Orange County Choppers: The Tale of the Teutuls

by Paul Teutul, Michael Teutul, Keith and Kent Zimmerman

In the year 2003, Lady Luck reached out to a hard-living, hard-working family in a small town in Orange County, New York. That was when a team from the Discovery Channel began filming the custom chopper shop of Paul "Senior" Teutul, his son Paulie, and the rest of their highly dysfunctional, totally authentic crew as they did what they do make great custom-crafted bikes from the ground up. Within a few episodes, the Teutuls were for their hilarious head-butting, their outrageous yelling, their amazing designs, and, most of all, for being real every step of the way. With their hit show American Chopper turning into the Discovery Channel's top-rated program, the Teutuls became unlikely national icons.
Now the Teutuls tell their story as it has never been told before. Senior chronicles his harrowing journey from a hell-raising teen to a star-crossed businessman desperately trying to keep his demons at bay. And Paulie remembers working by his father's side in their ironworks shop-and the bond that developed between them when they first built an EVO-powered custom chopper from scratch.
From youngest son Mikey's entrance into the shop to all the other members of the extended OCC family, this is a chronicle of Panheads and Softails turned into gleaming works of art, of Old School design versus Paulie's amazing theme bikes that took custom biking by storm-and earned the Teutuls some of the most famous clients in the world.
With over 60 family archive photos that capture this true rags-to-riches saga, ORANGE COUNTY CHOPPERS is the raw, honest story of a family that was born to be wild, how they came together around a shared passion and skill-and how they captured the heart of America.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Paul John Teutul, Sr., (May 1, 1949 in Yonkers, New York), is the founder of Orange County Ironworks and Orange County Choppers. Teutul works along with his sons Paul Teutul, Jr. and Michael Teutul, who became celebrities when Orange County Choppers became the focus of a reality television series called American Chopper in 2002.

Teutul grew up in Yonkers, New York. He is a Vietnam War veteran of the United States Merchant Marine.

In a few episodes of American Chopper, Teutul has made references to past abuse of drugs and alcohol. He has stated that he was a frequent marijuana user and, according to him, "had basically done any drug around".[2] He feels that his alcoholism influenced his children to experiment as well. During an episode in which Mikey interviewed OCC's staff for the Web site, he asked his father, "What is your best memory?" to which Paul Sr. responded, "Gettin' sober." Additionally, he has mentioned having "missed out" on most of his children's childhood.

In the book written by the Teutuls called The Tale of the Teutuls, Paul Sr. reveals that he didn't know his middle name until his mid thirties, and he finds out that he is in fact a legal junior, having the same name as his father, but by then the nickname "senior" had already stuck.

Reviews

[Jimmie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the Overdrive digital version of Orange County Choppers. My rating is only for the entertainment and enjoyment value of the book. If I was making my rating based on the grammatical review of the book, it would be a one star. If you are bothered by multiple grammatical errors when reading books, then I recommend staying away from Orange Counter Choppers. This book is in serious need of an editor. Having mentioned that, this issue did not take away the enjoyment from this book. I looked base the grammatical errors.

Orange County Choppers takes the reader inside the hearts and minds of the Tuetul family and details how their rise to fame started. I would sum this book up as R&R: Raw and Real. What you see is what you get. Although the feud between Paul Sr. and Paul Jr. is TV staged for extra intrigue, the tension between them is definitely real. As the book mentioned many times, Paul Sr. and Paul Jr. are too much alike to work together.

This book deals with much more than a successful company and TV show. It is nuts an bolts of family dysfunction. I came away with a lot of respect for the entire family. Paul Sr. lived a tough live early in life, but he changed his life's path. I find that highly commendable. The Tuetul siblings all seemed to have weather the storm of the Tuetul family dynamics. The Tuetul family has shown that love and support will get you through any difficult situation. For that reason, my rating is a solid four stars. I could really care less about the grammatical errors, because in life, we all have to deal with imperfections.

[Miranda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I forgot how much I loved American Chopper! At one time it was one of my favorite shows.

[Carl Purdon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book but it has so many typos that it is hard to read.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

From early childhood to current day. Paul Sr. tells of his life growing up in New York with his addiction to drugs and alcohol, and beating it through the 12 step program. Paul and Paulie relay info on how they came to be what they are today, by beginning in their basement, to their 1 hundred thousand sq foot facility. There are also chapters from Mikey, Dan, Cristin, Paul's ex-wife Paula, and from some OCC workers. At the end of the book there is an appendix with pics of some bikes with descriptions of them.

Some interesting things I learned from this book, that i didnt know from the show is that Paulie is rather religious. Paul and Paulie are also strict about what companies get a bike, i.e. no girlie mags, cigarettes, beer companies. I cant wait to read the new book "A Ride of a Lifetime"

[Sandi · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I've only seen the show a couple of times I decided to read this after seeing it on Susie's list a couple of months ago. I was especially interested in how they were able to start up their business first working out of their Dad's apartment. I was impressed with how much money he had in his retirement to help with seed money especially after his tales of excess drinking while running a small welding company

[Jerry Junker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good reading

Pretty good reading

I have watched all ten years of the seasons and the book is fairly close to so how I would view people from tv. was very good except for the last few chapters of eguipmenr

[SouthWestZippy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting behind the sense look at the Teutuls and others who work for them. A bit repetitive about what goes on in front and behind the camera. I would have liked to see more pictures of all the bikes they have built.
Still a good book and worth reading.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice overview of the early days of Orange County Choppers.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, but I enjoyed it more for the personalities.