TV Show - FAST 'N LOUD

[Trulyvintage]

I am a Fan

I watched the first few shows and did not like what I saw

I saw the last few shows and I enjoyed what I saw

Hauling cars all over the country every day, I can tell who is a

real car Lover and who is just a Flipper

Aaron and Richard are genuine - they have evolved over the episodes

I like the Rambler Wagon build - I believe they respect what they work on

Aaron is fair with the Sellers of the cars he buys

I will make it a point to visit Phipps and their neighbor if I am ever in town

Jim

[39BuickEight]

I watch it just like I watch anything on TV car-related. That said, like most new reality TV automotive shows, it's made to appeal the general population and unfortunately a lot of people will watch it and think real life car building and swapping is that easy. The actors, ahem shop owners and workers, put on such a ridiculous act that it's hard to ignore them, but I manage to do it. After all, there are old cars in the show--I have to watch.

South Beach Customs (is that what it's called? The one with the bald guy and younger wife that always "act" like they are fighting?), Desert Car Kings, and Counting Cars are all the same. The people are hard to watch. They are completely in love with themselves.

Somehow all of these shows constantly take $1200 cars, paint them, put a motor in them, and sell them for $25,000. :rollseyes:

[Guest Foggy norm]

The show does touch some nerve's, however, it has pointed out big issues when dealing with old rusted car's. I suppose (kringe), power washing a rusted car to get vermin out of it make's some sort of sense. It is intriguing to watch some of their method's, at handling problem's. Many time's I've wished I could just take a torch and cut out a problem with no after thought. The two guy's are,IMO, like Frick and Frack which compliment each other, sort of like the new show on the History channel; Top Gear. Usually I don't burst out laughing when watching TV and "these two" show's have caused me to do that unexpectedly!

If we think about it, watching thing's on TV about people doing stuff that we've done as kid's, is entertaining. Keeping in mind, the majority of we shadetree kid's couldn't afford original NOS part's, but hung onto the dream till we could.....

[Matt Harwood]

sort of like the new show on the History channel; Top Gear. Usually I don't burst out laughing when watching TV and "these two" show's have caused me to do that unexpectedly!

You simply must find the original Top Gear, produced in England and broadcast on BBC America with Jeremy, Richard, and James. Far and away the best car show ever created. They do wreck some cars, but they're always awful, worthless cars and the point isn't scripted tension and a thrash against a deadline (well, sometimes, but there's always a point). It's...well, hard to explain and you might not even "get it" at first, but please, give it a try. You will discover three things: it's howlingly funny, they get A-list cars and celebrities on the track, and it's probably the most expensive and beautifully filmed car show ever made. Simply gorgeous to look at when they drive some exotic car in a faraway land. Beautifully produced and consistently funny and smart, not gimmicky.

Please, find it and watch it. If you're a car guy, it will be the highlight of your week every week. I promise.

[Ron Green]

Rename the show: Butchers and Loudmouths

Having seen last weekend’s episode and the show for the 1^st time it made me question my sanity. I am 2 years and over 2,000 hours into a total Amphicar restoration and I could of have had them do it in a couple of weeks. Plus they could have upgraded me to a SBC and Mustang II suspension?

[D Yaros]

The number of car hunt/flip shows is getting out of hand. They have no semblance to reality whatsoever. Who buys/restores/sells a ride all in less than 7 days?

[Matt Harwood]

The number of car hunt/flip shows is getting out of hand. They have no semblance to reality whatsoever. Who buys/restores/sells a ride all in less than 7 days?

That's sort of what I think. Who in the world wants a vehicle that someone threw together in a week? No shakedown runs, no fine-tuning, nothing. I know how much work goes into the last 10% of a build/restoration, and that part alone takes weeks. No shop can get it right that fast, I don't care how talented they are. And on those shows where the owner is putting some kind of deadline on the shop to finish? Are they nuts? If the guys building me a custom car need extra time to get it right, I'm sure as hell giving it to them. "Yeah, here's a few hundred thousand to build my dream car, but make sure you rush the last part so I have to send it back later for re-work."

