What would an American "Wheeler Dealers" look like?

"tetsu_no_usagi" (tetsunousagi) 08/28/2013 at 23:13 • Filed to: None

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Hopefully you have heard of this show, or even watch it as often as you can, but if you haven't, let me introduce you to another car-centric gem from across the pond - Wheeler Dealers .

You got two gearheads, Mike and Ed, who have spent a majority of their lives behind the wheel or under the hood of anything with 4 wheels (and some vehicles with less than 4). Mike goes and finds a classic or modern classic car at a good deal, gives it over to his wrench turner Ed, who brings it up to tip top shape, both in the mechanical and looks departments, and they sell it for a profit. Of course, it's Euro focused in the car selection, but they've come to the States for one season, and they've got a new season they're showing from India, but otherwise, all Europe and almost all right-hand drive vehicles. If you've never watched it, keep an eye on the Velocity channel (yeah, not BBC America), as they're running old and new seasons, it's totally worth it.

I think that, much like Top Gear has come across the pond and found success in a slightly different, US-flavored show, Wheeler Dealers could be a successful show in the States. Don't get me wrong, I like the shows we already have in this vein - Fast 'n' Loud , Chasing Classic Cars , Fantomworks , All Girls Garage , Counting Cars , just to name a few - but I don't like the idea that what those shows are doing are so far beyond what I, as a home-garage mechanic, could ever be able to do: the training, the tools, the equipment, the skill, it's all beyond what I and those like me will ever be able to do. However, what Ed China does in Wheeler Dealers is rarely so complicated that watching it I often feel like "hey, I could do what they do, with just a little more work and only a few more tools". A little paint here, a little basic mechanic work there, and lots of elbow grease all over, that's all they're showing us, not work that requires a mechanical engineer's degree, or a deep understanding of modern electrical systems and how they can be transplanted into a chassis that thought a distributor cap was high technology, or the ability to weld 3 exotic metals together. I love those other shows and have great respect for the guys (and gals) that can do that stuff, but they're always showing projects that I could only do if I won the lottery and paid someone to teach me, over the next 10 years, how to do what they do.

So, love the show, love the idea behind it - average Joe and Jane Q. Publics can take good car values, give them a little love, a little sprucing up, and sell them for profit - but what would it look like if someone brought it over here to the States? Here's my idea of how it'd go down (feel free to rebut in the comments below, but please, be civil) - first off, it wouldn't be a TV series, at least not at the start. Like the YT /DRIVE channel and Jerry Seinfeld's Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee , Wheeler Dealers US (but probably something less derivative so they don't have to pay royalties, I'm just not that creative tonight to come up with one of my own) would be a web series, sponsored primarily by one of the major online auto search engines (Cars.com, AutoTrader, eBay Motors, heck even AutoTempest if they could swing the money), would still feature two folks or two groups of folks, the car expert(s) that goes and buys the car (using, of course, the major sponsor's search engine - see, I'm building in advertising from the beginning, 'cause I want this to be financially successful from the beginning, not at some far distant point in the future) and the wrench turner(s) who makes the car into a profit-earning piece. They would focus on more American machines - definitely more trucks/SUVs, early American icons, muscle car era steel, with a dash of Asian and European flavor thrown in every once in a while. Start the budget low - $5 large for the first season, and raise it up from there to match inflation - and see how much of a profit they can make at the end. Where would they sell it? Again, right back to the major sponsor's online search engine.

What do you think, OppoLockers? What would be a good name for this show? Know anyone who is a) a car expert or expert mechanic, and b) telegenic enough to pull off being a host on the new show?

Jacques L' Autre > tetsu_no_usagi 08/28/2013 at 23:15

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'Sup?

Bandit > tetsu_no_usagi 08/28/2013 at 23:19

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One critique: the shows would be similar in purpose, but the US version would replace scenes where the mechanic works on the car with more drama, it would be shorter (to compensate for shorter attention spans), and they could only do classic muscle cars. That's what all the mainstream tv channels (I'm looking at you discovery networks and your competitors) do to car shows.

