Car SOS
| Car SOS | |
|---|---|
| Genre | |
| Directed by |
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| Presented by | |
| Starring |
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| Narrated by |
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| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 39 (including 1 special) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
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| Producer(s) | Stephen Taylor Woodrow |
| Location(s) | Westgate Classics Ltd in Aldridge, England |
| Editor(s) |
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| Running time | 44 mins approx (not inc. advertisements) |
| Production company(s) |
Renegade Pictures National Geographic Channels NGC UK Partnership |
| Distributor | NGC Network International |
| Release | |
| Original network |
National Geographic Channel UK More4 |
| Picture format | HDTV 1080i |
| Original release | 2013 – present |
| External links | |
| Car SOS at National Geographic | |
| Production website | |
Car SOS is a one-hour automotive entertainment television series that airs on National Geographic Channel UK.[1] The series began in 2013, and is presented by Tim Shaw and Fuzz Townshend.[1]
The show features Shaw and Townshend working closely with the specialist car restoration team helping to restore owners classic cars from across the UK and Europe, often beginning in serious state of disrepair. The owner and their car, unbeknownst to them, are nominated by a relative or friend because of an inability to restore the vehicle themselves due to unforeseen medical and/or financial reasons. The owners are then reunited with their finished car, much to their surprise at a staged event usually setup by Shaw.
In a special series three episode, however, the owner was aware, and the car, a 1962 Austin-Healey Sebring Sprite, once driven by a racing team that included Steve McQueen and Sir Stirling Moss (the latter of which featured in the episode), was restored due to its meaning to the classic car world instead, and was placed in the Heritage Motor Centre once completed.
Presenters
The series is presented by motor vehicle and engineering enthusiast Tim Shaw, and musician and mechanic, Fuzz Townshend.[1] Townshend leads a team of car restoration experts who mainly work off camera, though they do have occasional cameos, most notably "Workshop" Phil Palmer's appearances within skits or scripted light-hearted moments taking place within the workshop.
Format
Each episode begins with Shaw and Townshend picking up and reviewing the featured car. Shaw will discuss why the car is being restored with the nominee's relatives, while Townshend inspects the car's state, working out the amount of work needed. The car is then winched onto a trailer, and taken to Townshend's workshop, where it is inspected further by all of the restoration team. As the work on restoring the car begins, Shaw is given a list and travels the country to find the needed parts, often portrayed in a comedic, 'blagging' manner. Shaw and Townshend will occasionally break from the restoration, leaving it in the safe hands of the team to visit other restored models of the same car, test driving them and talking with other owners. Towards the end of the restoration, Shaw will invite the nominee's family to discuss setting up a fake scenario or event, in which they can return the car to the owner. The fake event is also usually presented in a comedic manner, with Shaw often being in a form of disguise, before revealing who he is, and his intentions to the owner, who is then presented with their restored car.
A special aired as the first episode of the third series featuring Sir Stirling Moss. A 1962 Sebring Austin Healey Sprite, once driven at Sebring as part of a racing team featuring Steve McQueen and Sir Stirling Moss, was restored by the team and was placed in the Heritage Motor Centre museum once completed.[2] In the 1962 race, a sister car was driven by Moss to a class win, and second overall. That car had since been destroyed, leaving the team car, restored by the team, as the only Sebring Sprite left in the world.
Episodes
Three series of Car SOS have aired, each containing 10 episodes.[3][4][5] A fourth series started in April 2016.
