Restoration-Mini

General Discussion => The Lounge => Topic started by: BruceK on March 21, 2017, 08:29:45 PM

Title: Say it Ain't So! Edd China is leaving Wheeler Dealers. Velocity screws the pooch
Post by: BruceK on March 21, 2017, 08:29:45 PM
The best car show on TV is now dead.  To me, Edd was the show.  Here's a video of Edd explaining why. 

Short version: Velocity channel took over production of Wheeler Dealers and suddenly realized they'd have to actually film Edd actually doing real work on a car, rather than the usual reality TV car show where they hire a psychopathic loudmouth to scream about "getting the car ready before the [artificial] deadline!!".  Ugh. 



Title: Re: Say it Ain't So! Edd China is leaving Wheeler Dealers. Velocity screws the pooch
Post by: MiniDave on March 21, 2017, 09:05:54 PM
Yep, the show is dead to me too......Edd showed a lot of class they way he did this, asking people to give Mike and Ant a chance, but we know better......Edd was the show, not Mike.
Title: Re: Say it Ain't So! Edd China is leaving Wheeler Dealers. Velocity screws the pooch
Post by: gr8kornholio on March 22, 2017, 05:05:50 AM
Never heard of this one, now I'll have to check it out.  Good place to catch old episodes?

Yea, I hate it when TV gets too involved and ruins things.  None of them last and eventually it's all about the deadline drama and not the building of the car.
Title: Re: Say it Ain't So! Edd China is leaving Wheeler Dealers. Velocity screws the pooch
Post by: BruceK on March 22, 2017, 06:56:55 AM
Quote from: gr8kornholio on March 22, 2017, 05:05:50 AM
Never heard of this one, now I'll have to check it out.  Good place to catch old episodes?

Yea, I hate it when TV gets too involved and ruins things.  None of them last and eventually it's all about the deadline drama and not the building of the car.

I'm kinda surprised you (and, based upon the comments on Jalopnik) and many others are not aware of this show because I've been hooked on it for about 10 years now, and I consider it the best car show on TV (and yes, I'm including Top Gear and The Grand Tour in that).   Apparently it has over 200 million viewers in 140+ countries.   

Wheeler Dealers has an extremely simple format: one guy buys an old car, the other guy fixes it up and they sell it.  And about 75% of the show focused on actually finding problems and repairing them - no artificial drama, no bullshit.   It started with very limited budgets of like £1,000 so the repairs were simple on cheap cars, but in its later years they were working on cars worth £20,000 or more.   It was great seeing a huge variety of cars in detail, and just watching Edd turn a wrench, or solve a problem.   In the more recent episodes, they moved the show from the UK to California due to the near-endless supply of interesting CA cars.

The good news is there are more than 130 episodes to catch up on. 

I just picked this WD episode at random, check it out:

Title: Re: Say it Ain't So! Edd China is leaving Wheeler Dealers. Velocity screws the pooch
Post by: MiniDave on March 22, 2017, 08:04:44 AM
Surprised you didn't post one of the Mini shows, either the old green Mk1 or the Mini City they put the faux carbon wrap on.
Title: Re: Say it Ain't So! Edd China is leaving Wheeler Dealers. Velocity screws the pooch
Post by: BruceK on March 22, 2017, 08:17:10 AM
Quote from: MiniDave on March 22, 2017, 08:04:44 AM
Surprised you didn't post one of the Mini shows, either the old green Mk1 or the Mini City they put the faux carbon wrap on.
Yeah, I really did pick that episode randomly.  And that was one of the things that really made WD great - the huge variety of cars.     

That first Mini episode with the Almond Green Mk. I was for a Mini in a pretty sad state.  Back then the goal on WD was just to ensure a classic car could still be used as a daily driver, and to do it all with just a budget of £1,000 total.  I liked those early shows, but I found myself wishing they did more.
Title: Re: Say it Ain't So! Edd China is leaving Wheeler Dealers. Velocity screws the pooch
Post by: MiniDave on March 22, 2017, 08:35:22 AM
Yes, the point is that the work they do could be done by anyone working out of their home shop, but some of their repairs were a little cheesy, like painting the Q panel on the old 924 with a spray bomb. Still, stayed under their £1K budget.....

