Okay guys and girls, i need some help and im not looking for negative answers thanks.

Im 18 started my first year of college to get my associates degree and then transfering to a university. Just as much as anyone on here cars has always been my passion. And i think with that passion i want to be able to make a career out of it.

The problem is i dont know what to do... Racing and exotic supercars has always been my passion but i have NOOOO clue how i can make that into a career, where to start, and everything else. Im really driven to be successful in life and i honestly want to make a butt load of money I thought about owning my own business but (for one example the owner of Vortex Racing) happens to live down the street from my dad and he said he doesnt like at all what hes doing anymore. Ive looked everywhere for careers to get into but im not finding anything. So i turn to you scionlife.

Basically i just want to be able to have that career goal in life that im lacking right now and i dont know where to start. Like i said super cars and racing have been my passion and i want to be able to make a lot of money doing what i love. So any help?? What can i do??

 

Well, here's what I got for ya.

1) If you want to be a professional driver---

You're already a little behind the curve, as most pro drivers are already on the way to GT / DP / Champ, etc. cars by your age... but if you're considering a career in professional driving, you'll need to:

a) Get Boatloads of experience first hand.
b) Attend as many racing schools as you can.
c) Get SCCA license, goes with getting experience
d) Try to hook up with a team

Now... since that's beyond most people's reaches... we can shoot for other car-oriented stuff.

2) Sales. Climb your way up the corporate ladder, and sell supercars. Knowledge is a plus.

3) Get certified to work on vehicles... Get certified in a more general mechanic school, then work towards getting certified to working on Exotics, then try to climb your way onto the upper echelons of a specific company, then hope to land a spot on a Pro pit crew.

4) Automotive design and enginnering... could be the next Carrol Shelby, just need the training first. Land a job, climb the ladder.

There's always more, but here's a start.

 

In addition... while a "boatload of money" is most of our's goal, you need to not make that your one and only goal. But just as a curiosity, how much is a "boatload" to you?

(Everyone seems to have a different scale... sure millions will be a boatload to everyone, but you need to define how much you honestly and reasonably want to make)

Do what you love, and you'll still have an amazing quality of life, and be able to accomplish everything you want. Try not to make money for money's sake.

My final bit of advice--- Always work towards a goal. Never take a "side job," unless that side job will directly place you on YOUR path of success.... I.E... don't bartend if you're looking to go into sales... get a sales job! Make sure that each thing you do is a stepping stone to the next.

 

thanks for the help i really appreciate it.

Yeah i know driving is kinda out of my way since i kind of need to be born into it. Selling cars isnt really my thing im not really into the whole sales thing.... the next Carrol Shelby maybe but i really dont know if im cut out for the engineering thing since im not very good at school... that part sucks.

I was thinking maybe going to USF i heard they have a good automotive program and work my way up to working with supercars but i dont even know what to go for?? My step brother went to wyotech and told me it wasnt really worth it?? What would i have to do to actually work with exotic cars??

 

By boatloads i mean i actually one day want to have the money to buy a Ferrari and a nice house and so on. Like i said cars is my passion and im striving to do what i love. I would any day pick doing something i love over money but i want to be successful in life you know what i mean. I want to be able to work hard for nice things.
I just want to know what i want to do so i can have a good career goal in life and to be able to know what i have to do to reach those goals.

 

To work on exotics, it's my understanding that you first need to be a certified mechanic (like ASE, etc.)... then you'll need to go through training programs offered by specific manufacturers.

Here's an interesting article.
http://www.roadandtrack.com/article....rticle_id=5278

Keep in mind, the more exotic the car, the harder it is to get a position learning how to work on it... and the fewer the job opportunities there are. I couldn't name the nearest Ferrari mechanic outside of Maranello, but I could throw a rock and hit the Ford dealership.

VW / Audi / Porsche sounds reasonable... could work on daily routine stuff to make the living, and every once in a while, take the new 911 around for a test drive (to be sure the alignment's straight )

Plenty of information out there... but just remember, it's a process. Must graduate from one program to get into another.

