Custom Vehicles of Zanesville, located at 3619 Olde Falls Road, in Zanesville, held a ribbon cutting with the help of the Zanesville-Muskingum Chamber of Commerce to mark the business’s 50th anniversary.
The business began in 1976 as Custom Vans of Zanesville, owned by Darryl Mast, who at the time was just 16 years old. He ran the business out of his parents’ garage.
“I originally was working at Hart’s Department Store, was interested in vans when I was 14, 15, would go down to one of my competitors just to see what was going on, got the urge to start a business and wanted to do things in the community and stuff to keep things rolling, and I started at 16 and it just kept growing and growing. Started in my mom and dad’s two-car garage in ’76 and ’81. We built the first concrete block building in ’85. We added another building and many storages, and then we added on back in 2001, so it just kept growing from year to year to year,” explained Mast.
The switch was made in 1985 to expand to include services for more vehicles in addition to vans, and with the addition came the name change, Custom Vehicles of Zanesville.
“I kind of got interested in doing the rhino lining spray and bed liners, all the truck caps and stuff, but there’s always something new you had to add to the business because there was always new and upcoming things coming out,” Mast added.
Today, Custom Vehicles of Zanesville is run with help from the second generation, Mast’s daughter, Olivia Pryzbyl, and her husband, Matt.
“It was something that I had talked about when I was younger, and I moved away, went to college, had a different job, and then my husband really made the push to move back home and help take over and let my parents retire, and now here we are, hoping to run the next 50 years,” said Olivia.
Being deeply rooted in the Zanesville community, the business believes in giving back to impactful community organizations.
“We support them, and they support us, so I think it’s a good thing in the community that everybody takes care of each other,” said Mast.
“I think that was a big part of us moving home, too, was the community feel and knowing that there is the support with everybody, and we want to be a part of it,” added Olivia.
Over the past 50 years, there have been many memories made, but some that stand out to Mast are the memories made at Van truck-ins that they used to attend.
“We would load up a trailer, leave out on a Friday morning, spend all weekend selling parts to maybe a couple thousand vans at a truck-in, and just selling out of the store, people that I’ve had come back. I still see people daily. They say, I remember being out there to see your mom and dad back when you were 22 years old,” Mast remembered.
There are lots of plans for the future, and Olivia and Matt are bringing new concepts forward that are helping to grow the business.
“One thing they’ve really upgraded, too, that Matt is knowledgeable in stuff is all the lift kits, the tires, the wheels, the truck, accessories for commercial use, all the truck caps, and the equipment that we have to offer for that. I mean, it’s just been something that Matt has brought on that I never really got into doing that much of it. I was doing just the main trucks and cars and vans and stereos,” Mast explained.
Combining the focus of offering services and products for personal use with those for commercial use has been another big change moving forward.
“Expanding into fleet support. So all the big commercial trucks that you see driving around, flatbeds, utility bodies, guys from tree trimming companies that have strobe lights all over the place, and lights that they need to actually work. I mean, that’s kind of the direction I would like to go with it as well. I mean, we’re not going to shy away from anybody’s personal vehicle,” said Matt. “But that fleet side, I think, is something that’s untapped in this area. I mean, you’ve got so many companies that think they have to travel to Columbus to get their fleet vehicles work done when we’re here, and we can do the same, if not better, work than what they can.”
A 50th anniversary open house celebration will be held on May 9, 2026, from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. Attendees can expect a display of custom vehicles, music, raffles and giveaways, special anniversary discounts, and food from Winland’s Catering & Creations.
Visit Custom Vehicles of Zanesville online at customvehicleszan.com, or on Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube.
