Mike Brewer's Magic Pockets
Discussion
mwstewart said:
Chunkymonkey71 said:
Have you seen Motortrend Roadkill on YouTube yet? It's great!
I haven't. Thank you very much! I'll check it out tomorrow.https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUq6vI3bwXT...
Mr Daytona said:
Understand Mike Brewer is a resident PHer, but does anybody know if Mr China is a member ?
Remember in the first few episodes of WD when Ed was repairing the Capri and the 230e Mercedes, his delivery was a tad "wooden", but now he's morphed into an eminently watchable fella. Shame he doesn't use the rattle cans as much as he used to.
Aye, he's really come into his own as a screen presence. Remember in the first few episodes of WD when Ed was repairing the Capri and the 230e Mercedes, his delivery was a tad "wooden", but now he's morphed into an eminently watchable fella. Shame he doesn't use the rattle cans as much as he used to.
I like the old ones best though, where the budgets and teeny and the cars leave the workshop nearly as bad as they went in, because I am a sadist.
Phil303 said:
I remember the C4 show he did a decade or more ago, him and another tall chap (or does everybody seem tall next to Mike?)
I recall it had a combination of 'Wheels' and 'Deals' in the title too.
Deals On Wheels.I recall it had a combination of 'Wheels' and 'Deals' in the title too.
The other guys name was Richard something, but they used to concentrate on particular models (a Citroen SM springs to mind) and guide you through what to look out for when buying one. The other part of the show featured someone who was selling their car, MB & Richard would take a view on what it would sell for, then the selling process would be filmed.
It wasn't the most engaging car programme in the world.
Met Mike along with Jason Plato and Penny Mallory about fifteen years ago when the MG Zeds first appeared. They wanted someone with an older MG Saloon for comparison in their TV show and my car was used in the filming. All three "diamond geezers" in my books. I got loads of pictures and a good day was had by all including my better half and both sons. They at the time were too young to hold a driving licence but, both had cars which they drove on my private track. Oh yes I do.
It was at Snetterton and the family arrived there the day before filming when we watched some close and very competitive racing with a large field of modified Metro Turbos and stuff.
More recently, I sometimes come across WD when channel hopping. I enjoy the show and like the way that excellent spanner man explains what he is doing as he works on the cars. He has a very informative easy style of presentation. A natural. Mike does not overdo the "Mockney" so much now as was once the case. Being brought up in the East End I did find it grating at times. His heart is in the right place though.
It was at Snetterton and the family arrived there the day before filming when we watched some close and very competitive racing with a large field of modified Metro Turbos and stuff.
More recently, I sometimes come across WD when channel hopping. I enjoy the show and like the way that excellent spanner man explains what he is doing as he works on the cars. He has a very informative easy style of presentation. A natural. Mike does not overdo the "Mockney" so much now as was once the case. Being brought up in the East End I did find it grating at times. His heart is in the right place though.
Dave Hedgehog said:
Indeed, he also has so very impressive show room, quite an upgrade from his early shows where Ed (pre wheeler dealers) would swap out a radio and tyre black a car to add a tenner to the sale price lol
Old out ya and
http://www.mikebrewermotors.com
I hope he employs some homegrown sales people otherwise his mockney accent against the yorkshire is gonna need some interpreters. Old out ya and
http://www.mikebrewermotors.com
Why so far away from his roots (& the WD workshop)? Has he ripped off that many southerners?
I've always liked wheeler dealers. Not sure why a lot of people on here don't like mike though. He clearly has a passion for cars. Soooo much better than the uninterested Phil Glenister on the recent C4 offering.
As for the business aspect of the show. Obviously labour costs aren't reflected so the profit isn't real. The show isn't about making money though. It's about giving people an idea about how various oily bits are screwed together and what you might be able to have a go at yourself.
Most of the time the show features an interesting and eclectic range of cars, some more interesting than others. I also like the way that it isn't always a straight up restoration and they sometimes throw some modifications in.
My only criticism; too many land rover / range rovers. They must have done 6 or 7 of the things.
As for the business aspect of the show. Obviously labour costs aren't reflected so the profit isn't real. The show isn't about making money though. It's about giving people an idea about how various oily bits are screwed together and what you might be able to have a go at yourself.
Most of the time the show features an interesting and eclectic range of cars, some more interesting than others. I also like the way that it isn't always a straight up restoration and they sometimes throw some modifications in.
My only criticism; too many land rover / range rovers. They must have done 6 or 7 of the things.
Jon1967x said:
Elroy Blue said:
I think it's lost its way a bit lately. Car SOS with Fuzz Townsend is a far superior programme.
Nah, the big reveals in Car SOS remind me of ground force. WD only went wonky when mike did that crazy around the world thing. 
hole.WD is a rare beast - car related mechanical affordable (mostly) do-er uppers we'd all have a go at (especially if we had an Ed or a Mike as a pal!).
