the secret to lasting success isn’t hidden in a blueprint. It’s in how you treat people.
“I just do good work at a fair price,” he says. “Be honest, help when you can, and don’t hold back knowledge.”
It’s this humility and generosity that have earned him deep respect among clients, colleagues, and competitors alike. Norwood frequently volunteers his time to teach automotive technology, answers questions from fellow builders, and mentors younger technicians who seek his wisdom.
“I don’t plan for growth,” he adds. “I just take on the projects that interest me. That’s how I’ve grown—one opportunity at a time.”
Innovation Meets Inspiration
While many in the exotic car space focus strictly on preservation, Norwood balances it with performance.
“I’m not afraid to go beyond factory specs,” he says. “To me, a Ferrari isn’t just art—it’s a living machine. It was made to move.”
Norwood Exotics also handles confidential high-performance projects for private collectors and global car enthusiasts—many of whom specifically seek out Norwood’s unmatched ability to fix intricate issues that others cannot.
“People trust us with their unicorns,” Norwood says. “There’s a responsibility that comes with that, and we don’t take it lightly.”
Norwood stays sharp by reading widely—not just about cars, but aerospace, fuels, materials, computer science, and beyond.
“I watch air and space shows, race documentaries, anything technical,” he says. “You never know where the next big idea will come from.”
That unquenchable curiosity is why Norwood remains relevant in a rapidly evolving industry. While electric and autonomous technologies rise, he believes craftsmanship will always have a place.
“You can automate a lot of things,” he says, “but you can’t automate instinct. You can’t automate soul.”
Mastery Built on a Lifetime of Precision
What truly sets Norwood apart is not just his passion but the unmatched depth of his mechanical mastery. Over the decades, he has become the go-to expert for rare, obscure, and performance-demanding challenges that leave even seasoned engineers stumped.
His technical foundation was built through a lifetime of racing, rebuilding, and redesigning, starting in childhood. That foundation is strengthened by a memory bank of hands-on experience that no manual can replicate.
Norwood is known for solving problems others consider impossible. These include fuel systems that won’t calibrate, turbo conversions that are too complex to attempt, and vintage engines that require hand-machined components because replacement parts haven’t existed in years. These are the kinds of projects he welcomes.
His ability to diagnose an issue without relying solely on modern scanners comes from something deeper. It is a finely tuned mechanical intuition shaped by decades in the garage.
Whether he is developing a custom powertrain for a client overseas or enhancing a Ferrari’s performance curve beyond factory limits, Norwood blends innovation with instinct. “You can’t Google how to feel an engine,” he says. “Some things you just learn by living in it.”
At age 82, Norwood is still in the garage most days, surrounded by the scent of motor oil and the symphony of high-performance engines. He continues to consult on specialized restoration projects and develop cutting-edge powertrain systems.
What’s next?
“I just want to keep building,” he says. “As long as there’s something new to try, I’ll be here.”
For Bob Norwood, the finish line has never really existed. And in the world of Ferrari performance and automotive excellence, that’s exactly how legends are made.
