American Hotrod

[sleep envy]

surprised there isn't a thread about this already

have been watching this over the last few days, they do an enormous amount of work over 6 weeks

anyone else watching?

[T89 Callan]

It's quite an old show though isn't it? I was watching it on DVD 4 years ago at Uni.

They do do some good work but having worked in a tuner/race team that treats their staff like that I just think it's a bit of a st place to work and feel bad for the staff.

[sleep envy]

yeah circa 2004/2005

[massivemoto]

Rather like American Chopper, the rows are supposed to be the entertainment. For hotrodders or chop builders, neither contains much that is recognisable in their own projects because most of us are working with a tenth of the equipment and budget. A car related show only in that there some cars in shot whilst a bunch of silly rednecks bicker like pubescent schoolgirls.

[Glen320]

Didn't Boyd Coddington die last year?Is the place still running as you never get new american hot rod's on discovery?

[AndrewW-G]

Glen320 said:

Didn't Boyd Coddington die last year?Is the place still running as you never get new american hot rod's on discovery?

I think he died early 2008, I do know that his garage has now closed for good, with lots of staff going to work for Chip Foose and the forman and swedish bodyshop guy starting up their own business

[Bungleaio]

I love it and watched a good few hours over christmas. As we've never had Sky installed I'm also enjoying mythbusters afterwards.

Quest is rapidly becoming the channel of choice for me.

[Ganglandboss]

AndrewW-G said:

Glen320 said:

Didn't Boyd Coddington die last year?Is the place still running as you never get new american hot rod's on discovery?

I think he died early 2008, I do know that his garage has now closed for good, with lots of staff going to work for Chip Foose and the forman and swedish bodyshop guy starting up their own business

I seem to remember a thread on the subject turning into all out war.

[S7Paul]

I've also got into this since Quest appeared on Freeview. It must say something about the general state of TV at the moment that this is currently one of the few programmes I bother to watch (even though much of it is clearly for the benefit of the cameras).

The Wiki entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_hotrod gives all the details, including Boyd's death and the closure of the shop in 2008.

I recall the discussion on the thread around the time that Boyd died, with some saying he was "The Man" and others that he was vastly overrated. The programme doesn't really make clear how much of the design of each car Boyd is actually responsible for, so it's difficult to comment on that aspect. What is clear though is that he was a useless man-manager.

[sleep envy]

S7Paul said:

What is clear though is that he was a useless man-manager.

as well as Duane but, ultimately, they got their cars delivered by the deadline (at the cost of employee churn)

[h0b0]

massivemoto said:

Rather like American Chopper, the rows are supposed to be the entertainment. For hotrodders or chop builders, neither contains much that is recognisable in their own projects because most of us are working with a tenth of the equipment and budget. A car related show only in that there some cars in shot whilst a bunch of silly rednecks bicker like pubescent schoolgirls.

The father and son in American Chopper are suing each other to get tehm out of the buisnes, so while some arguments may have looked a little staged the feeling was real

[S7Paul]

sleep envy said:

S7Paul said:

What is clear though is that he was a useless man-manager.

as well as Duane but, ultimately, they got their cars delivered by the deadline (at the cost of employee churn)

I also wonder about the overall quality of the finished cars. Sure, the paint looked shiny, but if you're building something like that to an impossible deadline, working round the clock, are pi$$ed off and want to go home, I can't believe the build quality can have been particularly good.

[markoc]

I sky plussed a load of these - as mentioned before, it is incredible how they got anything done. If you were part of the "in-crowd" you could do no wrong. Some of the craftsmanship was something else though. I'd have lamped Duane after about 5 minutes...

[mat205125]

S7Paul said:

sleep envy said:

S7Paul said:

What is clear though is that he was a useless man-manager.

as well as Duane but, ultimately, they got their cars delivered by the deadline (at the cost of employee churn)

I also wonder about the overall quality of the finished cars. Sure, the paint looked shiny, but if you're building something like that to an impossible deadline, working round the clock, are pi$$ed off and want to go home, I can't believe the build quality can have been particularly good.

I enjoy the programme, despite the types of cars they build not really being my thing. There is undoubtedly some high quality engineering in areas of the car, however overall I'd agree that the cars are very superficial .... The quality is only skin deep. The interiors in particular look great, but are a lash up of plywood, foam, sprayglue, and that cheap stty leather that americans think look good.

My favourite of the projects was the Corvette.

Agree with another poster about Boyd's management style. He is NOT a people person, does not make himself clear, and loves his proposterously obscure and irrelevent analogies.

[williamp]

I think Quest are repeating them now, as I've seen some of them before. I like the Mustang job they did. But I agree- they look good when new, but they do cut corners and are all about the initial "wow" and a shiny V8. And its awful what they do to an old Impala they find...

I also like the programme they did before, filmed in the UK (well, in a garage actually) where they built a westfield, rebuilt a Triumph, a Trike and a Range Rover/land rover hybrid

[Pkh72]

h0b0 said:

massivemoto said:

Rather like American Chopper, the rows are supposed to be the entertainment. For hotrodders or chop builders, neither contains much that is recognisable in their own projects because most of us are working with a tenth of the equipment and budget. A car related show only in that there some cars in shot whilst a bunch of silly rednecks bicker like pubescent schoolgirls.

The father and son in American Chopper are suing each other to get tehm out of the buisnes, so while some arguments may have looked a little staged the feeling was real

I didn't realise it was that bad, i thought most of it was for 'The show'.

[Nardies]

Quinny said:

They did have some bloody good people though..

Al Simon the chassis guy, very quiet, just got on with it and his welding was absolutly lovely

I also like Tomas, the Sweedish guy.. he had a good mechanical knowledge and was an asset to the show...


But what about the outsiders they used... The Mexican upholstery guys, Oooh their work was nice..

And the fabrication boys when they built the Alloy roadster... Very nice to see that level of craftmenship..

Bluebear, Duane, and a few of the others were just tossers though

Who was the old fella, Roy was it? He was great!

[sleep envy]

Nardies said:

Who was the old fella, Roy was it? He was great!

just watched him fabricate the bonnet of the 63 Corvette - amazing work

[Muzzer]

sleep envy said:

Nardies said:

Who was the old fella, Roy was it? He was great!

just watched him fabricate the bonnet of the 63 Corvette - amazing work

He died too, about a year before Boyd IINM.

Some of the craftsmanship was fantastic - as others have said, Al and Roy were brilliant, and the Mexican upholsterers.

But if it were my car being built and I watched that I'd squirm. It all seemed rather rushed at the end.

[monman321]

williamp said:

I also like the programme they did before, filmed in the UK (well, in a garage actually) where they built a westfield, rebuilt a Triumph, a Trike and a Range Rover/land rover hybrid

That would be Mark Evans with his series " A Car/Bike/Plane/Helicopter/4x4 Is Built"

Also worth a look is Chop shop filmed in India and the UK featuring a designer Leepo and bernie the mechanic.