Dream Shield Auto Blog

At Dream Shield we have always spoken about our love, passion for Car Art and hosting world class events…we know that events put people and places on the map.

So, always keeping things moving and wanting to be ahead of the game…we are currently working on something ingenious, special with the complete Wow factor. We are hosting an international BMW Car Art Rally. It is going to be like no other rally; it will be avant garde, using social media platforms like Twitter, YouTube and live TV streaming; making this event truly interactive, international and in complete real time.

That’s all I can tell you at the moment. Things are still under wraps of where; but believe me when you know where we are locating the Rally, it will blow your mind and I am delighted to say we already have sponsors. So, yep we are onto a winner. Keep watching this space to keep on track (if you will excuse the pun).

Photo Credit: dcJohn

One of our passions and visions here at Dreams Shield is creating motor art for positive change and good causes; the bottom line is to make a difference in the world. We do this by supporting both the artist and the cause, where we work on bespoke and customised cars, planes – any kind of transportation – to create awareness about good and social causes. It is all about ‘auto mobile art for changes in the world’. At Dream Shield we want to make a conscious change to help the world be a better place. Here’s a story of two brothers making a difference…

John and Steve geared up last October to drive hundreds of miles in a beaten-up banger taking part in the Barcelona Bangers Rally for the second year running. They travelled approximately 1,000 miles to raise money for the neo-natal intensive care unit at General Hospital in the UK. The rally runs from Calais to Barcelona in Europe and all participants must drive it in a car costing no more than $314 (£200). The added twist was that they both drove to their destination dressed as film star musicians, the Blues Brothers.

The best bit is that they drove the car they used in 2009, a 16-year-old BMW 316 (I love BMW’s one of my all time favourite cars!).

This year the brothers re-painted their banger and went for a Blues Brothers theme, decorating the car in the style of a classic American police car! John, 42, and Steve, 40 wanted to make a difference to the neo-natal unit at their local hospital and Steve said: “We have some close friends whose children were taken into the unit shortly after they were born, so it’s a cause that is very close to home. When you see the babies there first-hand, some of them are small enough to fit on your palm. This has made us keen to raise money for the unit, because they don’t receive as much help as some other wards.”

So, if you are doing something with your Car for a Good Cause let us know and we will promote you!

With your help, I want to create a community car story page on the Dream Shield website…I would love to receive and hear your personal stories about restorations, dodgy car deals and just fun quips relating to classic or vintage cars.

You may own an older car, or perhaps a fleet of classics? Either way I would like to hear your story and not just if you are in the US, but wherever you may be in the world – the UK, Australia, Canada, Dubai, Africa, Germany…

You may just have a plain old weird tale to tell with a motoring theme to it? All Dream Shield’s needs is your ‘okay’ to have your story published on this site and share it with other motoring enthusiasts. What I hope is that we will build a social car story sharing experience for us all to enjoy and learn from.

So, if this sounds good to you, then please get in touch! Just submit your story from the contacts page. Here are some ideas to get your story-telling juices going:

• Restoration stories
• Driving holidays or driving abroad
• Racing in sprints or motor club events in the 1950s/60s/70s
• Buying a classic today and finding that is was a lemon
• Your first love…you first car

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Okay, I am going to say something sacrilegious, I didn’t get to watch the Super Bowl, but I did get to see the not one, but two commercials starring Eminem – the rapper, always the underdog who appeals to the downtrodden. Eminem was a great spokesman for this car brand, because he too like all of us in life has had to turn his life around. The Chrysler Super Bowl advertisement on 6 February featuring Eminem was fantastic. It may have been made in Detroit yet it is spurring consumer interest in the automaker’s products. It was thought-provoking, it was hard and boy there was soul in it. It made Chrysler cool.

It drew attention to the Chrysler 200, a compact sedan which replaces the low-selling Chrysler Sebring. Mike Hogue, General Sales Manager, Windsor Chrysler, said after the Super Bowl Thursday, “Before the ad there hadn’t been the interest in the Chrysler 200 yet; this car was brand new and had just hit the market. After the ad ran, we started receiving a lot more calls and inquiries. Now all of a sudden this jump-started the whole intrigue into the vehicle.” At Chrysler Canada, LouAnn Gosse credited the commercial with a “dramatic spike” in traffic on the company’s website the day after the ad ran and says, “We got 100,000 hits, specifically to the Chrysler 200 page. Our monthly average hits total about 1.2 million a month, which translates to 40,000 a day.” According to Nielsen Media Research, the third quarter of the Super Bowl is the most-watched US television program. I leave you with the ad itself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKL254Y_jtc