Vicent DiMartino is an American former TV personality, bike builder and mechanic born on 9 October 1972 in Hudson Valley, New York USA. He’s known for being one of the original cast members of reality series “American Chopper”.
Early Life
Vincent “Vinnie” was born the second of four children of John and Margaret DiMartino. As a young kid, Vincent spent countless hours in his father’s auto-repair business, which led him to become interested on car mehcanics. Unfortunately there’s not much information about Vincent childhood, hobbies and education. However, it’s known he became friends with Paul Jr. Teutul in high school.
Vinnie (DiMartino Motorsports) is a first round guest judge for The Next American Innovator! Here's his bio, for those…
Posted by Paul Jr. Designs on Friday, 14 August 2020
Career
Early Steps
At 14 years old Vincent DiMartino obtained his first job at an auto repair shop, where he learned the basics of car and motorcycle building, along with further knowledge of mechanics. It’s uncertain how many years Vincent worked in this shop though.
Orange County Chopper
In 2002 Vincent DiMartino joined Orange County Choppers (OOC), a custom bike building shop based in Newburgh, New York when he was contacted by his longtime friend Paul Jr. Teutul, who worked at OOC with his father. Vincent’s mechanic skills and experience with auto and bike building proved to be vital for the shop, as he participated in many of the most important projects of the shop.
The company was founded by Paul Sr. Teutul in 1999 after leaving his main business Orange County Iron Works. As an experimented steel builder, Paul Sr. achieved a huge success not long after opening the shop when he created “True Blue”, his first original creation which was exhibited in a variety of national bike expositions.
One of the first bikes “Vinnie” helped to build at OOC was “The Comanche Bike”, a custom chopper inspired by the attack helicopter designed by US Army named Boeing–Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche. The bike was exhibited at exposition in South Caroline, though it presented several problems in its engine before the presentation. Fortunately, the OOC’s crew was able to fix it up before the exhibition.
Accompanied by his boss Paul Sr. and his friend Paul Jr., Vincent boarded the helicopter Bell 206 which translated the chopper from New York.
In 2004 Vincent teamed up with Michael “Mickey” Teutul to create the Mikey/Vinnie bike, which included on a V series engine and required several mechanical adjustments. Ultimately the bike was successfully completed and an illustration of Michael and Vincent was printed on the rear. “Vinnie” also worked in a custom made motorcycle for National Automotive Parts Association.
American Chopper – TV Debut
“American Chopper” is a reality TV series centered on Orange County Choppers, following its owner Paul Sr. Teutul’s passion for motorcycles and his original custom made bikes.
The series was originally premiered on Discovery Channel in 2003, though in its sixth season it was moved to the sibling network TLC, where the show was aired until its end.
Vincent DiMartino’s first appearance in “American Chopper” was during its first season, which was premiered not long after he joined the shop. However, the series’ pilot was shot just before Vincent joined the company and he only knew about the project after a month working there.
Thanks to the fame provided by “American Chopper”, Orange County Choppers became one of the most iconic custom-created bike manufacturers in US, and gathered huge local audiences and gained international recognition. This led several big companies and organizations to commission personalized choppers with the company.
One of the first commissions made by a company to OOC was the “PureFit Bike”. Not only was the bike one of the most famous ones ever featured on the show, it was actually the one which put the spotlight on the series.
OOC also built a bike for tools manufacturer Snap-on in 2003 built by Paul Jr., who included several references in the design to resemble the commissioner.
The “Football Bike” was built in honor to New York Jets by OOC and was exhibited at the Giants Stadium in 2004. Though what made this chopper particular is the lack complexity in its design and built.
Besides being an excellent bike builder and mechanic, Vincent also became a fan favorite during the years he appeared in the show. However, in 2007 he decided to leave OOC: ‘I had gone as far as I could there.
I really didn’t have any chance for advancement, and I had always wanted to have my own shop, so the natural progression was to leave and start my own place. Nothing against them, but it was time to move on.’
“American Chopper” showed his exit of the series as an uneventful moment. Regarding Vincent’s leave, a clip of his former boss Paul Sr. saying ‘everyone’s replaceable’ created commotion between fans of the show.
