Wheeler dealers gone down hill
Discussion
sgtBerbatov said:
My impression so far, is that Ant is a better entertainer than Edd in the way that Ant's always enthusiastic about the project. Yeah he mispronounces words but you have to remember he's in a country where they pronounce "niche" as "nitch".
"The trouble with the French is that they don't have a word for entrepreneur..."I also noticed that he said "airplane"
carl_w said:
sgtBerbatov said:
My impression so far, is that Ant is a better entertainer than Edd in the way that Ant's always enthusiastic about the project. Yeah he mispronounces words but you have to remember he's in a country where they pronounce "niche" as "nitch".
"The trouble with the French is that they don't have a word for entrepreneur..."I also noticed that he said "airplane"
I admit that was generally better than we've seen so far this series and most of the last.
"Shut lines!" Yeah, so Ant goes to all that trouble to adjust the top hinge and then he removes the doors completely to prepare for the respray and we can see the locking nuts on the hinge move thus undoing his good work. It would have made more sense to film that piece when he was re-assembling the body.
Also, I am wondering where the bucketful of out-takes of Mike saying 'Edd' instead of 'Ant' to camera are!
"Shut lines!" Yeah, so Ant goes to all that trouble to adjust the top hinge and then he removes the doors completely to prepare for the respray and we can see the locking nuts on the hinge move thus undoing his good work. It would have made more sense to film that piece when he was re-assembling the body.
Also, I am wondering where the bucketful of out-takes of Mike saying 'Edd' instead of 'Ant' to camera are!
king wThink it all went downhill a while ago once they upped the budget and started fannying around in the US of A. Would much rather they returned to cheap and cheerful stuff in the UK but that's not going to happen. I guess this is what happens when a niche show starts to grow bigger.
Personally I think Edd China and Ant Anstead are about as watchable as each other, same goes for Fuzz Townshend on Car SOS. Brewer and Tim Shaw are equally as annoying and should get their own show together where they have rotten fruit thrown at them.
Personally I think Edd China and Ant Anstead are about as watchable as each other, same goes for Fuzz Townshend on Car SOS. Brewer and Tim Shaw are equally as annoying and should get their own show together where they have rotten fruit thrown at them.
Mitsubishi 3000GT was a weak episode IMO. A bit of soldering, a pipe replaced and some penetrating fluid?!?! Even the lifter replacement looked routine.
I guess it reflected the fact that sometimes you get lucky with a car and all the issues are known problems and cheap to fix, but I reckon that gives a false impression of the 3000GT and would make UK buyers overlook the potential waterbathed ECUs etc.
I guess it reflected the fact that sometimes you get lucky with a car and all the issues are known problems and cheap to fix, but I reckon that gives a false impression of the 3000GT and would make UK buyers overlook the potential waterbathed ECUs etc.
I thought the VR4 was one of the better of the latest episodes. I liked the techy stuff, especially the 4-wheel steering.
Bewildered as to why it was worth $1400 to replace the quite pleasant wheels the car came with to the blingy originals. Further, did they used spacers? I felt that keeping the really rather nice wheels would not have dropped the price by more than $500, if that.
The weak spot was to see seats cleaned for the umpteenth time. Nice to know they are made of skin.
Bewildered as to why it was worth $1400 to replace the quite pleasant wheels the car came with to the blingy originals. Further, did they used spacers? I felt that keeping the really rather nice wheels would not have dropped the price by more than $500, if that.
The weak spot was to see seats cleaned for the umpteenth time. Nice to know they are made of skin.
Derek Smith said:
I thought the VR4 was one of the better of the latest episodes. I liked the techy stuff, especially the 4-wheel steering.
Pity the tech explanation only went as far as a leaky hose. I agree that time saved not watching seats getting tarted up (again) could have been better spent on this, and I also agree that they could have sold the car with the existing wheels and allowed the next owner to take the hit on the replacements if they felt it was necessary.Also, there was a shot of the instrument binnacle being removed in the intro that was never explained in the main part. I assume it was because the vacuum hose for the aftermarket turbo gauge had to be re-routed back to the original one. Again - it would have been better to see that, but I guess Mike has it in his contract that he needs to get a certain amount of screen time.
r11co said:
Also, there was a shot of the instrument binnacle being removed in the intro that was never explained in the main part. I assume it was because the vacuum hose for the aftermarket turbo gauge had to be re-routed back to the original one.
There was a throwaway comment in the final test drive made by The Fat One about "those horrid blue dials are gone". You just catch a glimpse of them when he was From the look of it, The ADHD One didn't bother doing anything other than snipping the vacc line to the boost gauge and stuffing it down inside the A-pillar trim
Nik da Greek said:
There was a throwaway comment in the final test drive made by The Fat One about "those horrid blue dials are gone". You just catch a glimpse of them when he was faking buying the car from the previous owner. A sort of EL Need For Speed style set of clocks.
