Misfit Garage

Lowflynjack

Lowflynjack

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Jack Fleetwood
I watch a lot of goofy car shows. Mostly just to see the cars and I ignore the storylines. This time, on Misfit Garage, they decide to go flying to look for a '55 Chevy from the air. Now you've got my attention... they're flying a Cessna 180, looking for one of my favorite cars.

Of course I'm laughing at the story, but it's fun to watch. They find the car and decide to land on this grass strip. They pull up to the house and out walks my friend Chellie Meziere, the widow of my friend Walt Meziere who died in a plane crash at this strip a few years ago. Walt crashed on his way to get fuel to take Chellie on their honeymoon.

I was completely caught off guard and had tears in my eyes as they discussed buying his '55 Chevy project. Awesome to see them fix up this car in his memory. I hope it comes out as nice as he envisioned.

Original post after his crash.

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Cool show. Those guys are a hoot. Nice how the story involved your friends widow. I can see why you were emotional.
 
I too knew Walt. I also miss him a lot.
 
SkyDog58 said:
Probably pretty good. They probably knew the car was there on that airstrip thus the "search" by air. Still makes for a good story.

My condolences to all who knew Walt.
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I read the coincidence as being that the topic of the show would be about a person that Jack knew personally. I think we all know these "reality" shows are anything but.
 
RudyP said:
I read the coincidence as being that the topic of the show would be about a person that Jack knew personally. I think we all know these "reality" shows are anything but.
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Ah, I obviously read it differently but now believe your read is most likely correct.
 
Norman said:
Very small. 55 Chevys rusted out far before the three year payment book was finished. :D
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I saw many 55,56,57 chevys get worn out in small dirt tracks across the country.

In the mid 80s I visited a junk yard that the family of the owner was wanting to sell. It had 137 55 to 57 chevys lined up. A restorer came in and bought every vehicle on the land.
 
Zeldman said:
I saw many 55,56,57 chevys get worn out in small dirt tracks across the country.

In the mid 80s I visited a junk yard that the family of the owner was wanting to sell. It had 137 55 to 57 chevys lined up. A restorer came in and bought every vehicle on the land.
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Wow, that's gotta result in a few complete Chevys. That guy is set for parts for awhile!
 
These "reality shows" are anything but. They have a staff of writers and everything (including the phony conflicts) are scripted and rehearsed. The car restoration shows all follow the same formula which is an internal conflict, haggling over buying the wreck, then an impossible deadline to finish the build with of course problems that are solved at the last minute.

And they completely rebuild the suspension with all new parts out of the box yet you never see an alignment done.

Yet droves of fans believe this crap is real. The GMG stuff has become really lame, if anyone tried to run a business with RR's business model they would go broke fast.

Mindless entertainment.
 
Zeldman said:
I saw many 55,56,57 chevys get worn out in small dirt tracks across the country.

In the mid 80s I visited a junk yard that the family of the owner was wanting to sell. It had 137 55 to 57 chevys lined up. A restorer came in and bought every vehicle on the land.
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That is impressive. I'm sure they didn't break his bank account.
 
:yeahthat: I can usually watch the first season until it gets to the point that Doc points out. Worst was Orange Cty Choppers, that got ridiculous. But I did go to their store in Newburgh on a layover years ago. Nice bikes, and they displayed the ones they built on the show. Gesh they even had the Sr's figurines/dolls for sale, along with a lot of other souvenir junk. 'Gas Monkey Garage' another I watched a season or two, until it got ridiculous. They even had a store at DFW, at least about 4 years ago they did.
 
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Thats pretty cool. His passing was sad of course, but the celebration of his life will continue with the restoration of the Chev found by air.
 
mscard88 said:
Wow, that's gotta result in a few complete Chevys. That guy is set for parts for awhile!
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Everyone of them had some sort of body damage, some had the rear fenders cut for bigger tires, some had holes cut in the hoods, the only '57 convertible I saw had hit something hard at a good speed. The floor board was crumpled where the tranny tried to come through, and the frame was definitely bent. Every single one of the cars were missing the engine and transmission.