Of course, we all know on these reality shows that the guys paying for the cars, buying them at auction, and commissioning the builds are the show's producers, right?

[Sweepspear]

You simply must find the original Top Gear, produced in England and broadcast on BBC America with Jeremy, Richard, and James. Far and away the best car show ever created. They do wreck some cars, but they're always awful, worthless cars and the point isn't scripted tension and a thrash against a deadline (well, sometimes, but there's always a point). It's...well, hard to explain and you might not even "get it" at first, but please, give it a try. You will discover three things: it's howlingly funny, they get A-list cars and celebrities on the track, and it's probably the most expensive and beautifully filmed car show ever made. Simply gorgeous to look at when they drive some exotic car in a faraway land. Beautifully produced and consistently funny and smart, not gimmicky.

Please, find it and watch it. If you're a car guy, it will be the highlight of your week every week. I promise.

I'll second that.

I could only stomach a couple of episodes of the US version. Seems like they thought it necessary to dumb it down for US consumption.

[Guest PhippsAuto]

Seems like the show is getting a bigger audience. We've known Richard and Aaron for a long time; they're not actors, and at least there's no scripted "tension" between them for the show. With them, it's pretty much "what you see [on TV] is what you get [in real life]." They both genuinely love doing this stuff, and they're not in it to restore cars to classic days, clearly. They are in it to see what they can do with an old car to make it more fun, in their opinion. In the auctions, they sell with no reserve because they are not in the business of storing cars at the shop; they're in the business of selling them again after they do their thing. Sometimes they make money, sometimes they don't. I can't vouch for the dollar amounts shown at the end of each episode (although I feel fairly certain they are not exactly entirely accurate), but I do know when they lose money, it's Richard's money they're losing. He and Aaron were really down after the Oklahoma auction from last night's show; we were at the shop when they got back, and they said it was just the wrong group for what they were selling; everyone there was either "bottom feeding" or after the really expensive cars, and there weren't many people bidding in between. They were truly surprised that they did that poorly at that particular auction.

The other thing I'll say is that reality TV is apparently not a very profitable thing to be involved in. From what we've seen, the profit to be made is more from sales of t-shirts and merchandise than from being on TV. For our shop, it's been a disastrous year financially with the show being filmed at our place. The number of people involved, the number of vehicles involved, the number of times Dewaine has had to stop what he's doing to let them film a scene, the number of times Dewaine has had to fend off the many fans who started coming to the property to visit back in June after the show first aired (and who are still showing up on a daily basis), etc --- his productivity went way, way down this year. They now need to use our building for a special project for the show for the next 6 weeks, so we negotiated a good price for that usage to try to recoup some of what we feel like we've lost over the past several months, and now Dewaine can take a well-deserved and long overdue vacation. His long-time customers understand and will be there in 6 weeks with their classic cars for him to work on, and maybe we'll get more business as a result of the show being on the air so long. Who knows?

Bottom line, it's been "real," and it's been loads of fun at times, but it hasn't necessarily all been "real fun."

[Dosmo]

I DVR'd the show about the 48 Chevy coupe and just turned it on to watch. They find the coupe at a Texas car show and discuss it's past with the seller. During this segment, a quick rundown is given of the model/series lineup for Chevrolets of this era. A few video clips run in the background while Richard is narrating. The very first clip is NOT a 48 Chevy, although I'm sure it was supposed to be. It IS a 41 Studebaker 4 door sedan drag car. The shape is similar enough to a mid 40s Chevy bustleback sedan that someone responsible for editing this segment didn't catch the fact that not only is this not a Chevrolet, it is not even a sister GM make. It's a STUDEBAKER. How does anyone miss stuff like this? It practically jumped at me from the TV screen.

