ClubHaus 704 Is a Custom Car Hub in Gaston County

Long before MTV’s hit show Pimp My Ride brought all the possibilities of custom car fitting to screens across America in the mid-2000s, Damien Peters has been building cars up and fitting them with game systems, TVs, beautiful interiors and stunning paint jobs.

He was inspired to get into the field of automotive repair and maintenance not by Xzibit but the people he had grown up around, watching them carry out DIY car projects on their own rides rather than pay other people to maintain or upfit them.

“All my OGs had dope cars and the cool thing about that, they like to work on their own cars,” he said. “It wasn’t like they just had money and they were dropping it off to the shop and getting done. [They would be] working on the engine, painting parts, doing a lot of accessories, car stereo and stuff like that. I saw them do that and I was like, ‘Man, these dudes got money, but they still like to do this stuff with their hands.’”

Though originally approaching the customized car world from an academic viewpoint, researching its history and becoming an expert on the subject, there comes a time when every mechanic has to get their hands dirty. Peters always wanted a place of his own to work on cars and now he has one.

Opened in 2022, ClubHaus 704 is a car garage unlike any other you may have visited. Part mechanic shop, part showroom, and part speakeasy, the shop is the perfect place for custom car aficionados to relax, talk shop and work on their cars.

The name’s German spelling draws inspiration from the types of cars Peters prefers to work with, which often fill the shop; BMWs and Mercedes Benzes are front and center at the shop, while the atmosphere cultivated by Peters within lends itself to the clubhouse vibes.

Located in Bessemer City about a 35-minutes drive from Charlotte, Peters has found it hard to get the traffic that he’d eventually like to see come through ClubHaus, but his dream to run a hub for the local car community hasn’t diminished.

We stopped by the shop recently to chat with Peters about his vision for the future of ClubHaus704.

An unassuming shop in Gaston County

To look at the nondescript exterior of ClubHaus704, newcomers would be hard pressed to guess what’s inside. Peters said he’s designed the shop to look uninviting in an attempt to discourage people from sleeping in the cars he keeps outside, which has happened, and keep thieves from stealing parts or gas.

“I don’t want to bring too much attention to it,” he said.

The humble outward experience only makes the establishment all the more impressive once one enters. The main entrance of the shop leads to the clubhouse, where the walls are painted in an homage to the Nike Air Max 95 OG Neon. It’s air-conditioned, with TV, a coffee maker, a trophy display and a window to the garage.

Enter from the garage, and you find a fire-engine-red ‘87 BMW, and a cobalt blue G Wagon, both of which are completed, plus a stark white ‘83 BMW that Peters is currently remodeling to better match the white BMW in the 2002 film Paid in Full, which also served as inspiration for Peters’ car club, Paid N Full.

The club, which currently has about 30 members, offers a yearly fee and allows members to participate in car shows and other events. As a nod to the movie, European cars of a certain age are the focus — ‘80s and ‘90s cars only.

“I always say before the CD changer,” Peters explained, “and if your car got navigation, then it’s too new.”

The shop could fit more cars, but Peters said he prefers to keep the number low so he can focus on whichever job he has in front of him.

“Once you have more than three cars, it’s almost pointless,” he said. “I really started cutting down how many cars I got because I really want to enjoy my cars. I’m in these projects so much, I just don’t really get a chance to enjoy it.”

Ideally, he said he would like the rest of the space to go to new clubhouse members. That wasn’t the goal when he first bought the shop, but it has developed over time into a shared space of sorts — though it’s taking time to catch on.

“You think if you build it, they will come,” he said. “Well, that hasn’t happened yet. [When I bought this], the intention wasn’t to make money. It was really just a place to put my cars. And then I thought like, ‘Man, let’s make this cool.’”

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Membership for the car club is separate from membership at ClubHaus 704. Where the car club might participate in car shows, a membership to ClubHaus would grant the member space to store and work on their car, jump on the WiFi and get some work done, or just hang out with other members and talk shop.

There’s also a lounge hidden away in the walls of the shop — a dimly lit room furnished with handmade furniture, plush couches and a stocked bar that can only be found once you realize that what looks like a vending machine is actually a doorway. Only members have access to the lounge.

There are a few things Peters would like to add to the shop, the biggest being a turntable that he can display the red BMW on, but the infrequent stream of customers hasn’t justified that just yet.

“We’ve had big things happen, but it’s nothing consistent,” he said.

One of those big things occurred in February 2024 when Kevin Hart’s Muscle Car Crew TV show featured ClubHaus 704.

When we visited, Peters was preparing for one of the biggest annual events ClubHaus participates in: Dreamville Fest.

Take it to Dreamville

The largest concert put on each year by Fayetteville native J. Cole, Dreamville Festival will take place in Raleigh on Apr. 5-6 this year. Concertgoers can expect to see the likes of Lil’ Wayne, Ari Lennox, Erykah Badu, and many more. There’s also a car show scheduled for the Friday before the festival kicks off.

For the third consecutive year, Peters and his car club will help to organize Gold Mouf Garage, a block party/car show/concert hosted by Dreamville rapper Lute, an acclaimed Charlotte artist who’s also a member of Paid N Full.

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Though German cars are his favorite, Peters assures fans of all types of custom cars that there will be plenty more in store for them to check out at Gold Mouf Garage.

“It’s not based on just our cars,” he said. “I got [Japanese domestic market] cars coming. I got Jeeps coming. I got Porsches coming. I got all sorts of stuff. It’s a perfect mix of cars. I got Corvettes coming. It’s going to be dope.”

Paid N Full is one of the few Black-owned car clubs in the industry, and one of an even smaller list that focuses on European cars.

There are many that focus on Chevys and other American brands, but for Peters, rebuilding a Chevy just “doesn’t do it,” he said.

He said he looks forward to Gold Mouf Garage and other shows like it because they grant him an opportunity to learn more about other cars and familiarize himself with other people in the industry.

“I love working with people outside our club or our type of cars,” he said. “It’s really about connections when it comes to the car game, meeting a lot of people, so it’s always good. The vibe is always nice out there.”

Following Dreamville, Paid N Full will take part in a larger meet in May when various car clubs from up and down the East Coast will meet up in Raleigh, offering Peters another opportunity to learn and network.

“We’re all like brothers, and we help each other out,” he said.

Peters has no shortage of ideas for how he wants to continue to build out his shop — new flooring, a custom-built driveway for low-riding cars like Lamborghinis — approaching it like one of the custom car projects he works on day in and day out.

“All this stuff is just fueled with too much time on my hands, ADHD, and parts of my brain,” he said.

He will continue to build, comforted by the knowledge that eventually folks will catch on to the cultural hub he has created in Bessemer City.