When you see a featured car build in one of the major magazines and the major components of the "build" are also listed i.e HOK paint, Painless, Air Ride Tech, Heidt's, Borgeson, etc - are those components donated by those companies or does the builder buy them outright or at a discount with an agreement that the company's name will be listed in the article?
I dunno,when i build something I donate my money and the parts people and they inturn send me what I ordered,, Doesn't answer your question but I did bump it back to the top,, HRP
Usually most of the guys that get "sponsored" have built a bunch of highly publisized rides in the past that a company KNOWS will get them exposure. Some of the first that come to my mind are John D'Agastino, and Rick Dore. I'm sure many of the big time rod builder get some sponsorship to.
Slightly OT, but a couple of sponsored bike builds I have done have had everything from parts at cost, to outright free stuff, to other companies (soda company in one instance) footing the bill... so in my experience it was whatever's clever and what I could fanagle. Not sure I answered any part of your question though...
My understanding is that most of the time that information is given to satisfy the people who like to know who makes the components that went into the build. People like to know that info to get ideas and parts for their own projects. In some cases the vehicle may have been built for a special purpose like a give away, or some rich guy comissioned a famous builder to do a build to compete in some high profile show etc,. In those cases companies are into the sponsorship for the exposure they get.
I had my 1991 Chevrolet S-10 pickup "Roller Coaster" featured in Mini Truckin magazine's April 2008 issue. I didn't ask for and/or get any ***istance from any sponsors. Nothing in this world is free. If you what you build you vehicle the way you want it, you have to buy the the stuff with cold hard cash. http://www.minitruckinweb.com/features/chevy/0804mt_1991_chevy_s10/index.htmlhttp://www.minitruckinweb.com/features/chevy/0804mt_1991_chevy_s10/index.html.
More often than not they list that stuff because it is cool to have the right components. I suppose that if I had a car featured I would be pretty proud of my Fat Lucky's interior although with the quality of my builds I doubt that Sean would want me to mention it.
So I'm guessing that every piece on your builds is either restored junk-yard pieces, or scratch-built by yourself, right? Nothing bought from any of those evil advertisers, and you didn't see any of those parts in a magazine, right? -Brad
I think only the big guys named above get free stuff , it is very hard for a average guy to get anything, hell I own a bodyshop and can't get my paint suppliers to furnish paint. I have really been thinking about this alot lately, and I know it might not be the best thing to do but I am thinking about making the write ups about my cars more generic and not mentioning any names of parts or suppliers, I buy everything I use and they get free adverti*****t right? well without us they are nobody, and without them we don't have parts. But if I purchase the supplies, I really don't owe it to them to advertise, I have sent out packettes show them what I do and what I am about, and asking if they would like to be on the team, NO REPLY, so good question, And I don't know how one gets sponsored.
I think only the big guys named above get free stuff , it is very hard for a average guy to get anything, hell I own a bodyshop and can't get my paint suppliers to furnish paint. I have really been thinking about this alot lately, and I know it might not be the best thing to do but I am thinking about making the write ups about my cars more generic and not mentioning any names of parts or suppliers, I buy everything I use and they get free adverti*****t right? well without us they are nobody, and without them we don't have parts. But if I purchase the supplies, I really don't owe it to them to advertise, I have sent out packettes show them what I do and what I am about, and asking if they would like to be on the team, NO REPLY, so good question, And I don't know how one gets sponsored.
Sponsorship used to be a lot easier to get than it is now. Even post 9/11, I was able to secure a few small sponsorships for my girlfriend at the time, who showed an OT later domestic car. Got a set of free Eibach springs (through an independent sales rep...I think they were a "sales sample"), heavily discounted repro/custom parts from a marque-specific vendor, and a few smaller ones on audio components. Some were through industry contacts I already had, but a good many of them were from talking to manufacturer's reps at shows. It didn't amount to a whole lot of savings (maybe $1500-2000 total), but she had a pretty strict budget and the sponsorships made the difference. We tried writing proposals and going after some bigger fish, but didn't have any luck. I would imagine its a lot harder now, since companies are having to watch their dollars a whole lot closer.
If you have enough pull in the industry, like Craig Frazer, you can guarantee magazine cover exposure and use that to get parts sponsorship. Same deal with TV. The average guy, forget it.
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