In all seriousness: I feel an American version of wheeler dealers would be very much like the "Powerblock" on spike. http://www.powerblocktv.com/

Bandit > Bandit 08/28/2013 at 23:23

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Oh, I could run the show. One third of the show would be me working on the car, the next third would be me looking for tools I put down somewhere logical but can't seem to find, and the last third would be hoonage.

lone_liberal > tetsu_no_usagi 08/28/2013 at 23:58

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I love Wheeler Dealers! The only thing I've ever raised my eyebrows about was when they were doing a Corvette and said that American cars have dodgy electrical systems. A Brit criticizing American electrics? Pot meet kettle. An American version would throw in fake drama and be unwatchable.

Dunnik > tetsu_no_usagi 08/29/2013 at 00:19

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Wheeler Dealers is an awesome show.

Mosqvich > tetsu_no_usagi 08/29/2013 at 00:43

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I've often thought the same thing, a US version of Wheeler Dealers, but my thought about it and even the original isn't really to buy a car and sell it for profit, it's to understand what one can do with a used car to make it worth keeping. On the original, there are a ton of extra costs and Edd China doesn't really do all of the work. They have a team of mechanics that do, plus they almost always redo the brakes, put on new tires, etc... for liability reasons. Still, I think our market could sustain both, though your YouTube idea is truly Innovative (<<— see that, with a capital I).

Dakotacowboy > lone_liberal 08/29/2013 at 02:26

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I laughed my head off when he started talking about the dodgy American electrical systems. Anyone who comes from the land of Lucas wiring smoke should never talk about another country's electronics.

Dakotacowboy > tetsu_no_usagi 08/29/2013 at 02:39

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I have a couple of title ideas for you. "Car Flippers" in the tradition of all of those house flipping shows from a few years ago and for shock value, or the very direct and to the point "Buy Fix Sell"

Soloburrito > tetsu_no_usagi 08/29/2013 at 02:54

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Fast N Loud.

duurtlang > tetsu_no_usagi 08/29/2013 at 04:46

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As neither a Brit nor an American I think I'll stick to the UK version. In my experience US shows usually add too much drama, fluff and lack of debt to such a show. I imagine the cars picked by a US show would pale in comparison too, although that might just be my personal perspective as I don't care for muscle cars or trucks at all.

Mikeado > tetsu_no_usagi 08/29/2013 at 06:21

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It would probably be like the dozen other American buy-fix-sell shows like Fast 'n' Loud, Desert Car Kings and Counting Cars, but with more focus on one car and only mild customisation.

tetsu_no_usagi > Bandit 08/30/2013 at 11:41

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I could probably run either side of it myself, but I don't feel like I have the easy knowledge that Mike and Edd have from years of working in and around cars. I have a lot of knowledge, and I guess I could make it work by doing my research off camera, but those guys just sound so natural talking about the history and known issues and whatnot, it's daunting.

I haven't watched much Powerblock, I guess I need to educate myself, see if those shows are closer to what I'm envisioning.

tetsu_no_usagi > Jacques L' Autre 08/30/2013 at 12:50

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Nothing to see here. Go back to your frame-off restorations and brand new crate engines that cost more alone than my daily commuter, Mr Foose, and leave us to talk about car shows that include projects us hoi polloi can actually afford and/or do with our level of mechanical knowledge.

tetsu_no_usagi > lone_liberal 08/30/2013 at 12:52

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I have no idea what you're talking about, British wiring is awesome.

Oh, you said BRITISH, sorry, misheard you, carry on.

=)

tetsu_no_usagi > Dakotacowboy 08/30/2013 at 15:14

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Actually, I like both of those ideas for names. Not a fan of the whole house flipping culture that helped us into our recession a couple of years back, but I'm okay with the idea of "flipping" in the used car market. I do, however, like Buy Fix Sell as a title better than Car Flippers , but only by a little bit. Good suggestions.

tetsu_no_usagi > Soloburrito 08/30/2013 at 15:16

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Again, see the conversation above I had with one Mr. Chip Foose. I appreciate (and like watching) what the Gas Monkey Garage guys are doing, I just want to see an American show where us non-ASE certified folks with basic handtools (and a reasonable, non-astronomical budget) can do what the guys on the show are doing.

Dakotacowboy > tetsu_no_usagi 08/30/2013 at 16:07

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Thanks

Soloburrito > tetsu_no_usagi 08/31/2013 at 12:16

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Dallas car sharks is more like that but I'm not a fan of the cast.

