Anyone else catch the "premiere" of this on Discovery Home & Leisure last night? (Would just like to point out that Friday night is pub night for me!)
If not, brief synopsis: Mike Brewer (of Deals on Wheels/Driven fame) has £1,000 to buy and "restore" modern classics, with the help of mechanic Edd China (the bloke who built the "James Bond" Rover 800 on Top Gear and also, I think, the bloke who built the motorised sofa I saw on a Jeremy Clarkson video a few years back).
Each car takes up two half-hour episodes. MB finds and buys the car, and EC does the necessary repairs. Then MB tries to sell for a profit. Last night we had a Mini Mk2 850 and a Saab 900 Turbo. Later cars (from what I could make out from the opening titles) will be Porsche 924, Mercedes Benz 280E (W123), Ford Capri Mk3, and VW Golf GTI Mk1.
Must say I thought it was quite enjoyable entertainment. The buying and selling bit resembles Deals on Wheels, giving you good pointers on what to look for. The restoration bit is a touch lightweight, but then I suppose they don't want to alienate the audience by getting totally bogged down in mechanics.
Two things spring to mind from last night's episodes: the Mini needed a total respray and a new A-post, but nothing was mentioned of repairing other rust spots (although MB did say the inner wings were "sound"), which could be a bit misleading...and they still didn't manage to get the sidelights working properly on the Saab even after changing the indicator/light units to clear lenses!
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Yep, I watched it. I was quite surprised that EC decided to tart up the Mini's engine, and other bits in the engine bay after it had come back from the spray shop!
This program was crying out for Mark Evans (of "a whatever is born/reborn" fame) to do the mechanical stuff.
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Also noticed on the Mini that the interior looked decidedly shot on purchase, but they didn't appear to do anything with it. Maybe that's why they only got £1,300 for it. Interesting they sold it to a bloke from Guernsey though - haven't seen it yet, but as it's a small place it's only a matter of time...
Given that Mark Evans' projects all seem to go spectacularly over budget, probably best that he's not involved...I miss his enthusiasm though!
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I've gone of Mark Evans a bit - most of his recent 'do it up' consists of sending bits to other people to fix. 600 quid for the triumph engine??
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