[avgwarhawk]

TV always puts in what they like. Try something on the history channel like the Pearl Harbor attack. The programmers play old black and white footage of SBD's making attack runs. These are supposed to be Val dive bombers with large red circles on the wings. Revisionist history I guess!

[Dosmo]

It makes you wonder if Richard and the others are really the car guys they'd have you believe they are. Surely, they get a preview of this stuff before it goes on the air. I mean, you'd think a show like this would be aimed at sharp-eyed enthusiasts. And, some of those sharp-eyed enthusiasts are likely to notice such inconsistencies as the fact that what is supposed to be a video clip of a mid 40s Chevy is, in fact, an early 40s Studebaker.

I'm sorry - I've given this show a fair chance, watched it at least 3-4 times, but no more. I think the watchability of the show would be enhanced by removing Richard from the cast. Aaron and the other guys are much easier to take than the loudmouthed braggadocio of Richard.

[NTX5467]

I'll concur about the Euro "Top Gear"! It's fun and interesting to watch. Especially when the "stars" do their laps in "the reasonably-priced car" on the track. Those guys all have a great chemistry between them, so it works. The USA version doesn't seem to have the same chemistry.

I watched some of the first season of the USA version and came away underwhelmed. Their "task" was to find a nice used car, but they ended up racing them on a motorcross course. Even the jumps! It seemed that the nice, low-mileage '76 Coupe DeVille did the best, although it was visibly bowed when it was over. Hated to see such a nice car get wasted for a television show! Heck, "Jersey Shore" is more entertaining than USA "Top Gear"!

Phipps, I hope y'all have a nice vacation! Y'all deserve it! Thanks for the comments and updates!

Enjoy!

NTX5467

[Trulyvintage]

Seems like the show is getting a bigger audience. We've known Richard and Aaron for a long time; they're not actors, and at least there's no scripted "tension" between them for the show. With them, it's pretty much "what you see [on TV] is what you get [in real life]." They both genuinely love doing this stuff, and they're not in it to restore cars to classic days, clearly. They are in it to see what they can do with an old car to make it more fun, in their opinion. In the auctions, they sell with no reserve because they are not in the business of storing cars at the shop; they're in the business of selling them again after they do their thing. Sometimes they make money, sometimes they don't. I can't vouch for the dollar amounts shown at the end of each episode (although I feel fairly certain they are not exactly entirely accurate), but I do know when they lose money, it's Richard's money they're losing. He and Aaron were really down after the Oklahoma auction from last night's show; we were at the shop when they got back, and they said it was just the wrong group for what they were selling; everyone there was either "bottom feeding" or after the really expensive cars, and there weren't many people bidding in between. They were truly surprised that they did that poorly at that particular auction.

The other thing I'll say is that reality TV is apparently not a very profitable thing to be involved in. From what we've seen, the profit to be made is more from sales of t-shirts and merchandise than from being on TV. For our shop, it's been a disastrous year financially with the show being filmed at our place. The number of people involved, the number of vehicles involved, the number of times Dewaine has had to stop what he's doing to let them film a scene, the number of times Dewaine has had to fend off the many fans who started coming to the property to visit back in June after the show first aired (and who are still showing up on a daily basis), etc --- his productivity went way, way down this year. They now need to use our building for a special project for the show for the next 6 weeks, so we negotiated a good price for that usage to try to recoup some of what we feel like we've lost over the past several months, and now Dewaine can take a well-deserved and long overdue vacation. His long-time customers understand and will be there in 6 weeks with their classic cars for him to work on, and maybe we'll get more business as a result of the show being on the air so long. Who knows?

Bottom line, it's been "real," and it's been loads of fun at times, but it hasn't necessarily all been "real fun."

Great post !

Exactly what I pick up on in the show .....

I talked yesterday with a guy that has bid against Richard at auctions,

he has a favorable opinion of him.

