Ed China. He hosted a team building event where we used straws and other soft stuff to build cars. Like I say interesting fella but...that could also be my 'class chip' playing a factor too tho
Ah- ok - i thought you meant him....the reason i asked was that people's tv persona's can be different from their actual person....Guy Martin is what springs to mind.....his TV persona is totally different to his actual person having witnessed it first hand quite a few times...
I always liked Ed China and watched Wheeler Dealers religiously right from the early days when Ed would use rattle cans to bodge up some dodgy repair, right up until they started doing the American stuff. It certainly did go down hill a lot compared to the early days and I havent watched it since. Whilst Ed has done some mad inventions and knows his spanners, he was really the front man for the workshop stuff, with Paul doing most of the work. I was also really surprised to hear that Ed`s own garage business went bankrupt a few years back as I thought with the fame/success of being on Wheeler Dealers that he`d be doing well outside of that. Not sure what he`s on about with product placement though, I remember that the old wheeler dealers used to have a bit of that, with Ed wheeling in some new fancy tool or machine to fix a car. Tetraclean in particular who pay Ed to advertise it was featured on one episode. Still, all the best to Ed and if he starts up on some other car show i`ll tune in to see what its like. His replacement, Ant Anstead did some car show a few years back which I enjoyed and really seems to know his stuff, but if wheeler dealers carries on with this american stuff then I wont be watching it.
Loved the programme but used to record so I could fast forward Mikes bits. Good for Ed for taking a stance bet they offerd him a lot of wonga. Did not realise it was such a big show. I thought it was just watched by us brits when the wife was not around. Well done Ed. Regards Steve
US crew costs are astronomical as it's all a unionised closed shop and fixed team sizes, roles etc. i.e. A gaffer will cost you $5k a day, that's why many US shows are shot in Canada.
Have a look a Roadkill on Youtube for a bit of light entertainment. Couple of Yank hot rod journos doing stupid stuff,like buying a piece of shit motor and putting in a some h-u-u-u-u-g-e V8 and a trick gearbox. But doing the motor change in the car park of the place they just bought the motor from. Total idiocy and not to be taken seriously,but I find it pretty funny at times. And they are always,(genuinely it seems),breaking down...they had a couple of Aussie car show fools over for some old nonsense US v Convicts show,and the visitors were genuinely shocked that the failures were not staged...and that the Septics WERE lying under the car on the hard shoulder of a busy freeway with petrol filling up their armpits. Not a lot of shrieking hysteria though...Top Gear it is not.
The Liquidation report from Grease Junkie. I must admit I got a bit bored with Wheeler Dealers after a while and no longer watch it, like many I preferred the garage scenes and not some of rest of it like the sale of the car at the end etc.. I remember Mike Brewer when he used to compare a Remote Controlled car race series. Grease Junkie Garage Limited - Liquidation report Grease Junkie Garage Limited was placed into liquidation at meetings of its members and creditors on 5th August 2016. Michal Fortune and Carl Faulds were appointed as joint liquidators of the company. Creditors can read the first report here The company was incorporated in October 2009 as a web based retailer of products featured in the TV show Wheeler Dealers. In 2012 the company acquired the business of a motor garage in Bracknell, Berkshire, which included and MOT testing facility. As a result of the sale the MOT tester resigned which left the company in difficulty. As well as this it transpired that there were sums due to the employees and creditors which had not previously been disclosed. The company was obliged to settle the claims and as such significant unbudgeted costs were incurred. Following the sale the staff were unable to adapt to the different working methods, resulting in four different managers being appointed over time to try to manage the garage. The premises itself was also in a very poor condition. It was envisaged that the image of the garage would be improved to make it a bench mark for the industry. In order to accomplish this a major refurbishment was undertaken resulting in additional workspace to allow more vehicles to be tested at any one time and to generally increase the profile of the garage. It is estimated that the refurbishments cost in excess of £450,000. Despite some improvements being made by the introduction of a new director, who resolved a number of the ongoing staff issues , the company was unable to retain an MOT tester and as such had its MOT licence removed. This resulted in the loss of MOT business and also the ancillary repair work that came with it and the company experienced severe cash-flow difficulties. A new manager was found who implemented significant changes and improved the position of the garage business, but was unable to prevent the arrears to HMRC from increasing. In addition the energy provider made a claim for supply which was disputed by the company. The matter was referred to the regulator, although this was not able to prevent the supplier from issuing a statutory demand and a subsequent petition to wind-up the company. The directors and shareholders wished for the company to enter into voluntary liquidation in order that any goodwill would be preserved to allow a sale of the business to be achieved and as such meetings were convened to place the company into voluntary liquidation.
