Paul Stender is an extreme vehicle builder, exhibition racer, and engineer whose imagination has helped redefine what automotive entertainment can be. Growing up in a Wisconsin racing family, Stender developed an early passion for motorsports before competing in midget and sprint cars. After several serious racing accidents, he channeled that same drive into a new pursuit—building and performing with jet-powered vehicles that combine engineering, creativity, and showmanship. Over the years, he has become internationally known for unforgettable creations like the Jet School Bus, Jet Outhouse, jet-powered semis, and other one-of-a-kind machines that have thrilled audiences at airshows, racetracks, and motorsports events around the world.
In his conversation with The Customized Ride, Stender shares the stories behind his most famous builds while offering a behind-the-scenes look at the engineering philosophy and determination that have fueled his remarkable career. Rather than simply modifying existing vehicles, he explains how he begins with the jet engine itself and designs each project around it, creating machines that are as technically impressive as they are entertaining. Along the way, he reflects on life-threatening close calls, the realities of life on the road, and the importance of turning passion into purpose. More than a showcase of incredible vehicles, the interview reveals the mindset of a builder who has spent decades proving that the biggest breakthroughs often begin with the courage to imagine something no one else has attempted.
Paul Stender: The Man Who Turned Imagination Into Jet-Powered Reality
Most builders begin with a vehicle.
Paul Stender begins with an engine.
That simple difference explains much of what has made him one of the most recognizable figures in extreme automotive entertainment.
While countless enthusiasts dream about adding horsepower to an existing project, Stender approaches engineering from the opposite direction. He first imagines what kind of jet engine he wants to use. Only then does he design the machine that will surround it.
It's an unconventional philosophy that has produced some of the most unforgettable vehicles in motorsports history.
A school bus capable of aircraft-like acceleration.
A jet-powered outhouse that became internationally famous.
Semis, trucks, ATVs, and exhibition vehicles unlike anything audiences had ever witnessed.
Yet the story behind those machines begins decades before flames ever shot from their exhausts.
Growing Up Where Racing Was Family
For Paul Stender, motorsports wasn't a weekend hobby.
It was family tradition.
Growing up in Wisconsin, racing surrounded nearly every part of his childhood. His grandfather, William Wilson, built race cars. His mother devoted years of service to one of Wisconsin's premier racing organizations. Trips to the racetrack became a normal part of growing up, helping shape a passion that would eventually define his life's work.
Like many young racers, Paul eventually climbed behind the wheel himself, competing in midgets and sprint cars. Speed became familiar. Competition became addictive.
So did the danger.
Looking back, he recalls one particularly violent crash involving approximately fourteen barrel rolls after wheel-to-wheel contact. The accident left him with serious injuries, including broken collarbones and eyes forced from their sockets by the impact. Remarkably, he returned to racing before eventually recognizing that continuing down the same path might not allow him to walk away forever.
"Once you go fast," he explained, "it's really hard to walk away from."
He never truly did.
He simply found a different way to chase speed.
Discovering a Different Kind of Adrenaline
In the mid-1990s, Stender encountered something that immediately captured his imagination—a jet-powered funny car.
To many people, it might have appeared as a novelty.
To Paul, it represented possibility.
After purchasing his first jet funny car, he immersed himself in an entirely new segment of motorsports. At the same time, his experience operating a successful powersports dealership provided both mechanical knowledge and business understanding that helped support his transition into full-time motorsports entertainment.
Unlike traditional racing, exhibition vehicles offered something different.
There were no strict expectations about what a vehicle should become.
That freedom allowed creativity to flourish.
Engineering From the Jet Engine Out
One of the most revealing moments of the interview came when Paul described his design philosophy.
"I kind of start with a jet engine and kind of build a vehicle around it."
That statement challenges the assumptions many enthusiasts make about his projects.
People often imagine that he simply installs a jet engine into an existing school bus or truck.
Instead, he explained that the process begins by selecting the powerplant, constructing an entirely new chassis, fabricating lightweight aluminum structures, and engineering virtually every component specifically for the project. In the case of the Jet School Bus, very little of the original bus remained after construction began.
