My introduction and first question.

First of all a friendly hello to all of you!
My name is Matti Alexander Bohm. I am 19 years old, a half Finn and live in northern Germany. (in the near of Bremen or Hamburg) I am very interested in old cars (german cars but also american cars!!!) and drive a 1972 german Ford Granada (my third classic). Another hobby of mine is collecting old die cast cars. My collection consists of around 500 old die-casts (Matchbox, Corgi, Dinky, Hot Wheels etc.) and another 300 newer die-cast modelcars. I customize die-casts (scale 1/18 ) and change their engines, colours etc. or I let them look like they were towed out of a barn or scrapyard. The customized models like a Chevy Nomad Gasser, '59 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz Convertible Rat Rod (with real rust!) or a Volvo Amazon with Corvette Engine built as a 1/4 mile car. These modelcars were already featured in a german car magazine and I also built on request of Revell Germany two prototypes for a (planned) new collection of barnfind models which are shown on the international toy fair in Nuremberg (early february).
Another thing that I like doing is to design cars or especially redesign vintage cars. Hot Rods, Lead Sleds and so on.
Naturally I am interested in automotive engineering and the design of the cars.

I will finish school this year in April and now look for a company that customizes classics or tunes them. I mean companies like Unique Performance, Foose etc. First of all I would like to do an internship (hope you know this word, because I had to translate it via internet!?) and now I look for a company that offers such an internship. After this internship I would return to germany to make an accepted apprenticeship (this takes 3 years) if the company where I did my internship or another would offer me a job, I would return to the USA to work there.
So my question is if anybody of you knows such a company, which is successful in building hot rods, custom cars or something like that and which could need a young creative, german guy?
I would be very delighted about every information or help. Maybe some of you know people who work at these companies or companies analog to the companies mentioned above!?

Thank you for reading and hopefully helping,too.:)


If anyone would like to see some photos of my car, worked out designs or die-cast model cars, I will post some photos.


Matti Alexander Bohm

http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/6354/ich007zd3.jpg

Well first off Welcome to CHR
Second PICTURES are always welcome
I personaly know of no places like you are seaking but I'm sure they exist just keep hanging in there

Welcome to the forum. While I know of no companies specifically like the ones you seek, I would suggest simply getting in touch with operations such as the names you mentioned, and asking. Coddington seems to not be opposed to hiring people with little experience, and having a German trainee might add to the flavor of the show. With many of his people jumping ship and going to Foose, he may be receptive to this.

Yes, you translated internship perfectly. As with any company, you generally start out doing menial tasks and as you gain experience and prove yourself, you move up in responsibilities. I imagine these companies are flooded with people hoping for a chance to work and train there, especially since the popularity of these types of TV shows, but you never know.

Perhaps the way it is done is to first start with minor shops and then move up the ladder to the better known shops? In any event, good luck, and persistance pays off, so just keep trying and trying until someone says yes.


Don

yeah I know what you mean. :CRY: ;)
I thought about starting in a "lower" custom shop, but I don't know a lot of them because I don't live in the U.S and so it is difficult to know the not so well known shops and I don't want to end up doing paint jobs on stolen cars in Detroit. :LOL:
But think you are right. Lets see what happens and don't stop helping me or giving good advices. Thank you so far. :D

Oh forgot to ask what you meant with this sentence: "and having a German trainee might add to the flavor of the show." Sry if I don't understand everything but I think for someeone who doesn't speak english in his every day live it's more than enough, I think. I speak english in my english lessons only. :)

Here is what I meant by that. I don't know if you get this show in Germany, but if you have seen it you have probably noticed a lot of the Hollywood influence on the show. They put some employees in there for effect, I think, to dress up the show and add some comedy and "color" to the show. A perfect example is that dummy Boo Bear (sp) and some of the antics of the black guy. I would like the show a whole lot more if it was done without all of that drama, but the Producers seem to know what the viewing public likes, so they inject this kind of stuff.

Another example is the lame telephone calls they make to the car owners on Overhaulin', pretending to be cops and stuff. I go for a beer when those segments come on.

So, I thought if they hired some German trainee, it would add some interest, or "flavor" to the plots. BTW, you will have no problem with language, you English is remarkably good. Many of my customers are German, and you communicate much better than most of them.


