| In the fall of 1978, Curt Strohacker started a new business to serve a new market: the auto restoration and customization hobby. During high school, Curt worked in a service station, bought and sold innumerable vehicles, and learned some valuable lessons about restoration. When the auto restoration market took off in the 1970s, Curt realized that the right tools and techniques could help thousands of other restorers save time and money.
The first Eastwood catalog featured eight black and white pages of metal finishing equipment. By the early 1980s, the continued success took the catalog mailing operation into a professional list house. It reached 5,000 names by 1981 and kept growing. In addition to catalog marketing, Eastwood sold its products directly at selected car shows.
In August 1983, both the Mercedes and BMW car club magazines unexpectedly endorsed an Eastwood car wash brush. Sales multiplied and so did the staff, which soon doubled. The development of the Eastwood spotweld gun proved even more fortunate. This tool duplicates industrial spotwelds (found on virtually every metal-bodied car), and does so for under $60.00. Commercial spotwelders typically start at $300 and up.
Most of Eastwood's new business at that time came from magazine ads. In 1983, Eastwood only advertised in about a dozen publications. By 1984 and 1985, company ads would appear in more than fifty publications, including Hot Rod, Car Craft, and Popular Mechanics. The catalog prospered as well, growing to 96 pages with a four-color cover by 1986. Circulation reached more than 100,000 auto restorers, who received six issues per year. By the end of the 1980's, the Eastwood customer file for custom and auto restoration enthusiasts easily passed the half-million mark. |
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