Edd China Versus Scankula – The Horror of American Car Shows

There’s nothing constant but change, so says the saying. Edd China, the towering figure (both figuratively and literally at 6’5”) of the show Wheeler Dealers, has called it quits and is leaving the program after 13 seasons.

You can see Edd explain why here. 

I found Wheeler Dealers one unproductive evening several years ago. I was desperate for car related video content so I typed MGB GT into Youtube’s search bar and I found Mike Brewer, Wheeler Dealer’s other half purchasing a tired B-GT and I was hooked. There followed binge watching every pirated episode I could find as well as getting my wife hooked on the show.

The great thing about Wheeler Dealers was it had no fake reality show drama, no cursing, and no arbitrary deadlines. Mike Brewer found cars in need of love and Edd fixed them up. Once they were put right Mike would sell the car for a profit.

I’ve heard many people complain that they never figured in Edd’s labor cost as part of the expenses but those folk miss the point entirely.  The purpose of the show was not to train you to be a professional car dealer but rather to show you that you can own your dream cars and indulge in your car collecting hobby without selling a kidney on the black market if you’re willing to put in the graft.

It was Edd China that encouraged Ginger and me to go deeper into car repair then we ever dreamed possible.

Wheeler Dealers will continue with Mike Brewer but with Ant Anstead taking the role of the wrench. Ant is familiar to anyone that has watched the British car show For The Love of Cars. He’s a talented car restorer in his own right but will Wheeler Dealers be the same? No, it won’t. It might still be a great car show in a landscape desperate for good car shows but it will never be the old WD.

The Velocity of American Car Programing.

A few seasons ago Wheeler Dealers moved from the U.K. to California and fell under the auspices of Velocity TV. The reasons seemed harmless enough; there are more rust-free cars in Cali and they had a longer shooting season with the better weather; why then did I feel a sense of foreboding when they announced the move? I felt a change like when your daughter’s room goes from displaying pictures of cartoon characters to posters of boy bands; you sense a corner is turned and you can never go back.

For decades I’ve hated American car shows, they were either hillbilly infomercials, “Today Zeke is installing a set of Hooker Headers and Prostitute Pistons in his 1969 Chevelle.” Or the shows were trumped-up drama and conflict, “The boys from Lizard Dick Garage have just 22 minutes to take this rusty bolt and turn it into a Hemi Cuda so Ricky can take his wife Skankula to get another tattoo in time to attend their daughter’s cosmetology school graduation.”

Wheeler Dealers was different; it was two likable guys buying, fixing, and enjoying cars of all kinds and highlighting mechanical techniques and cottage industry along the way. There was no tool-throwing fake drama and beeping language, no boring rehash of small block Chevy-chrome-30” wheels-small block Chevy-chrome-30” wheels, etc. just good clean car porn.

I will give the new Wheeler Dealers a chance, what choice do I have, start watching NetFlix original series? I’d rather be boiled in motor oil.

I will also follow Edd Cina on Youtube and see what he’s up to.

For about a decade I have been contemplating starting my own car show; maybe it’s time to get off the creeper and plunge into the fray. Is the world ready for 80’s hatchbacks, old SUV’s, compact trucks, and forgotten sports cars…probably not.