Guessing this is the Wheeler Dealers X

tvmaster said:
No? What is it worth do you think?
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Tough to say. It looks like a good driver, but there are inaccuracies that I think will hurt this cars value, a little. Overall I'm thinking 6k-6500 realistically. The wrong/later stock '79/80 steel wheels, are the least attractive of those offered, and I suspect they were purchased very cheap (as would be done for a WD show). The wrong sized tires probably come down to a lack of options in 13in. The chrome/silver bumpers are wrong for the year, and dont present well for that color of car. A simple can of satin black, can fix that though.
The front chin spoiler looks like it has a waviness & squareness to it, which I suspect is a modified plastic spoiler, from a later car.

Personally none of this matters to me. It looks like its solid, and can be improved, so 🤷‍♂️
 
Eastep said:
Tough to say. It looks like a good driver, but there are inaccuracies that I think will hurt this cars value, a little. Overall I'm thinking 6k-6500 realistically. The wrong/later stock '79/80 steel wheels, are the least attractive of those offered, and I suspect they were purchased very cheap (as would be done for a WD show). The wrong sized tires probably come down to a lack of options in 13in. The chrome/silver bumpers are wrong for the year, and dont present well for that color of car. A simple can of satin black, can fix that though.
The front chin spoiler looks like it has a waviness & squareness to it, which I suspect is a modified plastic spoiler, from a later car.

Personally none of this matters to me. It looks like its solid, and can be improved, so 🤷‍♂️
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Can't imagine if they're asking $9k they'd go down to $6500. But you never know. I kinda like the 1980 wheels, which from the sounds of things puts me in the minority. It is odd that the bumpers are from maybe '73? Can't be sure what year, but they don't quite seem to wrap as far around as a 1974.
 
Dan Sarandrea (Phila) said:
I don't know enough about the small bumpers to tell if the ones on this car are simply original '74-only American bumpers or if these are European bumpers. Maybe because they are small, and/or maybe because they are chromed a la Lido editions), the ad writer (presumably Mike Brewer) assumed they were Euro bumpers.

The use of "T-Top" vs the correct term "targa top" again could be due to the ad writer not knowing that in the USA, these are not interchangeable terms.

At this date, this episode has yet to be aired, it will likely be in the second batch of eight.
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I've always heard that "behind the scenes Paul-the-genius-mechanic" was who made the show work. Mike is just a pretty face. :)
 
Dr.Jeff said:
Or as Brewer would say, "be a bit cheeky and bid him". Afterall, he always rips off the seller so why not return the favor. :rolleyes:
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Do you think he rips off the seller? I have my doubts as to what the REAL $$ amounts are, both going in and coming out, which are noted on each episode. It’s like ‘Flip & Flop’, the house reno show. SURE you can redo a complete kitchen for $15k
 
tvmaster said:
I have my doubts as to what the REAL $$ amounts are, both going in and coming out, which are noted on each episode.
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Excellent point. In fact I've often noted how things look so "staged" on the show. So I'm sure you're right and the dollar amounts are also scripted. However, the expression on some of the seller's face when he offers a ridiculous price would be hard to fake, unless they are professional actors also. I've felt sorry for a few, assuming that part was real.

An example of the staging that goes on is when he shows up to look at a car. They act as if they've just met, but it's obvious that's not the case. I also wonder about the extremely long test drives he makes, flogging the hell out of the cars for many miles. I can't imagine any seller that would put up with that, so I'm sure that is actually recorded after the purchase has taken place. But it is TV afterall.
 
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Dr.Jeff said:
Excellent point. In fact I've often noted how things look so "staged" on the show. So I'm sure you're right and the dollar amounts are also scripted. However, the expression on some of the seller's face when he offers a ridiculous price would be hard to fake, unless they are professional actors also. I've felt sorry for a few, assuming that part was real.

An example of the staging that goes on is when he shows up to look at a car. They act as if they've just met, but it's obvious that's not the case. I also wonder about the extremely long test drives he makes, flogging the hell out of the cars for many miles. I can't imagine any seller that would put up with that, so I'm sure that is actually recorded after the purchase has taken place. But it is TV afterall.
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My experience on reality shows is that the show people and the buyer/seller meet up beforehand and agree on a price, etc. So it's not "reality" in that sense... it's more like a re-enactment. When I was on Misfit Garage, the director asked things like "so where were you guys when you actually made the deal" and things like that. But we had worked out the price negotiations and such beforehand, so we were really just play-acting out that part of it, with the offer/counter-offer stuff.

