Roadkill and other Motortrend shows are cancelled.

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Demonx2 said:
Errr...I don't think anyone on here would call your car a POS. I saw your trip and surely enjoyed the posts you did for the trip. I believe anyone on here would be proud to have your car in their garage. I'll be first to raise my hand!! An oil leak? I thought that was mandatory on all of our old cars!

But I don't think his show was about building and using a car as nice as yours. At least not the VERY few episodes I watched of his various shenanigans. I tuned out based on those I saw.
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i appreciate that but my point was that the show makes me want to do road trips in the old car. the oil leak is pretty bad.. now i don't think i want to do one of those trips in total **** boxes like some of theirs but i think it would be a cool experience to fly somewhere, grab an old car and road trip it...
 
abodyjoe said:
now i don't think i want to do one of those trips in total **** boxes like some of theirs but i think it would be a cool experience to fly somewhere, grab an old car and road trip it...
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Be careful for what you wish for. Those guys have SAG support, and if/when they break-down, it's no big deal.

But when you're out there all alone, with some old vehicle you know very little about, it can get a little unnerving. Trust me on this one, as I've been there, done that more than a few times.
 
ProjectBazza said:
Be careful for what you wish for. Those guys have SAG support, and if/when they break-down, it's no big deal.

But when you're out there all alone, with some old vehicle you know very little about, it can get a little unnerving. Trust me on this one, as I've been there, done that more than a few times.
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agree , they have people following them , "its called support" , also the camera crew , their never alone ...
 
thesiren74 said:
Yeah that's why you see kids at the track with Roadkill shirts on...
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There's a high school kid where I work currently (John Deere factory) who is an apprentice tractor mechanic, he's a huge Roadkill fan and is usually wearing one of their shirts. He drives a pretty cool lifted K5 Blazer and knows his stuff.

I don't think a lot of you older guys understand what this show and Freiburger, Finnegan and Dulcich did for younger gearheads who grew up way after muscle cars became valuable collector cars. I remember as a teenager in the 2000s when classic Mopars started bringing in big bucks at the fancy auctions, I thought they were unattainable dream cars that I couldn't get into unless I had $20k to drop. Everyone my age and younger thought the same thing. When I got my '70 Duster and would talk to other car guys about it they always said something along the lines of "I'd love to get into classic muscle like that but I don't have the money or skills." My reaction was, "you're fooling yourself". Compared to the late-model imports all the young guys were into at the time, American cars from the 60s and 70s are a joke to work on.

The later seasons of these shows did get a little deep with the production value and support staff but the core ideas remained. You don't need a restored numbers-matching classic with pedigree to have fun. There are old cars and trucks out there that may have been boring and basic from the factory but converting them to a fun muscle machine is NOT hard. Get something, ANYthing, from the Big 3 that is RWD, get it running and road-worthy, and drive the wheels off of it! It won't be a real SS454 Chevelle or Hemi Cuda but who cares! I guarantee if these shows hadn't happened, the current interest in classic cars from younger generations (which is pretty significant, contrary to what all the negative Nancies whining about smart phones and EVs think) would be non-existent.
 
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ProjectBazza said:
Be careful for what you wish for. Those guys have SAG support, and if/when they break-down, it's no big deal.

But when you're out there all alone, with some old vehicle you know very little about, it can get a little unnerving. Trust me on this one, as I've been there, done that more than a few times.
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yes i know and understand that.. but it would still be a cool adventure.
 
the other saying i hear from those guys that i love is that "its more fun to drive a slow car fast then a fast car slow".. i'm sure it didn't originate from them but its still a good point..
 
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abodyjoe said:
yes i know and understand that.. but it would still be a cool adventure.
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Oh, it can be an adventure alright! :lol:

But seriously, it can also be quite memorable, and in a good way. In my opinion, as long as you're not on a tight schedule, can "go with the flow", and have good mechanical skills (or a AAA membership!): Go for it!
 
RoadKill and RoadKill Garage is a lot of Hollywood, but I agree with post #138 MopaR&D above like he said. The basis of it all in the beginning was show (Young) guys that these old cars can be fun and built with limited funds and experience. I always loved their buying a heap out of a boneyard and driving from Az, etc back to La or whatever they call home!! Yea they (company) bought new tires, and attempted to make sure they had some brakes and not kill someone. Steering? Suspension? Probably bad woreout? But fun! But they are two guys that can fix stuff! Then as time marches on, the higher end builds became more common. 55 Chevy roller with a built 426 hemi. OK.
Yes they took mostly mundane cars and built them into a fun ride, but in reality these guys had lots of new stuff given them from sponsors!! And like said, always a chase vehicle!

I flew out to Oakland, Ca from Missouri back in late 90s and bought a nice 67 383 Cuda and drove it back. BUT, the seller was an engineer with Amoco Oil, he built all his cars inc. another 67 Cuda he road raced, a 426 hemi car (67 Bel??), and this car and put 10,000 miles on it driving it. I was NOT SCARED!!! When I got to Nv. and drove highway 50 (2 lane) across Nv. and Ut. then I hit interstate in Co. Then all the way across Ks. (boring??) Most fun I ever had but it was a totally done car, but NOT a refugee form a boneyard!!!
 
