Jonny Smith's Late Brake Show...
Discussion
For obvious reasons I was looking forward to this one and it was indeed a bit of a shame about the references to “MINI One Cooper” and it obviously (to Mini nerds) being a carb engine given the absence of the whacking great ECU and the dashpot poking through the air filter. But good that it fired up and seems entirely saveable probably with minimal effort.
EddieSteadyGo said:
TBH whilst I quite like his 'barn-find' series, I find it slightly dissatisfying that he often runs out of time, and doesn't make much progress in the time he does have available.
Bit like Time Team..."We've got just three days to discover if there's anything here' 
That chainsawing technique made me shudder, using the tip of the bar and so close to the ground/tarmac. I feared a kickback at anytime.
Always really enjoy his videos though. he has a great way of presenting and talking to camera.
miniman said:
rallycross said:
So much moaning he’s making great films for us.
The old cooper looked in amazing condition rust wise worth a fair bit now compared to when it was parked up.
One man’s moaning is another man’s constructive feedback. The old cooper looked in amazing condition rust wise worth a fair bit now compared to when it was parked up.
I guess there is the 'chicken and egg' quandary. Do you invest more into better content now, and hope that generates a long-term return on investment, or do you wait for more views/income, and reinvest that into growing the channel later? Of course, you can argue it both ways, but the people I've seen grow their channels substantially (example would be Youtubers like Mat Armstrong) have usually invested in more content, making multiple videos from each content idea, to help grow their channel.
Maybe he’s happy with the community he’s found himself in and supported by and wants no more than that?
He’s said the biggest problem is there’s only one of him, the bringing in other characters hasn’t worked (shakey burn, man delorean etc).
The “readers cars” sections he used to do seem to have ground to a halt?
I think he knows his audience, they’re a quirky bunch (of car perverts) like himself but maybe no more than that. It’s perhaps a limited audience but if he makes enough to keep him happy and doing what he likes then more power to him.
I get the feeling he knows how to make the channel bigger and more successful but knows it isn’t really what he or his core audience really want.
He’s said the biggest problem is there’s only one of him, the bringing in other characters hasn’t worked (shakey burn, man delorean etc).
The “readers cars” sections he used to do seem to have ground to a halt?
I think he knows his audience, they’re a quirky bunch (of car perverts) like himself but maybe no more than that. It’s perhaps a limited audience but if he makes enough to keep him happy and doing what he likes then more power to him.
I get the feeling he knows how to make the channel bigger and more successful but knows it isn’t really what he or his core audience really want.
I'm not convinced that if he filmed a second day at the Mini/MINI location the resulting video would be that much better, and certainly wouldn't gain any extra views.
If you assume that you aren't going to be investing in any parts to get the car roadworthy (as it is not your car) then you can't get to the punchline of 'getting the car back on the road' so you'd just be giving both cars a better wash (in daylight) and getting around to starting the second car.
There's several other channels, many mentioned in this thread, where people are buying abandoned cars and doing them up, so it is not like there is a gap in the market (doesn't Jonny already have a Barn Find Boxster as a work-in-progress?).
The LBS style of just doing the initial 'digging them out and trying to start them' works well for content and as a single-day film shoot on the production side.
If you assume that you aren't going to be investing in any parts to get the car roadworthy (as it is not your car) then you can't get to the punchline of 'getting the car back on the road' so you'd just be giving both cars a better wash (in daylight) and getting around to starting the second car.
There's several other channels, many mentioned in this thread, where people are buying abandoned cars and doing them up, so it is not like there is a gap in the market (doesn't Jonny already have a Barn Find Boxster as a work-in-progress?).
The LBS style of just doing the initial 'digging them out and trying to start them' works well for content and as a single-day film shoot on the production side.
Also, whilst those Noco micro boost packs are great for starting a “oops left the lights on” flat battery, they don’t work well in my experience on properly dead for years stuff whereas a Jump Start 4000 will act as a separate battery and bring anything back from the dead. I suspect the MINI would have run with a better jump pack.
