Another local attempt at a tv car show?

[brachunky]

So despite getting on a bit and definitely more Pink Floyd & Dire Straits than Tinie Tempah, I do actually enjoy the bloke so when an ad for his new channel 4 car show floated across my screen called Bangers: Mad For Cars, my eyes did a flutter.
Now before HoTWire dumps my thread in the whinge bin again, I can't help pontificate as to why UK telly struggles to produce a decent car show ever since Top Gear & Wheeler Dealers
Mr Tempah is a nice enough bloke but the content was pretty cringy apart from a few sweet cars on view. Even the cop car scene had been done before. I'll try another couple of episodes but not holding my breath.

Now we have a number of really creative people on RR so if YOU were a film producer, what form of car show would you create?

I for one enjoy stuff like the Netflix show, Fastest Car. Everyday folk doing there thing:

[HoTWire]

I'm not sure what would make a good car TV show. I kind of know what I'd like to see in my head, but I'm not sure it would be popular enough to make sense to do. Which is really where the crux of the issue with car shows on TV is.

I was chatting with Cal at Retropower about this before, to make a TV show that has car builds on it you effectively need an episode or two per car... but that build could be two or three years long (or more) so really you are condensing A LOT of effort down to a single episode. Which is why these US shows have this kind of false jeopardy to engender a bit of excitement in the build process "We've only got a week to make the show/auction/deadline!!!" when in reality that was probably like three months to a year out. There is no real jeopardy in most car builds, except for maybe artificial deadlines (SEMA, or other big shows). Whats more for a workshop that is almost unsustainable as well if a series is ten episodes that is a lot of building.

So then people do shows where people are either rescuing cars (because people like a bit of DIY type thing), making money from selling cars (because cash in the attic), or having fun with cars (which becomes about fun, and not about cars very very very quickly). None of which seem to appeal to "car folk".

For me the perfect show would be a proper magazine format show (a bit like TG used to be at times), where they go and check out various car scenes, give updates on what is happening in motorsport, maybe profile someone, maybe do a challenge of some sort. Car reviews are pointless as the cars people can buy are too boring to review (thus the death of old TG) and supercars are boring to review because it is the same review trotted out ad infinitum essentially.

The content would work I think for a certain audience and probably bring in a wider audience as it got the formula better, but it is never going to bring in a large audience... I mean Fifth Gear was kind of that, but look where that got to.



Best car based show I've seen for a while was Finding Fast/Rad Rides By Troy the series ... which was on Amazon but is now on Youtube as well : www.youtube.com/@findingfast/videos ... plus some other bits.

[ratchart]

Fifth gear was more or less a continuation of the original Top Gear format. TG mark 2, for all it's many flaws (which we don't need to discus here) was a very well produced program even if don't like the content or personalities, but it succeeded because it was watched by a majority audience with only a passing interest in cars.


The old lets restore/modify a car within an arbitrary time limit (set to a horrible rock guitar soundtrack) format has been done to death on both sides of the pond and we all know how much fakery is involved in making this sort of thing.
But there are plenty of events round the country that would make good with tv the right quality production:- VHRA at Pendine, Goodwood FOS and indeed it the RetroRides gathering itself, just to name a few.

[andyborris]

Next to penicillin, the motor vehicle is the most important development of the 20th (ish!) century.

It's changed societies, warfare, the appearance of town and country and provided both personal and political freedoms amongst other things.

Why are the TV programmes about motor vehicles lightweight at best and often just boring, why isn't this important creation given the respect it's due?

Where is the heavyweight documentary that tracks the motor vehicles influence on history, both good and bad.

Have a picture.

[grumpybadger]

If you want builds with real jeopardy try watching me travel the length of the garage whilst looking for the welding glove thats still on my hand.

As for car based shows I fear they've run their course on mainstream tv.

[tineca]

I like the mechanical side of things much more than the dealing. I liked flipping bangers and edd in WD for that. I would be happy if there was a programme that did more filming of fixing stuff. Salvage rebuilds on YT do a good job of filling the gap .

[stealthstylz]

Looking at what's popular enough on YouTube to have a market for TV you either need to be blowing stuff up or driving like a bell end on public roads.

It's sort of a shame that YouTube videos can only be uploaded by a single user. It'd be quite nice if you could do some sort of multi-contributor "this week at car shows" weekly video where anybody could add a 5 minute video of wherever they've been that week by a set deadline, which were then joined up and released as a single video.

[Dez]

I don’t see why everybody seems to care so much about watching car based television shows. The technology you grew up with already being redundant by the time you come of age and all that.