In the back of the lot was cars so old they had wood spoke wheels. I saw an AMC AMX that was complete, no damage except the hood was missing. It also had no motor and transmission, but it had a tree with an 10 inch trunk growing through the engine compartment.

I found and bought 12 1/2 sets of old Ardun aluminum heads, designed by Zora Arkus-Duntov. These were the heads that converted the flat head Ford motor to an over head valve hemi engine. I sold them to a flat head expert and he just about stroked out when he saw them.

The only vehicle I saw that I wanted was a 1948 Ford F-1 pickup. The reason I wanted it was because it had the Marmon-Herrington All Wheel Drive option. Otherwise known as 4 wheel drive. It also was missing the engine but it had the transmission and transfer case in place. It was in the best condition one would expect for sitting in an open field for 20 some odd years. But someone else found it first and was supposedly on the way with cash and a trailer.

Norman said:
That is impressive. I'm sure they didn't break his bank account.
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From what I heard, the buyer was from California and bought all the vehicles for scrap prices. The vehicles he did not want went across the scales. I understood that the land was a separate sale with intentions to clean up for resale. Again, I am a day late and tens of thousands of dollars short....:lol::lol::lol:
 
Yeah I'd want that '48 too, my birth year. :D

The AMX would be a great catch too.
 
Doc Holliday said:
These "reality shows" are anything but. They have a staff of writers and everything (including the phony conflicts) are scripted and rehearsed. The car restoration shows all follow the same formula which is an internal conflict, haggling over buying the wreck, then an impossible deadline to finish the build with of course problems that are solved at the last minute.

And they completely rebuild the suspension with all new parts out of the box yet you never see an alignment done.

Yet droves of fans believe this crap is real. The GMG stuff has become really lame, if anyone tried to run a business with RR's business model they would go broke fast.

Mindless entertainment.
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I like car shows but also cant watch the manufactured drama. Years ago I stumbled on Jay Leno's garage channel on YouTube. No screaming and arguing. Just restoring cars. If you aren't a true car nerd - it is too boring for most people. Even his newer MSNBC show has more Hollywood in it than I like.
 
A true and proper restoration, or hot rod, takes way longer than a week (as depicted in those shows). It usually takes over a day to make a new AM panel fit properly.
A friend of mine bought Stacey Davids "Crazy Horse", an early Bronco built on his show. What a POS. But it is a decent "50-50" driver.
He kept it for a few years, and sold it at a Bronco show for a handsome profit.
No, it takes a while to do a proper job.
 
bluerooster said:
A true and proper restoration, or hot rod, takes way longer than a week (as depicted in those shows). It usually takes over a day to make a new AM panel fit properly.
A friend of mine bought Stacey Davids "Crazy Horse", an early Bronco built on his show. What a POS. But it is a decent "50-50" driver.
He kept it for a few years, and sold it at a Bronco show for a handsome profit.
No, it takes a while to do a proper job.
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I worked on a Boyd Coddington of "American HotRod" vehicle years ago. Speed of build was defiantly more important than quality. Sad part to me was for all the good that was done, it was the short cuts that made the owner of the car bring it into our shop for finishing. It was a '68 Super Bee with a 383 engine, not the hemi and he paid something around $50,000 for it. For that price I expected to see the engine completely rebuilt, but it was only repaired and repainted.
 
Super Bee! Buddy had one just like that, and man that thing would go. Always liked the hood air scoop and that big old pistol grip shifter.
 