Ah, right. I missed that because I FFWD past the final test drive. So, lost in the edit then!For me there are 3 big issues in the new series 1) the fake excitement, 2) the translation of market terminology GB>US US>GB. 3) the stuff that's been left on the cutting room floor.
1. Whilst Ant is describing the way things work and the intricacies IMO he comes across with fake excitement, and also sounds quite condescending. Earlier on in the evening DHD reshowed the 993 episode with Edd from only 4 years ago, and it highlighted to me that even then Edd described with genuine passion, whilst Ant is very scripted and clearly playing up to the camera/audience. That's not to say Ant isn't very good at what he does, but the scripted excitement kills the genuine enthusiasm.
2. Last night straight from the off Mike was banging on about the "VR-4" and then when Ant saw it he was all "Wow a VR-4, my childhood era" etc etc. Well, the car in the UK was never known as the VR-4 or had that Monika on it, it was simply a "3000 GTO", so the fake excitement is exposed straight from the off for UK viewers. Then there was the 'chrome' alloys, yes standard for the US market, but not in the UK, it was dealt with clumsily as Ant couldn't hide his distain for them even though they were period.
3. In every episode so far this series, bits of the restoration/fixing have been glossed over and left on the cutting room floor. Instead the staged "buy"/"sell" takes the time, one assumes so in the US they can squeeze in 45 ad breaks!
I'll still watch it, but it's not a patch on when it was a UK centric series.
1. Whilst Ant is describing the way things work and the intricacies IMO he comes across with fake excitement, and also sounds quite condescending. Earlier on in the evening DHD reshowed the 993 episode with Edd from only 4 years ago, and it highlighted to me that even then Edd described with genuine passion, whilst Ant is very scripted and clearly playing up to the camera/audience. That's not to say Ant isn't very good at what he does, but the scripted excitement kills the genuine enthusiasm.
2. Last night straight from the off Mike was banging on about the "VR-4" and then when Ant saw it he was all "Wow a VR-4, my childhood era" etc etc. Well, the car in the UK was never known as the VR-4 or had that Monika on it, it was simply a "3000 GTO", so the fake excitement is exposed straight from the off for UK viewers. Then there was the 'chrome' alloys, yes standard for the US market, but not in the UK, it was dealt with clumsily as Ant couldn't hide his distain for them even though they were period.
3. In every episode so far this series, bits of the restoration/fixing have been glossed over and left on the cutting room floor. Instead the staged "buy"/"sell" takes the time, one assumes so in the US they can squeeze in 45 ad breaks!
I'll still watch it, but it's not a patch on when it was a UK centric series.
kmpowell said:
For me there are 3 big issues in the new series 1) the fake excitement, 2) the translation of market terminology GB>US US>GB. 3) the stuff that's been left on the cutting room floor.
1. Whilst Ant is describing the way things work and the intricacies IMO he comes across with fake excitement, and also sounds quite condescending. Earlier on in the evening DHD reshowed the 993 episode with Edd from only 4 years ago, and it highlighted to me that even then Edd described with genuine passion, whilst Ant is very scripted and clearly playing up to the camera/audience. That's not to say Ant isn't very good at what he does, but the scripted excitement kills the genuine enthusiasm.
2. Last night straight from the off Mike was banging on about the "VR-4" and then when Ant saw it he was all "Wow a VR-4, my childhood era" etc etc. Well, the car in the UK was never known as the VR-4 or had that Monika on it, it was simply a "3000 GTO", so the fake excitement is exposed straight from the off for UK viewers. Then there was the 'chrome' alloys, yes standard for the US market, but not in the UK, it was dealt with clumsily as Ant couldn't hide his distain for them even though they were period.
3. In every episode so far this series, bits of the restoration/fixing have been glossed over and left on the cutting room floor. Instead the staged "buy"/"sell" takes the time, one assumes so in the US they can squeeze in 45 ad breaks!
I'll still watch it, but it's not a patch on when it was a UK centric series.
Pretty said said it all, especially agree with the US spec v EU......fake!1. Whilst Ant is describing the way things work and the intricacies IMO he comes across with fake excitement, and also sounds quite condescending. Earlier on in the evening DHD reshowed the 993 episode with Edd from only 4 years ago, and it highlighted to me that even then Edd described with genuine passion, whilst Ant is very scripted and clearly playing up to the camera/audience. That's not to say Ant isn't very good at what he does, but the scripted excitement kills the genuine enthusiasm.
