Edd China Leaving Wheeler Dealers!

[NYlakesider]

Yes I know this is a gun forum but its noticeable that we have a lot of gear heads here.

Just heard that Edd China the very good 6'6"mechanic of that show is leaving. Shame as most car guys I know rather think that show is the best of the car repair, make over, customize format.

Ever since they went to this country after leaving England I thought the show was in decline. (a producers decision no doubt).

They are getting a new mechanic but replacing Ed will be hard if not impossible. A good chance that show will soon be no more.

 

[S&W Fan]

No!!! Haha, it's a fun show, I agree in the quality once they crossed over the pond to here. Edd makes all the work he does look very easy, my younger son keeps saying "we can do that!". I just laugh that well yeah, with a lift, all the proper tools and 30 years of knowledge and experience yes we could .

There were reports on the early shows that the "buyers" were actually production crew members, I think our English cousins did an investigation and found some improprieties but they got worked out.

The last 8 years or so were mostly very enjoyable (with the noted exception of the seasons shot here).

Good luck Mr. China, thanks for educating and entertaining us.

 

[Bullet Bob]

I'm sorry to hear that, my favorite TV car show. Nobody yelling, no loud background music, and nobody doing the tough guy posing thing.

I can understand him wanting to move on though, after he's done it for so long, what's really left for that genre?

 

[Tyrod]

One of my favs

 

[Rule3]

Now this is really sad to hear. Edd is/was the show!!

One of the few car shows I enjoyed watching and it was all because of Edd. No product placement, got to see other craftsman, never the hurry, hurry we are running out of time BS.

You can Google Edd China and find his short you tube video on his explanation.

I always wondered how they figured they made a "profit" never calculating his gazillion man hours of labor

I know it's a TV show paid by ads and production.

 

[italiansport]

I'm sorry to hear this as well. I've always enjoyed this program because they did practical restoration and not something over the top like other shows. The other decent show currently running IMO is Chasing Classic Cars and Wayne Carini does an excellent job there.
Jim

 

[TAROMAN]

My favorite car show goes down the tubes.
Probably turning into trash TV like West Coast Choppers
I'm gone..

 

[steamloco76]

My wife won't be very happy about Edd China leaving the show. We both watch regularly and she really likes how Edd takes the time to explain what he's doing and why it should be done.

Did you ever notice that the bigger one of these car shows budget gets, the worse the show gets?

 

[Watchdog]

This is a classic case of too many cooks spoiling the broth. The Velocity Network has decided that filming Edd's garage sequences are "too difficult" and "too time consuming", even though the majority of viewers/critics/auto writers consider Edd's sequences the heart and soul of the show.

So Edd was not asked to participate in the show any longer as it's apparently being totally revamped to fit some REMF's idea of what a car restoration show should be like.

It's sad, that's for sure. Of course, we still have all those other car resto/rescue shows where everyone wears their caps backwards.

At least Velocity still has Chasing Classic Cars with Wayne Carini. Carini has so much money, I doubt it'd be a glitch in his life if his show got canned.

 

[67tempest]

As time goes by, most of these shows become less and less about the actual work being performed and more about "drama." When they stop actually working on something and turn into a version of the "Housewives" they loose me.

I used to enjoy watching American Chopper when they actually were building motorcycles. When it deteriorated into the Paul Sr. vs Paul Jr. show I tuned out.

 

[Bullet Bob]

I didn't mind the move to the USA, still enjoyed the show. Mr. China holds the world records for the fastest toilet, sofa, and garden shed among other things. Evidently Velocity felt the shop time was too unexciting:

Edd China Is Leaving Wheeler Dealers Because Velocity Wants To Make The Show Worse

 

[anoblefox]

What a sad situation. EDD was the show, and he always had sound, reliable advice on how to do things mechanical "right". I will not be watching the show anymore. I agree with all of the comments made so far.

 

[dirty & hairy]

They say a good mechanic is hard to find. This is especially true on television. Watching Edd work on cars was the only reason I, well, watched.

 

[italiansport]

I got tossed off Arizona Collectibles, which aired on PBS channel 8, after doing a 2 year stint as the Firearms and Militaria Appraiser. Up to this point the show was drawing record viewership and I got many emails indicating how much they enjoyed the appraisals. Why? Well it seems the Arizona State University took greater control over the show and decided that firearms weren't allowed in the videotaping show facility. This was done for political correctness only since I had set a cutoff date of WW II to avoid "black guns" being brought in and additionally the studio is nowhere near their main campus. I've lost track of the number of people who came up to me at gun shows and when I explained why said they'd quit watching the show. I believe I was the "male hook" and frankly no one I talked to wanted to watch jewelry or painting appraisals.
So there's my first hand account of political correctness stupidity!
Jim
As an aside: Perhaps Wayne Carini will team up with EDD to replace the elderly mechanic who now does a lot of the work on Chasing Classic Cars. IMO: This would make a good show even better!

 

[WI357SIG]

Graveyard Carz

Tried watching Graveyard Carz last evening. I couldn't take it and switched channels. I wonder if they have a crew come in at night and build the wonderful Mopar restorations for the show.

 

[mrchuck]

My advice is to keep Edd China and FIRE that hump Mike Brewer!!

 

[DeathGrip]

He needs his own show.

 

[ladder13]

I always wondered how they figured they made a "profit" never calculating his gazillion man hours of labor

Sort of like reloading.

 

[mojave30cal]

I like watching "Graveyard Carz". It's very informative, and Mark the owner is funny.

 

[Watchdog]

Tried watching Graveyard Carz last evening. I couldn't take it and switched channels. I wonder if they have a crew come in at night and build the wonderful Mopar restorations for the show.

No, they don't have a crew "come in at night", although they do sometimes work around the clock.

Mark Worman, the brains and creator of the show, is extremely knowledgeable about MOPAR stuff. He even has original factory books that detail every single part number, its placement, and even the factory hand painted numbers on axles, diffs, transmissions, which bolts might be painted white, etc., etc.

That said, he has a somewhat irritating personality to me. And one of his crew does that backward cap thing that I despise. And Worman thinks he can dance. He can't. What he can do it take a totally rusted out hulk of a Roadrunner or GTX or whatever, and bring it back to life as if it was just wheeled off the assembly line.

He makes it look easy, but keep in mind, all the work is condensed into the show's timeframe. It can take over a year to bring these cars back.

I've never been a big MOPAR fan, but the guy and his crew do beautiful work. For me, the show's worth watching. Worman and crew aren't turning out over the top pavement scraping low riders with 5000 watt subwoofers...he's doing the originals as good as or better than the factory ever did.

And it doesn't hurt that his daughter, Allysa Rose, is a knockout.