 

Owning an exotic takes a lot more money than you might initially think.. (Unless you buy used of course... you can snag a used Ferrari for a much more reasonable $50-70k, depending on model and condition)

But hey, you're asking the right questions now. The fact that you're 18 puts you at a great vantage point. If you want to be rich (and you're not born into it), then you'll have to learn about how money works.

TAKE THE TIME TO LEARN ABOUT THE FOLLOWING SUBJECTS, AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. THE MORE YOU KNOW, THE MORE FINANCIALLY SUCCESSFUL YOU WILL BECOME.

1) Retirement accounts, trust funds, mutual funds, and stocks.... 401k, 403a, etc.
2) Learn about the magic of compounding interest.
3) Start accounts that have compounding interest, with preferably employer-matched funds and tax exemption.
4) Dump as much as you can into these accounts AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE. Time is absolutely of the essence... if you wait 10 years to start, you will literally only make half of your potential. Even if it's $100 per month, it matters.

an example--
Start investing at 25.... so 40 years of investment.
Put $1,000 per month into mutual funds earning 8% (aggressive funds).
At 65 --- Total amount invested is $480,000
Total value of account is : $3,357,372

But lets say you start at 35 instead... with 30 years investing instead of 40.

At 65, total amount invested : $360,000
Total value of account is : $1,468,150


So waiting 10 years cost you 60% of your potential.

http://personal.fidelity.com/toolbox...h/growth.shtml

There's no better time than right now to get into mutual funds, as the market will return to the mid-Bush era again. It cycles.. just ride out the cycles, and stay in it long-term.

 

So say i wanted to do do design for exotic cars. Or maybe basic mechanics for racing exotics. I think these are the main things i want to get into.

Where do i start? What schools the best for these things?? What jobs would i have to go through and where to i get them?

 

I really don't know... I mean, I can only help so much. I think you've got to do the basic auto mechanic school first, then apply to higher-end programs.

When you refine what you want to do (which will take some time)... then there's always information out there...

Sorry I can't be of much more help... but seriously, look into the investing thing I just posted. That's the "average person's" ticket to retiring with a decent amount of money in the bank.

 

Gotcha il keep looking into it more but thanks so much for all your help!

 

My brother is also a car enthusiast. In high school he was a student of our automotive program and after graduating with his diploma, he went to a technical school to become an auto mechanic. The school he attended is called UTI or Universal Technical Institute. I know there are some locations in FL and some in TX.

After he graduated from UTI after like 2 years, he got a job at a BMW dealership. He was working at the Orlando dealership initially but transferred to the one in Tampa for a pay raise (and his girlfriend).

In his spare time he is always modding his twin turbo BMW and going to car shows.

 

yeah ive heard of UTI a bunch. Still trying to figure out what school to go to. TT BMW thats sick

 

I've been asking myself the same questions as you, actually. My interest in all of this has been growing exponentially since I was bitten by "the bug" this year. Not so much the "I want to build a castle made of money" part, but the "I want to make this as much of my life as possible, and getting paid for it would be nice" part. The more I get involved, the more I want to get more involved. It's a vicious and grammatically incorrect cycle.

First of all, sensei touched on it but I'll repeat it for added effect...
Attend events.

Get involved with your local racing community, because that's where your future and potential career will start. Attend some autocross or instructor-led track day events. Volunteer at a road racing weekend or offer to be a "roadie" for someone racing professionally. Be friendly and open, get to know as many people as you can, and know how they drive their cars. Your key to becoming someone people want to know is knowing what people worth knowing know, if that makes sense.

Once you get some novice experience under your belt, and you want to start doing this whole "go-fast" thing at an amateur level, you're going to need a dedicated car for doing so, and you're going to need to attend some serious driving schools and become certified to do this sort of thing...

- Your first true "track car" should be one bought second-hand, already prepared for racing use, and having already proven it's mettle. You might pooh pooh this notion, but perfectly good cars are often sold quite cheap because the owners simply want to move upward and onward. In essence, you want a track car that you know works and you don't have to do anything other than turn the wheel and some lug nuts.