I also was surprised how many people on Jalopnik had never heard of Edd or the WD show....

One thing I'm always fascinated by is how many little shops they find that can do very specialized repairs or make parts for them, like the guy who made the hubcaps for the Messerschmitt!
Title: Re: Say it Ain't So! Edd China is leaving Wheeler Dealers. Velocity screws the pooch
Post by: BruceK on March 22, 2017, 06:35:44 PM
It's going to be fun to see what Edd ends up doing.  He mentioned his YouTube channel, so I think that is where we'll see his new stuff showing up. 

To me he's kinda like James May - different personalities for sure - but I could watch either of them do the most mundane things or explain how various stuff works and be perfectly entertained.   
Title: Re: Say it Ain't So! Edd China is leaving Wheeler Dealers. Velocity screws the pooch
Post by: MiniDave on March 22, 2017, 08:57:50 PM
I also like James May, have you seen his series on assembling things?
Title: Re: Say it Ain't So! Edd China is leaving Wheeler Dealers. Velocity screws the pooch
Post by: BruceK on March 23, 2017, 05:06:22 AM
Yup.  My point exactly.  I recently spent an hour watching May assembling a little Honda motorbike from hundreds of pieces.   
Title: Re: Say it Ain't So! Edd China is leaving Wheeler Dealers. Velocity screws the pooch
Post by: John Gervais on March 23, 2017, 06:18:06 PM
Regarding James May's show, I enjoyed the proper British lawnmower and telephone episodes.

I'd wouldn't mind Ed China  looking at my mini someday; maybe he could help me figure a few things out...  (having some technical difficulties...)
Title: Re: Say it Ain't So! Edd China is leaving Wheeler Dealers. Velocity screws the pooch
Post by: BruceK on March 27, 2017, 09:12:48 AM
Holy Crap this Internet is a very crazy place.   

Crazy enough for unhinged people to feel that should threaten Mike Brewer's life (and his wife, and daughter, too) just because Edd China is leaving Wheeler Dealers?   Yes, apparently.   

Edd asks for cooler heads.

Title: Re: Say it Ain't So! Edd China is leaving Wheeler Dealers. Velocity screws the pooch
Post by: gr8kornholio on March 27, 2017, 09:54:16 AM
Yea, is the world going more crazy, or is it just more apparent now that we are all instantly connected.  Steve Harvey still has full time security because of the Miss Universe or what ever it was mistake he made.  Still gets threats.  Personally I feel those should be considered a crime and should be reported and dealt with.  With today's technology it isn't that easy to hide behind your keyboard.
Title: Re: Say it Ain't So! Edd China is leaving Wheeler Dealers. Velocity screws the pooch
Post by: BruceK on September 13, 2017, 07:54:03 PM
I just saw a promo for the next Wheeler Dealers series - with Edd's replacement - which will be out October 4th.   The promo is humorous and addresses the new guy coming in.   I guess we'll see if it's any good.
Title: Re: Say it Ain't So! Edd China is leaving Wheeler Dealers. Velocity screws the pooch
Post by: gr8kornholio on September 14, 2017, 03:39:45 AM
Yep, they were running them on velocity during older episodes.  I've enjoyed watching these when I catch them. 
Title: Re: Say it Ain't So! Edd China is leaving Wheeler Dealers. Velocity screws the pooch
Post by: BruceK on October 06, 2017, 12:54:15 PM
I may have to re-title this thread. 

I watched the first episode of the new Wheeler Dealers with Edd's replacement and it did not suck. 

In fact, it was pretty good. 