YouTube fulfils that role these days. It’s actually works much better for it, in that niche market stuff can still manage to get an audience, cos it’s largely made by weirdos for weirdos.
Enjoy good content where it can be found and don’t worry too much about where that is.

[qwerty]

Oct 19, 2023 20:07:33 GMT Dez said:

I don’t see why everybody seems to care so much about watching car based television shows. The technology you grew up with already being redundant by the time you come of age and all that.

YouTube fulfils that role these days. It’s actually works much better for it, in that niche market stuff can still manage to get an audience, cos it’s largely made by weirdos for weirdos.
Enjoy good content where it can be found and don’t worry too much about where that is.

100% this. Why stick to the old TV format when I can go and find ultra specific content that appeals and I can watch it any time I want.


Tom

[glenanderson]

Oct 19, 2023 17:58:24 GMT grumpybadger said:

If you want builds with real jeopardy try watching me travel the length of the garage whilst looking for the welding glove thats still on my hand.

As for car based shows I fear they've run their course on mainstream tv.

I spent the better part of an hour looking for the glasses I was already wearing the other week. 

[akku]

Television car shows are made for GenPop. They are not made for "real car people". Car shows for TV are always going to be dumbed down for a public consumption where the public seems to be losing its relationship with the car, other than as a commodoity or status symbol. TV is struggling to find its relevance, debates over licence fees, the way that the ITV station(s) are licenced, all that.

Where it is potentially interesting is where you mix travelogue or some other story alongside the car element. "team drives all the way down Africa in a battered Land Cruiser" or whatever. TV has the budget to make stuff like that. "Celeb goes to Cuba and rolls out a load of outdated stereotypes about 1950s American cars in daily use there" is more likely though.

[stealthstylz]

Oct 19, 2023 20:07:33 GMT Dez said:

I don’t see why everybody seems to care so much about watching car based television shows. The technology you grew up with already being redundant by the time you come of age and all that.

YouTube fulfils that role these days. It’s actually works much better for it, in that niche market stuff can still manage to get an audience, cos it’s largely made by weirdos for weirdos.
Enjoy good content where it can be found and don’t worry too much about where that is.

The problem I have with Youtube is why would I watch somebody faffing with cars when it's much more fun watching Post 10 unclog beaver dams and there are dozens of very professional history documentary creators etc.

[Dez]

Oct 20, 2023 12:02:22 GMT stealthstylz said:

Oct 19, 2023 20:07:33 GMT Dez said:

I don’t see why everybody seems to care so much about watching car based television shows. The technology you grew up with already being redundant by the time you come of age and all that.

YouTube fulfils that role these days. It’s actually works much better for it, in that niche market stuff can still manage to get an audience, cos it’s largely made by weirdos for weirdos.
Enjoy good content where it can be found and don’t worry too much about where that is.

The problem I have with Youtube is why would I watch somebody faffing with cars when it's much more fun watching Post 10 unclog beaver dams and there are dozens of very professional history documentary creators etc.

True.
I watch almost no car content. Ive watched odd episodes of specific channels people bang on about, and failed to see the hype every time. I rarely stand to learn anything from it as I have spent years doing it all myself, I will occasionally search for hot to do a specific thing (usually on a modern) to save me time and hassle- channels like that are useful.

I’m really not into voyeurism which is quite a part of it I think. I prefer to do the thing.
My dad watches every car, bike, old sh1t in sheds and antiques programme going on TV, yet does almost nothing with his own bikes or antiques. That’s all ass about face to me, I’d rather be in the garage.

[adam73bgt]

I haven't watched any live TV at home for a couple of years now and as has already been mentioned I don't think that for "us" as dedicated car people, it's really possible to have a properly in depth car programme on TV. If I am somewhere with a TV then I'll put something on as a bit of background noise like Bangers & Cash for example but it's so dumbed down to appeal to a general audience.

Something that I've found interesting recently is I watch Vice Grip Garage on Youtube, but I've also been watching his new show Roadworthy Rescues on Motortrend via Amazon Prime. The new show has basically the same premise as his rescues on Youtube, but you can see where the TV influence changes things. It's much shorter and less in depth, where on YT the main result is just getting the old wreck home, on the TV show they often draft people in to give the car a bit of paint, some mods, inject a bit of something to show the viewer there's been a dramatic change from the wreck at the start of the show. I enjoy both, but it's curious to see the differences.



If I was to create a show, I'd like to do something in the mould of the Japanese Best Motoring: Hot Version battles where cars from different tuners are put up against each other. You could have a Frontline MGB vs an MST Escort Mk1 vs a BBR MX5 etc. get ex racing drivers to host, people who can properly drive but also have some charisma, your Chris Harris', Jason Plato's etc.