Don

now some pictures because you said that they're welcome. ;P

That is the cover of the german car magazine where my models where featured. The Chevy Nomad on the cover is also a die-cast model of mine that I customized.
http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/3...sgabe20gb5.jpg

now some pictures of the so called "dioramas" I build out of 1/18 die cast modelcars
http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/6928/bild064vs5.jpg

http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/935/bild073go7.jpg

The "diorama" above is now property of Revell Germany.

http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/7...rdet002vi4.jpg

http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/7...rdet005fv0.jpg


So next pictures show my customized Ro(d)tten Caddy (made out of a pink model from Maisto..maybe some of you know how the model originally looks like!?)(sry for the bad pictures but I will scan the articel in themagazine 'cause this model was also featured)
http://img329.imageshack.us/img329/8...trod006be9.jpg

http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/282...trod007jq8.jpg

http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/2...trod005wt3.jpg

http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/9...trod008ie9.jpg


Here's my collection...

http://img102.imageshack.us/img102/8566/phto0020so7.jpg



I didn't show everything to you but if you want detailed pictures of the collection you can have them.=)

If anyone is interested in customized die-cast models then let me know it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

Here is what I meant by that. I don't know if you get this show in Germany, but if you have seen it you have probably noticed a lot of the Hollywood influence on the show. They put some employees in there for effect, I think, to dress up the show and add some comedy and "color" to the show. A perfect example is that dummy Boo Bear (sp) and some of the antics of the black guy. I would like the show a whole lot more if it was done without all of that drama, but the Producers seem to know what the viewing public likes, so they inject this kind of stuff.

Another example is the lame telephone calls they make to the car owners on Overhaulin', pretending to be cops and stuff. I go for a beer when those segments come on.

So, I thought if they hired some German trainee, it would add some interest, or "flavor" to the plots. BTW, you will have no problem with language, you English is remarkably good. Many of my customers are German, and you communicate much better than most of them.


Don

---

thank you =)
german customers?? Where do you work or in which company?
so now I know what you meant...I don't recieve overhaulin' but rides or monster garage are getting popular in Germany, though they are shown on a not so popular channel. I chose Foose because I like the design of the cars and if I hadn't this idea for my future I would study product/industrial design but in a big company you cannot be so creative.That's why I had the idea of working in such a company like Foose or etc.
A show which everyone knows is MTV Pimp my Ride but this show is definetly bullshit.
I don't want to tell you that it's really a pleasure to talk with you.

Welcome to here.

Now those are some wild models. I really like those. You definetly got some talent. By the way, you "type" better English than me.

Jack

I live and work in SW Florida, and many of your Countrymen come here to live part of the year, or even permanently. I work at a Marina, and we maintain lots of boats owned by Germans.

They are sometimes apologetic that their English is not so good, but I always tell them it is certainly better than my German.

Funny little story. Many of my male customers bring a sometimes younger looking lady with them, and usually she is attractive. One time I was having some fun with one such couple, and I said to the man "Some day I must visit Germany, because all the women I see are so pretty." He had to translate that to her, and they both laughed about it. But then he said to me " No, don't go to Germany looking for pretty ladies..........we leave the ugly ones at home and travel with the pretty ones." We got a good laugh out of that one.


Don

@moparjack44: Thank you and I hope that there will be a company who will think the same. :D

@itoldyouso: Yeah, typical german humour. ^^ I try to translate a joke:
Woman: Oh, darling, here stands that the police searches for a man, around thirty years old, who disturbs women in a sexual way.
He: Oh, do you think that could be something for me??

:LOL:

No but the german who told you not to come here because of the women is right. If you want to see a lot a lot of Mercedes then you are right. In my region are more Mercedes registered than in the region around Stuttgart where they are build. :3dSMILE: My father also owns one. A '91 560 SEC.
But if you look for some nice women then you have to got to Finland!! **)

Oh I know a man who owned a big Ford dealership.. was the fifth biggest automobile dealership in Germany...he sucked all the money step by step out of the company and now lives in Florida and built a house for half a million dollar and founded a import/export Company for cars. His dealership went bankrupt and a lot of people lost their jobs because of him...so if you see him, then kick his ass!

