It happened innocently enough. My six year old son Tom loves to watch the show Overhaulin’ so we were tuned in to one of the new episodes of the recently revived series. I like the show in general and have an incredible amount of respect and admiration for Chip Foose who is one of the true modern day artists in the automotive world. I also respect the work that the crew puts in, the fabrication skills and knowledge of Jessi Coombs, and co-host Chris Jacobs’ personality and on-screen persona. There was a recent episode centered around a 1954 Chevy truck that has been forlorn for many years and the crew was going to do the normal deal and turn it into a great looking piece for the owner to cruise around in. The added bonus here was that the truck had been in the same family for a couple generations and back in the late 1950s or early 1960s, someone had swapped out the tired Stovebolt six and beam axle for a Cadillac V8 and independent front suspension. It was a period hot rod truck and I spent a while talking with Tom about why that was cool and how it was neat that the crew would be saving it. Surely they wouldn’t completely cut the nuts off of this thing by wiping the slate of history clean…right? Wrong.
After the cab, bed, and other pieces were removed from the truck the show cut to a shot of Coombs standing over the bare frame. She explained that the way in which the Caddilac front frame section was mated to the truck frame was “horrible fabrication” and “dangerous”. We were then informed that a new frame was located and would be used in place of that one. I immediately wanted to change the channel but Tom was enjoying the show. He asked why the frame was dangerous and horribly fabricated. The fact that the only shot of the “bad” areas was about three tenths of a second and then cut away, I didn’t have many good answers. I was able to tell him that the truck was most likely in that shape for the last 50 years or so and if it held up that long, it couldn’t have been all that bad. After all, when thing was built whoever put that Caddy motor in there did it for one reason, to haul ass. That truck was probably hammered on for years and years before being parked in the weeds.
We spent a while talking about old school hot rodding and that guys back in the day couldn’t pick up the phone and call someone for parts so they had to get creative and make stuff on their own. Once he understood that, he understood why someone would have welded the front of the Caddy frame to the truck frame in order to make it work. He started to get my frustration at them ditching out someone’s hard work and a neat piece of hot rodding history from the past. I can only hope that the frame wasn’t chopped up for scrap and it will find its way under something cool in the future. If only my horrible welding was good enough to stay together for 50 years with a 700lb Caddy motor and truck riding on it.
So my blood pressure settled back down and we watched as the new frame had the zooty suspension pieces bolted to it. We saw the body get painted, a new rear end go it, etc. The truck came out 100% awesome. I’ll be the first to admit that, I am not bagging on the quality of the work or the finished product.
The final stake through the heart of this show came when two of the build team members sat down and started talking about the engine that would power the truck. Here’s where the “value” word comes in. After briefly talking about the Caddy engine in the same way you’d talk quietly about a pet that was about to be put down if said pet was sitting in the room, they cheerfully talked about the “value” that would be added to the truck with the installation of a crate 350 from Chevy. It then made sense to me why they wanted to swap that frame out because they’d have to custom fab mounts and all if they used the Caddy front frame they had before. With this stock style frame, the motor practically fell into the truck and voila, all done.
Some part of me really, really hopes that Foose put up at least minimum resistance to both the ditching of the frame and the ditching of the absolutely sub-zero cool Cadillac engine. If they had said that the mill was rusted solid, had the crank snapped in half, or was suffering some other terminal condition that they couldn’t fix, it would have made me feel the least bit better. They didn’t say any of that stuff. The conversation centered around the “value” that the 350 would add to the truck. To a large slice of us in this hobby, the truck had 100% more value as a legit, 1960s custom/hot rod than it does as the highly polished and finished final product of a mad build thrash.
The finished truck is a wonderful piece. The guy who owns it was over the moon to receive it and frankly, I’d drive the wheels off of it. The colors are right, Foose put a couple of his thoughtful and personal touches on it, and all of the components used to assemble it are top notch. My problem here isn’t with the truck itself, but more the way the show presented its rescue to the world. 99% of the people watching Overhaulin’ probably have no clue as to the differences between a Caddy engine and a Chevy 350 or understand that the world of hot rodding was build on those Caddy mills along with Olds V8, Flatheads, Buick Nailheads, and later the Chevy small block.
My contention here is that we don’t need to be enslaved to the past but we certainly need to be conscious and respectful of it. I probably lectured my six year old a little too much that afternoon, but I had my Irish up and couldn’t help myself. If this act had been perpetrated by one of the other half dozen “build” shows on TV that turn out awful crap with no regard for anything but a resale price it would have been par for the course. But with a guy like Foose at the helm, with the knowledge, appreciation, and close proximity he has had to the world of hot rodding, I was hoping for something truly cool.
Instead we got the same old thing.
I had to look up the episode, but I was saddened also. I think they only did it because of the time frame. The caddy would have been killer, but there was no way they could have gotten it rebuilt in time.
Same for the frame – instead of going the super cool route, they were pressed for time and went with what they could to get it done in the short space of time they had.
I may be wrong but I do not think that this show works on the old week long format.
I agree whole-heartedly.
Had the same thoughts when I watched the show.
Why get rid of the Caddy? Would’ve been more interesting if they sent it out for a refresh and had the blonde discuss the differences between the Cad v. 350.
The producers of the show need to understand that their audience is car guys and wannbe car guys. They watch the show to see a master craftsman turn out an amazing car. Amazing cars should have amazing engines.
I think we should petition the show’s producers to use only engines that we can’t order from the web and save the SBC’s for us common folk.
Bring Tom to Addison, Il and Hot Rod Chassis and Cycle. “Small block Chevy” is a dirty word there. Kevin Tully would have made the Caddy stuff the center of the build.
