Welcome to American 4WD, my passion for building started in my father's automotive repair shop. There I learned the value of quality and appreciation of building things to last. I followed that love into engineering and then design school where I was trained as an industrial designer. I started my career as a designer for Chrysler in Auburn Hills, Michigan in 1999. During my time at Chrysler, I was fortunate to work on some amazing projects including the Jeep Hurricane, Dodge Durango x2, Jeep JK, Hemi Nitro, and 50K JK SEMA concepts to name a few. Working in the design studios and fabrication shops gave me the chance to learn from the best designers, engineers, and fabricators in the automotive industry. 

After almost ten years of working in Detroit, my family and I relocated to sunny Portland, Oregon... land of the rust free Jeep:). I started working as a designer for Nike, and when I wasn't designing products for the world's best athletes, I was exploring the backroads of Washington, Oregon, and Northern California looking for Jeeps and muscle cars while learning to do engine swaps in our home garage in Beaverton. 

In 2017, I left corporate life and opened a studio in my hometown of Pittsburgh, Pa. As enjoyable as it is to design new products, there is something undeniable about recycling and reimagining the old metal. It soothes my soul after two decades of creating for the fast metabolism of todays product cycle. The main objective of the studio is to create lasting products. This comes from the strong belief that it is time to replace planned obsolescence with practical permanence. In building Jeeps, that means we start with the best rust free donors we can find, make modifications to improve performance and reliability, and honor the timelessness of the Brooks Stevens design. 

Thanks for checking out our site. This is the beginning of an off the beaten path trip. If you want to join us on the journey, check out our Instagram feed and drop us a note. We love connecting with people that share our passion.     -Aaron Pizzuti 
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 Picture.
Pizzuti design sketch and picture with foam model of his Jeep Hurricane design.
​(photo credit NY Times.)