SKU × Agaso Outdoor: Craft, Preservation, and the California Way

We sat down with Lisa and August at their Ventura workshop to talk about how Agaso began, the art of restraint in design, and why building something “better than factory” sometimes means making it look effortless.

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How did Agaso Outdoor begin?

Lisa: We started the shop in 2017, in Inglewood, California. The name Agaso came about through a lot of intentional thought — it’s the Latin word for “jockey” or “driver.” We wanted a simple name that felt timeless and reflected movement, craftsmanship, and connection to the outdoors. From the beginning, our vision was to blend vehicle restoration with outdoor lifestyle — to create a space where creativity could live across disciplines.

August: At the time, Lisa was already flipping and restoring Broncos, but she didn’t yet have a dedicated shop. I had been building cars most of my life, had restored my own Bronco and came from a background in building — carpentry, set design, and fabrication. When we teamed up, it was about building a process: first spec trucks, then client builds, and eventually complete re-engineering of these vintage vehicles. We didn’t realize it at first, but we were essentially redesigning the Bronco from the ground up.

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Lisa, your background is in architecture and preservation. How did that transition into vehicles?

Lisa: My career before this was in historic preservation and architecture — restoring prewar homes in New York and Los Angeles. I’ve always loved working with my hands, bringing things back to life rather than creating something entirely new. The medium just changed. A house or a car — the concept of restoration and respect for the original design language is the same.

When I moved into vehicles, I approached it like a smaller-scale restoration project — a “beta test” of the craftsmanship I already loved. What started as an experiment turned into a full career. Now, eight years and four shops later, it’s become something much bigger than I ever imagined.

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You often talk about balancing preservation and modernization. How do you approach that balance?

Lisa: It’s really about restraint. Good design often is. We make modern updates for safety and performance — fuel injection, drivetrains, electrical — but we go to great lengths to make those components look like they could’ve come from the original factory. A lot of effort goes into making modern components disappear.

August: Yeah —  it’s like what Dean Parks said about Steely Dan: we are trying to make something better than perfect so it feels natural, like it just happened. We could easily gut a Bronco and rebuild it on a modern chassis, but then it stops feeling like a Bronco. We care deeply about maintaining that tactile, emotional connection — how the dash looks original, how the steering wheel feels in your hand, even how the doors close. Our goal is to make it feel original but better in every way. 

We’re constantly walking that line: modern enough to perform beautifully, but authentic enough to still have soul.  At the end of the day our builds are still an authentic early Ford Bronco.

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How do you know when you’ve hit that sweet spot?

August: When someone walks up to one of our builds and can’t quite describe why it feels special — that’s the moment. They’ll say, “I don’t know exactly what’s different, but it just feels right.” That’s the best compliment.

Lisa: You can actually see it in people’s faces — that spark when they get it. They may not know what we did mechanically, but they can feel the harmony of it. We spend months hiding the hard work — taking components apart, coating and reassembling, removing logos, simplifying everything. The magic comes from what’s not there. and being very intentional about which components call attention to themselves.

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You’ve both mentioned community a lot. How does Ventura fit into that story?

Lisa: Moving to Ventura has been far better than I ever imagined. It’s this perfect blend of creativity and craft — less chaos than L.A., but close enough to still collaborate. We’re surrounded by a small community of shops: sheet metal fabrication, welding, upholstery, metal polishing and chroming are just a few. Everyone here is deeply rooted in their work and here to stay. It’s a community of people who care about doing things right, and it’s been wonderful getting to know many of them. The access to nature is a dream also—we have the PCH, Santa Barbara, Malibu and Ojai all within a 35 minute drive. Test drives are pretty glamorous around here.

August: Yeah, it’s wild. Within a few blocks, you’ve got world-class craftsmen — even land speed record holders and vintage Alfa Romeo restorers. It’s inspiring. Ventura has this small-town, hands-on energy that fits who we are and how we work.

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Agaso also builds products beyond vehicles — how does that connect?

Lisa: The vehicles are just the starting point. Agaso Outdoor was designed to be a platform — not just a vintage 4x4 restoration shop. We also sell parts, apparel and I can’t wait to get into the next round of product development, both for technical parts and for lifestyle products.  We love collaborations that connect back to that same ethos of thoughtful craftsmanship.

August: Whether it’s a truck, a T-shirt, or a piece of gear — the process is the same: build it well, make it last, and make it feel honest.

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Tell us about the blue Bronco — the one we’re featuring today.

August: We got a call — not unlike other calls — from someone who loved the aesthetic of what we were doing. That’s always such a huge compliment, when someone comes to us because they’ve seen our work and say, “We want that.”

He told us he had a family Bronco that had been in their family for generations and wanted to restore it. He actually brought it down himself from Northern California — put it on a landscaping trailer and drove it here.

Lisa:  He’s a multi-generational walnut farmer, and the Bronco originally belonged to his grandfather — I believe his grandfather purchased it new and was the first owner. Now, decades later, he’s a grandfather, and he is now driving his own grandkids around in the same Bronco he grew up riding in.

It’s been such a special project because of that family legacy. The truck was in beautiful, original condition, yet was clearly used on a farm — you can feel when a vehicle’s been cared for. It doesn’t fight you. The hardware comes off easily, everything aligns, it just wants to run again. Some vehicles resist restoration — this one wanted to get back on the road.

It’s been a joy to work on, and an honor that he trusted us with a family heirloom of that kind. We were intentional about staying true to its original details — keeping the single-stick shifter, preserving the original paint, and restoring rather than replacing wherever possible.

This Bronco will go right back home, to the same property it’s always lived on, ready for another generation to enjoy.

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What’s next for Agaso Outdoor?

August: We’re builders by nature. Whether it’s restoring a Bronco or designing something new, we’re happiest when we’re making things work — beautifully.

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Agaso Outdoor
Ventura, California
www.agasoutdoor.com