I guess Tulsa was not the best place to take those cars

Thank you for posting,

Jim

[Guest PhippsAuto]

Dewaine caught the Studebaker, too, when we watched the other night. We're in Dallas, The show is edited in California. Richard doesn't see the actual "old time" footage they're going to be using (to the best of my knowledge); they write him a script of what to say as the footage of the old cars is shown, and they put that together with the video out there in Cali. Guess they need someone who knows as much about cars as they do about editing to look it over before they put it on the air!

[Joe Cocuzza]

That's sort of what I think. Who in the world wants a vehicle that someone threw together in a week? No shakedown runs, no fine-tuning, nothing. I know how much work goes into the last 10% of a build/restoration, and that part alone takes weeks. No shop can get it right that fast, I don't care how talented they are. And on those shows where the owner is putting some kind of deadline on the shop to finish? Are they nuts? If the guys building me a custom car need extra time to get it right, I'm sure as hell giving it to them. "Yeah, here's a few hundred thousand to build my dream car, but make sure you rush the last part so I have to send it back later for re-work."

Of course, we all know on these reality shows that the guys paying for the cars, buying them at auction, and commissioning the builds are the show's producers, right?

Here's my thoughts, if anyone cares. I am not much of a fan of the so-called "Reality Show(s)". I come from a generation where it took people using their minds to create (write/produce...) a TV show. I am sorry but the use, or dare I say, existence, of an imagination seems to have gone by the wayside. Same with the continuous rehashing of old movies.

All of these "Reality Shows" are just that - TV shows. The sole purpose of the show(s) is to attract viewers.

So I am of the mindset that because they are TV "shows" (notice I removed the "Reality" part) they are scripted to have certain outcomes.

When they say that a car needs to be built in 7 days or else, we are only watching a show that probably has hours and hours of film footage crammed into an hour or less. For all we know these cars could have taken a whole lot longer to complete than we are led to believe. But they need the "DRAMA".

Also, off topic but related, those other shows, Pickers/Storage Wars, etc....

Has anyone ever thought that because they are TV shows that a lot of the stuff they "find" could be "planted"? Because I suppose there wouldn't be much of a viewing audience if we didn't hear: "Look what I just found" or "Hey Frankie, we struck the mother-lode"............

Just my cynical opinion.

[Guest RockyRon]

why chopp up the buitys if the factory wanted choppers thay would chop them at the factory

[The Continental]

Hey Phipps, my family has only crushed a handful of cars since I last posted about it. My uncle is also starting to warm up to the idea of selling some of his cars that are just sitting, so if the guys want to come out sometime just let me know.

[Guest PhippsAuto]

Hey Phipps, my family has only crushed a handful of cars since I last posted about it. My uncle is also starting to warm up to the idea of selling some of his cars that are just sitting, so if the guys want to come out sometime just let me know.

They get so many leads now, it's hard for them to sift through them all, and I think they have cars lined up for the next several weeks, but if you can shoot me an email with pictures (or a link to pictures) and a description of the cars that are left, I can ask Dewaine to mention it to Richard. I know you posted the info here once, but I can't show that to Dewaine and Richard. If you email me, I can forward it to Richard if Dewaine thinks he'd be interested in some of the cars.

phippsauto @ sbcglobal.net

Edited September 21, 2012 by PhippsAuto
add email (see edit history)

[Scooter Guy]

Also, off topic but related, those other shows, Pickers/Storage Wars, etc....

Has anyone ever thought that because they are TV shows that a lot of the stuff they "find" could be "planted"? Because I suppose there wouldn't be much of a viewing audience if we didn't hear: "Look what I just found" or "Hey Frankie, we struck the mother-lode"............

Just my cynical opinion.

I can speak to American Pickers not being fake or staged, HOWEVER, a lot goes on that you don't see on TV. For example, when Mike & Frank do their "freestyling" on the show and show up unannounced, it really is their first contact with the property owner, but the production crew may have already done a site visit and/or may have been onsite for a number of days already to scope the place out and get camera locations prepared.