Only a year after Vincent’s exit of Orange County Choppers, his longtime friend Paul Jr., was fired off the business by his own father following a strong altercation between the two, causing a legal battle off cameras. Not long after leaving the business, the oldest Teutul son created his own custom made bike shop Paul Jr. Designs.
Check out my YouTube channel and please subscribe! https://t.co/KPCG7D6dqn
— Vinnie DiMartino (@VinnieDiMartino) April 2, 2018
V-Force
At late 2007 Vincent founded his own business V-Force Customs along with former member of Orange County Choppers, Cody Cornelly. The business specialized on bike building was based in Rock Tavern, New York. The first bike created in it was named “V-Force 1”, which was widely admired and praised during its exhibition in Florida.
Despite the early success of V-Force Customs, the market for custom made motorcycles reached a low in popularity and Vincent was pushed to cease the shop’s operations in 2013. Although basic and important machinery of the business were sold off, it was not the end of DiMartino’s ventures.
In 2014 V-Force Customs officially became DiMartino Motorsports Automotive and Truck Repair. In this new company, Vincent’s decades-long work experience provides his customers with an excellent service at repairing mechanics and car electronics.
Along with Vincent, the shop is operated by Jarrod and Vinnie Shorette.
Return to TV and New Series
In 2010 “American Chopper: Senior vs. Junior” was premiered as a spin-off of the original series. Although the show was short-live and lasted only two seasons on air, it was filled by some memorable moments such as Vincent’s return to TV.
In the series DiMartino was shown working alongside Paul Jr. in his new business, though he often wore t-shirts with V-Force Customs’ logo to show viewers he was still active on his own business.
In 2018 a revival of the original “American Chopper” was premiered on Discovery Channel, and DiMartino received many inquiries from long-time fans of the series regarding whether or not he was returning to TV alongside his former Orange County Choppers’ co-workers.
In a video posted on his official YouTube channel, DiMartino answered those questions: ‘I haven’t been asked to be on it, not by Discovery or the producers or anything like that but (Paul) Jr. has asked me to work with them.’ He continued: ‘I’m not doing it, but if the conditions are right I’ll do it. It’s got to make sense. Me here at my shop makes sense. I love my shop, I love working doing what I’m doing. My shop’s going to be here tomorrow. It’s going to be here the next day, and it’s going to be here the next year, and that show is definitely not.’
In the video, he also declared not being interested on returning to his old job at OOC: ‘At some level I want to be on the show with Jr. I don’t want to do anything with the mix with Orange County. I’ve done that rode 2007, no more. Never again. But I would work with Jr. again.’
Where is Vincent DiMartino now?
Nowadays Vincent DiMartino is focused on his car repairing business and family. He also has a YouTube channel on which he has thousands of subscribers and keeps his fans updated on his everyday life.
Personal Life
In 2001 Vincent married Melissa DiMartino, with who he has three daughters named Vanessa, Ava and Isabella. The couple also has son named Vincent, who is their youngest child.
Net Worth
Vincent DiMartino has an estimated net worth of $1 million, which is a result of his work as a mechanic and bike builder, along with earnings of his appearances in TV and entrepreneurships.
Vincent DiMartino na QUBX chopperu. http://www.americkychopper.cz/vincent-vinnie-dimartino/
Posted by Americký Chopper – www.americkychopper.cz on Thursday, 2 August 2012
Physical Appearance
Vincent DiMartino is a man of white ethnicity. Although there’s no information about his height and weight, he’s noticeably chubby and strong built.
Interesting Facts
Even after years of the end of “American Chopper”, Vincent is still friends with his former OOC co-workers, as he declared in a YouTube video. He’s especially close to Cody Cornelly, though he keeps in contact with Paul Jr. too.
Although he deeply appreciates Michael Teutul from their time working together, he hasn’t been in contact with him for years.
Besides “American Chopper” and its spin-off series, Vincent also made a variety of TV appearances on networks such as Throttle Junkies TV, Bright House Sports Network and Time Warner Cable Sports.