08/29/2026
🏆 MASTER BUILDER AWARD — 6th Annual Rocket City Octane Auto Show 🏆
Well, you beautiful people… we’ve officially made it to our FINAL award winner spotlight from the 6th Annual Rocket City Octane!
And you know what they say…
Sometimes you save the best for last. 😎
For our final post, we’re recognizing a man whose work goes way beyond one vehicle, one build, or one show.
Congratulations to Max Paulson of Possum Holler Garage, recipient of our MASTER BUILDER AWARD! 🏆🔧
If Max and Possum Holler Garage look familiar, there’s a reason.
Before the show, I had the opportunity through Shifted Culture Photography to spend some time with Max and Margaret at their shop. Members of the Rocket City Octane team also got a personal look around a garage that’s become known around the country.
And what a story they have.
Max started like a lot of us — as a teenager working on his own cars because he loved them.
For years, he worked as a disaster recovery contractor while restoring old vehicles on the side. Eventually, he decided to bet on himself and turn that passion into a full-time business.
Even the name Possum Holler Garage has a story.
While Max and his wife Margaret were walking through a Tennessee holler, a white-haired possum crossed their path.
“Look at that possum down there in the holler.”
And the name stuck. 😂
Fast forward through the years, and Max has now had a hand in restoring and building more than 240 vehicles.
He’s built vehicles for celebrities, created nationally recognized customs, appeared on television, and built a reputation around something pretty simple:
Give Max a crazy idea, and he’ll figure out how to build it.
We got to see that firsthand at Rocket City Octane.
Max and Margaret brought us Jimmy Buffett’s Bronco, an incredibly special vehicle with a story and history all its own.
And then they brought something just a LITTLE harder to miss…
🥤 THE GIANT RED SOLO CUP! 😂
The idea started while Max was listening to Toby Keith’s famous song.
Most of us would’ve listened to the song and moved on with our day.
Max apparently thought, “I should build one of those… and make it drive.” 😂
More than 800 hours of work later, that’s exactly what he had — a giant metal Solo Cup built on a modern GM chassis with fuel injection, a sound system, and everything it needed to actually cruise down the road.
And that crazy creation ended up helping us do some good at Rocket City Octane, too.
Our $10 Red Solo Cup photos helped raise money for breast cancer awareness, giving people a fun memory from the show while supporting a cause that means a lot to us.
When you look at Max’s career — 240+ builds, celebrity vehicles, television appearances, nationally recognized projects, and decades of craftsmanship — I don’t think we could’ve picked a better title.
MASTER BUILDER.
Max and Margaret, thank you for opening the doors of Possum Holler Garage to us. Thank you for trusting Shifted Culture Photography to tell a little of your story. And thank you for bringing some truly unforgettable pieces to Huntsville for everyone at Rocket City Octane to experience.
And with that, our 2026 Rocket City Octane Award Winner Spotlight Series officially comes to an end. 🏆
We’ve shared some incredible cars, motorcycles, builds, restorations, and most importantly, the people and stories behind them.
That’s what this has always been about.
Not just trophies.
People. Builds. Stories. And the car culture that connects all of us.
So it feels pretty fitting to finish this year’s series with a man who has spent decades doing exactly that.
We definitely saved a good one for last.
Congratulations, Max Paulson, on the MASTER BUILDER AWARD! 🏆🔧
We’ll see you beautiful people at the next one. ❤️