Mike and Edd are a great team and its a programme that has stood the test of time - 11 (maybe more?) series. Big respect to "Paul" who never gets a mention except when bleeding the brakes!
this bit from wikipedia is spot on and why I love it.
Mike starts with a budget to buy and then fix up a vehicle.
Mike gives a brief history of the merits of the chosen model of vehicle.
Mike locates, test drives, negotiates for and buys the vehicle (usually sealed with a handshake and Mike triumphantly expressing to camera that he's just bought a XXXX (name of vehicle).
(Starting from series 5, prospective cars Mike wanted to buy, but needed too much work, were shown. This also took place in Series 1, Episode 7)
Mike turns the vehicle over to Edd, and together they assess its needs, sometimes (but not always) with Edd criticizing Mike's choice of vehicle as being too dilapidated and needing too much work.
(Series 1-4 featured a camera trick that had "multiple clones" of Edd surveying the vehicle. This was dropped from series 5 onwards.)
Edd begins work, providing assessments of the work and its challenges.
Mike stops by Edd's shop for an overview of progress, and expenditures are reviewed. Often, Mike ridicules Edd on his work if he has overspent on replacement parts or repairs, the car looks unchanged or has been disassembled or prepped for a respray.
Mike and Edd are a great team and its a programme that has stood the test of time - 11 (maybe more?) series. Big respect to "Paul" who never gets a mention except when bleeding the brakes!
this bit from wikipedia is spot on and why I love it.
Mike starts with a budget to buy and then fix up a vehicle.
Mike gives a brief history of the merits of the chosen model of vehicle.
Mike locates, test drives, negotiates for and buys the vehicle (usually sealed with a handshake and Mike triumphantly expressing to camera that he's just bought a XXXX (name of vehicle).
(Starting from series 5, prospective cars Mike wanted to buy, but needed too much work, were shown. This also took place in Series 1, Episode 7)
Mike turns the vehicle over to Edd, and together they assess its needs, sometimes (but not always) with Edd criticizing Mike's choice of vehicle as being too dilapidated and needing too much work.
(Series 1-4 featured a camera trick that had "multiple clones" of Edd surveying the vehicle. This was dropped from series 5 onwards.)
Edd begins work, providing assessments of the work and its challenges.
Mike stops by Edd's shop for an overview of progress, and expenditures are reviewed. Often, Mike ridicules Edd on his work if he has overspent on replacement parts or repairs, the car looks unchanged or has been disassembled or prepped for a respray.
I'll echo the previous PHers who have expressed puzzlement at why the show receives so much (interweb) criticism.
Mike is very clear, even in the intro to the show itself, that profit is very much secondary to seeing cars restored and given a new lease of life.
At no point have they tried to present what they do as something any Tom, Dick and Harry can do at home. Yes, Edd is an incredibly talented mechanic/ restorer, and as the seasons have gone on he has used more high-end specialist equipment in his well-appointed workshop. Do people really want to see WD stick to rattlecans and more basic tools like they did in earlier seasons just so they can claim its all stuff the home mechanic can do? It's TV, give them a break.
It's still a million miles away from the self-serving, highly staged vanity projects that similar, largely non-UK based shows go for, and all the better for it.
I can understand Mikes cockney schtick rubbing people up the wrong way, but its as simple as changing the channel if you cant get with it.
As for the initial/ final sales being staged, some are and some aren't it would seem. After deciding that I fancied the blonde bird that Mike bought the XR2 from (dont tell the Missus), I had a quick Google and immediately found a Ford owners forum on which the girls Dad was a prominent member. He said that Mike pranged the XR2 on his first test drive, damaging the foglamp/ bumper, which was then used as a haggling point on the show. They paid what they would have had Mike not bent it, the owner at pains to point out that Mike was a total gentleman throughout. Is it really such a big deal when the alternative seems to be badly staged rows and dramas as presented by other shows with a similar format?
My only real criticism of the show is that I'd like a little more detail re how many previous owners/ mileage etc, but I take the show with a pinch of salt and just enjoy it for what it is.
I follow Mike and Edd on Twitter, and they are living a great lifestyle mainly off the back of the WD TV show, so they are laughing it up Im sure. I know Mike has bitten a couple of times and defended what they do against naysayers online, but I'll bet he's not losing any sleep over it!
I'd have to agree that 'Trading Up' didnt tickle me like proper WD does, not enough Edd- who's really the meat of the show imho.
Also, they do have some fairly notable 'misses', the RX7 being the most heinous recent example. I kind of like the fact that they have the odd blip- makes the show less predictable.
Mike is very clear, even in the intro to the show itself, that profit is very much secondary to seeing cars restored and given a new lease of life.
