Sunday, March 28, 2010

What am I doing wrong?

Every year I design a car or truck over the winter months, it is cold up here in Canada, and I have never liked the cold, so hibernating and designing go hand in hand.

A couple of years ago I came up with a design for a long nose, two seat, diesel powered, convertible coupe. A build based on the 3R's of recycling, and using green technologies, I am even going to do the welding off peak hours, and paint it with all water based paint.
This is not just another trailer queen, when done it will be driven to events, in some cases pulling my D90 on it's trailer.
A 'Real Hot Rod' not some pretty thing that never gets used.

As a builder I don't have a TV show, I don't build vehicles for celebrates and professional sport people who have more money than brains. I build and freely share what I am doing with others so they can also build a dream. I write for a couple of magazines, and I attend far more shows that the average person. My passion has almost cost me my marriage because I travel around with my builds.
I can't count the number of times I have watched someone either photographing my truck or shooting a video of it, and that encounter normally leads to talking about what I have done, and in most cases how and why.

The Aftermarket is all about the small builder who does something different that brings attention to the various sponsor's products. People buy what they see others using, not what they see on some build show on television that has every new tool and toy under the sun.

Not like I haven't done this before, I feel safe in saying my Land Rover Defender 90 is one of the most recognizable across North America, at least that is the impression I get from all the feedback.
Land Rover doesn't appreciate it however, not surprising since they have total lost sight of their heritage and seem to only want to sell bling. That however does not explain why the Detroit three can't see beyond their cubicles.
Case in point; I sent a proposal to one of them, outlining the concept for the build of the hot rod, all I wanted was a drive line. Someone in the brain trust sends me back a SEMA Show project vehicle application, including a list of vehicles available. This arrives via e-mail the day before the application was due to be submitted, and requires more information than can be put together in 24 hours. Totally missed the point, I don't want a vehicle to load up with shiny chrome bits, just another chromed everything, that will stand out, sure it will.
Apparently thinking out of the cubicle is not allowed if one works for any of the Detroit three, but we know that, recent history proved that point.

Vehicle planned, marketing planned, build and update schedule planned, all done.
Maybe I should change my name to something more famous and move the a California area code.