Intro

Hey. My name is Micah Trampe, and I have a problem. The problem is...I like expensive things. What's the problem, right?? Just a simple case of good taste... Well, you see, expensive things are EXPENSIVE. LIFE is EXPENSIVE! And like 99% of the population, I am not independently wealthy. I am a man of humble beginnings, BUT I have found a way to enjoy some of the finer things in life despite the size of my pocketbook, and I'm always interested in helping others do something similar. 

So, if you have even remotely glanced at this website (by the way there's lots more coming), you have an idea of the things I like. I love making art, and I love designing new things. It's kind of a curse really... I can't help but see and do things as if I'm making a work of art. I also love fast, exotic cars. Building them, customizing them, driving them, cleaning them, staring at them... You get the picture. Art and cars? Different ends of the spectrum, right? Not really, when you think about it. Art and cars have a lot in common. Cars are beautiful works of art. They're sculpted, carefully assembled, painted and then placed in a showroom. Not only that, but you can invest in both of them. Now, I'm not really talking Camrys here, but you know what I mean...the cars you pinned on your wall as a kid. More on that in a second. Time for a little back-story. I promise I'll make it brief.

Car Passion

How'd you get hooked on cars, you say?? Well, I'm glad you asked! My love for cars started at an early age. My dad's a car guy. He grew up on a farm in Nebraska. When he as 17, he purchased a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro RS with his sister. Shortly thereafter, he bought her out of her half of the car and began drag racing it. He owned and raced a lot of cars, but that one was his baby and he never sold it. When I was young, he used to give me rides in that Camaro, and it was the greatest thing in the world. I loved the way the engine roared and the transmission whined as it sucked you back in your seat when he pressed the gas. I used to dream I was driving as I pushed Hot Wheels cars on tracks that I constructed throughout our house. When I was 14, I really began thinking about the day I would be behind the wheel of my very own car. I talked about it constantly. To my surprise, for my 15th birthday, my parents purchased me a 1966 Ford Mustang. Now, this was no ordinary Mustang...but before you go all "Humble beginnings, Micah!? Your parents bought you a classic muscle car for your 15th birthday!" This kid's first whip cost a whopping $1,500. Okay, so it was actually really ordinary. Just a straight six, automatic coupe, but it was MINE. I think they really just bought it to shut me up, but the joke was on them, because that car was all I could talk about...what I was going to do to MY Mustang. I worked hard, with the help of my dad, to get that car fixed up and drivable for the day I turned 16. There are lots of stories I could tell you about that car, but I promised to keep this short... Sooo, long story short, I still own my 1966 Mustang. It's been upgraded quite a bit since I first received it. I have since then also bought and sold roughly 40 other vehicles. P.S. I'm 27. After I restored that Mustang, I just couldn't get enough of it! I kept buying, fixing and selling. Better yet, I was making money doing it. The more money I made, the nicer the cars got. I got into exotic cars and bought and sold my first Aston Martin, a 2007 V8 Vantage. My most recent sale was a 2013 Maserati Gran Turismo MC. I’m just getting ready to sell another 2015 Aston Martin Vantage. I am utterly and completely hooked, or ruined...however you want to look at it. I won't ever feel right buying a "normal" car again, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Now, not many people are out there buying Aston Martins at the ripe old age of 23, but not many people understand how car buying really works either. People view cars as liabilities, which they can be...but they can also be really profitable assets if you make the right buy. People typically buy new cars because they come with a warranty. That is the BIGGEST mistake you can possibly make. New cars usually depreciate by roughly 20% in the FIRST YEAR ALONE. And get this...they can depreciate by as much as 11% the minute you drive them off the lot. Show of hands that think that's a good idea? Nobody. #regret #buyersremorse So, DEFINITELY buy used. Let somebody else get a couple hundred dollars worth of parts fixed under warranty... You still have to be smart about the used car you buy though too. This is where exotic cars begin to make sense and Camrys don't. Exotics depreciate like any other car, but the depreciation curve of an exotic car ends up looking very different than a regular car. A regular car will depreciate until it is worth absolutely nothing, but exotic cars have a depreciation floor. Because of their rarity, an exotic will never be worth nothing, instead they reach a certain point where they just stop depreciating. This floor will be different for different cars. Depreciation for exotics is typically based on year, mileage, and condition. Buying the right rare or exotic car will allow you to safely invest your money in your vehicle instead of watching it burn.

Art Passion

When did the art come into play? Well, you might blame that on my mother. Ever since I can remember, I liked to doodle or make things. My mom would always sign me up for all kinds of art classes. My aunt is also an artist, and each Christmas; she would always gift us with new art supplies. In high school, I excelled in my art classes, but it wasn't something that really defined me. I also excelled in CADD (Computer Aided Drafting & Design). I thought I wanted to build rockets for a living as an engineer, so that's what I planned on attending college to do. When I got to college though, that's where I really began to take art seriously. I soon changed my major from engineering to art, throwing in a few business classes here and there. There was nothing like creating something from nothing. It was something I couldn't find in anything else. That was when I realized that art found its way into everything that I did and it also affected the way I saw the world. Life is an art and cars are too.

Art is also similar to cars in that it can be a very good investment, but you need to be smart about what you purchase. Most people think that purchasing "nice looking" mass produced items from stores like Hobby Lobby will do the job of decorating their homes just fine, and they can, but when you think about it, they're as bad of an investment as a new car. If you think of it like cars, the stuff from Hobby Lobby is like a regular car and original art is like the exotic cars. When you buy something from Hobby Lobby, there's a good chance that you'll never get the money back that you've spent. Buying the right original artwork on the other hand should allow you to safely invest your money instead of spending it, and, should you choose to sell, hopefully yield you a profit.

Conclusion

So where am I going with all of this? Well, other than just giving you some background on who I am as a person, I want to help others see the world the way I see it. Your life isn't defined by your circumstances. And you most definitely don't need to be a millionaire to buy original art, exotic cars, and slick apparel. I don't think we were created to just work our lives away until we die. Why not do things you enjoy that can make you money? Think outside the box. With a little creativity, you can purchase things that the majority of people see as liabilities and use them to put extra money in your pocket. If you dig this stuff too, make sure you subscribe to the email list below for more about art, autos, apparel, and just (exciting) life in general!