As a mechanic and co-presenter, Ant is doing well.  He's likeable, and obviously knows his way around a garage.  I'm guessing the producers took Edd's criticism to heart when he complained about them wanting to cut back on the actual mechanical repair parts of the show and they realized he had a very good point.  The segments showing wrench-turning is the main reason the show has been successful in the past IMO.  And they don't seem to be lessened in the new season. 
Title: Re: Say it Ain't So! Edd China is leaving Wheeler Dealers. Velocity screws the pooch
Post by: gr8kornholio on October 06, 2017, 07:32:06 PM
Agreed, I've had to change up the car show's I watch because the one's on the "networks" don't show any actual building being done.  Curious to see how bad the new fast and loud is going to be.  Aaron Kaufman is supposed to be filming his own show too. 

Been enjoying iron resurrection on velocity.  The Martin Brothers have a shop near Austin.  It's mainly the one Martin, but his brother makes an appearance occasionally.  They used to make some of the craziest custom cycles back in that craze.
Title: Re: Say it Ain't So! Edd China is leaving Wheeler Dealers. Velocity screws the pooch
Post by: MiniDave on October 11, 2017, 08:59:16 PM
I saw one of the WD shows tonight (Toyota Supra) and I have to echo Bruce's opinion - it did not suck - at all.

Title: Re: Say it Ain't So! Edd China is leaving Wheeler Dealers. Velocity screws the pooch
Post by: BruceK on October 12, 2017, 06:49:43 AM
Last week's episode was even better. 
Title: Re: Say it Ain't So! Edd China is leaving Wheeler Dealers. Velocity screws the pooch
Post by: gr8kornholio on October 12, 2017, 10:00:04 AM
Great, and now I'm 2 weeks behind.   ;D
Title: Re: Say it Ain't So! Edd China is leaving Wheeler Dealers. Velocity screws the pooch
Post by: Mudhen on October 14, 2017, 04:03:21 PM
Just happened to see the first part of the Supra episode (my 15yo son had it on...ok, happy dad moment)...are they now based in the US?  That kills it for me.  It's way more appealing to me to see the UK and European side of things - even from the simple standpoint of scenery when they're checking out cars; I get too much US with just the nightly news.

I'd only seen a handful of episodes anyway so had no idea it had been around so long.  Jumping on the old episodes now!   77.gif
Title: Re: Say it Ain't So! Edd China is leaving Wheeler Dealers. Velocity screws the pooch
Post by: MiniDave on October 25, 2017, 06:22:20 PM
Watching the Saab story episode right now, interesting to see that the 96 rusted in many of the same places as out classic Minis!

Fairly easy to do a clutch job on it tho.....I've done my share of those on Saabs back in the day. When the 99 came out it was unique in that to change the clutch on one of those you didn't have to remove the engine or the transmission! All you had to do was remove the clutch cover, pull a short shaft out, unbolt the clutch and out it came!
Title: Re: Say it Ain't So! Edd China is leaving Wheeler Dealers. Velocity screws the pooch
Post by: ve9aa on April 18, 2018, 03:11:12 PM
WD is (was?) one of my very favorite car shows, with Edd being my favorite 'cast' member by far due to the fact he was a real repair/fix/troubleshoot guy and not just a parts swapper.  (ie: He has a brain and skills)

I grudgingly have watched 2 new episodes recently with Ant Anstead and he's pretty good as well, but he's not Edd.

Title: Re: Say it Ain't So! Edd China is leaving Wheeler Dealers. Velocity screws the pooch
Post by: BruceK on April 19, 2018, 06:20:55 PM
The new season is on.  I wish they'd tone it down a little. 

Next week they will feature a R53 MINI Cooper S.   Wow.  I guess that is sort of being considered a classic now?    A little premature I think, but I do love the R53.
Title: Re: Say it Ain't So! Edd China is leaving Wheeler Dealers. Velocity screws the pooch
Post by: BruceK on April 21, 2018, 07:21:33 AM
I was just thinking: what has Edd China been doing? I thought he would've surfaced by now because it's been a about year.