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Founder and Visionary
Our Founder/CEO
Bob Bivens
Bob started his training for autobody when he was 16 years old. Bob was trained under Harry Shackle at the Elkhart Area Career Center.
After high school, he started working in a body shop.
After getting married and starting a family, the pay wasn’t enough, so Bob started doing “side jobs” out of his garage and then Bob’s Body shop was started in 1993. The pay at the main body shop still wasn’t sufficient, so an opportunity arose at a large truck and bus manufacturing plant, to work and be the second in charge under the paint shop manager. After working here for 10 years, another opportunity came to work as a paint rep for another large supply company alongside BASF. There were lots of training offered there. Bob got to go to the main paint lab in the US located in Ohio. By going to this training, he had acquired a certification in paint and color matching. He has also acquired knowledge in the chemistry of paint and products.
In 2014, Cobra Automotive Designs was established and moved to a facility in Mishawaka. This location ran until we outgrew this facility in 2021 and moved to our current location in Elkhart.
Bob’s Body Shop went from a very small team to Cobra Automotive with roughly 20 employees and is still growing.
Cobra Automotive is a paint shop that specializes in all phases of paint, RV, automobiles, motorcycles, boats and fleet painting.
God has blessed Bob and the company to where we are at today!
Our General Manager
Edgar Santiago
Edgar has been in the automotive paint industry for almost 15 years.
He has vast experience in all areas in the RV industry from prepping to final finish and everything in between.
He has been with Cobra Automotive since 2016 where he sharpened and took his automotive paint and bodywork skills to a higher level being under Bob's influence.
Edgar is a high-quality minded person and is cultivating such culture within the Cobra Automotive team members.
He believes in the simple principle of helping his partnerships and clients succeed, if he does just that,
Cobra Automotive succeeds as well!
Favorite Quote:
"Trials and Tribulations tend to squeeze the artificiality out of us, leaving the essence of what we really are and clarifying what we really yearn for."
Teaching future generations
Ricardo and his son Emiliano
When Edgar first started at Cobra, back in 2016, he shared with Bob his desire to teach his kids the importance of hard and dedicated work, the blessing of knowing how to use tools and the great opportunities of knowing all of these skills. Teaching a trade is something very valuable for the future generations. After sharing that, Bob encouraged Edgar to bring his kids to work with him and use the shop as a tool to prepare them for their futures.
After Edgar became the General Manager, he wanted to give the same opportunity to other employees and their children.
Every so often we let our employees bring their kids so that they can have the same opportunity Bob shared with Edgar years ago.
Rusty's youngest son Logan learning how to prep
Rusty's youngest son Logan learning how to prep
Liam learning how to use a paint gun
Liam learning how to use a paint gun
Rusty's youngest son Logan learning how to prep
Rusty and his son Liam
Liam learning how to use a paint gun
Rusty and his son Liam
Mark and his son Ethan
Liam learning how to use a paint gun
Rusty and his son Liam