It's this philosophy that separates Stender from novelty builders.
His creations may look outrageous.
Their engineering is anything but casual.
When Inspiration Arrives Unexpectedly
Perhaps no vehicle illustrates Paul's creativity better than the famous Jet Outhouse.
The idea wasn't born inside a design studio.
It arrived during bad weather.
While attending an airshow in Texas, powerful winds sent portable toilets tumbling across the tarmac. One even bounced into his pickup truck.
Many people would have laughed and forgotten about it.
Paul went home and built a jet-powered version.
Within a week, the project had taken shape inside the back of his dealership. Soon afterward, legendary promoter Humpy Wheeler invited him to unveil the machine at Charlotte Motor Speedway before a NASCAR crowd, helping launch one of the most recognizable vehicles in exhibition motorsports.
Racing Airplanes at 250 Miles Per Hour
For spectators, Paul's performances often look effortless.
Behind the smoke, flames, and deafening roar lies a constant awareness that things can go wrong very quickly.
One story from the interview illustrates that reality better than almost anything else.
While racing an airplane during an airshow in Georgia, Paul became so focused on overtaking the aircraft that he didn't realize how little runway remained. By the time he looked down, only about 200 feet were left, and he was still traveling roughly 250 to 260 mph.
He deployed the parachutes.
Nothing happened.
The jet vehicle shot off the runway, down an embankment, through an airport fence, across a closed golf course, through sand traps, narrowly missing several large trees before finally coming to rest near the clubhouse. A tree branch even pierced the windshield, missing him by inches.
Looking back, Paul described it simply as one of those moments where you realize how lucky you were.
It wasn't bravado.
It was perspective earned through experience.
Even after thousands of successful performances, motorsports has a way of reminding competitors that complacency is never an option.
When Experience Makes the Difference
That wasn't the only close call.
At the Dayton Air Show, a rear tire failure in the Jet School Bus caused extensive damage, lifted the vehicle onto two wheels, and threatened to end far more than a performance.
Paul credits years of sprint car racing for helping him save the vehicle.
Sometimes lessons learned decades earlier become the difference between disaster and survival.
One particularly revealing moment came when he mentioned his autobiography.
Roughly 60,000 words into the manuscript, he noted that one chapter essentially documents why he probably shouldn't still be alive.
It's an understated reminder that behind every spectacular show are countless moments the audience never sees.
The Grind Nobody Sees
One of the most valuable parts of the conversation had nothing to do with jet engines.
When asked about the sacrifices required to reach his level, Paul shifted the conversation away from horsepower and toward everyday reality.
Interestingly, he explained that the jet engines themselves aren't usually the difficult part.
Compared to traditional racing engines, they require surprisingly little maintenance.
"The jet engine pretty much you fire it up and it runs."
Instead, the real challenge comes from everything surrounding the performance.
Driving thousands of miles between shows.
Crossing international borders.
Sleeping in hotels.
Living out of trailers.
Keeping schedules.
Trying to maintain a home life while spending much of the year on the road.
He laughed about eventually needing to get home simply to mow the lawn or do laundry—ordinary responsibilities that become surprisingly difficult when your office constantly changes zip codes.
It's a reality shared by countless performers across motorsports.
The audience experiences twenty minutes.
The professionals live the other six days.
Taking American Horsepower Around the World
Paul's career has taken him far beyond American racetracks.
From Abu Dhabi to Japan, Central America, South America, Europe, and nearly every U.S. state except Alaska and Hawaii, his vehicles have introduced international audiences to a uniquely American style of motorsports entertainment.
He particularly enjoyed taking jet-powered vehicles into countries where spectators had never seen anything remotely similar.
In those moments, language barriers mattered far less than excitement.
The roar of a jet engine needs very little translation.
Paul recalled television interviews requiring plenty of hand gestures and smiles while navigating unfamiliar languages, proving that enthusiasm often communicates better than words.
For many international spectators, seeing one of his creations wasn't merely another motorsports event.
It was something entirely new.