It's kind of a different form of "reality tv". In real reality tv, you don't actually know what's going to happen. This is different from that, there is no script that is read line by line, but there is a kind of a script, in that they want you to follow what had been previously arranged.
 
Yeah, any good tv or film production leaves very little to chance. He does thrash the pre-buy test drives indeed. As if any of us selling a car would say “yeah, take the BMW Z3 keys and have a go”. lol
 
There is a whole lot of editing on much footage that takes place so the sequence of events and how everything transpired is not necessarily what you see on the screen. There was one episode where Mike test drives an AMC Pacer belonging to a person in San Jose. He asks to take a short test ride. The camera shows the test drive on CA-1 near Pigeon Point Lighthouse. In the next scene, he is back with the owner in San Jose. That must have been one long test ride as it is at least an hour ride from San Jose to the lighthouse including a drive over the Santa Cruz Mountains. The show makes it appear like he was gone just a few minutes.
 
Yes it is them. Just saw a Triumph TR6 advertised outside the same building, it will probably be featured on the next series.
 
Misfit garage? I used to love that stupid show. Which episode and what happened to them?



Pete Whitstone said:
My experience on reality shows is that the show people and the buyer/seller meet up beforehand and agree on a price, etc. So it's not "reality" in that sense... it's more like a re-enactment. When I was on Misfit Garage, the director asked things like "so where were you guys when you actually made the deal" and things like that. But we had worked out the price negotiations and such beforehand, so we were really just play-acting out that part of it, with the offer/counter-offer stuff.

It's kind of a different form of "reality tv". In real reality tv, you don't actually know what's going to happen. This is different from that, there is no script that is read line by line, but there is a kind of a script, in that they want you to follow what had been previously arranged.
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lanciahf said:
Misfit garage? I used to love that stupid show. Which episode and what happened to them?
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Season 1 Episode 7, the second segment of the show, about 20 minutes in. Here is a still from the video. Fiat/Lancia content - the 037 project, pretty much in its infancy at that point (Oct 2014) is in the shot, along with the SHO motor going into it. Man, my shop is messy...

Misfit Garage.jpg

As far as what happened to the show, I don't really know because I stopped watching it a couple seasons in. They were moving further and further from reality. Last episode I watched, they were doing a Hemi 'cuda, and THEY WERE GOING TO LOSE THE SHOP!!! if they didn't get it finished and sell the car. They made a big deal about finding a windshield for it, the last one in existence apparently, and all the huge money they spent on it. Then they leave the windshield sitting around on the floor and Thomas Weeks trips over it and breaks it, and they spend the next 10 minutes of the show with him screaming and fuming. The trip and break was the most ridiculously staged pratfall I have ever seen. After the tantrum they finish the car and it has a windshield... no further mention of how they sourced another one. It was pretty apparent that the whole thing was engineered reality and that they had destroyed a Chevy Malibu (or some such) windshield to make the segment for the show. The engineered drama is definitely not what I watch the car shows for. That's why I like Full Custom Garage - Ian works alone so they can't destroy the show with the stupid human drama.

The scary thing about being on those shows is that they film from the moment the crew arrives until they leave (about 4 hours for the 10 minutes or so of show time, in my case). So they have all this footage of you and they can use any part of it. They can make you look any way they want.
 
Agree with you @Pete Whitstone, that was one of the worst automotive shows in terms of fake drama, meaningless banter, and bad acting. Almost as bad as the old American Chopper (Tuttle) show. Absolutely can't tolerate watching such garbage, even if there is a shred of decent car building content in it somewhere.
 
Heads-up to anyone who wants to steal a WD car: from the looks of things, the TR7 can’t find a home. Currently on Los Angeles & Orange County Craigslist for $3500! Started at $6k. The show has wrapped and gone back to the U.K.
That means this is likely a logistics headache for the few production people who remain.
Offer $1500, and I bet you’ll get it.
If I knew more about repairing cars, British cars, I’d buy it in a second.
But I don’t. Anyone here want to stick a Honda engine in it?
Note: for “off-road use only”. Maybe they couldn’t get it to pass Ca. smog?
losangeles.craigslist.org

Price Reduced AGAIN!! 1979 Triumph TR7 - cars & trucks - by owner -...

1979 Triumph TR7. This is an excellent example of a classic British import. The Drophead Coupe is...
losangeles.craigslist.org
 
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