They also have more vehicles and more people with them than you ever see on the show and buy far more than is ever shown on tv. In many cases, they will stay onsite at a single pick site for days and will look at EVERYTHING. They really do drive the van, but they also have other trucks and trailers along so that their buying isn't limited to just what fits in the van.

Also remember that they are never really out there alone. All of the overhead shots of them driving down the road are done by helicopter, so this is far from being an amateur affair!

The biggest reason they are always finding great stuff on the show is because they spend a lot of time doing their homework. They have leads absolutely pouring into their shop (since they are "famous" and on tv these days, people are dying to be picked by Mike and Frank). They ask for specifics on the quantity, the condition, they get photos of items, feel out prices, etc., etc. all before anyone ever sets foot onsite. It all but guarantees that they will end up buying good stuff during filming.

Storage Wars...I dunno. I've been to a few storage auctions and I've definitely never seen anyone stumbling upon cars, boats, motorcycles, atvs, and rare guns in them. Usually it's nothing but household junk. That one really does make me wonder.

[1937hd45]

The one thing that bothers me about "American Pickers" is the loading of the items they buy. Have you EVER seen an item wraped in a shipping blanket? Just slide everything in the van and wave good by, must make for a great ride. Bob

[Dosmo]

I keep saying I won't watch this show anymore, but there is so little else worth watching I do it again. The episode where they get the 59 Rambler wagon out of the field is one where I personally wasn't bothered in the least by what they did to the car. No one in their right mind would have ever given a second thought to crushing this thing, but I am glad they saved it, even if it's no longer original. I do like the selection of vehicles they choose on this show, even if I don't always like what they do to them. I just wish Richard could tone down a little.

[Scooter Guy]

The episode last night made me sad and was actually hard to watch.

They took a really great unmolested, original Woodill Wildfire and (quite frankly) hacked it up. Throughout the show they went on and on about how rare and valuable the car was while proceeding to destroy original equipment:

-They replaced the original wheels and wheel covers with new wire Dayton wheels

-cut down the original windshield

-cut the back bumper brackets

-undid the original gas filler configuration

-recovered the nice original seats with black leather

-then painted the hood of the car black.

They're only original once and this one won't ever be again, sadly. All it really needed was some detailing and it would have been good to go.

[Guest PhippsAuto]

I thought it was a beautiful car when they were done with it, but yeah, it's not original anymore. Here's the original car.

That one wasn't my favorite episode by far. (And of course, no Phipps Auto in it, other than all the standing around talking in our shop.)

[Dosmo]

More and more, I'm starting to come around to this show. I don't like it when they molest good, original 1950 Oldsmobiles and Woodhill Wildfires. Not crazy about it when they mess around with Model A's, 64 Impalas, etc. The thing is, I LIKE 50 Olds and Woodhill Wildfires. I LIKE rusted out 59 Rambler station wagons and 64 Impalas. I've tried watching Chasing Classic Cars - watching classic Packards, Bentleys, Cadillacs and Duesenbergs on that show is great. Watching Ferraris, Lotus, and other exotic imported makes on that show is, frankly, boring as he!! to me. Richard and Aaron pick at least one car on each show that I really like, even if they butcher it. Richard annoys me sometimes, but I think I'm starting to get used to him. I'd rather watch this than Modern Family or Two and a Half Men.

[bhclark]

The episode last night made me sad and was actually hard to watch.

They took a really great unmolested, original Woodill Wildfire and (quite frankly) hacked it up. Throughout the show they went on and on about how rare and valuable the car was while proceeding to destroy original equipment:

-They replaced the original wheels and wheel covers with new wire Dayton wheels

-cut down the original windshield

-cut the back bumper brackets

-undid the original gas filler configuration

-recovered the nice original seats with black leather

-then painted the hood of the car black.

They're only original once and this one won't ever be again, sadly. All it really needed was some detailing and it would have been good to go.