| Series | Episodes | First aired |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | 2013 |
| 2 | 10 | 2014 |
| 3 | 10 | 2015 |
| 4 | 9 | 2016 |
Episode list
Series 1
| Total episode no. | No. in series |
Title |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Cosworth in Crisis" |
| TV presenter Tim Shaw and master mechanic Fuzz Townshend come to the rescue of Darren's 1986 Ford Cosworth, which was neglected after a family tragedy. | ||
| 2 | 2 | "Beetle Mania" |
| Fuzz and Tim attempt to renovate 'Boris', a Volkswagen Beetle that may once have been a beauty but soon found itself rusting in the garage. | ||
| 3 | 3 | "Phoenix Jeep" |
| Tim and Fuzz embark on a rapid renovation project to surprise Dick Masters, the owner of a US Army Jeep that survived World War II only to be damaged in an arson attack. | ||
| 4 | 4 | "Fiat Fiasco" |
| Tim and Fuzz meet Jeremy, who lost his wife and was unable to work after a car accident. Can they give Jeremy's Fiat Spider the makeover it desperately needs? | ||
| 5 | 5 | "Anglia Angels" |
| Fuzz and Tim encounter the Hutchings-Clarke family, who all drive Ford Anglias except James, whose own model doesn't even have an engine. Will the guys manage to restore it? | ||
| 6 | 6 | "The Rover's Return" |
| Rover-lover Steve's health issues have ended his dreams of renovating his 1972 P6. Can Tim and Fuzz beat the odds and save Steve's beloved car? | ||
| 7 | 7 | "Triumph of the Stag" |
| Tim and Fuzz head to Portsmouth on a mission to rescue injured former navy diver Morgan's 1976 Triumph Stag and, hopefully, put a smile back on his face. | ||
| 8 | 8 | "Austin Re-Powered" |
| Fuzz and Tim visit Suffolk to secretly restore a charismatic but worn-out 1928 Austin 12 Tourer: 'a mobster's car' as Tim puts it. | ||
| 9 | 9 | "Zodiac Come Back" |
| Tim and Fuzz head to Norfolk to revive an ageing Ford Zodiac. They plan to help the owner get behind the wheel of his beloved car for the first time in 20 years, but tensions soon arise. | ||
| 10 | 10 | "Lotus Flowers" |
| Fuzz and Tim are off to Warwickshire to spruce up a 1970 Lotus Elan, whose ex-racing driver owner has a painful spinal injury that has prevented him from maintaining the vehicle. | ||
Series 2
| Total episode no. | No. in series |
Title |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | 1 | "Cortina Conundrum" |
| Tim and Fuzz must restore a Ford Cortina GT that has seen better days, but when they arrive at the lock-up where it is kept, they find that the vehicle is little more than a well-preserved body shell. | ||
| 12 | 2 | "MG Miracle" |
| Fuzz Townshend and Tim Shaw head to Cheshire to answer an SOS call about a 1938 MG TA, whose owner is unable to restore it to a roadworthy state due to illness. | ||
| 13 | 3 | "A Porsche Puzzle" |
| Fuzz and Tim race against the clock to restore a 1980s Porsche 911 from East Anglia that has seen better days. The car is suffering from an almost terminal case of rust and is collapsing in on itself. | ||
| 14 | 4 | "The Herald Angels" |
| Tim and Fuzz head to Cornwall to save a poorly 1970 Triumph Herald, a much-cherished motor that has been left standing in a garage for over four years due to its owner's tragic family circumstances. | ||
| 15 | 5 | "Land Rover Legend" |
| Fuzz and Tim head to South Yorkshire to tackle an ever-lengthening list of mechanical problems suffered by a Series 1 Land Rover, a family heirloom that has been off the road for 16 years. | ||
| 16 | 6 | "Start the Dart" |
| Tim and Fuzz are off to Berkshire to give some TLC to a forgotten 1960s sports classic, a Daimler SP250, known as the Dart, which has been gathering dust in a shed for over 10 years. | ||
| 17 | 7 | "Morris Traveller Mayday" |
| Fuzz and Tim head to Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire to help Richard and Tracy finish restoring a 1968 Morris Traveller for their son Justin. | ||
| 18 | 8 | "Danish Dilemma" |
| Tim and Fuzz embark on their first continental car rescue as they head over to Denmark to fix a 1968 Volvo Amazon, a Scandinavian classic that's been in the same family for over 45 years. | ||
| 19 | 9 | "Escort RS in Distress" |
| Fuzz and Tim travel to Dorset to restore Adrian's 1980s Ford Escort RS 1600i, which has been gathering dust in a damp garage for seven years. Can the duo bring the vehicle back to peak condition? | ||
| 20 | 10 | "Campervan Challenge" |
| Tim and Fuzz head to Hartlepool in the north east of England, where they hope to cheer up car enthusiast Brian by secretly restoring his cherished 1971 classic VW bay-window campervan. | ||
Series 3
| Total episode no. | No. in series |
Title |
|---|---|---|
| 21 | 1 | "E-Type Emergency" |
| Ill health turned caretaker Mick's childhood dream of owning a Jaguar E-Type into a nightmare, and now his 60s supercar has seen better days. Tim and Fuzz try to get his iconic car back on the road. | ||
