We all watch the invention known as TV from time to time. And we've all seen the car/motorcycle/4x4 shows that we all love to bash on here because we're such better fabricators or whatever.... SOOOO, what do you reckon is the coolest car oriented job to have (within reason...Yeah, I wish I was Mark Donahue, too)? Reason I'm asking is that I'm recently unemployed and might have some kick****ed opportunities coming up...just curious to hear what everyone thinks.
I used to race with a guy that was a prototype machinist for Harley Davidson. Made test parts etc from concept drawings, a lot of time before prints were even drawn up. I think that would be totally kickass, a lot like what most here do in our shops, but with benefits, and a paycheck. I knew a lot of the guys who worked for PVO at Chrysler (I think that division is renamed now) Met most of them through SCCA Pro Racing. They spent time desiging support for the "factory backed" race teams (ie, Neon pro racers like us, the LeMans Viper guys, etc) and doing performance models of current product (Viper GTS etc) Not sure if either of those could be called "within reason" but it seems like an attainable kinda thing, and I will admit I was a little envious of those guys back in the day.
I'm a tool & die maker, but they don't make many cars in Wichita anymore - just airplanes. I like what I do. However - when I was a kid, I wanted to grow up to be Keith Black. So for me, the coolest job would be building race engines.
Back in the 1970's and early 1980's I worked in a restoration shop. Painted a 166 Ferrari that won a second place at Pebble Beach. I'd like to do another, in WIN Pebble Beach!
my job is kinda cool, i feel rewarded when i see the dyno numbers, it just dont pay enough to live on, i am a cylinder head technition for www.lcengineering.com . i port and polish do valve jobs weld and all kinds of stuff, its fun, and i know you guys dont care but a head i worked on is on the engine thats on the cover of super street (import mag) nothin like 1400 hp outta a 4 banger eh?
I have the BEST job ever.........RETIRED.........with a government pension....for life Couple of my friends have or had cool auto related jobs.... One works for a major NASCAR team.....as a fabricator, painter and sometimes rear tire changer.....over the wall on Sundays. Another worked for GM.........hauling their show trailer to all the big NSRA events..... Another works for a graphics company that makes a lot of the NASCAR lettering and numbers for a good many of the top Nascar teams...
Well I had a pretty cool car job a few years back, a group of us that are all hotrod and harley guys worked for a classic resto shop, we would spend all week hammering on classics then get into our hotrod projects and a bit of drag racing on the weekends, also got to drive and work on some cool cars my favorites were taking the GT40 replica to 100mph+(in the 60mph zone!) and building a real nice Daytona Cobra replica.
right now i work for NAPA... pretty damn cool job. Decent pay and a huge parts discount. I used to work for a number of dealers, but i really didnt end up liking the way dealers conducted business. Im working on a possible spot hosting a tv show for spike tv, i was in the running in the first round, and waiting currently to see if i made it through the second. Getting that job would be badass.
I dig writing car mags...you get to work with the best guys, and learn your hobby from the best talent. No customer cars to work on either! I used to build race engines...that was really cool too, but unless your name is over the door you dont' get paid squat. I didn't care then, I just wanted to learn...but I care now. The mag jobs I've had are by far, the coolest. Lots of great guys writing mags, too...and ya cant' beat the contacts and access you get. ~Scotch~
I'm a "shop kid" it's amazing what you can learn from observing. We do alot of resto stuff, but we always have a few period hot rods going. I still have alot to learn, but I've always thought it would be cool to find a fulltime job in a Rod Shop.
1st off I'd be*****in embarassed to drive that truck in borndeads post. I'm a prototype fab guy for a major OEM through a tier 1 supplier. What we do is not all that. My background has me doing restoration for their motorsport division from time to time as well. Satisfaction comes in many forms for many types of persons. I'm pretty well satisfied to get med bennies and a steady check these days. While we all want to do the koolest type of job, ya wanna be careful what ya wish for. If all I did was chop tops every*****in day I would get sick of seein em in a while...but that's me. At least what you do in prototype can bring fresh thinking to your day at times. I said in another post how much I hate paint. Some really love that*****. I can say it is an "instant" type of gratification. Every move shows progress. Once again though if all ya did was flames and***** you'd get sick of it soon. Do what you do best for the most pay. That's the koolest car related job you can get.