I see so many of the cars being sold after on line maybe they cant pay the gift tax or they want to pay of all there debts or stuff their 401k
Absolutely agree, Brian. I was devastated when they made that decision, and immediately wondered what the owner would think when he got his ultra cool caddy powered truck back with a small block in it.
I dont watch the show for all the reasons you stated, Bruab. None of the insiders seem to have a.clue to what the car owners tastes are even though they are married or are related. That is not uncommon. No one in my family understands my wants and desires for my car.
Second, the show relies on parts donations from sponsors and I am guessing they had a sponsor with a boring ass crate 350. The frame issues were probably an excuse to show off some other sponsors toys.
Third, these cars are not that great. I saw a dozen of the cars from thd show at a car show. They all looked like they were tossed together within a week. Total hacked together wiring too.
If anyone did that kind of build to my car I would want blood and balls. When the show first started my friend thought it would be cool to submit my Impala to the show. I caught him taking pictures of it one morning. It did not end well.
Although, the episode I would watch would be the one where the owner of the car goes ballistic because they completely missed what he wanted for the car. Watching everyone squirm and sweat as he goes nuts because they trashed his ride would be cool.
I’ve only watched the show a few times, and not in years. I am not a fan of Foose’s style, and I’m not a fan of stuff that gets thrashed together in a ridiculous time frame for the sake of TV drama. I don’t see how you can do a quality job that’s going to last like that. I’m sure they look good on TV, but what happens a few years down the line when the bondo starts flaking off, or you hit a pothole with a giant 1-off billet wheel? I didn’t see the show, but I think it’s sad that they disrespected the history of the car like that. They should have kept the Caddy engine instead of dropping in another generic SBC crate motor.
I think what needs to be realized is that the new show does not have the budget to go crazy. As stated it relies heavily on sponsors. No sponsors , no show.
While I agree on the engine needing to remain a Caddy, Who knows why not? As far as the frame, I say it would be more of liability issue than anything else. Can you see the lawsuit from the frame not getting upgraded? just my thought.
+1 on the observations.
As others have alluded to, remember Overhaulin’ is on the air to make money. That means involving sponsor products and the Chevy crate engine supplier is a bigger sponsor than the Cadillac crate engine supplier (if there were one). At least they could have considered a 383 or 427 small-block.
Also remember that O’hauling producers want to save on production costs and get the show in the can (movie production lingo) on schedule. I doubt they wanted the extra hassel of dealing with a Cadillac rebuild and installation, not to mention frame issues, if any.
(As an aside, I’ve always wondered what sort build quality results when builders have to rush to finish a project, to meet production and broadcast deadlines.)
Third, my guess is that the on-air personalities and producers aren’t car people, so Chevy vs. Cadillac and maintaining a hot rod history mean nothing to them. At the end of a production day, they hop into their BMWs or Volkswagen Bugs, and go home hoping there’s an email saying they got a hollywood pic deal.
As for Chip Foose, he just cashes his checks.
I saw the episode and I knew once they scrapped the frame a SBC was going in place.
A friend of mine saw one of those Overhaulin’ build cars at a show somewhere and he said while it looked pretty good from a distance it wasn’t very impressive up close.
And as far as the Cad motor I would be pretty upset if these people secretly took my car and swapped the motor on me (unless of coarse they stuck the 4400 HP Moran motor in, LOL)
I woulda been pissed if they took that motor out of there,it (the motor) had history in the family and it belonged with the truck. They did this once I think with an Olds Cutlass,the guy had a nice running Olds motor in it and they swapped it for a SBC. Again,pissed paint job or not.
I agree, I caught that episode, not a full time viewer, and I think after a while other than the color choice Foose styles every car the same way; slammed suspension- check, tuck the bumpers- check, 20-inch rollers- check, crate motor- check.
As I was watching that my mind went to the availability of performance parts for both Caddy suspensions and engines. No reason not to rebuild what was there. And although they no longer work on the 1 week time frame they were working on a short schedule as the owner was only aware the truck was getting running.
They must have let BangShift Chad pick the engine . . . .
Like most gearhead TV programs, it’s all about the ad dollars. GMPP doesn’t sell real Cadillac mills anymore, so history gets ashcanned for a cast-iron belly button sponsor product placement. Yawn. Zzzzzzz.
I say turn ’em all off.
I despise the show and gave up after only a few episodes. I also dislike Foose’s style–his solution to everything is “two tone paint scheme, put a pinstripe on it, and find some ugly-ass 20” wheels”…. But that’s the least of the problems, that’s just preference.
All of these stupid reality shows making people build in 2-3 days what SHOULD, at minimum, take a year, are just awful and send all the wrong messages for anyone getting into the hobby. It also sets unrealistic expectations for ignorant consumers who go to a shop expecting them to build a car in less than a week.
I’m going purely from memory here, but in the first season they built that Chevy II for the rockabilly-looking girl with the tattoos. I remember it because her name or her nickname involved cherries, so the painted two little cherries on the back of the car. As I recall, a story shortly after spread like wildfire around the car forums about how the car basically fell apart shortly after the build, the wiring was all screwed up, some chassis piece that was welded in haste fell off. It was awful.
Is there truly any good automotive fabrication shows? I guess the ones on Spike; at least they take a few weeks to bolt some sponsored parts on a car.
Yeah, plus I read a follow up story on that Chevy II. Unfortunately she lived in an apartment and only had the option of on street parking, then the bill came in since the was basically ‘gifted’ the increased value of the car. So if it went from a $1500 beater to a $50k show piece, she owed taxes on $48,500 which was the nail in the coffin and the car was sold.
You guys beat me to it citing all the wrongness. Great piece, Bruab.
Haven’t seen the episode yet, can i just assume they put stupid looking 20″ rims on it?
I just want to be outside near the dumpster after every episode to pick up all the useable history they throw away…