One of my German customers is like the one you describe. Supposedly InterPol is looking for him, something about taking other Germans money for boats and then keeping the money himself. We call him "Colonel Klink." :LOL: :LOL: :LOL:


Don

okay the one I meant is not criminal like the one you meant, but I think it is really unfair what he did, because his german dealerships had less money because of the things he did and so the people who managed his different dealerships couldn't do anything to safe them from going bankrupt .I erased his name because I think it's better and I don't want to get problems because of it. I got too angry when I wrote it. ;)

Had to edit this post... things had changed... ;-)

so can noone help me finding a good company/shop that customizes cars or that looks for creative persons (design or something in this direction)?

It's not that no one wants to help you, but we often see questions like this from Stateside hopefuls, and usually have no answers for them either. It is not like we are tapped into Coddington, Foose, or even lesser known shops, and can provide a recommendation for you.

I would suggest you treat it like any other situation where you were seeking employment. Beat the bushes and make lots of calls and sending of resumes. If you are really serious, take in one of the large vendor shows and start asking questions.

For every shop there are 100 aspiring customizers who would love to go to work for them, especially the well known ones. You will undoubtedly have to start at ground zero and work your way up as your skills and education increase.

It may be that folks in other places think there is a vast number of these shops all over America, and that is simply not the case. There are a number of small, usually one or several person shops, that are scattered throughout the country, but they are generally not in a position to take on any member of the team who can not pull his or her own weight and contribute right from the start.

Good luck,

Don

I don't know how old you are, but many of us started out with models and drawings. I can tell you a few things that might get you started in a custom auto career.

I can understand what you want. I was much like you. I did my own cars first, then my friends started hiring me, then I did it as a part-time business until I had enough business to start doing it full-time. I will also tell you this: You will continue to improve all of your life, so the more involved you get, and the longer you work, the better you will be. Another tip is to never give up. I have had some really bad times as I learned about the paint business, but you cannot fail, unless you give up

This will take time. Whatever part of the automotive field you like the most, should be what you work on the hardest.

If you like artwork, you could learn to paint, or take some art classes and maybe some airbrush classes.

If you just like art, start doing some paintings of cars. Maybe car magazines or tattoo artists would be a place to sell designs.

If you like new car design, you would want to talk to the California school that trains most of the car designers for the American and foreign manufacturers. Maybe there are scholarships or loans available.

Practice, practice, practice. Each job you do will make you a little better.

You could build, restyle, or paint a car of your own. If that means getting a better job, begging a place to work on it, and being patient, then do whatever is necessary. If people like what you've done, they will hire you. That is how I, and many others got started.

If you want the most success, you will need to live where that success is. If you work as a craftsman, like I do, you will need to be near a lot of people. I live in a town of almost a million people, and I still don't have enough business when the economy is slow. If you want to be on TV, you will need to be in an area where that is possible, like California. If you want to work for a car manufacturer, you will need to live where they operate.

Seeing how dedicated you seem to be, I think you have a chance to succeed. Good luck.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

It's not that no one wants to help you, but we often see questions like this from Stateside hopefuls, and usually have no answers for them either. It is not like we are tapped into Coddington, Foose, or even lesser known shops, and can provide a recommendation for you.

I would suggest you treat it like any other situation where you were seeking employment. Beat the bushes and make lots of calls and sending of resumes. If you are really serious, take in one of the large vendor shows and start asking questions.

For every shop there are 100 aspiring customizers who would love to go to work for them, especially the well known ones. You will undoubtedly have to start at ground zero and work your way up as your skills and education increase.

It may be that folks in other places think there is a vast number of these shops all over America, and that is simply not the case. There are a number of small, usually one or several person shops, that are scattered throughout the country, but they are generally not in a position to take on any member of the team who can not pull his or her own weight and contribute right from the start.


Good luck,

Don

---

no I didn't mean that noone helps me ir doesn't want to...I just asked for addresses or informations how I can contact those shops etc or better wehre I find them...I don't even look for a recommndation or something like that...only adresses and informations to find those "ground zero" shops where I could start a career...but though it will be so hard for me to find somethin' and be succesful I allready thank you for your help...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by HOTRODPAINT

I don't know how old you are, but many of us started out with models and drawings. I can tell you a few things that might get you started in a custom auto career.