I never really thought that some bloke finding old cars in varying states of disrepair and trying to get them to work again would be so captivating but it is. If it wasn't fir him and his very likeable if quirky personality I'd still be oblivious to their plight. Anyone else experienced this?
Tbh I wasn't a great fan of him on 5th Gear. I am now
Tbh I wasn't a great fan of him on 5th Gear. I am now
Truckosaurus said:
I'm not convinced that if he filmed a second day at the Mini/MINI location the resulting video would be that much better, and certainly wouldn't gain any extra views.
Agreed. The barn find videos for me are the best of what he does. A day is a good timescale to work with and if half of that is spent uncovering so be it, that’s part of the story. I’ve been going over some of the old barn find videos and have found some where I’ve wondered what happened next - early ones like the secret Porsche garden and the UR Quattro, it’d be great to have a follow up/round up of these cars. I’m aware that some of his finds have gone on to be sold/restored and it’d close off unfinished stories nicely. Like grand designs revisited but hopefully with less divorces
bristolbaron said:
Agreed. The barn find videos for me are the best of what he does. A day is a good timescale to work with and if half of that is spent uncovering so be it, that’s part of the story.
I’ve been going over some of the old barn find videos and have found some where I’ve wondered what happened next - early ones like the secret Porsche garden and the UR Quattro, it’d be great to have a follow up/round up of these cars. I’m aware that some of his finds have gone on to be sold/restored and it’d close off unfinished stories nicely. Like grand designs revisited but hopefully with less divorces
Would love follow up vids on some of the barnfinds, the Porsche garden got cleared by the council IIRC, No idea if the owner got them back?I’ve been going over some of the old barn find videos and have found some where I’ve wondered what happened next - early ones like the secret Porsche garden and the UR Quattro, it’d be great to have a follow up/round up of these cars. I’m aware that some of his finds have gone on to be sold/restored and it’d close off unfinished stories nicely. Like grand designs revisited but hopefully with less divorces
Looking forward to seeing the AllegRo finished too
BadOrangePete said:
....
Looking forward to seeing the AllegRo finished too
That's another issue I have ....that project build feels like it started in a previous decade. I know it's a labour of love, and the primary purpose isn't for the audience's benefit, but if you are telling a video story which has 'chapters' then there has to be some kind of reasonable timeline, else people lose interest.Looking forward to seeing the AllegRo finished too
Harry's Garage does it better imo with the restoration of his Jaguar, Lancia, Testarossa etc. It's inevitable in projects like this to have gaps between videos whilst the actual work gets done, but if the gaps are too long, people's interest will fade.
BadOrangePete said:
Would love follow up vids on some of the barnfinds, the Porsche garden got cleared by the council IIRC, No idea if the owner got them back?
There were a few buyers for some of the cars but none managed to get completed before the council came and cleared the lot. A lot of the cars left on a flatbed having been pretty much destroyed in getting them out sadly. Hub said:
EddieSteadyGo said:
That's another issue I have ....that project build feels like it started in a previous decade.
And the rest! There were articles about it on here nearly 20 years ago! 
k that for a game of soldiers, it's only a bloody mini."milu said:
To be fair to him.
His heart must have sank when he saw the overgrown garden in front of the doors.
Not a 2 minute job sorting that. As someone else said, it’s a win for the householder to get free clearance.
Anyway, overall it’s a good channel with a likeable presenter imo.
Yes but as I said in an earlier post, surely it would have made more sense to get the guy he met on site to clear that before he arrived, that way he would have had more time with the cars, just seemed rushed with little time for the cars.His heart must have sank when he saw the overgrown garden in front of the doors.
Not a 2 minute job sorting that. As someone else said, it’s a win for the householder to get free clearance.
Anyway, overall it’s a good channel with a likeable presenter imo.
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