We’re closing in on the 1 year anniversary of the video contest that I entered to win the Bandit.  I hope that I have time to put a few things together for the anniversary and show some of the behind the scenes footage.  In the mean time here are some videos about the show, and the car.  The second video talks about the High end model called the Ban III.  That is NOT the car that I have AND I don’t drive it like that! 

In March I wrote that the video had hit 11,109 views.  The video was uploaded on Nov. 26th and here we are about 7 months later at 12,022.  You can see the video again here.

The Beehive is a FREE quarterly publication serving the 320,000 members of the LDS Church in Arizona reporting on news and events specific to LDS members. Now in its 33rd year of publication, it is the most widely read LDS newspaper in Arizona. The Beehive distributes between 18,000 - 20,000 copies of each edition, reaching over 60,000 LDS members in Arizona and I am one of the feature stories.

When the Bandit was delivered in January, I was a little disappointed that there wasn’t any sort of fan fare. The driver showed up, dropped off the car, and drove away. He had been told to wait until 9 AM to ensure that the local press would have time to show up. Nobody came, so I called up the Beehive and told them about it. Cecily Markland called and interviewed me and they ran an article.

Thanks for the press!

*note* in the article the photo credit for this images is given to Brian King. I don’t know who that is, my son took that picture. 

I have a friend who’s a Police Detective.  He had shown my video to all of his co-workers and was really excited to see the Bandit.  I drove it into the office so that I could go and meet them after work.  I figure that with a car like that, it wouldn’t hurt to have lots of friends at the Police Station. 

As I’ve been looking for a new job, I’ve made some connections with some old friends.  Leanne and I worked at KnowlegeNet together about 8 years ago.  She’s working at Rainbow Studios making video games and their offices are very close to my work.  I invited her and some of her co-workers to come over and see that Bandit.  They all seemed pretty interested in the car.

IN FACT!  I took the car back to the studio yesterday to  audition the car to have it recorded to be one of the car sounds in an upcoming game!  The audition seemed to go well, I just have to find out when the recording session will be. 

Here are some photos from first time I met the Rainbow Studio crew.

I went over to the Bandit page on Heavy.com to see if there were any new posts about my video. I don’t really visit the site very often, I just signed up to enter the contest. So I checked and what do I see?

11,109 total video views.

WOW! The video was added on Nov. 26th. I’ve got a new video contest that I’ve entered on YouTube, but the video isn’t working quite right yet. I’ll post some info about it when I can get the link working right.

I went over to visit a friend of mine the other day. He lives in the last house of a cul de sac and there are really no other houses around. When I pulled in driving the Bandit, he signaled for me to give it some gas. You can see by the photo that I’m not the only one who peels out in this area. My tracks are the darkest ones across the lower part of the image.  (I gotta admit, I was a bit surprised when I went all the way around.  See the little hook at the end of my skid marks?)

I also took a moment to enjoy the absolutely brilliant Arizona sunsets.

More videos from the “Burt Builds a Bandit Contest” channel at Heavy.com

The driver got in last night and was told to wait until 9AM to deliver the car so that the local media could be on hand. Well, none of the local media showed up, so I am putting together my own press coverage. Video to follow shortly. You can see in the second image that I had a pretty good crew on hand and that was just my family!

So the driver asked if I wanted to drive the car out or if he should do it. I asked if it was driven in or backed into the truck because I wanted to drive it out just like the scene from the movie. Well, it was driven in, so it wasn’t like the movie, but I decided to drive it out anyway!

So, I’ve been avoiding my blog because I didn’t want to jinx the competition or to give anything away, but I WON!!!! I’ll be working on getting some photos and videos uploaded of the whole process. I’m also planning to make some short videos about the process that I went through to make my “Winning” video. HEHEEHEHHE. I wonder how much insurance is going to be?

I just got a press release from DIY Network (included below) that I am one of the 5 finalist to win the Trans Am pictured.

Mr. Brinkerhoff,

Congratulations on your selection as a finalist in the Burt Builds a Bandit contest on DIY Network and Heavy.com! As you are probably already aware, on Friday, December 14 at 8 pm Mountain, DIY Network will reveal the winner of a Burt Reynolds Edition Trans Am, selected by the legendary actor himself, during a one-hour special, Celebrity Rides: Burt Builds a Bandit. Tune in to watch for your name and see a portion of your video, or go to Heavy.com the following day to see if your video was selected. DIY is available in your area on Cox Cable on channel 133 or nationwide on DISH Network Ch. 111 and DIRECTV Ch. 230. For additional cable channel designations, you can check local listings or visit www.DIYnetwork.com/tv.

Also, if you want to check out your competition, starting Monday, December 10th, Heavy.com will feature a different finalist’s video each day leading up to the selection of the winner on Friday.

If you are selected as the winner next Friday, the following Monday, December 17, you will be contacted from a representative of the DIY Network to begin discussions on the logistics for delivery of the Trans Am. In the event that you are contacted by the media in the interim, please refer calls to myself or Brandii Toby at DIY Network or our public relations agency FerenComm in New York. We’re happy to coordinate any media interviews or appearances that may come your way as a result of your being a finalist for the car, or if you are selected as the winner.

Congratulations again and thanks for submitting your video.

Gary McCormick, APR, Fellow PRSA
Director of Public Relations
Scripps Emerging Networks

DIY Network - FINE LIVING TV NETWORK

*edit*
I’ve been asked to take the phone numbers out of the post because people have been calling them up to chat!