For those of you that remember hearing about me and the concept Trans Am I drew that made it into 4 national magazines, here is a little update.
After the Trans Am Nationals in August of 2006 I was asked to design the merchandise identity for 2007. I was honored & accepted. That project was completed & it is all set to go for this years event.
In the beginning of 07 I heard about an event that got my attention called "The Bandit Run." 2007 marks the 30th anniversary of the "Smokey & The Bandit" movie. So, Year one, Restore A Muscle Car, 78TA.com & Motortopia decided to put together an event called "The Bandit Run." They were getting anyone with a T/A to participate in the event. They were going to drive from Texarkana Texas to Atlanta Georgia, the exact same route as the movie. At the end of the bandit run they were all going to meet at Road Atlanta in Georgia for the Year One Experience, which consisted of a car show, vendors, burnout competitions, races, & The release of the Year One 1977 Burt Reynolds Edition Resto/Mod Trans Am. Being a T/A fan & owner I had a lot of interest in this event, but, did not want to drive a 26 year old car that far & run the risk of car trouble. I was asked to design some T
-shirts for the Bandit Run which made me an "additional sponsor" of the event. I was communicating with Dave Hall from "Restore A Muscle Car" for the designs & he suggested that I work up a poster design with a 1977 Trans Am & my concept Trans Am to sell at the event. So I did just that & they loved it. I was going to have them made up & Dave was going to sell them for me at the event. Then he thought it would be good for me to come down & sell them personally because there would be a lot of media coverage there. It sounded exciting, but the thought of driving to Georgia & back didn't. The closer it got the more I thought about it and the more I knew I would regret not being a part of it. SO, I ended up getting 200 posters made with my concept car on it as well as 72 decals to sell at the event. My wife Theresa & I packed up & headed south to Atlanta Georgia. After over 800 long miles we were there. I contacted Dave Hall to let him know we were on our way to the event & asked for instructions. He got us all set & we rolled into the Year One Experience at Road Atlanta Saturday morning. We were able to go directly into the Bandit Run area & setup beside Dave's booth to sell our merchandise. We introduced ourselves to Dave & his crew & were anxious to get set up.
We got a very good response right off of the bat. We started selling posters & decals right away. There were a lot of people that new of my work from the Magazines they appeared in (Hot Rod, Popular Hot Rodding, High Performance Pontiac & Pontiac Smoke Signals). It was very cool.
At 11:00 Year One unveiled the Burt Reynolds Edition T/A which was a huge deal. There was a very large crowd gathered around the car. Chip Foose & AJ from the TV show Overhaulin were there for the event. AJ pulled the cover off of the T/A and the crowd roared. Then Chip Foose hopped in and fired the car up. It was just awesome. There were TV cameras just flocked around the car. Burt Reynolds was supposed to be there, but was apparently ill. After the unveiling, Chip Foose was still standing around & signing some autographs. SO, I ran back to our booth & grabbed a couple of the posters I was selling, one for chip & one for him to sign for me. Sure enough he was still there, I went up & told him about my concept drawing & asked him to sign it, and he did. Then I gave him one to keep. A couple that participated in the bandit run was kind enough to take pictures of me talking with Chip. It was just an amazing experience! I was then talking with Mike from Year One with hopes of making some good contacts to promote my drawings. He liked my concept car & when the camera crew from DIY Network (do it yourself network) and another guy from year one came around Mike said, "You want to talk to this guy" (pointing at me) and he came over and next thing i knew i had the camera shoved in my face & a whole bunch of questions being asked about the Burt Reynolds Edition T/A & my concept Poster i had in my hands (which were
probably shaking by that time!) He was very supportive & actually hinted at GM to bring the T/A back. The DIY Network will be releasing a whole show about the Burt Reynolds T/A this fall. Im hoping they play the clip with me & my concept T/A!
While floating back to Theresa & our setup on cloud 9 I called my parents to tell them what happened...they were very excited about the news. When I got back all of the Black & Gold Special Edition Trans Ams were fired up and getting ready to take a few laps around Road Atlanta. Because I didn't have my Trans Am with me I fired up the video camera instead and got some footage of them rolling by. After that I told Theresa everything that had just happened with Chip Foose & the DIY network. We continued talking to some more "Kevin Morgan" fans & selling posters & decals. Took a short break for lunch & the guys from Restore A Muscle Car watched over our sales.
The rest of the afternoon was just as equally amazing. We met some people that REALLY loved my work & were simply thrilled to meet me. They wanted autographs & pictures of me with them. What an incredible feeling this is. Just beyond amazing. There was one family that had me sit in their car & took my picture in it. She made the comment "i cant believe Kevin Morgan is in our car!" It was very nice to be famous for a day!! They had asked us to join them and a few of the other Bandit Runners for dinner. They told us there would be an editor from Hot Rod Magazine there! SO, we accepted & enjoyed a nice dinner & good conversation with the bandit runners & Chris, the editor from Hot Rod Magazine!!
That was pretty much the events from the day. After dinner we headed north for Canton, PA. Although we didn't get to actually be a part of The Bandit Run, we got to experience it through some of the people that did. It was something that I won't soon forget.
In the near future VanSant productions, from Wellsboro, PA, is planning on doing a "Round The County" TV show about my concept car, my personal trans am & my graphic design work. It will be on Blue Ridge Cable Channel 13 sometime this Summer. For more information please visit my website kevinmorgandesigns.com
I would like to thank everyone that encouraged me to take this trip. I was leery on going but im VERY glad I did.
Kevin Morgan - Graphic Designer
Canton, PA