- Serious driving schools range from a couple hundred bucks to several thousand dollars, and are required for your SCCA or NASA certifications to actually play with the "big boys". Your local road racing group can tell you more about this, as I have yet to get the funds to actually do this, so I'll just let them do it. If you aren't looking for road racing, then disregard that last part, but don't ever think there isn't any benefit to getting some training in different disciplines. For instance, even though they're two different things, attending several road racing schools has helped my autocrossing immensely this year.

What do you do once you're a "certified race car driver" with your own privateer race car? You do whatever you're doing more. You're building a portfolio now... you're driving yourself a resume. Get your name on results sheets and committee lists (people want to see that you're involved in more than just yourself, you know!). Have professional photographers get pictures of you and your car on and off-track. And once you've got a resume?

You send it out and start trying to acquire... the S-word. The thing that every car enthusiast (often obsessively) fawns over. Yep, sponsorships. While an exciting proposition to have sponsorships, it's srs biz, and shouldn't be taken as lightly as the spelling in this sentence. Companies are going to be looking to you to make them money, and you're going to be looking to companies to help offset the ultimate costs of racing. If you're very good and a little lucky, companies will come to you and ask if you'll support them; unless the deal completely sucks, take it. Often, it will just take you mailing your resume out to several prospective companies. I've learned that doing this in the fall months is ideal, as companies are putting together their budgets for the next season before the new year starts... and you want to be on their budget, right?

Once you start having to deal with offers and contracts, it's not a bad idea to either learn some of the legal side of this business, or ask around and find someone that does know. It can be a bit disorientating getting that first contract, because it doesn't really hit you right away that you're now in the "big time", and don't protect yourself as such. Getting yourself acquainted with an agent can really help you get the most out of a sponsorship opportunity and prevent you from either a) getting your pants pulled down or b) getting in trouble with tax laws.

You'll notice that this whole process is a lot like landing your dream career, and that's because it is. You're gaining references and depth of knowledge of your field, building a resume, and then applying for the big time positions... and then it gets into more of the sports field, because then someone is paying you to be you and do what you do.

Getting to drive supercars is much farther up that ladder, as you'll need to actually graduate from a self-made driver into a team driver, and I can't really say much on that. I can't really say much on the mechanic side of "the ladder", either, but I can certainly braindump what I've learned from professional racers that I've talked to and seminars that I've attended. I hope this puts things into perspective a bit.

 

Also, you don't really need to be born into racing, but at 18, you're definitely behind the curve (I say as I started getting into it at 21 ). This should, by no means, deter you from trying to climb the ranks... but you'll be entering Rubens Barrichello territory soon if you're aiming for a Formula 1 lifestyle.

I forgot to mention contingencies in that braindump, too. Contingencies are the easiest way to start offsetting costs in this business. A company will generally offer a contingency either to it's line of cars (see: Mazdaspeed) or to a racing series (see: Redline: Time Attack), and give you lucrative vouchers to run their decals and something you have of theirs on your car, depending on how you place in an event. Examples of this range from running a Mazda and being part of the Mazdaspeed Motorsport programto just running Toyo tires.

Once you get into the car building phase, you can get very lucrative in considering contingencies when you decide what kind of car you want to drive and what parts you want to put into it (and that's kind of the point ). For instance, on my 240SX that I'm building up this winter for R:TA, I can earn over $300 worth of parts just for a third place finish in a RWD Stock event... and over $1000 for a first place finish, just for doing a build with some quality parts and delivering a podium performance. Hell, you can even get $450 worth of stuff just for running a VW with Kumho's and finishing first in an SCCA Club Racing regional event in a class with at least 2 competitors.

You can think of contingencies like internships. You get a taste of the company, and they may pay you a little bit, but you aren't officially part of anything. However, it helps you a lot more if you've already represented the company well than if you went to them completely cold.

It's a slow night at work...

 

Racing sounds like a lot of work and especially time and money. I think i would just do it for fun. Even though i know it would be awesome to do. Sorry i didnt clarify it but when i say "racing" i also mean working on race cars like F1 or even drift or something. Maybe even owning a team or something

 

.
We all do it for fun. I'm having the time of my life working my way up that same ladder that I just talked about. :D

Working on race cars is something sensei explained very well. It's not like you can walk into a technical college, walk out with some ASE's, and go to work for Porsche. Knowing the right people can be an integral part of that, too.

