I saw the Camaro "remake". I think if I was the buyer and later saw the show I'd be upset to have purchased a car they had nicknamed Christine.

I guess my definition of a clone is different from many here. I think that a clone is an exact replica of an original car. In the case of the LeMans you would have to change the bumper, add scoops and tach to the hood, change the engine, change the suspension, paint it an original color and add all the GTO badges and trim. This then would be representing the car as an original stock GTO, something it was not and never will be.

We all have to remember that this show is not made for the automotive enthusiast but for the general public which does know the term "GTO" and can relate to it as a muscle car.

Also most of these shows are scripted with the "actors" reciting lines, These lines are written by the producers to add drama to the show and are shot away from the shop work to be edited in later as voice overs the picture. Thus you think they are actually saying those words as they are working. How do I know this? I worked for 30 years in the film and video field as a producer, editor and writer. But I still have to use spell check.

I like the show,the cars are nice but Barry White is a liar. How can you trust a liar to tell the truth about what he is building. It appears, he is out to fleece the buyers.

Al

,, Just curious , How did you come to that conclusion??

Homebrew, you are right about American Hot Rod and Chopper using lines written by the producers to emphasize the "theme" they want to characterize that particular episode, but I don't see any of that on this show.

PS, I saw the show again, and I definately saw the sparks from the front. They must have been coming from a pulley rubbing against metal.

I was trying to figure out the sparks, if all the pulleys were billit, which I think they were, the only thing I could come up with was they fried the PS pump or alternator. The sparks were coming just right of center.

Seeing as they didn't even have the distributor rotation right, wouldn't surprise me if someone forgot to fill the PS pump.
But something was amiss for sure.

And $50K for that car was redicules. Just slick paint, Butler kit engine and a few tricks. Paddle shifter? on a Tempest? You want 50K for a car like that, it needs a Hurst through the floor. And what was with using a 9" Ford?

SMC = (Strangely Mutated Car)

Man, you guys are cold! Barry White is a liar?!! How do you figure...It's not like he's hiding the fact that the car is a hot rod, or a clone, if you want to call it that. While some of you may think the car is not worth the 50k Barry White is asking, let me tell you, he is laughing all the way to the bank! The man builds some of the coolest rods around and makes a damned good living at it! More power to him!

Barry is ill-tempered and somewhat of an a-- ,although he may laughing all the way to the bank,he still comes across as somewhat shady in the way he figures his monetary investment.It's almost a clone of American Chopper what with all the deadlines and uptight attitude.I do know that the last two cars were nowhere near worth what he says they were worth.I think he claimed he bought the camaro for more than 4000$ .I can find plane jane camaro bodies in the same condition around here for way less.I don't think we need another show with the same premise as American chopper.don't get me wrong ,I watch the show ,but the arguing and a-hole attitude from the boss is getting old.Also the "GTO" as he called it looked almost to early eighties with the front end in the weeds and the rear end sky high(AKA air shocks and cut springs).Boyd Coddington he ain't.

I think this is an interesting show, but I like to watch them all. I have never heard of Barry White, but so far he seems ok. One thing that stands out is that he doesn't do any of the work himself, he just tells everyone else what to do. You gotta have a huge amount of respect for Chip Foose, cause he doesn't mind doing anything, even some stuff others would consider grunt work, and he's a genuinely nice guy.
Anyway, the first 3 cars he sold turned a total profit of 60,000 in 3 months. If he keeps up that average, he's on track to make roughly 240,000 a year. I do think the spendometer includes labor. Someone mentioned labor costs $65/hour, but he's not paying his employees that much, that's what the business would charge a customer.
I wish I could go back in time and go to Hot Rod University instead of being a computer guy. It would be my dream job for someone to pay me to work on cars! If I made $5 hour for all the hours I've put in my 34 Plymouth, I could retire!
-Shane

OMG! Don't turn this post into another Boyd Coddington post!

Boyd, who?

The fact that they assign numbers to parts on the wrecks to riches show is informative. Lets us understand that millions are not being made on the cars themselves. The owners (did not use builder on purpose) are spending huge chunks of change as we are. The difference is that we love our cars and they are just hustling. Its a GTO, no it is a look alike/ almost a GTO, or maybe it is a want to be GTO. to bad for the sucker that buys a fake.......... 50K for a fake, makes good sense to me................. not.
One more item, the labor is from some tech school and I think I saw that only the hours of labor were reported not the cost. The cars do look nice on TV, but TV hides a lot of crap.

I think they should refer to this car as a 'Custom GTO Clone'. That clearly defines it so everyone knows it is a Tempest that has been modified. The GTO is such a popular car, it's hard to find a numbers matching original. I have no problem with people using what they can find to upgrade and modify it into what they want. Of course the guys who like all original stuff will not be interested in a clone, and that's ok. It's without a doubt harder to build an all original car than a highly modified one, so I have nothing but respect for people who track down the history of the cars and are so passionate about the details. My own preference, however, is to take a car that already looks great, and modify it to suit my personal tastes and opinion of what looks cool. I know 95% of the people will never notice all the little things I've done to my '34, like stretching the door jam 2" at the bottom so it follows the straight line of the windshield. I didn't do it for them, I did it because I thought it would be neat.

This is why cars like the Custom GTO Clone bring so much money. The buyers recognize it takes a lot of time and talent to modify a car in a way that's not overboard and gaudy, just cool and unique. I say thank goodness there's people willing to pay the mega bucks for these unique cars, because it pushes the envelope of design and style. Surely everyone here has been inspired by a car that they thought was cool. If someone had never built it, you never would have seen that car and been inspired by it. There are 2 cars that inspired me to want to get into the hobby of custom car building. First was Aztek by George Barris, a radically custom 56 Chevy. Second was Sniper, by George Poteet (from my home town of Memphis), a custom '54 Plymouth Savoy. I'm sure my wife would be happier if I had never seen those 2 cars. Thank you Mr. Barris and Mr. Poteet for these mega bucks works of art that inspired me.
Maybe there's some young kids out there watching this show who has been inspired by the custom GTO clone. Don't knock it just because it's not your style, just enjoy them all.
-Shane

Interesting thread. The vehicles are different. Nothing I would want, but someone sure seems to. He has made money on several of them so far. Its takes some talent to do that to a pile of rust whether we like the results or not.

The pontiac (lemans, tempest, GTO imitator, whatever it was) was painted a color called "true blue". Does anyone have any information on the paint?

I looked around on the TLC website and could not find anything.

If the UPS man didn't sign a piece of paper saying it was ok to use his likeness and stuff on the show, then legally they can't show it without getting into lawyer hell territory if he(the ups man) decided to make an issue of it later on.


-W

Actually if you watched the show he certainly seems to be doing just that. The car was auctioned off as a GTO which it is NOT! That in my book is a bold faced lie. A real GTO is worth much more than a GTO clone and if it actually gets sold that way it's fraud!

Now I'll admit it is possible that at the auction potential buyers were told it was a clone but you didn't see that on the show. Without that important bit of information we can only assume the car was being sold as a GTO and not a clone. If that is true then lier is about the kindest thing you can say about him.