At no point have they tried to present what they do as something any Tom, Dick and Harry can do at home. Yes, Edd is an incredibly talented mechanic/ restorer, and as the seasons have gone on he has used more high-end specialist equipment in his well-appointed workshop. Do people really want to see WD stick to rattlecans and more basic tools like they did in earlier seasons just so they can claim its all stuff the home mechanic can do? It's TV, give them a break.
It's still a million miles away from the self-serving, highly staged vanity projects that similar, largely non-UK based shows go for, and all the better for it.
I can understand Mikes cockney schtick rubbing people up the wrong way, but its as simple as changing the channel if you cant get with it.
As for the initial/ final sales being staged, some are and some aren't it would seem. After deciding that I fancied the blonde bird that Mike bought the XR2 from (dont tell the Missus), I had a quick Google and immediately found a Ford owners forum on which the girls Dad was a prominent member. He said that Mike pranged the XR2 on his first test drive, damaging the foglamp/ bumper, which was then used as a haggling point on the show. They paid what they would have had Mike not bent it, the owner at pains to point out that Mike was a total gentleman throughout. Is it really such a big deal when the alternative seems to be badly staged rows and dramas as presented by other shows with a similar format?
My only real criticism of the show is that I'd like a little more detail re how many previous owners/ mileage etc, but I take the show with a pinch of salt and just enjoy it for what it is.
I follow Mike and Edd on Twitter, and they are living a great lifestyle mainly off the back of the WD TV show, so they are laughing it up Im sure. I know Mike has bitten a couple of times and defended what they do against naysayers online, but I'll bet he's not losing any sleep over it!
I'd have to agree that 'Trading Up' didnt tickle me like proper WD does, not enough Edd- who's really the meat of the show imho.
Also, they do have some fairly notable 'misses', the RX7 being the most heinous recent example. I kind of like the fact that they have the odd blip- makes the show less predictable.
Chunkymonkey71 said:
mwstewart said:
Took me a few seconds to get that 
I love the show along with American Hot Rod, The Garage, A car is born, and all the others. I wish there were more car programs on TV.
Have you seen Motortrend Roadkill on YouTube yet? It's great!I love the show along with American Hot Rod, The Garage, A car is born, and all the others. I wish there were more car programs on TV.
oobster said:
Car SOS, while being (also) a fairly decent show, is only let down by Tim Shaw being an out-and-out ahole.
Ah but did you know he's a PH regular? Well possibly.hole.Him and the hairy guy were what put me off Fifth Gear, but in Car SOS he's kind of grown on me.
As for WD, I quite like watching the re-runs. The profit at the end is obviously a bit of a joke and it's changed quite a bit from the days of rattle can painting a Capri's wings but it's still entertaining.
Personally, I'd like to see more hands on stuff, but then it's not really a car DIY programme.
I like both Ed and Mike (hate most of the adverts they "act" in mind you).
Bloody hard working guys too. I've had my car on a stand at the Classic Car Show in Birmingham several times, and we often end up next to the live stage or Wheeler Dealer booths. They're there before the start of the weekend getting everything set-up (lugging boxes, etc), and then for the show as anyone who's been there will know they're on stage the whole weekend working flat out - if not on stage, then signing autographs and chatting to fans, etc. Then after the show closed, they were there helping tear all their stuff down again and pack it all away.
I honestly couldn't begrudge them for any of their success with Wheeler Dealers - it looks like they put in 120% - especially Mike.
Thoroughly nice chap too - we were setting our cars up for the Restoration Show earlier this year. The hall was deserted (it was late in the evening) and I noticed a very nice Mustang so went to have a look. Realised the chap cleaning it was Mike and it was his own car, so I tried to avoid the awkward Jason Plato type moment and just walked up to talk to him. More than happy to have a chat, very friendly and approachable guy. We chatted about Wheeler Dealers, and stuff and the nonsense that you see posted on Facebook and Twitter sometimes (as it seems to be the fashion these days to abuse celebrities on social media and he takes his fair share) - just seemed very down to earth.
I honestly couldn't begrudge them for any of their success with Wheeler Dealers - it looks like they put in 120% - especially Mike.
Thoroughly nice chap too - we were setting our cars up for the Restoration Show earlier this year. The hall was deserted (it was late in the evening) and I noticed a very nice Mustang so went to have a look. Realised the chap cleaning it was Mike and it was his own car, so I tried to avoid the awkward Jason Plato type moment and just walked up to talk to him. More than happy to have a chat, very friendly and approachable guy. We chatted about Wheeler Dealers, and stuff and the nonsense that you see posted on Facebook and Twitter sometimes (as it seems to be the fashion these days to abuse celebrities on social media and he takes his fair share) - just seemed very down to earth.
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