Buffing Up Transport Service

It takes more than a run through a gas station carwash to prep a vehicle for a starring role – especially when that car is a million-dollar hand-built prototype of a Bugatti Veyron. And that’s where L.A. Prep comes in. The Signal Hill business offers high-end detailing and transporting services, when cars are featured at trade shows or shown in films, television shows or ads. The company’s workers perform basic detailing services like polishing and waxing and advanced treatments such as sand blasting and painting on as many as 1,000 cars a year. Whatever it takes to present a vehicle as its best self. “We’ve been providing full prepping services to car manufacturers and ad agencies,” said Jim Kirby founder and president of L.A. Prep. Now, after 30 years in business, the company is calling on Kahn Media, a Reseda public relations firm to grow its business. Kahn Media specializes in automotive accounts, with clients that include Flowmaster, a high performance exhaust system company, and Peterson Automotive Museum. L.A. Prep is expanding its services to private collectors and car buffs who would rather not drive their expensive vehicles cross country themselves. Instead, they can shell out cash to have L.A. Prep take them to destinations as far away as Miami. The cars are transported in fully enclosed trucks by “location technicians” who are fully trained mechanics and detailers. Kahn will work to double L.A. Prep’s transport business by next year. Dan Kahn, president and founder of Kahn Media, said his agency will use hybrid media campaigns to reach Kahn’s established customers at auto manufacturing companies and ad agencies. Then he plans on using social media to reach new market segments among car collectors and private parties. “We plan on working with them for a big expansion as their transportation industry grows,” said Kahn. – Lucy Guanuna