Also FNL probably doesn't count simply because most of their cars are modified as opposed to common repairs as seen on WD.

tetsu_no_usagi > Soloburrito 08/31/2013 at 23:27

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Haven't seen Dallas Car Sharks , going to have to give that one a try. Looks more business-oriented, rather than hobbyist, but still might be entertaining.

cesariojpn > Jacques L' Autre 09/01/2013 at 15:59

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Yeah, committing "Grand Theft Auto" is not cool. Chip Foose, the wench, and the fucktard should've been arrested and imprisoned.

cesariojpn > Soloburrito 09/01/2013 at 16:00

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Doesn't count. They do a ton of modifications to the car. Plus, Richard Rawlings is a douchebag.

Matthew Henry > tetsu_no_usagi 09/01/2013 at 16:08

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I feel like I could qualify as both the car expert and the mechanic. I've owned a Jeep Wrangler and a somewhat-broken Saturn, and I'm a penniless college student. However, I came a hair's breadth away from thinking a 200k mile '76 Datsun 280z was a good deal, and spent 8 months trying to convince myself that a 1974 Triumph Spitfire would be a reliable commuter. I was also accused of looking like a baron.

cesariojpn > tetsu_no_usagi 09/01/2013 at 16:52

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Given we have a really watered down version of Top Gear with a cast that is about as cohesive as silly putty, a US version of WD will be messed up.

Going down the format list, I think the background of the car won't be a major sticking point. Stick to the facts, make it interesting, and done.

And now we hit the first stumbling block; buying the car. This is where the first instances of executive meddling will happen. We'll have sellers who are fucking assholes, rigged auctions, or contrived ways to get cars that really are impractical.

The handoff will be pretty much a Domination/submissive relationship that borders on spousal abuse. You have to wonder why Edd hasn't throttled Mike yet with a wrench given the shit he's endured in the UK show. Only in the American version, Mike gives Edd an impossible timeline .

As for the mechanics side.......thats a toughie. Given that Reality TV has no ethical qualms to "fudge" the truth here and there (see Frauds n Liar's Ferrari build for a stellar example of ethics being thrown out the window), expect to see during the fixing that the owner of the car previously allowed something to fall apart to the point it would be a safety hazard. Or the car has a lien on it. Or whatever. Parts will be a subtle form of product placement.

The sale will be rigged so that the price is stupidly higher than the norm, and cue gloating by the host.

So yeah, WD in the USA would be messed up. But not like when Mike was in the US buying cars.

Built BMW Tough > tetsu_no_usagi 09/01/2013 at 20:04

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Shit. It would look like shit.

orchestradirector > tetsu_no_usagi 09/01/2013 at 21:04

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Wheeler dealers is great because Edd says "These window rubbers are perished" and Mike says that Edd will "Twiddle his spanners." Can't be translated into Merican.

tetsu_no_usagi > Matthew Henry 09/01/2013 at 22:34

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What, no love for the Z car? *tsk* I'd have done it, especially if it was Datsun Blue (yep, had a special shade of blue just for their cars) with the black vinyl strip down the side. That's what my first car ('79 210 wagon) looked like, and I've always been partial to it.

tetsu_no_usagi > orchestradirector 09/01/2013 at 22:36

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Oh it does, but in one of those redneck, hillbilly accents ("hand me that thar wrench, Cletus, I's gonna bang it back inta shape") that to us is just tragic, but wildly hilarious to everyone overseas. Sometimes you have to have been there to get the joke, sometimes you have to not be from there to get the joke.

tetsu_no_usagi > cesariojpn 09/01/2013 at 22:41

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That's why I'd keep it away from TV networks - TV and movie are made in Hollywood because that's where the money is, as the inspiration and the talent have both long fled that particular building, or been optioned into anonymity - and go directly to the advertiser for the backing and broadcast it over the 'net. At least, I would hope the outcome would be drama free, and that the show sticks to reality more than hand waving on-camera, and lots of shady crap off-camera. *shrug* Unless one of us wins the lottery, I'm doubting this is anything more than the wasted twiddling of our fingers on keyboards.

Matthew Henry > tetsu_no_usagi 09/02/2013 at 15:33

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It was really right at the edge of my budget — and wouldn't have left anything for emergencies. It was really pretty though. There's a photo in my write-up here.

http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/car-shopping-b…

tetsu_no_usagi > Matthew Henry 09/02/2013 at 18:15

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Yeah bud, I'm the same way, and that's why I don't own the 280Z you pictured, because that is Datsun Blue with the black vinyl strip.

It's a small, weird world after all.