Car Restoration TV Show Rant

I am so annoyed with these "Restoration" shows.

It seems that most of them revolve around getting them ready to sell at auction. I'm so sick of the auction stuff. Between those shows, Barrett-Jackson, and Mecum, I'm burnt out with car auctions on TV. If I had to like one out of all of them though, it would be Chasing Classic Cars on HD Theater.

I dvr'd an episode of Desert Car Kings. I've watched 10 minutes and I already don't like it. More of the family arguing, problematic employee, we're on a time crunch crap. Same E36 M3, different show.

I sometimes like to watch the technical shows, but I find myself getting bored with them quick. They're not bad, bt sometimes drawn out.

I used to really like Overhaulin'. I know not every one likes Chip Foose's designs, but I do. I also like what they did for a lot of those people.

I also miss Rides. That was another well done show. They could have kept that show going for a long time.

Anyone else got anything?

I like biker build off. Don't know why but I do. Rides could have gone on forever if they had enough idea's.

Everything else just drives me up a wall.

The best?

An MG is born http://www.streetfire.net/video/an-mg-is-born-episode-1_728220.htm

Actually all of MarK Evans' shows I have seen have been great but MG is the best nuts and bolts, welder and grime car restoration hands down.

No forced drama, no fake deadlines, no auctions. Just a couple of blokes in a cold garage restoring an old car and learning as he goes.

Wheeler Dealers pretty much kicks ass. That's about as GRM as a show can get, IMHO.

I too miss Rides--I was watching the DVR'ed Caddy XLR episode while on my mag trainer the other day. That was one helluva well-done show.

I've never heard of Desert Car Kings.

In reply to gamby:

I love Wheeler Dealers too. I kinda wish there was an American version. I also wish they would show more new episodes. They've only shown up to the 4th(?) season and they just started the 7th. I have watched some newer episodes on YouTube.

Desert Car Kings I believe is on Discovery. Its a brand new show, I think they're only 3 episodes in.

+1 for Wheeler Dealers, if I had a nickel for every hour I've spent watching WD I could fund that American version.

I agree about Wheeler Dealers... although I'm not fond of the US-version editing. I'd assume the YouTube versions are full-length?

I also agree a US version would be a plausible concept.

Wreck Rescue is a good one, it is one of Mark Evans shows.

SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: I am so annoyed with these "Restoration" shows. It seems that most of them revolve around getting them ready to sell at auction. I'm so sick of the auction stuff......

Sort of makes me glad I don't even attempt to attend one of those high dollar auctions. How'd you like to pay humungo dollars for a car only to find out it was one of those wrecks found at the bottom of someones pond?

"Tuners" was the worst ever.

They took a honda and put some adjustable shox on it. then they took it to a local autocross. they ran a E36 M3ty time so the host said "Let's set them all to 4" then they ran a slightly less E36 M3ty time.

I yelled at my TV that day.

Most of them are not about cars. They are about asshat drama but since motorcycle fab shops has been beat to death... we get cars now.

I saw a piece of one show once with an englishman who was restoring an old jag. He spent a whole half hour show researching a gearbox rebuild. It was fantastic. I never found it on again and I can't recall the name of it. I would love to see the other episodes.

Ian F wrote: I agree about Wheeler Dealers... although I'm not fond of the US-version editing. I'd assume the YouTube versions are full-length? I also agree a US version would be a plausible concept.

The ones on YouTube are split into six parts and some episodes are missing parts or entire episodes have Dutch subtitles.

I think if they did an American Version, it would need to have the same idea of cars, not : "We're buying an '89 Chevy Caprice, giving it a metallic paint job, put it up on blocks, and throw a set of 24s on it"

It needs to have a desirable oddball modern classics just like Wheeler Dealers.

Also it needs to have a giddy host and willing Mechanic just like the original. lol

I like Wheeler Dealers OK. They miss some real obvious steps in some of the episodes, though. The best one was the Bentley R-turbo episode. They did that car real justice. Watching that show gave me a little more nerve to get to work on cars and actually become a decent wrench, since I used to be so bad I should have been barred from the use of tools.

Chasing Classic Cars is great, but everyone in that show is just extremely richer than me so its annoying sometimes. Its sort of like an automotice lifestyles of the rich and not famous. What about the rest of us who aren't sending agents across the country to look at each of however many models exist that are also for sale and pristine? Or attending auctions to bid on or sell upper 6 figure cars? I do like that the shop can have the same frustrations everybody else does, like trying to get the concealed lamps on the Ferrari Daytona to rise and fall in sync.

Cafe racer is OK. I'm not so into bikes but I watch it sometimes. The Mustang racer series on Speed is cool sometimes.

There was a local show called Nascar Angels, where people asked for help because they couldn't afford a new car, or to finance a used one, and the car they were driving was a mess. They would take the car and just do normal things to it, maybe bring it up a notch, but they showed all the work and talked about why they were doing it. At the end, the person gets a decent running car, even if unglamorous. The last one I saw was a first-gen Ford Explorer for example. The people are of course genuinely ecstatic.