Doc Holliday said:
These "reality shows" are anything but. They have a staff of writers and everything (including the phony conflicts) are scripted and rehearsed.
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Went to see the 'Pawn Stars' shop in Vegas last time I was there, hoping to see one of cast members and of course none were there at the time. Turns out they have a place adjacent to the shop called 'Pawn Plaza', it's a bar and few restaurants. Bouncer at the door of the pawn shop said Rick will be coming to his bar this evening around 6 to promote. So I came back at 6 and caught Rick as he was walking up to his bar and he was extremely unfriendly and cocky. Totally turned me off from the show.
 
That's usually the case Zeldman with those "stars". Now NASCAR people, drivers and even owners, are pretty cool and will chew the fat with ya, at least 20-30 years ago they would. Richard Petty is one example, even to this day.
 
Jim_CAK said:
I like car shows but also cant watch the manufactured drama. Years ago I stumbled on Jay Leno's garage channel on YouTube. No screaming and arguing. Just restoring cars. If you aren't a true car nerd - it is too boring for most people. Even his newer MSNBC show has more Hollywood in it than I like.
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I'm a fan of Leno's Garage too. I was lucky enough to meet him years ago during a magazine story, where he gave us all a tour of his collection, fired up the turbine-powered motorcycle and gave everyone involved in the story a ride in the famous "tank car." He's a car enthusiast who just happened to be an amazing comeidan, rather than some Hollywood type who bought a bunch of cars when they hit it big in their first movie. The coolest thing is how eclectic the cars are...a Delahaye, a Gordon Murray Rocket, a Lamborghini Muira, on and on. He could talk about each car for hours. At the time, he had a staff of eight guys there running the shop.

Wheeler Dealers is great too. Forget the premise of making a buck by fixing up a car and selling it...there's far more, parts- and money-wise, that goes into each subject, but it's great how in-depth they go on the mechanical side. I really enjoy seeing the quirks of suspension, driveline, etc. of the various collector cars.
 
Doc Holliday said:
These "reality shows" are anything but. They have a staff of writers and everything (including the phony conflicts) are scripted and rehearsed. The car restoration shows all follow the same formula which is an internal conflict, haggling over buying the wreck, then an impossible deadline to finish the build with of course problems that are solved at the last minute.

And they completely rebuild the suspension with all new parts out of the box yet you never see an alignment done.

Yet droves of fans believe this crap is real. The GMG stuff has become really lame, if anyone tried to run a business with RR's business model they would go broke fast.

Mindless entertainment.
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What?!?! I am shocked. Shocked to find you can't rebuild a 55 Chevy to concours condition in one television hour.
 
I think the stuff on Teutals' (?) show was pretty real. The lawsuits certainly were. It was definitely groundbreaker.
 
I'm a big fan of the coldwarmotors YouTube channel. It's basically this guy and his friends that find old cars - many of them abandoned on "the back 40" for years. He's not real picky about the cars. On one of the vids, for example, he opens a door to a car and says "oh, wow, this ones got a floor!"
They basically get them running, drive them around the farm, park it, and go get another one.
On some of the other vids you can see that he/they can do good work as well, but for these old cars, it's basically "get 'em running" while spending as little (or no) money as possible.
 
SoCal RV Flyer said:
Wheeler Dealers is great too. Forget the premise of making a buck by fixing up a car and selling it...there's far more, parts- and money-wise, that goes into each subject, but it's great how in-depth they go on the mechanical side. I really enjoy seeing the quirks of suspension, driveline, etc. of the various collector cars.
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You can kiss that goodbye. The show got sold and Ed wasn't interested in cutting out the "how" part of the repairs so he bailed (which I thought was the best part).

I predict that the next season of Wheeler Dealers will be like FAL, GYC, WCC and every other "reality" show with one week deadlines, inter-personal drama, weird facial hair and lots of tattoos.
 