If you want to own a team, you have to realize that you have to build up a career and a business such that you want to inspire other people like yourself right now to climb that same ladder to get to your team. Now you're not only racing hard and getting your name out there, but you're managing a business with employees. Great stuff, but like you said, a lot of work and time and money.

I hope you don't think I'm trying to dissuade you from going for anything you're talking about. On the contrary, I'm trying to help you know what it's going to take to get there. Unfortunately, you weren't born into a racing family and you didn't start karting at age 10 and you don't have a million dollar salary to blow, so that means you have to work a bit harder. It's all about doing exactly what you want to do, though, and having fun while you're doing it.

 

when you get into a 4 year school join your school SAE chapter. I get to build a race car every year for free and race it at major raceways such as VIR. I'm sure USF has a program. Truthfully you'll probably not be a pro racer, maybe a weekend racer. Try to get a job in an aspect of racing, jumping into a race team such as any indy or formula team (go ferrari) won't be the best choice. Finally look at mechanical enginnering instead of automotive because you'll have a broader understanding of suspension and frame development. Racing is alot more than the engine.

 

No i understand that your helping me and i appreciate it a lot.
I guess im gonna try and find a good university or technical school to go to. (Whatevers better) Opening up my own performance garage or working with a great company like porche or BMW i think would be a good start for me after school. That or maybe go into design... idk anything about design though so id really have to look into that.

All i want to do when i get out of school is basically work with really nice cars and be able to move up and make decent money when i start off. And what i mean by that is i dont want to be stuck in a dead end job where i wont be able to progress in salary and everything else. Performance and just overall realy nice cars are what i want to work with.

Ive been having trouble decinding on what i want to do mainly because of my step brother. My step brother is 23 now. He got his AA and after that went to wyotech. He got a job right off the bat and after that swtched to a few more til he got a job at this hot rod shop in tampa. Hes has almost the highest position in the shop and makes good money. BUT me and him had a long talk about this career and he said..... Going into something like this is great at first but later down the line you get stuck. Its more of a hobby than anything. (i guess thats what everyone told him when he first started out and thought this was gonna be awesome). He said where hes at is about the farthest hes gonna go unless he like opens his own shop but 9 out of 10 businesses fail so thats a no. He said its everyones dream but its way to expensive and again 9 out of 10 businesses fail. He said im better off getting a nice desk job where i make good money and keep striving to go higher and higher up.

Now if im going to do what i want to do, i want to be able to make good money to support myself and one day a family. I want to be able to be better and better and make more and more money doing what i love and not get stuck in a dead end job where im basically... stuck. THATS why i posted this because im not sure what to do. Ive heard tooo many people saying dont do it. My dad lives next to the owner of Vortex racing and he told me that he said he hates what he does now. He said its to stressful and i dont want to hate what i do.

 

get into engineering and start working for a car company designing engines. if you really decide being an engineering major get ready for a **** load of math i mean a **** load.

 

I agree that the engineering degree would be the best for the original poster at this point. However, engineering is a tough curriculum, and a 5-year proposition at most bachelor's degree-granting institutions. Although I went the medicine route, I lived with 3 MechEng's, and they truly worked their **** off.

To the original poster:

Engineering is your ideal field. Getting the college degree would offer MANY more opportunities than simply working as a mechanic in local shops, as well as open the doors to working on the higher-end stuff from more of a design aspect, rather than a repair aspect.

But even though it's more in terms of your desires, you need to understand it's a challenge. You've admitted that you weren't the best in school... which, is normal and ok!

If you're willing to put forth the effort, you'll have more opportunities and become something much greater than your step brother... but you will certainly work for it. I encourage you to at least think about it.

It's VERY possible that you could succeed without an engineering degree, but it would open a lot more opportunities as a "boss", rather than working from the ground up with sheer experience. Working in the other route, with tech school and experience, might get you closer to the cars themselves, but you'll never enter the high-end design world.

Just more food for thought.