I am not a fan of rat rods and not a fan of "Reality TV" but this one was tolerable until the Woodill episode. I was practically screaming at the TV and ended up nearly in tears at what they did to that car. True, they didn't remove the entire suspension and throw in a SBC, but they took what was a 1 of 9 car (or 1 of 15 originally, not counting the 185 sold as kits) and destroyed it's originality. They spent roughly $90,000 to turn a $10,000 profit, when a quality detail (and MAYBE recovering the seats, I couldn't tell but thought I saw damage on the driver's seat) would have easily produced nearly the same profit or more while retaining the originality of the car. Just bad business if you ask me. If they want to modify a '57 Chevy or '32 Ford, that is a totally different story as there were millions made and they are still making them today.

I do like that the show doesn't follow the same formula of most of these shows. They don't repeat themselves over and over again and avoid the petty arguments for the sake of drama.

They do seem to know what they are doing, other than listing a car they haven't started on yet in an auction 5 days away. That's just insane and obviously leads to shoddy workmanship. I did find it funny that the same guys that fear nothing when cutting a frame in half to add a larger engine need to hire Dewaine to put in a set of points for them.

I think they tend to overpay for the starter cars in many situations as well, but I'm sure if someone came to buy one of my cars with a TV crew in tow, the price would probably go up as well!

Overall, a decent show considering the other alternatives, but I have lost all respect for Richard after he butchered the Woodill. $20,000 for wire wheels? I live in a different world...

The original Top Gear is an excellent show. I couldn't make it through 1 episode of the dumbed down US version.

[Guest jasndal]

Totally agree with Gary F. I may watch it, but it irritates me that they make so many mistakes about details and that the lead character seems to feel a need to use really foul language. I'm not a prude, but it's really unnecessary. Does he think he needs to talk that way to appear more "manly?" Give one pause.

[Guest jasndal]

Just don't let them get hold of your '51 Ford, or anything else with any value. I can't stand the butchering. Can't imagine what they'd do with Daisy.

UOTE=PhippsAuto;1083156]I thought it was a beautiful car when they were done with it, but yeah, it's not original anymore. Here's the original car.[ATTACH=CONFIG]155192[/ATTACH]

That one wasn't my favorite episode by far. (And of course, no Phipps Auto in it, other than all the standing around talking in our shop.)

[Guest PhippsAuto]

That '51 Ford is off limits, and he knows it. But he sure likes it, and so does the production crew. They use it a lot as a background car.

[Guest PhippsAuto]

I did find it funny that the same guys that fear nothing when cutting a frame in half to add a larger engine need to hire Dewaine to put in a set of points for them.

That made me laugh! I forgot to mention that Dewaine is the one who actually got that Wildfire running for them when they bought it. That's frequently his main job for them: they buy something that's not running, and he gets it running for them (from the 1932 Pontiac all the way up to the Wildfire). But they usually don't show that on TV. They pay him, and that's good enough.

[Sweepspear]

They took a really great unmolested, original Woodill Wildfire and (quite frankly) hacked it up. Throughout the show they went on and on about how rare and valuable the car was while proceeding to destroy original equipment:

-They replaced the original wheels and wheel covers with new wire Dayton wheels

-cut down the original windshield

-cut the back bumper brackets

-undid the original gas filler configuration

-recovered the nice original seats with black leather

-then painted the hood of the car black.

They're only original once and this one won't ever be again, sadly. All it really needed was some detailing and it would have been good to go.

I came across that episode during it's last 15 minutes. When they did the review of what they had done to the car, I swear the wheels they showed taken off of it looked like rusty Model A wire wheels. At the time I thought that couldn't be right. :confused:

Nothing like what is shown in the photo of the original car.

Edited September 26, 2012 by Sweepspear (see edit history)

[Scooter Guy]

Woodill - Wildfire Series II Roadster - for sale | Classic Cars For Sale | Classic and Sports Car

Here's a link to more information about the Woodill Wildfire seen in the show.

It was just sold by Worldwide Auctioneers at the Auburn Auction for $66,000.

