Eric Makela, also known by his peers as Emak, created Motor Alley out of his appreciation for the design and artistic elements of the automotive industry. The relation and fine craftsmanship between traditional neon signs and classic cars is close, with both calling us back to an era of authentic materials, unique and standout design elements, and an era of daring in the creative process for both cars and neon artwork.

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Eric grew up in the Midwest, with a father into muscle cars. His dad worked in the heavy machine industry, and as a mechanic on the side for extra cash. This put Eric in the proximity of all things motor related. A family of gearheads, homemade go-carts and dirt bikes turned into cars and motorcycles. When Eric met his now wife, it was a MK2 GTI in Montana Green that first hooked her, and a Mountain Green 1980 Rabbit without a motor for the first joint car purchase for the both of them. They moved to Texas as newlyweds, where his love of Neon was born.

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As a creative, Eric began working at Ion Art, a well known design-build studio in Austin, TX.  Starting as a shop hand, Eric worked his way up, overseeing the development of store buildouts for a popular jewelry store expanding out of Austin nationwide. He then stepped into the role of General Manager and foreman, overseeing the fabrication and production of key projects for art installations, custom store and commercial buildouts, a large art exhibition, and much of the sign work you see in throughout Austin,TX.  Eric's appreciation grew for the signage of yesteryear.  The bold statement in the colors, characters, and the sun-faded patina of decades in the scorching heat all lending to the iconic character these signs exhibit. He spent years studying the curvatures common in the linework, and it was only a matter of time before these two interests crossed paths.

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In a small garage in Austin, Eric began converting an old Suzuki street bike into a cafe racer inspired brat tracker.  He stripped it down to the frame, modifying the steel to allow a newer, low-slung gas tank, and fitting a hand sewed, camel tufted bike seat using leather from an old leather couch.  It was during that time that Eric was inspired by vintage racing helmets, and in his search for the perfect complimenting helmet to go with his converted bike, the idea for Helmet Art was born. The bolt helmet was his first art piece, starting the development of custom neon artwork for the motor enthusiast.

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Motor Alley was created to provide heavy duty, hand-fabricated artwork of similar caliber to the cars that are worth holding on to. While many cars are long forgotten in the junkyards of history, we all know and love cars that stand the test of time, becoming more appreciated and sought after as the decades go by. Much in that same vein, high quality authentically made steel signage has the same spirit, growing in character and style the longer it lives. Eric's goal with each sign is to bring quality to the artwork in the mancave and gearhead industry, transforming the walls these very special and coveted cars will live in.