Passion That Became a Profession
One recurring theme throughout the interview is Paul's ability to turn passion into livelihood.
Before becoming known worldwide for jet-powered vehicles, he successfully operated one of the country's largest Polaris dealerships, selling approximately a thousand units annually across multiple product lines.
Eventually, however, the pull of motorsports became too strong.
He sold the business, moved to Indianapolis, immersed himself in the racing industry, and committed himself fully to building a career around jet-powered exhibitions.
For Paul, this wasn't simply changing jobs.
It was choosing a life built around doing what excited him most.
As he joked during the interview, he still isn't particularly interested in having a boss anytime soon.
More Than Spectacle
It's easy to describe Paul Stender by listing his vehicles.
Jet School Bus.
Jet Outhouse.
Jet Semi.
Jet ATV.
Jet Funny Car.
But those names only tell part of the story.
The interview reveals someone who approaches engineering with curiosity rather than convention.
Instead of asking what has already been built, Paul asks what could be built.
That mindset has carried him across continents, introduced millions of spectators to unforgettable experiences, and carved out a niche that very few people could ever duplicate.
His vehicles may make people laugh.
They may leave audiences speechless.
They certainly make people reach for their cameras.
But underneath every outrageous creation is a builder whose career has always been rooted in craftsmanship, problem-solving, and a willingness to pursue ideas others might dismiss before ever attempting them.
Legacy
Automotive culture has always celebrated speed.
It has always celebrated innovation.
Paul Stender reminds us it should also celebrate imagination.
His greatest contribution isn't simply creating some of the world's fastest exhibition vehicles.
It's proving that engineering doesn't have to sacrifice personality.
By blending aviation technology, fabrication expertise, entrepreneurship, and a healthy sense of humor, he has built machines that entertain while inspiring others to think differently about what's possible.
Years from now, enthusiasts may remember the flames, the speed, or the outrageous concepts.
But they'll also remember the builder who looked at an ordinary object—a school bus, an outhouse, a semi truck—and saw not what it was, but what it could become.
That ability to imagine first and engineer second is what makes Paul Stender's story worth preserving.
Lessons From This Conversation
1. Innovation Starts With Looking at Ordinary Things Differently
The famous Jet Outhouse wasn't born from months of planning—it came from watching portable toilets tumble across an airport during a windstorm. Most people laughed and moved on. Paul saw potential.
Great innovators don't always discover new materials or technologies. Sometimes they simply notice possibilities that everyone else overlooks.
2. Your Greatest Setback May Redirect You Toward Your Greatest Opportunity
Paul's sprint car crashes could have ended his motorsports journey.
Instead, they redirected it.
Leaving one path doesn't always mean your dream is over. Sometimes it's simply evolving into something you never expected.
3. Engineering Is Creativity in Physical Form
Every one of Paul's builds begins with imagination before fabrication.
Technical knowledge matters.
But creativity determines what gets built in the first place.
4. Spectacular Results Usually Hide Ordinary Work
Fans see flames.
They don't see thousands of highway miles.
They don't see loading trailers.
They don't see maintenance.
They don't see missed holidays.
Every exciting career has an unglamorous side.
5. Passion Can Become a Business
Paul turned racing into a dealership.
Then turned dealership experience into motorsports.
Then transformed motorsports into an international entertainment business.
Passion alone isn't enough.
But passion combined with business thinking can build a remarkable career.
6. Risk Should Be Respected—Not Ignored
Paul never glorifies danger.
Instead, he respects it.
His stories consistently acknowledge preparation, experience, and lessons learned.
That's a valuable distinction.
7. Be Remembered for Creating Something Nobody Else Would Attempt
Anyone can follow existing ideas.
Paul became unforgettable by building machines nobody else imagined.
Originality leaves lasting impressions.
Top 5 Quotes
1. "I kind of start with a jet engine and kind of build a vehicle around it."
2. "Once you go fast and go through an adrenaline rush, it's really hard to walk away from."
3. "It's great when you can combine your passion with your income."
4. "The jet engine pretty much—you fire it up and it runs."
5. "Next thing you know I had a jet-powered outhouse."