roadcatalogs

John Butler's contribution and involvement in the automotive aftermarket began with his modified 1978 Honda Civic which made its debut in Motor Trend Magazine in 1981 under the editorial directorship of John Diana. The Civic, built by John Butler and Oscar Jackson was the precursor to Jackson Racing and the Honda craze making its mark on the automotive landscape. John discovered Oscar at the back of a service garage located at the one-time Honda dealership called "University Honda" in Costa Mesa, CA back in 1974. John walked into the service department asking "who back here knows anything about making these Civics faster than stock." The other mechanics pointed to Oscar and the friendship began. Friends since 1975, Oscar Jackson and John Butler made up the core of Jackson Racing through the 1980s as the company became the dominant player in the Honda and Acura aftermarket through aggressive marketing and creative products. John's role at Jackson Racing included public relations, marketing, branding, photographer, catalog designer, writer, new product strategist, database programmer and general manager. In 1990, John joined with race driver Steve Millen and his partner David Schollum to help build and promote their mini truck accessory firm called Stillen. During his nine years there, John worked with the 12-employee firm to build the Stillen brand to the automotive aftermarket powerhouse it is today. Stillen now employs over 110 people, has over 90,000 sq.ft of operation facilities and now offers products for all vehicle categories in the automotive aftermarket. Cars, trucks and SUVs make up the target of the manufacturing and marketing efforts of Stillen. Special focus includes, brakes, aerokits, suspension, exhaust and performance products. John's responsibilities over his tenure included public relations, marketing, photography, catalog creation, writer, new product strategist, contract negotiator, sales manager and marketing director. John's noted accomplishments at Stillen include launching new divisions including Steve Millen Sports Cars, Brake Pros and Stillen GTS. John was the creator and architect of the Grand Touring Suburban program at Stillen which delivered turnkey performance and accessory laden Suburbans with a warranty to consumers worldwide. Developed in 1992, the program was once again ahead of its time and spawned many imitators over the years. Stillen has sold and is still selling hundreds of Suburbans under this program. Average invoice for modifications is over $40,000.00. It was one of the best mail-order products ever created for the automotive aftermarket. In late 1994, John began the task of getting Stillen on the Internet by writing, developing and directing the company's Internet presence. Ahead of the industry once again, he was the first to display a company's website URL on the cover of a Magazine. www.Stillen.com made its cover debut on Truckin' Magazine in early 1995. John also developed e-commerce fulfillment for the various Stillen catalogs over the Internet. Again, before it was the industry trend. In 1999, John transitioned from Stillen to his current endeavor at West Coast Internet. As co-owner and marketing director of the five year old Internet Service Provider, John has deployed the marketing efforts for the full service ISP. Products include dialup, ISDN, DSL, T1, website hosting, e-commerce, email, website development and programming. John is also the owner of http://www.performancelist.com, which is an innovative service and website for SEMA members and consumers. His service facilitates product announcement from SEMA members to consumers by way of a targeted list of vehicle owners by make and model. New developments for the service will include product availability by make and model accessible from and web browser. John's most recent venture in the automotive aftermarket includes his newest site called RoadCatalogs.com. Seen at http://www.roadcatalogs.com, it is where you can click to buy catalogs from SEMA members and tuners such as DC Sports. At 42, John is still an avid automotive enthusiast and owns both a Lexus SC400 and a Land Rover. He is the proud sponsor of this site and is one of the earliest Civic fans we know of. He promises to send us some photos in the near future of the 14 Honda automobiles he owned over the years. Many of them appeared in automotive enthusiast publications such as Road & Track, Car and Driver, Motor Trend, Turbo and AutoWeek.