TheSamba.com :: View topic - Vaughn Bros Z-Plates story.

Mon May 30, 2011 7:28 pm

This is my Z-Plates story. :shock: 1992. It was a mess. My brother and I started making a Spring Plate step up bracket and thought the whole world would want them. :lol: :lol: :lol: What a joke. Anyway they worked great and we had a blast traveling to bug shows and setting up a little table. We had Z-Plates, T-Shirts and Flyers with our own artwork.

We had to have a demo car for testing and ads. We had a buddy with a nice 65 that didnt care what we did to his car. We installed them, set the toe, and its off to the road. We did a cool photo shoot. Actualy it was pretty first class. I took the photos using a few cameras. We settled on one and used it in the ad.

Started by having a local shop Laser cut our design. We made 75 complete sets ( qty 450 pieces ). The shop owner thought he would be seeing us each week with another order. So much so that he included a picture of them in his business brochure.

We welded them up in a nice jig, boxed them with bolts, instructions and a disclaimer.

The beginings of the artsy design for the ad. Used the "logo" on a big hand drawn colored poster (still have it in the shop). This was pre computer days for most of us. If we could have just waited another year INTERNET DAMMIT!

We decided to have a try at advertising in HotVW's. The lady on the magazine end could not understand what we wanted our ad to look like. No Fax No Computer, just verbal. It was a mess. It was our fault mostly. We actualy had pasted on layers of paper to create the ad. HotVW's knew they were dealing with first timers but didnt offer to help. Not even at $850.00 for 2 months up front. So when it appeared in the magazine, it was a joke. Even I counldnt understand it. oh Well WTF. The ad was layed out with scissors and kinkos.

There was also a table top display made from a 50lb cast gear. We sacraficed a axle for the display. Display is sitting around the shop somewhere.

We ended up selling all but 8 sets. Im using one set now. We sold all of the shirts except for the "small" size.

Mon May 30, 2011 8:14 pm

So that was a learning curve hey. Wonder if any Z units are still in use besides the ones you have? Your Artwork I find is always amazing plus you got the skills to pull it off paper and make it happen. Fun Story from the Life and Times of the Vaughn Bros.

Mon May 30, 2011 8:23 pm

lovethatconvertable wrote: So that was a learning curve hey. Wonder if any Z units are still in use besides the ones you have? Your Artwork I find is always amazing plus you got the skills to pull it off paper and make it happen. Fun Story from the Life and Times of the Vaughn Bros.

Thank you sir. We used to have a map with thumbtacks in the cities where they shipped. One set went to Japan. One set went to France. Most went to California. Some sold at the shows but not many (too high priced). We stopped because we became scared of some 16 year old getting killed and the investigator see's our name on the suspension. But it was fun. There are a lot of similar units on the market nowdays. Its a universal bracket, nothing ground breaking.

Mon May 30, 2011 8:27 pm

i really like your design.. too bad you dont still offer them.. ive been seaching for a 1.5" drop for my car

Mon May 30, 2011 8:33 pm

touchdowntodd wrote: i really like your design.. too bad you dont still offer them.. ive been seaching for a 1.5" drop for my car

Thanks. Your more than welcome to copy or improve them. They work and were real simple. 1.5 inches is just before the issues can start. Just enough to notice.

I made a few Spring Plates right after the Z-Plates. But they were even a worse mess. I'll stick to the sidelines and let the pro's handle all the big decisions from now on.

Mon May 30, 2011 10:09 pm

interesting...

Tue May 31, 2011 2:24 pm

I remember talking to you at Farmington in the early 90's. I still wear the T-shirt and it was part of the idea for the volksrod I built.
Tim

Tue May 31, 2011 3:58 pm

good story....

touchdowntodd wrote: i really like your design.. too bad you dont still offer them.. ive been seaching for a 1.5" drop for my car

jerfab makes the spring plates with the drops.

Tue May 31, 2011 4:31 pm

jerfab makes GREAT ones, but i want a small drop like 1.5"

Tue May 31, 2011 4:41 pm

Sell the idea to someone like Pete at Airkewld and charge them small royalties on your 1.5" idea. Just a thought.

Tue May 31, 2011 9:12 pm

rgdedge wrote: I remember talking to you at Farmington in the early 90's. I still wear the T-shirt and it was part of the idea for the volksrod I built.
Tim

Whats happening Tim!! I checked the shop attic and I must have 20 of the small shirts left. They all have a dirty haze thing everywhere. I may send you some to use as shop rags. See ya at Farmington.

Wed Jun 01, 2011 1:53 am

I remember the ad. Very interesting to hear the story behind them. I was in High school at the time, I thought it was a good idea. I can’t believe you only sold 8 sets. It looks like you put a lot of time and $$$$$$$ into them. $850 for two months of HotVWs ouch, $850 was a lot of money back then. Back in those pre internet pre Samba days it was probably virtually imposable for the little guy to put a product out there and make it fly the internet/Samba changed that. If you put them on the market today you would sell a lot more than 8 sets………..Joe

Wed Jun 01, 2011 7:10 am

Joe Bence wrote: I can’t believe you only sold 8 sets.
"all but 8".

Wed Jun 01, 2011 11:07 am

Ooooooh, I missed that. Late night posting gets me every time. So 67 sets sold that's not so bad……………..Joe

Sat Jun 04, 2011 6:24 am

vaughn bros. wrote: rgdedge wrote: I remember talking to you at Farmington in the early 90's. I still wear the T-shirt and it was part of the idea for the volksrod I built.
Tim

Whats happening Tim!! I checked the shop attic and I must have 20 of the small shirts left. They all have a dirty haze thing everywhere. I may send you some to use as shop rags. See ya at Farmington.

That would be cool. See ya.
Tim

Sat Jun 04, 2011 7:28 am

Funny thing is I still have a set of these laying around in storage.

Thu Aug 16, 2012 3:32 am

hey, man... thanks for the kind words on my thread regarding my drop plates, and the lame ass accusations from a certain "original" drop plate creator that thinks he created the idea...

I love your story, and you inspire me to continue developing our own products for the VW community... our drop plates will be available mid Sept. hopefully...

and you should definitely get back out in the shop and create some more cool products!

Thu Feb 06, 2014 8:25 am

Found our original prototypes. These were the first set we made using 1/4 plate, saw, file, and a drill. They were super heavy but they worked. Thought I would put the picture in the thread because they got hauled off to the scrap yard with a ton of other scrap steel this week.

Thu Feb 06, 2014 11:30 am

Why the small holes around the bolt mounting holes, and all but one one of them?

Thu Feb 06, 2014 11:53 am

davebuckholts wrote: Why the small holes around the bolt mounting holes, and all but one one of them?

We made this first set to be "dead on"?!? :lol: right where we wanted them to sit. So during actual install, one hole had to be elongated. But we were prepared to elongate all 6, the hard way (drill then file). :D