A custom-built car can cost as much, if not more, than a basic home remodeling. You would never build a custom home or remodel your existing house without consulting an architect, and you would never go to a general contractor without blueprints. But, car owners will contract a builder to build their dream car without thought of providing a visual guide or plan for the project. Letting someone build your dream car without a drawing could cost you a bundle if you don't like the work and he has to start again. Paper is cheap-a lot cheaper than reworking metal.
What You're Paying For
Most designers will start with black and white line drawings. These simple line drawings show the basic modifications, ride height, and wheel combinations for the project. The price for this work is usually included in the total price of the design, but some illustrators break them out as a specific cost. The number of variations will also vary from one designer to the next. A good designer will ask for your approval before moving on to the next step, throughout the entire process.
This is the point where owner, designer, and builder determine the ultimate look of the car. This is also the time when you and the designer fine-tune the shape of the car. It's important to determine how much material the builder will need from the designer to build your car. Some just need a coupe three-quarter views; others find a scale elevation extremely helpful.
The next step is a color rendering of the car, which typically will also include more of the details on the car. The designer may provide scale elevation drawings that will help the builder determine the actual dimensions of the areas where he will be making modifications. They may include detail sketches of the specific styling cues they've designed-also to define those areas to the builder. These detail sketches usually have cut lines indicated, from which the metal fabricator can work. These are suggestions more than accurate directions, but help take the guesswork out of the project.
What You're Looking For
There are several questions you need to answer about any designer you're considering. What is their formal training? If they are formally trained, what were they trained in? Some designers are self-taught. Some are trained in graphic design, working predominately in 2D. Others were trained as transportation/industrial designers, working in 3D. This may not seem like a big difference, but a designer trained in 2D may not always being thinking how the design will translate from paper to metal. Designers who are used to building what they draw tend to think in 3D-anticipating how their illustrations will be created by human hands.
Some design studios can take your car's design from pencil sketch to a scale model. This service almost completely eliminates guesswork and rework and provides a 3D blueprint. Some designers also offer ongoing consultation throughout the entire project, which can be helpful to the builder. At this level of involvement, a background in industrial design is a plus, especially if it includes building cardboard templates, shaping mock-up parts in foam or clay, or helping with other fabrication.
The more guesswork you can eliminate early on, the less money you're going to waste reworking the car later. Remember this equation: Guesswork + Time = Extra Cost.
If you look at the cars that have won AMBR, the Ridler, and other top awards in the last several years, one thing they all have in common is that they had a designer-or at least a drawing from which they were built. There are exceptions, but ask the builder who built a car from scratch how much time he could have saved if his ideas had been on paper first. Consider the fact that last year's Ridler winner is rumored to have cost close to $3 million; this year's AMBR winner was calculated at $1.5 million. Design fees for a good car designer range from $700 to upward of $30,000, depending on the level of involvement the designer has with the build of the car. Even at the highest rates, a well-done design is a small portion of the overall cost in building a top notch show car. And, even if the finished car doesn't look exactly like it did on paper, illustrations from a designer can prevent a lot of wasted time and cash in the long run.