Far as I remember, the only thing the crew did on RK was run them to get gas and parts and only when necessary. And with the advent of Uber and Lyft, seems like you could get the same support with a cost.

I guess the crew has sometimes helped push a vehicle or give a jump, but I bet someone without a film crew could probably get random people to help in the same way.

And I find it funny that everyone assumes that they got so much from sponsors. My gut says if that was the case, they wouldn't have been cancelled since the show would only have to fund salaries and would probably be making money. Didn't seem to me like they were getting sponsor support for parts.
 
^^^^ Have you ever studied the credits on these "reality" shows, It takes an army to film, edit, and whatever!!!! And non of these guys work cheap I bet!!
 
Kern Dog said:
Overhaulin was like the funny friend of yours that hung around waaaaaay too long and wore out his welcome. It started off well except for a few things, mainly that stuff was being done to the Chip Foose standard, not the owners of the cars. I’d be pissed if my car came back all pimped out with 20 series tires on obscenely huge wheels and paint that looked good on camera but horrible up close. I’ve seen a couple of their cars up close and the work was crap.
Their routine of the car being “stolen” and secretly fixed up would be pretty upsetting to the owners if it were actually played out that way. The one hour episodes gave some people the unrealistic belief that a shell of a car could be reassembled and finished in just a few days. EVERY car guy I know looked at these car build shows knowing that they were bullshit.
Roadkill showed real setbacks that we all have dealt with.
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Overhaulin can make as many episodes as they want as far as I'm concerned.

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barbee6043 said:
^^^^ Have you ever studied the credits on these "reality" shows, It takes an army to film, edit, and whatever!!!! And non of these guys work cheap I bet!!
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True. And as the show gained traction they gained camera men and the crew got bigger. Rooms, food, fuel, rental car (minivan) and salary might be their biggest expenses.

But if that is the case, then someone throwing parts at them isn't what made the show work and "sponsored parts" is a pointless strawman.
 
According to Joe Zolper's rant on his YouTube channel, Discovery and all of it's channels are owned by Warner Brothers. They decided to shut down the MotorTrend studios. Most of the shows have new stuff in the can and should be broadcast over the next season ....... IF they decide to keep MT TV running. Otherwise, everyone has YouTube channels you can subscribe to.
 
petty437 said:
According to Joe Zolper's rant on his YouTube channel, Discovery and all of it's channels are owned by Warner Brothers. They decided to shut down the MotorTrend studios. Most of the shows have new stuff in the can and should be broadcast over the next season ....... IF they decide to keep MT TV running. Otherwise, everyone has YouTube channels you can subscribe to.
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Joe gave a good account, and sounds like he is done with it all!!!!
I am 76 and I still love watching and learning and being around guys that love the old car hobby, ( in real life or even the tube) whether my age or a kid.
 
MopaR&D said:
There's a high school kid where I work currently (John Deere factory) who is an apprentice tractor mechanic, he's a huge Roadkill fan and is usually wearing one of their shirts. He drives a pretty cool lifted K5 Blazer and knows his stuff.

I don't think a lot of you older guys understand what this show and Freiburger, Finnegan and Dulcich did for younger gearheads who grew up way after muscle cars became valuable collector cars. I remember as a teenager in the 2000s when classic Mopars started bringing in big bucks at the fancy auctions, I thought they were unattainable dream cars that I couldn't get into unless I had $20k to drop. Everyone my age and younger thought the same thing. When I got my '70 Duster and would talk to other car guys about it they always said something along the lines of "I'd love to get into classic muscle like that but I don't have the money or skills." My reaction was, "you're fooling yourself". Compared to the late-model imports all the young guys were into at the time, American cars from the 60s and 70s are a joke to work on.

The later seasons of these shows did get a little deep with the production value and support staff but the core ideas remained. You don't need a restored numbers-matching classic with pedigree to have fun. There are old cars and trucks out there that may have been boring and basic from the factory but converting them to a fun muscle machine is NOT hard. Get something, ANYthing, from the Big 3 that is RWD, get it running and road-worthy, and drive the wheels off of it! It won't be a real SS454 Chevelle or Hemi Cuda but who cares! I guarantee if these shows hadn't happened, the current interest in classic cars from younger generations (which is pretty significant, contrary to what all the negative Nancies whining about smart phones and EVs think) would be non-existent.
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Well I'm sure guilty of being an old fart. And probably act even older than my years! If the show helped some of you "young-uns" appreciate old cars, then great as I'll need someone to want mine when I'm toast in the not too distant future.

@abodyjoe mentioned about driving slow cars fast or fast cars slow. I assure you I MUCH prefer driving a fast car slow. I don't drive anything fast on public roads. But I do drive the avatar on public roads (when I can wrest the driver's seat from my wife!) and I assure you it is driven "slowly." (Heck, the car draws enough attention without zipping around!) But that's just me and hence why those shows were not for me.

As for all those other shows with people building/fabricating high end cars, well they certainly have more talent than me so I'm short on criticism for them.
 
barbee6043 said:
^^^^ Have you ever studied the credits on these "reality" shows, It takes an army to film, edit, and whatever!!!! And non of these guys work cheap I bet!!
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it costs around 100~500K to film an hour of "reality" tv. i'm making a somewhat educated guess that roadkill falls toward the bottom of that scale.

in the grand scheme of things, that's peanuts.
 
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