Lost in Transmission

I love car shows. My favorites are the ones where they save old cars and show some of what it takes to complete such huge projects. This appeared to be such a show and I like Rutledge from Top Gear USA so it seemed like a winning combination. Unfortunately this show turned out terribly.

This is a show about fixing and saving cars without actually showing any of the fixing. Instead it's filled with a lot of filler content like driving golf carts around a building. The one somewhat technical thing they showed involved stripping paint from some Delorean fenders only to reveal the painted car had been damaged and the panels were useless. The trick here is they had to know the panels were bad to begin with by just flipping them over to see the dents. It was a Delorean and the main reason anyone ever paints one of those cars is because of body damage. Maybe had I not seen other better shows I wouldn't have a clue. The bottom line is this show will teach you nothing about cars nor will they even give you a hint of how much it costs or how much time it takes to do a good job restoring one. If you thirst for knowledge this show is a dry well. Go watch Wheeler Dealers, For The Love of Cars, or even Overhaulin' for that stuff.

Sadly this show perpetuates the same typical stereotypes of the South that I have come to be disgusted by as a real southerner. Nothing shown on this show really even comes close to the reality of living in the south. We don't live on back roads or all eat at mom & pop diners or have our car work done at some crazy shack in the woods. I hope the show changes through the episodes but I don't know if I can stomach wasting any more of my time to find out as everything here seems clearly staged and scripted. I just hope the guy at the end didn't have to pay for all the work done on his car so someone got something from this.

I am a big fan of car shows. There are some I don't like but most are informative and somewhat entertaining. I recently purchased an FJ40 so I was excited to see that there was going to be a show about restoring one. I was hoping to learn something from the show about the restoration process because I consider myself a novice at this. I can honestly say I learned absolutely nothing. To make things worst I had to watch the hosts put together a Jetta pickup truck kit. I did learn if you put an airbag in a fire it would explode. Good educational TV.

The show was inane and the hosts were incredibly annoying with their constant bantering and bad jokes. Although I did like Rutledge Wood in Top Gear.

Needless to say this show is a one and done for me.

It's kind of a small time Top Gear. It has a lot of talk, very little car involvement. In the premier, the completed car sort of emerges. No wrenching, no actual car depth. There is a lot of banter between the hosts, mostly inane quips, weak jokes. So not really car talk, and a lot of it. Maybe it was done just to introduce the characters, but wouldn't that happen anyway? Using a premise of a "rare car rescue" this show did not deliver. It was more like " hey there's a car you don't see every day" and then " hey look, the car is done!" I know they Had to start somewhere, but I think this bombed. I think fans are savvy enough to spot the utterly phony stuff.

This short lived car show was entertaining. Nobody should think they can watch these reality car shows as a restoration guide for their own cars lol. The guys are funny as they operate at a loss in every episode and screw up on camera. One episode Rutledge cuts the bed of a truck too short. Hilarious. Misfit garage without all the language. I wish there was more to watch.

I enjoy this show a lot. The dialogue is entertaining, the cars are interesting (not just more Camaros & Mustangs), and the show focuses on doing something good for someone who deserves it. The only episode I didn't enjoy was the first because the owner was really bizarre and obviously stoned on serious chemicals and maybe didn't deserve it... (?). I like the fact that they solve problems without the excessive drama, and keep the whole vibe fun and positive. I do wish we'd see a little more of Rut and George doing the actual work, like the tear down on the Eagle and the VW Jetta Truck. All in all, funny and entertaining.