I can understand what you want. I was much like you. I did my own cars first, then my friends started hiring me, then I did it as a part-time business until I had enough business to start doing it full-time. I will also tell you this: You will continue to improve all of your life, so the more involved you get, and the longer you work, the better you will be. Another tip is to never give up. I have had some really bad times as I learned about the paint business, but you cannot fail, unless you give up

This will take time. Whatever part of the automotive field you like the most, should be what you work on the hardest.

If you like artwork, you could learn to paint, or take some art classes and maybe some airbrush classes.

If you just like art, start doing some paintings of cars. Maybe car magazines or tattoo artists would be a place to sell designs.

If you like new car design, you would want to talk to the California school that trains most of the car designers for the American and foreign manufacturers. Maybe there are scholarships or loans available.

Practice, practice, practice. Each job you do will make you a little better.

You could build, restyle, or paint a car of your own. If that means getting a better job, begging a place to work on it, and being patient, then do whatever is necessary. If people like what you've done, they will hire you. That is how I, and many others got started.

If you want the most success, you will need to live where that success is. If you work as a craftsman, like I do, you will need to be near a lot of people. I live in a town of almost a million people, and I still don't have enough business when the economy is slow. If you want to be on TV, you will need to be in an area where that is possible, like California. If you want to work for a car manufacturer, you will need to live where they operate.

Seeing how dedicated you seem to be, I think you have a chance to succeed. Good luck.

---

I want to thank you, too for your helping and also understanding words. Because of Itoldyouso and You I see the whole thing in a different light but that shouldn't mean that I forget it from this moment...No! You saw it right that I am very dedicated with it because it's a big dream and I will achieve this aim someday and somehow. Now I know that it will get very hard for me to start something but with you two, I have some experts that can help or inform me a lot...thank you so far. :)

Hey folks!

It's been more than four years!! from now, that I started this thread looking for the right way. Thank you so much again for the replies and everything! When I finished school, I moved to Stuttgart (Germanys "Detroit") and worked for a well known Mercedes restorer and moved on to another Gullwing restorer. After nearly two years, I had to quit for some reasons and cause I wanted more. So now I work for Europes biggest classic-car-magazine "Oldtimer Markt" and its other magazines (Oldtimer Praxis, Abgefahren Magazine) as an editorial volunteer. Only one year left until I can work as an official editor. My dream came true guys and I hope that I can stay in contact with all of you and more regular than the last years. I'm sorry, that I forgot to write here, but as you can see, it happened a lot. Maybe there will be the chance that I can produce some articles about you and your cars and hopefully make it to the states next year and maybe get to know some of you.

Here are some impressions from my first year of working for the magazine:

First images are from my tour to Switzerland in september for a story about the old James Bond movie "Goldfinger". Where at the original road and other places where they filmed the movie. I drove the old Mustang convertible from our office to the Alpes. Was a great ride!

http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/4...0831078.th.jpg
http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/8...2011601.th.jpg
http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/2...0259hhi.th.jpg
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/2534/img0301t.th.jpg
http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/2...g0315fp.th.jpg
http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/5559/img0317e.th.jpg

That was a story about the Lamborghini Miura. I was lucky enough to drive both Miuras on my own. ;-)


http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/2...2011372.th.jpg

Last pictures are from a small meeting which took place in Stuttgart some weeks ago.



http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/9...beitet1.th.jpg
http://img543.imageshack.us/img543/1...beitet1.th.jpg
http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/7...itet1kl.th.jpg
http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/565...itet1kl.th.jpg
http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/8...itet1kl.th.jpg
http://img854.imageshack.us/img854/6...itet1kl.th.jpg
http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/3342/...itet1kl.th.jpg
http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/815...itet1kl.th.jpg
http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/414...itet1kl.th.jpg
http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/6...itet1kl.th.jpg

Forgot to post a new photo of me. It's from our actual story "100 years of Chevrolet"

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/534...2040kla.th.jpg

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Welcome! Nice lookin diecast. I think we all can certainly appreciate the work into making 'little' look so real. I am a big collector of early diecast for over 35 years, mostly Dinky,Corgi,Spot-On and some odd ball stuff.
Brian