| 22 | 2 | "Awesome Audi" |
| Barry from Brighton dreams of restoring his 1984 Audi UR Quattro but the vehicle has been under a tarpaulin cover for 10 years. Tim and Fuzz visit the south coast to bring the car back to its best. | ||
| 23 | 3 | "Stirling Moss Sprite Special" |
| Tim and Fuzz fix up a historic Austin Healey Sprite, which has been in a garage since 1968, so that Sir Stirling Moss, who raced in it at Sebring in the USA in 1962, can get back behind the wheel. | ||
| 24 | 4 | "Morgan Mayhem" |
| Tim and Fuzz head to Northumberland to rescue a 1934 Morgan F4 three-wheeler, one of the most successful lightweight cars from the early days of motoring, which has been in a shed for over 50 years. | ||
| 25 | 5 | "Skyline Sensation" |
| In Hampshire, Tim and Fuzz convert an accident-damaged 1995 Nissan Skyline GTR that has been kept in a shed from a sorry-looking nightmare into a street racer's dream for its owner, petrolhead Kim. | ||
| 26 | 6 | "Alfa Romeo Renaissance" |
| Fuzz and Tim encounter a beloved 1963 Alfa Romeo Giulia Spider, a two-seater convertible that has been kept in a dusty barn in Essex since its owner's plans to restore it ground to a halt. | ||
| 27 | 7 | "Tim's Golf GTI Obsession" |
| Fuzz and Tim are in Hampshire to repair a 1982 VW Golf GTI Mk1 that has been kept in a garage since a road accident in 2001. But they have different ideas about how the finished car should look. | ||
| 28 | 8 | "Lancia Reborn" |
| Fuzz and Tim try to restore a high-end car, a 1967 Lancia Flavia coupé, that has been hidden away for over 30 years in a Rochdale garage, but the rebuild culminates in a race against the clock. | ||
| 29 | 9 | "Little Black Corvette" |
| Tim and Fuzz head to Essex to rescue a 1974 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray that has been off the road for years. But back at the workshop, they discover it might be a bigger job than they'd anticipated. | ||
| 30 | 10 | "Vive La Citroën" |
| Tim and Fuzz are off to Eastbourne in East Sussex to take on an iconic French front-wheel drive car, a 1954 Citroën Traction Avant belonging to former watchmaker and classic car lover Andrew. | ||
Series 4
| Total episode no. | No. in series |
Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 31 | 1 | "Volvo P1800" | April 7, 2016 |
| Peter's 1964 Volvo P1800 gets heavenly treatment by Fuzz, Tim, and Sir Roger Moore. | |||
| 32 | 2 | "AC Aceca" | April 14, 2016 |
| Today Tim and Fuzz are off to Leeds to take on one of the most beautiful British sports cars that no one has ever heard of - the AC Aceca. | |||
| 33 | 3 | "BMW 2002 Turbo" | April 21, 2016 |
| A Car S.O.S. call comes in for a BMW 2002 Turbo, but it becomes apparent that this legendary motor might prove a restoration challenge too far. | |||
| 34 | 4 | "Datsun 240Z" | April 28, 2016 |
| Today Tim and Fuzz are off to West Sussex to rescue an iconic 1970s motor - the first truly successful Japanese car export - the Datsun 240z. | |||
| 35 | 5 | "Range Rover Vogue SE" | May 5, 2016 |
| Fuzz Townshend and Tim Shaw restore a 1991 Range Rover, which is a sad reminder of happier days for the owner and her family. | |||
| 36 | 6 | "Mazda MX5" | May 12, 2016 |
| Fuzz Townshend and Tim Shaw restore a sports car for a former ambulance driver in Plymouth, who was forced to abandon the project for health reasons. | |||
| 37 | 7 | "Singer Le Mans" | May 19, 2016 |
| Fuzz Townshend and Tim Shaw restore a two-seater sports car that has not been on the road for 17 years, belonging to a farmer suffering from dementia. | |||
| 38 | 8 | "Vauxhall Astra GTE" | May 26, 2016 |
| General Motors was a late entrant to the hot hatch market - but when it did turn up to the party, it did so with an amazingly effective offering. | |||
| 39 | 9 | "Mini Cooper S" | June 2, 2016 |
| Tim and Fuzz head to Eastbourne on a quest to secretly restore a 1962 Mini Cooper S and transform it into a Monte Carlo-winning replica. | |||
| 40 | 10 | "Tim and Fuzz's Greatest Hits" | June 9, 2016 |
| Tim and Fuzz take a tour of the UK, to visit their favourite cars and owners after they've given them their cars back. They also air previously un-seen clips. | |||
References
- 1 2 3 "Car SOS at NatGeoTV". National Geographic Channel UK. NGC Europe Ltd. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
- ↑ "Visit the Austin-Healey Sebring Sprite at the Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon". Car SOS on Facebook. Car SOS on Facebook. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
- ↑ "Car SOS, Series One Episode Guide". Radiotimes.com. Radiotimes. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
- ↑ "Car SOS, Series Two Episode Guide". Radiotimes.com. Radiotimes. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
- ↑ "Car SOS, Series Three Episode Guide". Radiotimes.com. Radiotimes. Retrieved 8 June 2015.