Interesting one this. I like Edd on the show, he obviously has a lot of knowledge, and has to put up with getting stuff done quickly and efficiently whilst being filmed. To put it in terms we’d understand, it’s one thing changing the belts on an old 2 valve 900 and setting the tensions, but try doing it with a film crew that keep stopping you and asking for it to be done again so they can get another angle! On the other hand, he does appear to have earned himself a bit of a reputation off-screen for being a bit of a Pre-Madonna. I’ll watch whatever he ends up doing, and the more in-depth coverage of the actual process he carries out the better as far as I’m concerned. Nasher.
Or someone didn't do their research before getting the cheque book out? An MOT testers course is pretty short so they are not hard to find,,to me it sounds like the revolving door for the MOT guys was caused by intransigence on the part of the workforce. Only takes one rotten apple to infect a workforce,if you 've got two it's game over for many small firms.
courtesy of sniffpetrol... Edd China reveals real reason for Wheeler Dealers departure Posted in News by Sniff Petrol on Wednesday, March 22nd, 2017 Wheeler Dealers, yesterday Edd China is to leave the hit TV programme Wheeler Dealers after admitting that he can’t understand a single word Mike Brewer says. ‘For 14 years Edd hasn’t followed anything that’s come out of Mike’s mouth,’ said a source close to the 7’8” gloves wearer. ‘He’s basically spent the last 13 series’ just smiling and nodding, and then fitting some new wheels and hoping that’s okay.’ ‘Edd tried his best to understand what Mike was on about, but he was never sure if it was some kind of East London patois or if he’d had a stroke,’ another friend of the 9’10” standing-underneath-cars fan revealed. ‘In most cases he’d just say “absolutely” and then de-cloud the headlights and hope that was alright.’ ‘Edd is looking forward to moving on to new projects involving his three passions,’ revealed a producer who worked with the 11’4” too-many-consonants enthusiast. ‘Which is to say, cars, engineering, and being able to have conversations in which he’s not just saying “uh-huh, uh-huh” and hoping the other person goes away soon.’ China has publically wished his replacement, Ant Anstead, the best of luck whilst privately he has emailed him details of a Linguaphone course for Cock-er-nee along with a note reading, ‘This probably won’t work so just give a thumbs up and bury your head in the engine bay until he’s gone’. Wheeler Dealers will continue on the Velocity Channel who bought the format for an unusually low price, re-built the cylinder heads, had it re-sprayed and sold it for a profit margin that didn’t really seem to account for all the work put into it.
It's a shame but to be honest ever since WD went over to America the show's gone downhill. I much prefer the earlier ones (Morgan and TVR chassis swaps etc) where most of the episode is in the workshop rather than twatting about.. Seemed as it got a higher following it got more "showbiz" which ruined it imho. Years ago I watched American County Choppers, building bikes in the basement. That went exactly the same way, it's unwatchable now. Ed should do something similar to "A Car Is Born", good honest viewing with no b#ll$hit.
Will miss old China - he seems a reasonably genuine fella? As for Mike Brewer - after 42 years of car trading he's just another total knob with a very high opinion of himself! The USA can have him if they promise not to send him back
For a minute I got confused which China I was reading about... http://ducatiforum.co.uk/threads/china-wants-to-control-the-internet.39002/
I was totally fed up with seeing and listening to that t*thead Brewer - thinks he's a real expert at dealing. Edd I didn't mind, but I'm afraid with whatever they did to cars in the way what they called 'renovation' was pathetic - probably just enough to get the vehicle through two years of MOTs. A much better and worthwhile programme is Car SOS with Fuzz Townsend and Tim Shaw - at least there is real renovation going on and while there is humour, the end results are generally brilliant plus rewarding for the owners of the cars.
