was reading about a just finished "tribute" rod in the latest r&c and found my curiosity aroused about something. I am not being critical just curious if this is considered normal in the rod building industry. the person given the headline credit for the car seems to have had very little to do with the actual construction-at least from reading the details. someone else did the initial artwork, sheetmetal, chassis fab, paint( although headline guy did do the graphics) , engine, upholstery and dashboard. again, not trying to be critical as I know it always takes a network to build something but maybe someone can educate me on how the business works.
I wouldn't know...because in my case the car designer is "me", the car builder is "me", plus I did the chassis, engine, interior, paint and graphics. But in these modern times, there are few hobbyists that can accomplish everything thenselves. In many cases about the only contribution to the build was working a lot of overtime to pay for it all.
Without reading the article myself it's hard to comment BUT I can shed alittle light on the subject by stating that those that are having a feature of their car in R & C (and all the other mags I'm sure) fill out a multi page questionaire regarding all the aspects of their car then one of the staff writes up the feature. Even though different guys names are listed under certain build processes, the person the mag gave headline credit could have had his hand in every aspect BUT the owner could have choosen to give him blanket credit so to speak rather then continuing to list his name under every little thing. Regarding the Big Olds feature in R & C, I've had dozens of guys help with body work over the last 5 years. I couldn't possibley expect the mag to list all their names so the bodyshop that did the majority of the work including paint got the majority of the credit with a minor statement stating there was help from me, my boyfriend, (and I insisted they list his name), and friends from the HAMB. I couldn't ask for or expect anything more. There is only so many details that can be mentioned in a mag article....someone inevitably will get their panties in a wad.
Throughout history, design is more important than construction. Nobody knows the name of the guy with the hammer that helped Frank Lloyd Wright. Design excites me.....having to build it is just tedious work that I do. If I had the cash, I'd have a dozen cars being built....with my ideas.
i've always wondered when some magazine gives credit for a designer. what exactly does this " designer" do? just some drawings of what the car should look like when finished? or does he engineer the suspension/frame/ motor mounts/steering/shift linkage..figure out brake and fuel line routing...mounting of fuel tank....figure out how to mount the AC and lines..figure out how to pack a MSD box , wiring panel , cruise control and AC under the dash, seams to me the guy who figures this out and does it is the designer
More often than not in the mainstream mags the owner gets the credit unless he tells the magazine staff otherwise. There was an Ezine out in the later '90s that would only feature a car if the owner and the builder were one in the same or if the feature was on the builder and the owner got honorable mention for coughing up the bucks but that's not the norm.
Nobody can do everything themself.....growing rubber plants and making your own tires....or mining the iron to cast a new block...and hammering copper into wire......would take decades to complete a project.
The Jalopy Journal