[bhclark]

Woodill - Wildfire Series II Roadster - for sale | Classic Cars For Sale | Classic and Sports Car

Here's a link to more information about the Woodill Wildfire seen in the show.

It was just sold by Worldwide Auctioneers at the Auburn Auction for $66,000.

"The car remains in highly original condition, including the original white body paint and dashboard. The leather seats were re-created recently, and only sympathetic and essential repairs have taken place to the mechanical systems."

Truth in advertising, huh?

No mention of cutting the bumpers, painting the hood (lie by omission), cutting down the windshield, gas filler, etc.

So, if that was a real buyer at $100K, he took a serious bath on this one...

[X-Frame]

This show is filmed on our property (see our Web site at Phipps Auto). We have 2 buildings, and our shop (a normal working shop, specializing in working on older and classic cars) is the front building, while the Gas Monkey Garage guy (Richard) rents the back building. The film crew has been here since January working on this show, and a lot of the cars they've worked on have spilled over into our shop. My husband, Dewaine, has worked on a couple of the cars for the show, but only in a minor way, and they have only shown him in 2 of the episodes so far, although we've heard that he will be shown in other episodes down the road. My husband's shop has been there for almost 40 years. Gas Monkey Garage has been renting the back building for about 3 or 4 years, I think. Richard seems to be outgrowing the space, though, so I wouldn't be surprised to see him move out and find his own place for next year, since it looks like this show will get a second season.

My husband does the type of work most of you would probably approve of -- fixing up old cars the "right way" rather than turning them into something they're not --- but he enjoys watching what the Gas Monkey guys do, too. He sees a place for both types of work, and buyers for both. The guy who bought the 1950 Olds drives it all the time; he never did get the air suspension, but he loves the car. The guy with the Model A also drives it a lot and brings it by the shop and is thrilled with it. We've known Aaron (the ZZ Top-looking guy) for several years, and he is really talented and has lots of great ideas and visions for projects; you should see what he can do to a motorcycle (and maybe you will on the show sometime).

We had no idea how the show would do when they first approached us late last year about filming at the shop. We were still kind of doubtful that it would ever happen, but once they got started, they liked what they had and kept going. What was supposed to be 6 episodes turned into 12 episodes. They will finish filming the last episode for this year in a couple of weeks. Finally, we might get most of our parking lot and shop back! For the past 2 or 3 weeks, we've had a number of "fans" stop by wanting to see where the show is filmed. I don't know whether any of that will translate into future business for our shop, but I sure hope so.

At the least, even though financially we have not gotten much out of this so far, it has been a real "experience" for my husband, and he has enjoyed the break from the daily grind. I hope at least some of you will give the show a chance.

PS: Please don't let our involvement with the show stop you from posting your opinions of it. It wasn't our concept, it's not our work for the most part, and you won't hurt our feelings if you don't like it!

I have watched the show and can see the correctly restored cars sitting in the background outside. I wasn't aware it was a seperate garage/company. I do like the woman's interior work, from afar looks 1st class. But I DO NOT like these guys butchering classics to "slam" them as they say and alter suspensions and the engines to make them Street Rods of sorts. I prefer your way and would like to see a show (or episodes from these guys) showing a proper restoration. But then again the show is called "Fast 'N Loud" hence the cars.

[X-Frame]

That '51 Ford is off limits, and he knows it. But he sure likes it, and so does the production crew. They use it a lot as a background car.

I have a friend that owns one of these - dark blue Business Coupe. Has been in their garage since the 1970s.

[Scooter Guy]

"The car remains in highly original condition, including the original white body paint and dashboard. The leather seats were re-created recently, and only sympathetic and essential repairs have taken place to the mechanical systems."

Truth in advertising, huh?

No mention of cutting the bumpers, painting the hood (lie by omission), cutting down the windshield, gas filler, etc.

So, if that was a real buyer at $100K, he took a serious bath on this one...

