Reader Projects Wanted!

Right now, you’re probably “digging” snow, while your unfinished project sits happy as a clam in your garage. I want to give you some added motivation this winter to get that ride in finished form by spring, so here’s the deal: I want you to snap some digital pictures of your unfinished project, and send them to me. You’ll probably have to stand outside and shoot into your garage to make your car fit totally in the picture, but that’s ok. It doesn't matter how far along it is, I want to see it, and I promise I’ll print everything. Engine on the stand, body on the rotisserie, fenders off, trans on the bench, interior stripped, body work in progress, “before” shots, rendering, send it all in—I’ll print everything!


So who qualifies, and who doesn’t? The answer is simple: if you’ve got a muscle car project that is not finished yet, or is being refurbished, or is being upgraded, you qualify. If you just bought a project and haven’t started, you qualify too, as long as you’ve got a specific plan. We like renderings too, so we can show readers what the end product will look like, but it’s not a requirement. Above everything else, we need good solid photography to print. Here are the guidelines:

-Get the whole car in the frame. Move stuff if you have to. It’s cool if you roll it outside.
-Turn on all the lights and use your flash. The more light, the better.
-No blurry shots! It helps to use a tripod or set the camera on something steady.
-Send key detail shots, like engine, interior, and special fabricated parts.
-If you’ve got a rendering, send it to us also (a digital copy only—we can’t return drawings).
-Include a detailed list of specs. The more detail, the better.
-Include your story! Who are you, and what’s making you build this? Why this style?
-Include a photo of you with your car (you’ll need someone to help you take this photo).
-Tell us how to contact you (daytime phone and email address). Do you have a website?
-Send lots of pictures! Put them on a CD, and include prints. Please, no emailed photos.

Send your photo CD, prints, specs, and cover letter to my editorial address: Source Interlink Media, attention: Johnny Hunkins—Reader Projects, 774 S. Placentia Ave., Placentia, CA 92870. In order to make the cutoff for the Reader Projects issue (August 2009), we need them no later than April 2nd. And remember, we will print EVERY car you send, as long as you follow the guidelines. And check this out: we’re picking one lucky unfinished project to photograph for our cover. We’ll even come to your house to shoot it!  

I'll bite!   Does the one lucky indivdual who gets chosen get any other prizes? Such as a custom paint job? Maybe an engine? I think it would be cool to reach out like the rest of the gear headed companies do and give away a couple thousand dollars or the equivalent!  

There are no prizes planned at the moment. That said, it's not inexpensive to do a cover shoot where extensive travel is involved. How 'bout we buy dinner while we're there?  

So what is considered a muscle car?
How about LS1 powered imports?  

Send it in. I'll figure out a way to make it work. Just make it look as good as humanly possible. It probably won't be on the cover though.  

Awesome idea.  Keep an eye out for my 67 Cougar the "pony pouncer", it's a 4.6L FI Turbo project.  It's a rare thing to see a cat in the magazine.  Keep up the good work with the magazine.  

'67-68 Cougars are very underrated. You won't find a better-looking project car. They're not expensive either. I was actually looking for one before I got the Laguna.  

What photo resulution should I use?
Highest setting I have?

I had my daughter take a few "action"(LOL) shoots of me working on my Mustang,but the glare off my head may force me to use a more posed type shot.

Should I limit the number of  pictures or send a stack and let you sort them out?

I will try to label each so somehow they make sense.  

Use the highest resolution your camera has. Send every shot you have that is not blurry. Send every shot you have that is in focus. Send every shot you have where the subject matter is completely in the frame.

do not send any out of focus, blurry, cut-off, over-exposed, or under-exposed shots.

Burn them on a CD, and send prints along with the CD. If you do that, you won't need to label them.  

A kick to the top again...  

do you have an email adress we can send pics and story to?
-Pete-  

Please send your photo CD, prints, specs, and cover letter to my editorial address: Source Interlink Media, attention: Johnny Hunkins—Reader Projects, 774 S. Placentia Ave., Placentia, CA 92870.

No emails please.  

I didn't mention this before, but send pix of your garage too. I figured that would sort of happen on its own, but thought it would be good to come out and say it. Some garages are more photogenic than others. It would be nice to print some cool garage scenes along with project close-ups.  

Are you freakin' kidding me??!?  Hell, 4 or 5 months ago, I sent an email to one of the staff of this mag regarding my (honestly cutting-edge) project, hoping & praying for nothing more than a short blurb in the 'Project Garage' section - I wasn't even hoping for an eventual feature.  No response whatsoever.

I was bummed, but figured that my "built on an ordinary-Joe budget" car just couldn't compete with the tube-framed, billet-unobtanium-equipped, carbon-fiber-wearing '66-'72 recreations that are being built for the old guys with the fat wallets & fatter midsections.

And then I read this... OK, I'll send it in, I guess.  

It *seriously* has the potential to be pretty cool -

* A domestic performance car with a cutting-edge drivetrain that will have 420-450 HP at completion (the aftermarket is just starting to get into this...);
* Potential for a LOT more power than that - WITHOUT resorting to a power-adder;
* I'm shooting for 30 mpg while retaining all of that power (27 mpg should be a cinch!);
* It's a street car (& will remain so) being built primarily for the Bonneville salt - but I really want to do some open-road racing as well;
* Goodies like 4-wheel disks, good rubber & a thoroughly-upgraded suspension help it to take the local mountain twisties a LOT faster than I have the guts for!

Like I said, I think that it's an especially noteworthy/interesting project, but I'll freely admit that I'm not exactly a disinterested observer either.

Thanks for the little bit of motivation.  After all of these hours & dollars I've poured into it, it would sure be nice to see just a small pic & a blurb about it...  

Nobody needs permission to send us a CD and a letter of their project. Honestly, you can really just send it in.

Email is a very bad way to communicate your new car project. You'll always put your best foot forward by following the directions we outline here on the site, and in the mag.

No kidding.