2. Last night straight from the off Mike was banging on about the "VR-4" and then when Ant saw it he was all "Wow a VR-4, my childhood era" etc etc. Well, the car in the UK was never known as the VR-4 or had that Monika on it, it was simply a "3000 GTO", so the fake excitement is exposed straight from the off for UK viewers. Then there was the 'chrome' alloys, yes standard for the US market, but not in the UK, it was dealt with clumsily as Ant couldn't hide his distain for them even though they were period.
3. In every episode so far this series, bits of the restoration/fixing have been glossed over and left on the cutting room floor. Instead the staged "buy"/"sell" takes the time, one assumes so in the US they can squeeze in 45 ad breaks!
I'll still watch it, but it's not a patch on when it was a UK centric series.
kmpowell said:
For me there are 3 big issues in the new series 1) the fake excitement, 2) the translation of market terminology GB>US US>GB. 3) the stuff that's been left on the cutting room floor.
1. Whilst Ant is describing the way things work and the intricacies IMO he comes across with fake excitement, and also sounds quite condescending. Earlier on in the evening DHD reshowed the 993 episode with Edd from only 4 years ago, and it highlighted to me that even then Edd described with genuine passion, whilst Ant is very scripted and clearly playing up to the camera/audience. That's not to say Ant isn't very good at what he does, but the scripted excitement kills the genuine enthusiasm.
2. Last night straight from the off Mike was banging on about the "VR-4" and then when Ant saw it he was all "Wow a VR-4, my childhood era" etc etc. Well, the car in the UK was never known as the VR-4 or had that Monika on it, it was simply a "3000 GTO", so the fake excitement is exposed straight from the off for UK viewers. Then there was the 'chrome' alloys, yes standard for the US market, but not in the UK, it was dealt with clumsily as Ant couldn't hide his distain for them even though they were period.
3. In every episode so far this series, bits of the restoration/fixing have been glossed over and left on the cutting room floor. Instead the staged "buy"/"sell" takes the time, one assumes so in the US they can squeeze in 45 ad breaks!
I'll still watch it, but it's not a patch on when it was a UK centric series.
"Then there was the 'chrome' alloys, yes standard for the US market, but not in the UK"1. Whilst Ant is describing the way things work and the intricacies IMO he comes across with fake excitement, and also sounds quite condescending. Earlier on in the evening DHD reshowed the 993 episode with Edd from only 4 years ago, and it highlighted to me that even then Edd described with genuine passion, whilst Ant is very scripted and clearly playing up to the camera/audience. That's not to say Ant isn't very good at what he does, but the scripted excitement kills the genuine enthusiasm.
2. Last night straight from the off Mike was banging on about the "VR-4" and then when Ant saw it he was all "Wow a VR-4, my childhood era" etc etc. Well, the car in the UK was never known as the VR-4 or had that Monika on it, it was simply a "3000 GTO", so the fake excitement is exposed straight from the off for UK viewers. Then there was the 'chrome' alloys, yes standard for the US market, but not in the UK, it was dealt with clumsily as Ant couldn't hide his distain for them even though they were period.
3. In every episode so far this series, bits of the restoration/fixing have been glossed over and left on the cutting room floor. Instead the staged "buy"/"sell" takes the time, one assumes so in the US they can squeeze in 45 ad breaks!
I'll still watch it, but it's not a patch on when it was a UK centric series.
Thanks for that. I was certain I would have remembered them.
I like Ant. He seems to know his job - there was a nice bit of fabrication around the windscreen of the SAAB - and he comes over as keen on cars, but you are right about excitement. It is difficult to fake week on week, and Ant needs some practice.
I'd add a couple of other points:
4/ Continuity. The blue dials from the latest episode is an example. There have been a few such things over recent cars, where there have been changes mentioned or shown which were not covered, and sometimes not costed, in the programme proper. There's no excuse for such slackness. The editors need to get their house in order. And
5/ Mike's contract. He seems to have written into his contract that he'll have more time to camera than Ant. This was also true of the last Edd series. This leads to footage of seats being cleaned again and again, origami of cloths, carpet laying, and pressing buttons. Do you remember the farcical bits where Mike calls out to Edd only to find him missing? Prescient or what?
Anyone got a 6/ ?
aeropilot said:
I'm still not sure about Ant...
Something that's dawned on me after watching every episode he's been in and there's always been at least one shot of him in weightlifter pose carrying an exhaust or hood, errr..., bonnet. Considering how shallow US producers are, did they oust Edd because they wanted some eye-candy element?There's something uncomfortably homoerotic going on there. How long before we see Ant in just a towel in a locker room....?!
Edited by r11co on Wednesday 31st January 07:10
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