I build racecar/hot rod engines. Its not too bad of a job but It's really not as great as it sounds. I definitely wouldn't recommend it to anyone looking for a job. It's a lot of hard work and unless you work in a very well known shop, building professional race engines, It's not worth it. Dealing with amateur customers is like pulling teeth. Hopefully I'll open my own hot rod shop someday. I think that would be the coolest job ever. I wouldnt mind having Jesse James or Jimmy Shine's jobs. Being an instructor at wyotech seems like it would be a cool job too.
Maybe not the "coolest" job but I enjoy it most of the time. I left the corporate world a few years back and started selling full time on ebay. I am now 30 years old and own my own shop with a retail dealer's permit for selling used cars. I am the only employee, work about half what I did punching a clock, have virtually no responsibility and make more $$ than I did at a real job. I call it self-unemployment. Between parting out cars, selling cars and working on stuff, I never run out of things to do. I have averaged selling about 100 cars a year for the last three years plus. Sounds like a lot, but it really isn't at all. If I actually worked at it, I could easily do 200 a year. Best thing about what I do is that I get to buy whatever toys I want from the wholesale pool for peanuts. None of the local dealers are into the 60's and older stuff, so lots of times I pick up stuff for a small fraction of what it is worth. Now it is not always fun, but I can sleep in whenever I want and can make time to go to just about any car show I want. I am off all Holidays, unless I want to work. Best thing is that when I buy something cool, it is with my shop $$ and my girlfriend can't****** that I am wasting our cash on foolish stuff.
I'm retired.... ...or is it retarted? And now I spend all of my time welding rusty peices of metal together, I love that sound. You know the sound: Snap, crackle, pop.
I managed to end up as lead web developer at Dennis Kirk, Inc. (motorcycle/ATV/Snowmobile/Watercraft/etc. mail order company)... It's pretty cool, and pays enough to live on, and have a couple of hobbies. They treated me awesome while I was out having back surgery, so that means a ton. I don't get to wrench on bikes at work, but it's a pretty cool desk job. My office overlooks 250,000 square feet of bike parts! I think if I could have my dream job, I would work for myself, and have enough money/clout/friends/etc. to call up the best fabricators to not only help me out, but to TEACH me how to do things, and the funds to buy or build the tools needed to do them. Ben
It isn't a car job but I work in an unofficial H-D shop. I get to pick, and see first hand the inner workings of, the brain that at one time had the fastest fuel bike in the state of illinois,and designed his own cams for evo and twin cam engines that even the local officially licensed dealers put in their customers bikes! Lots of cool old stuff around and new stuff too.
While visiting Don Garlits' museum of drag racing for the 4th time, I spent a few minutes talking to the guy who maintains, waxes, and rearranges the cars in the museum. He also helps Big Daddy take Swamp Rat I to various shows and races. To me, that's about as good as it could get!
I hope your " BENNIES"-include Prozac- as you are easily depressed!....."Bennies"....Gawwwwd, thats gay!
My full time job is working on restored and modified antique Fords. It dosen't get any better for a gearhead!
i suppose i would want to work in R&D designing/ grinding/ and testing cams. sounds boring but i like it. would have to say i would like to work for Crower, cause Bruce has a damn cool toy shop. i saw a posting the other day from the Ferrari F-1 team looking for an aerodynamics design engineer/ modeler, that would be******in! (but my engineering skills aren't of that caliber and they wanted someone with a PhD.) but if i had my choice, and the skills to back it, i would be a rally driver any day of the week.
I work phones at a performance warehouse. It really gets to me some days... but actually its pretty cool. I have 250 product lines and I have contacts all over the country. If I need something, I know I can get it at a discount. Our warehouse is 100,000 sq ft and I have the keys in my pocket. 99% of the time... that part I need on Sunday afternoon is just a short drive away. My dream job would be to work for Car Craft as a staff writer/fluffer.
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