Discovery Channel has trotted out another reality show called ‘Desert Car Kings’ based upon the now-tired format of a business that has to meet a deadline for a project completion.
They even added a shopworn father-son dynamic ala ‘American Chopper’, albeit with less theatrics from Pa in this show.
The basic premise is a rescued old vehicle that will be restored and sold at a car auction two weeks later, so time is not an ally of the Desert Car Kings. The part that reaches me is the resurrection of old iron via this program. I like their offbeat choices for salvation and I appreciate their desire to return old vehicles to a very thinned-out herd of their model choice peers.
But one particular episode gave me more pause for thought than normal for this show. Usually I wonder how rare missing parts manage to turn up at exactly the right time (and usually already off the vehicle).
This episode extended itself into an even higher level of bewilderment for me. The wrecker yard is a world- class facility for collector vehicle parts and is well known in car guy world.
They have two yards to handle their massive inventory of well-preserved desert car parts. It is fair to assume that the business has a lot of reasons to protect their inventory because original collector vehicle parts will give the current price of gold a big run for its money.
The facility appears to have a pretty shabby fence around it and no angry junkyard dogs in it. That is a pretty weak protection scheme in my humble opinion, but it got worse as the show moved into the back nine.
Two security trainers appeared at the yard to instruct the junkyard staff on very basic hand- to- hand confrontation with nocturnal thieves. It was a laughable segment that was designed to prepare the staff for a night patrol of the yard because of a rash of burglaries.
The staff set out on a night patrol, armed with flashlights and walkie- talkies to confront potential danger.
This seemed like a ridiculous game plan even for a passive Canucklehead like me. Even I know that Arizona is a very well armed state, so the idea of a 20 minute self defense course would not exactly make me brim with confidence on night patrol.
Consequently, I would be willing to bet that a few of those junkyard employees were packing something more than flashlights during that night filming sequence, because anything less would make no sense in Arizona.
Either way it’s a tough way to make overtime at Desert King.
The owners might want to invest in a few psychotic Rotties and/or a real security service so they can leave their employees in the car restoration program.
Jim Sutherland
More car stories at–https://www.mystarcollectorcar.com/
COMMENTS
TREV-Re= Desert Car Kings. This show is a absolute train wreck! I have always wondered if some of the “car shows are phoney, these guys make it obvious. Here are a few examples, noted they may be based on my “opinion” When they did the early 60s Barracuda with the big back window, they went on and on about how valuable the rear window was. so what happens they expect us to believe that some one is stupid enough to set that rare piece of glass on a flimsy fender stand THEN remove a bumper that is round shaped and lean it on a round post right next to the rear window made of tempered glass that shatters if tapped on the edge! Give me a break! Then what about the 69 GTO! Was I the only one that noticed that when they picked it off the pile that the fire wall already had shiny red paint on it and the frame and power brake booster were a nice gloss black! How about when they say that they strip a car to bare steel but we see them troweling on filler right over old primers??? this show is made for people that know nothing about classic car restoration and is doing lots of harm to the thousands of dedicated trades people that take real pride in there work. Sure, a team of 5 or 6 guys can slap things together, slam on some paint so a car looks good at auction. I pity any one who may have purchased one of these cars, however most of there cars sell between 8 and 16 grand. You get what you pay for. I just hope that not every one that watches these shows, thinks a car can be restored for a few thousand dollars in two or three weeks. This show really grinds my gears.-Rev
DENNIS:”Most people understand that there’s very little “Real” about a “Reality TV Show”.
