Today we’d like to introduce you to Reid Puckett.
Hi Reid, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I have always been into classic cars since my teenage years. About 15 years ago, I purchased 2 vintage vehicles, 1989 Jeep Grand Wagoneer and a 1968 Ford Bronco to restore. This effort took about 3 years to complete the restorations on each.
At this point, I became aware of Atlanta’s booming movie and TV production business and signed up the vehicles with a couple of local movie car companies. This lead to the cars being used in several productions from “American Made” with Tom Cruise, “The War With Grandpa” with Robert Di Nero, “Stranger Things”, TV shows “Long Slow Exhale” with Josh Lucas and “Panhandle” to name a few.
However, the bigger part of our business started about 7 years ago when a friend mentioned there was a classic vehicle website where you could list your vehicles for free to mainly rent out for wedding getaways. So, we registered the vehicles on DriveShare and the first 2 years we did 5 or 6 weddings each year. In year 3, that business took off and he did 30 weddings. Every year since we’ve booked 50+ weddings. This also allowed us to bring in 2 of our new vehicles as well for rentals, a new Ford Bronco convertible and Ford Expedition. We don’t rely on the rental platforms as much now as we’ve made so many great connections with other wedding vendors that send potential business directly to us. We are also part of several wedding venue’s package offers.
We have been voted Georgia Business Journal’s “Best of Georgia” winner for the last 2 years. Our 3 most recent jobs, not including weddings, have been a Whistle Carwash nation TV add, a Valley Bank national TV add and a Meta/Instagram new product event at Pulliam Yards.
We have so much business, that I’ve had to bring in my oldest son, Adam, to help drive and an additional driver beyond that. One of the best things about the business is the events from weddings to movie production are fun to be a part of!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has been fairly smooth for us. We’ve learned much during the process on how the wedding and production businesses work. I like restoring old vehicles but I had no idea there was a business around them. Reviews and referrals are everything in this business.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We offer vintage and fun rental vehicles for chauffeured wedding getaways, engagement shoots, TV, Movie and commercial productions.
We are known for a quick response and dependable service. We have awesome vehicles that make a cool, fun statement!
We are local to Metro Atlanta and North Georgia. We are easy to do business with as we make the process simple.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
The biggest risk when working with vintage cars are breakdowns. So, you have to stay on top of the cars from a maintenance perspective. We do have a network of others in the business and have been pulled in to help when vehicles don’t cooperate multiple times.
Pricing:
- Atlanta – Dahlonega wedding getaways $500-$600
- Movie, TV, Commercial Production $500-$1,000 a day
Contact Info:
- Website: https://driveshare.com/collection/46118
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/photoclassicsuvs?igsh=OG5xcXVncXpzaTI4&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/17mW6w6Af1/?mibextid=wwXIfr
- Other: https://www.atlantabridal.com/v/photo-classic-suvs