Whatever show it is that WAYNE is on pretty much makes me want to throw up. All I know is that the show is more about the semi-exotic which really should interest me but WAYNE is everything I hate in the world.

There was a one episode special on the building of Jay Leno's EcoJet. It was very interesting. I

really think you could make a show out of the restorations and builds his shop does. I know not a lot of people don't like Jay Leno, but when he gets into "Car Guy Mode" he is extremely knowledgeable about everything he owns and then some.

Plus he is cool guy in my book because he restored both a '65 Corvair Corsa Turbo Coupe, a '63 Corvair 95 Rampside and enjoys the hell out of them.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: I saw a piece of one show once with an englishman who was restoring an old jag. He spent a whole half hour show researching a gearbox rebuild. It was fantastic. I never found it on again and I can't recall the name of it. I would love to see the other episodes.

That fellow was Mark Evans. that series was either called a jag is born or simply a car is born. He also did a series on an old land rover, built his own plane, cobra replica, helicopter, lotus seven replica.....ect. He is a veterinarian and all around busy, awesome dude.

http://www.markevans.co.uk/

ditchdigger wrote:

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: I saw a piece of one show once with an englishman who was restoring an old jag. He spent a whole half hour show researching a gearbox rebuild. It was fantastic. I never found it on again and I can't recall the name of it. I would love to see the other episodes.

That fellow was Mark Evans. that series was either called a jag is born or simply a car is born. He also did a series on an old land rover, built his own plane, cobra replica, helicopter, lotus seven replica.....ect. He is a veterinarian and all around busy, awesome dude. http://www.markevans.co.uk/

AWESOME. Thanks for the link.

Another vote for Mark Evans. Fantastic stuff. There are short versions of his various builds available - a couple of hours for the Westfield - or you can get the whole loooong thing. And he's great, almost the UK version of Mike Rowe.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:

ditchdigger wrote:

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: I saw a piece of one show once with an englishman who was restoring an old jag. He spent a whole half hour show researching a gearbox rebuild. It was fantastic. I never found it on again and I can't recall the name of it. I would love to see the other episodes.

That fellow was Mark Evans. that series was either called a jag is born or simply a car is born. He also did a series on an old land rover, built his own plane, cobra replica, helicopter, lotus seven replica.....ect. He is a veterinarian and all around busy, awesome dude. http://www.markevans.co.uk/

AWESOME. Thanks for the link.

Another vote here as well. I watched the Jag restoration, and the motorcycle.

I also like Victory By Design with Alan De Cadanet.

JFX001 wrote:

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:

ditchdigger wrote:

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: I saw a piece of one show once with an englishman who was restoring an old jag. He spent a whole half hour show researching a gearbox rebuild. It was fantastic. I never found it on again and I can't recall the name of it. I would love to see the other episodes.

That fellow was Mark Evans. that series was either called a jag is born or simply a car is born. He also did a series on an old land rover, built his own plane, cobra replica, helicopter, lotus seven replica.....ect. He is a veterinarian and all around busy, awesome dude. http://www.markevans.co.uk/

AWESOME. Thanks for the link.

Another vote here as well. I watched the Jag restoration, and the motorcycle. I also like Victory By Design with Alan De Cadanet.

Victory by Design was awesome. I miss that show.

SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: I really think you could make a show out of the restorations and builds his shop does. I know not a lot of people don't like Jay Leno, but when he gets into "Car Guy Mode" he is extremely knowledgeable about everything he owns and then some.

I can spend quite a bit of time watching the videos on his website. I like his eclectic tastes in vehicles.

PBS recently premiered a show on science, and this week the host was looking at the future of automobiles. They spent a lot of time at Jay's garage; they went for a ride in his Baker electric car, and looked at some of the other new and old cars in his stable as they talked about where technology is going.

mattmacklind wrote: Chasing Classic Cars is great, but everyone in that show is just extremely richer than me so its annoying sometimes. Its sort of like an automotice lifestyles of the rich and not famous. What about the rest of us who aren't sending agents across the country to look at each of however many models exist that are also for sale and pristine?

Yeah, the hater in me sometimes has trouble absorbing the rich dude, his (once) trophy wife and their obscenely fortunate offspring basking in the glory of their new uberdollar classic purchase.

I've met Wayne a couple of times and he seems nice enough. I think he likes being around other car people. Certainly has an awesome job.

Ian F wrote: I agree about Wheeler Dealers... although I'm not fond of the US-version editing. I'd assume the YouTube versions are full-length? I also agree a US version would be a plausible concept.

I think a big part of its charm is how obscenely British the show is, though.

Does anyone know if the other seasons are ever coming to HD Theater?

that desert car show is a real POS. like OCC without the engaging personalities.

victory by design ftw! and I miss Tuner Transformation