Could also steal another segment from Hot Version and have individual people bring their own car to the track to be test driven by one of the hosts, rated and then advice given on how to improve it

It would still be a very niche programme, more likely suited for a car specific platform like Motortrend but could be a bit of a change from the plethora of Wheeler Dealer copies out there

[60six]

No point to watching car shows on TV now, when so much of what I want is now youtube. Tasty Classics is a personal favorite of mine, along with Salvage Rebuilds & late brake show. Vice Grip garage & 'I do cars' too. Fixing and mesing about with cars is a minority sport these days.


If they were to dare to a 'repair shop' with cars I wouldn't be able to cope with the amount of emotional crud that gets added.

[mrbounce]

As others have said, it's a niche thing. Cars are subconsciously being made into Public Enemy because they're apparently the main cause of global warming, so a car show isn't going to appeal to the general public. People bang on about "the old Top Gear" with Clarkson, Hammond and May, but I felt it had run its course with those three long before Clarkson was thrown off the air. It was always full of fake jeopardy and manufactured situations with clever editing. I actually enjoyed the Chris Harris/Paddy McGuinness/Freddie Flintoff version more, but I still felt it was missing "something". Probably the fact it was more about the driving and buying rather than the fixing/building aspect.

I have a Motor Trend subscription on Amazon Prime - there are loads of car-based programs on there - granted they're mostly US-based, but I do like Roadkill, Roadkill Garage, Roadworthy Rescues, Faster With Newbern and Cotten and HotRod Garage. I occasionally have a dabble with AutoAlex on You Tube and I am also subscribed to Junkyard Digs. I like the guy - he's down to Earth, amusing and knows his stuff. Plus Mook (his other half) is nuts. I haven't watched any of the later Wheeler Dealers shows because although they can be quite interesting, I find Mike Brewer's TV personality unbearable (I'm sure he's a bit different away from the camera).

I'd also wager that most major TV channels do not want to do a car show. I can't imagine that there's enough money in it for them.

[ratchart]

Oct 21, 2023 10:33:52 GMT mrbounce said:

As others have said, it's a niche thing. Cars are subconsciously being made into Public Enemy because they're apparently the main cause of global warming, so a car show isn't going to appeal to the general public. People bang on about "the old Top Gear" with Clarkson, Hammond and May, but I felt it had run its course with those three long before Clarkson was thrown off the air. It was always full of fake jeopardy and manufactured situations with clever editing. I actually enjoyed the Chris Harris/Paddy McGuinness/Freddie Flintoff version more, but I still felt it was missing "something". Probably the fact it was more about the driving and buying rather than the fixing/building aspect.

I think most people (me certainly) refering to "Old Top Gear" mean the original 80s-early 90s version with the bloke who always seemed to pose with his foot up on the front bumper. Clarkson was on it but James May and Richard Hammond only came along for the MK2 reboot.

shows about fixing and building cars -especially ones that give a realistic portrayal of the hobby are going to be too much of a niche for mainstream broadcast telly because the numbers of people who are actively involved are tiny compared to the numbers of amateur bakers/potters/knitters etc. 

I quite like Grand Designs, which does at least acknowledge that building something large scale like a house can't be done to a set time limit but then again they always seem to go over budget and schedule, and usually have a baby or get divorced halfway through, as if the owners had never seen the show before.
You could apply the same format to a car build if you could find owners willing to let the cameras into their garages. 

It occurs to me this thread needs more pictures:-

[slipngripross]

Our rally stage was used for the 205 GTi section of Episode 4. Tinie is a really genuine bloke but you are right it needs smoothing out as a programme.

[keithyboy]

I suspect that the majority of people on this forum are more interested in the oily bits of car shows than contrived buying and selling scenarios.

Taking TG as an example, on another forum I no longer frequent (because it's full of muddle aged men whining about EVs and ULEZ and calling anyone who disagrees woke) they had views different to mine.

They wanted comparison tests of ordinary cars. I don't. I couldn't give a curse word if the Corsa is better than the Fiesta or whatever. They wanted more supercar tests. Again, I don't. That the latest Lambo is point 2 of a second quicker round the track is of very limited interest.

I always enjoyed the cheap car challenges. Taking some knackered old car on a final glory run seemed like fun. Even that lost its way when they started destroying nice desirable cars. The least said about the Patagonia special the better.

I like a lot of Mototrend content because they are messing with old cars because it's what they enjoy. I like Bangers and Cash for the nostalgia. I like B&G Restoring classics because it puts paid to the idea that you can buy a car, pay someone to restore it, and sell it for more money.

Ultimately, if terrestrial channels made content that RR users liked, nobody else would watch it.