The husband to one of our employees manages a shop that shows up on one of these shows. The businesses pay to be featured. You are basically watching a 45min ad for the component manufacturers and shops that are visible in the show.
 
steingar said:
I think the stuff on Teutals' (?) show was pretty real. The lawsuits certainly were. It was definitely groundbreaker.
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The lawsuits happened after the money from the show rolled in (or more precisely once it stopped).
 
weilke said:
The husband to one of our employees manages a shop that shows up on one of these shows. The businesses pay to be featured. You are basically watching a 45min ad for the component manufacturers and shops that are visible in the show.
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That may be true for the manufacturers, but not for the characters on the shows. They are being paid very well to be on these shows.

Here's a story about Misfit Garage:
How much is the original cast members Jordan Buttler, Tom Smith, Thomas Weeks, and Scott McMillan on Misfit Garage net worth? After four successful seasons and just getting the green light for season 5, all the characters are now some of the highest paid mechanics on Reality TV. In fact, they’re making more on a single episode than working an entire season on Fast n Loud. How do you go from a $40 an hour mechanic to a millionaire within five years time? You first get a job at Gas Monkey, **** Richard off, and then go work for the Misfit Garage. All the stars on Misfit Garage including Jordan Buttler, Tom Smith, Thomas Weeks, and Scot McMillan have a net worth exceeding $1 million. Not too bad for putting up with Richard Rawlings for a few years.

Another example is Pawn Stars. Chumlee, who is supposed to be the dumb guy on the show is worth $5M. He gets $25K per episode, which each season having between 25 and 50 shows.
 
Lowflynjack said:
That may be true for the manufacturers, but not for the characters on the shows. They are being paid very well to be on these shows.

Here's a story about Misfit Garage:
How much is the original cast members Jordan Buttler, Tom Smith, Thomas Weeks, and Scott McMillan on Misfit Garage net worth? After four successful seasons and just getting the green light for season 5, all the characters are now some of the highest paid mechanics on Reality TV. In fact, they’re making more on a single episode than working an entire season on Fast n Loud. How do you go from a $40 an hour mechanic to a millionaire within five years time? You first get a job at Gas Monkey, **** Richard off, and then go work for the Misfit Garage. All the stars on Misfit Garage including Jordan Buttler, Tom Smith, Thomas Weeks, and Scot McMillan have a net worth exceeding $1 million. Not too bad for putting up with Richard Rawlings for a few years.

.
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Misfit Garage(TV show) is owned in part by Richard Rawlings. The whole thing about these guys "****ing off" RR and getting fired by him was all scripted. EVERYTHING on these programs are scripted by the writers. The producers go out and find some goofy mechanics and let them act as if they are building these cars.

Yet it's still amazing the people who think this stuff is real. Like the people who think pro wrestling is also real.
 
Doc Holliday said:
Misfit Garage(TV show) is owned in part by Richard Rawlings. The whole thing about these guys "****ing off" RR and getting fired by him was all scripted. EVERYTHING on these programs are scripted by the writers. The producers go out and find some goofy mechanics and let them act as if they are building these cars.

Yet it's still amazing the people who think this stuff is real. Like the people who think pro wrestling is also real.
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It's like the discussion on the forum before about Airplane Repo. I don't think any of it is real, but I enjoy watching some of them. I like seeing the cars. I love Counting Cars and seeing the end result, but I'm not a big fan of his style a lot of times. Either way, it's a fun show.
 
Then there is this "article" today (which is nothing more than an advertisement for RR's new show).

http://www.foxnews.com/auto/2017/09...three-moneymaking-tips-for-garage-owners.html

What's funny is the quote where Richard said he was broke sleeping on his sister's couch trying to start a shop. However what Richard doesn't tell you is he was already a millionaire from a previous business before getting into the car business. Also when he launched the Fast n Loud series the shop he used was not his real shop but an old one rented for the show to make it appear to be a small startup business. (That shop is now a film set for Misfit Garage, it's not an actual car business)

And for real fun, read the comments on the article. Again it's like arguing with people who think that pro wrestling is real.
 
OCC was awesome. It jumped the shark while flipping everyone off and then kept going.

I want a water jet cutter. I don't know what I'd do with it, but I want one.
 
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