Let the buyer beware, I suppose. Regardless of the price, I sure hope that whoever purchased it at Auburn knew they were getting a car that had been subjected to modifications. I would be incredibly irritated if I had purchased the car on the auction description alone and had then seen the show.

[Guest PhippsAuto]

I have watched the show and can see the correctly restored cars sitting in the background outside. I wasn't aware it was a seperate garage/company. I do like the woman's interior work, from afar looks 1st class. But I DO NOT like these guys butchering classics to "slam" them as they say and alter suspensions and the engines to make them Street Rods of sorts. I prefer your way and would like to see a show (or episodes from these guys) showing a proper restoration. But then again the show is called "Fast 'N Loud" hence the cars.

Would love to do a show with the real work that goes into these old cars, but it would take a long time to film because it takes a long time to do the work properly, so you'd end up with weeks of filming to get just 1 car done. Would have to be a once-a-year TV special or something! The field producer has actually mentioned to Dewaine a time or two that he is interested in a show about a mom-and-pop place like ours (I guess that would make me the mom), and even filmed a bit of footage along those lines, but I can't see what we do as being interesting enough (in a timely enough manner) to make for a good TV show. The shop itself and Dewaine's stories about it and the neighborhood are wonderful, but they're not easily transformed into a weekly show.

The street where our shop is located was known as a sort of "Gasoline Alley" back in the 1960s and 1970s. There were many well-known dragster and funny car builders and racers within walking distance of our shop back then. That would have been a GREAT time to make a TV show about the area! One of the guys my husband and father-in-law knew well back then was Jim Nicoll, whose spectacular crash in a top fuel car during the 1970 Nationals was the Wide World of Sports "agony of defeat" moment for years and years. Our back shop was once used by a guy named Henry "Moose" Schroeder, who built funny cars and was a great sheet metal guy. I think there's going to be a tie-in to him on an episode of "Fast N' Loud" coming up, because someone either bought or sold Richard a car (I can't remember which) that Moose had worked on. (I hope I have that right!)

[D Yaros]

There was to be a program entitled Reality Rides that did deal with "proper restoration;" or so I am led to believe. While the show is available on CD, it never made it on the air, or if it did, it sure did not last. Anyone know anything about it?

Reality Rides - (Reality Rides HDTV Series)

[Guest shadetree77]

Dave, I checked out the site you posted and could only find 2 videos. I also checked Vimeo.com which is where those videos are hosted and found a few more episodes all out of order. There appears to have been at least 3 whole season produced. However, I couldn't find anywhere on there where you could buy episodes on disc or watch others. That looks like an interesting show. Do you know where I could find more episodes or purchase them?

[Dave@Moon]

The episode last night made me sad and was actually hard to watch.

They took a really great unmolested, original Woodill Wildfire and (quite frankly) hacked it up. Throughout the show they went on and on about how rare and valuable the car was while proceeding to destroy original equipment:

-They replaced the original wheels and wheel covers with new wire Dayton wheels

-cut down the original windshield

-cut the back bumper brackets

-undid the original gas filler configuration

-recovered the nice original seats with black leather

-then painted the hood of the car black.

They're only original once and this one won't ever be again, sadly. All it really needed was some detailing and it would have been good to go.

As a sports car fan, this one really hurts.

All told, the most optimistic estimate is that exactly 300 of these cars (including do-it-yourself kits) were produced over 6 years. (That estimate is from Woodill promotional records, most other estimates put the number at about 100.) If you do an internet search for images of Wildfires, it appears there are almost certainly less than 20 surviving n any condition.

My old "Lost Souls" thread in Rants & Raves was made to memorialize rare cars like this one, now effectively lost to history. I regret that the thread is as lost now as the cars in it. By watching these shows for even a minute, however you feel about what you and they are doing, you are helping the people who do this by validating them (especially with the sponsors of the show who pay for this to happen). Do it at your own car's eventual peril. (You won't be here forever, your car might.)

Some people are in this hobby for the cars and their glory. Others are in it for themselves and...:mad: