This week Netflix released the much anticipated Season-2 of Car Masters: Rust-to-Riches (which we originally reviewed in October of 2018). It’s been over a year and half since the original season filmed, so let’s get caught up!
If you recall, Season-1 ended with the sale of the ’54 International COE and ’55 Lincoln Futura for a whopping $170k! That allowed Mark Towle and the Gotham Team: Shawn (the wheeler-dealer), Tony (the machinist), Caveman (the mechanic) and Constance (the engine builder) to expand Gotham Garage to a second shop (also located in Temecula, CA) to help give them more space to work and grow their projects – “double the room, double the efficiency” as Mark says.
Season-2 ditches the “red paper clip” idea from Season-1, and goes for a straightforward “upgrade and trade” approach. Car Masters packs the entire season into eight easy to digest 30 minute episodes. The season kicks off with ’53 Buick “sleeper” Special and a goal of obtaining “the big pay day” with a ‘59 Corvette Concept, but plans are quickly derailed by a series of unfortunate events starting with a wreck and a couple deals gone wrong.
Electrified
Much like Mark, I’m not the biggest fan (yet) of electric vehicles – and when he was presented with the challenge to build an all-electric drag race car, encased in the shell of a ’73 Ford Pinto for famed Indy-car team owner and Roadster Hall of Fame winner Gil Losi (below), how could he say no, right?
With a budget of $50k and a time to beat of less than 9 sec in the 1/8th mile, the team got to work. Despite being a Pinto, and despite being electric… the build was probably one of the most fascinating of the season including things like: tandem-motors, tesla batteries, electro-luminescent paint, and more. In the end, the “eRacer+” as it was badged by the team, put down an astounding and silent 1/8th mile run of 7.80 sec on its FIRST PASS! The team handed over the keys to Gil for $75k and rolled their profit onto the next set of projects including:
- Custom Harley “Bagger”
- ’69 Ford Mustang Mach-1 “wide-body”
- Custom T-bucket “Wedding Coach”
- Bob Anziano’s, Viper powered 1948 Buick Roadmaster “Chop-top”
- Retro-inspired Chevy Astro “band-conversion” Van
- 35′ twin-engine “Corvette Boat”
- 1930s Ranger-powered Ford sprint-racer
- 24 hrs of Lemons Chrysler Sebring “shark car”
Reskinned
Although not my first choice in color schemes, the “VAYDOR” kit-car** (above) which the team acquired after selling the Corvette-boat was another complicated but engaging build. The Vaydor is designed as a “reskinning kit” and lays over top of a mid-2000s Infiniti-G35. I found this fascinating because my assumption was that all kit cars, were just that… a kit you turned into a car – everything you need in ONE box – like a Caterham!
In the case of the Vaydor: you buy yourself a running G35 for about $8k and the Vaydor kit for $11k, and spend the next 6 months or so carefully removing everything outside of the drive-train, suspension and framework. Then jigsaw puzzle all the pieces together (with no instructions, because you lost them) from the shrink-wrapped pallet until you end up with what looks like a European hyper-car and sell it for $80k. #howhardcoulditbe **for more details on the Vaydor, check out their website vaydorsupercar.com #shaqsgotone – LOL.
Package Deal
As I mentioned earlier, a series of unfortunate events, and deals gone wrong set the season on an entirely different trajectory than originally intended. The ’59 Corvette Concept, was no more, but in a way that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. There was a new “big pay day car” on the horizon but it was a long reach to get there. A reach that included setting up a 2:1 trade. In order to get to their final project the team simultaneously restored a Pre-war (1930s) Sprint Racer and a 1947 Dodge Power Wagon (seen above) using both shops. Unlike other builds both vehicles where kept quite austere. It was good to see that not everything had to include skulls and spiderwebs, as these vehicles were tasteful remixes of their original forms.
The XNR
Its OK if you’ve NEVER heard of the 1960 Plymouth Valiant based “XNR” Concept Car, because not many other people have either. The original XNR was built by Virgil Exner (see also: Stutz Blackhawk) as a one-of-a-kind asymmetrical roadster. It was moving art, designed to show-case the abilities and the future of Plymouth. If you look at it with one eye closed and off to the side, you can start to appreciate some of the XNR’s unique qualities. And at first glance, you might even recognize that it’s really a single-seater with a side-car… on a 106.5″ wheel base.
Why the XNR? Just like the end of Season-1 with the Lincoln Futura build, this XNR was a build no one else had ever been successful at attempting let alone completing, until the team at Gotham came across a gentleman named “Adam” from Vermont. He claimed to have obtained the original blueprints for the XNR, recreated the molds, and fabricated exact replica body panels laying them on top of a 1960 Valiant, just like the original. Adam, unfortunately, didn’t have the resources to continue the project any further and agreed to trade the XNR to Gotham in exchange for the Ford Sprint Racer and Dodge Power Wagon mentioned earlier.
The team made quick work of getting the XNR completed. Now they were faced with a larger dilemma: Sell the car to any number of private collectors for nearly $200k -OR- donate the car to the Peterson Auto Museum in Los Angeles for all the world to see?
Amidst all that drama the team ultimately decides to bring their XNR build up to “museum quality” and park it alongside Mark Towle’s other entrant from 20 years ago: the C4 Corvette based Speed Racer “Mach 5” replica (above). This would make Mark part of an elite group of car builders to have more than 1 vehicle featured at the Peterson. #congrats
I’ve said it before, I’m not a huge fan of reality television, but my affinity for Car Masters and many well crafted RUST-oration shows in the last few years has grown significantly. I anxiously awaited the return of Car Masters, and even though Season-2 felt a little more produced (at times), it didn’t loose its overall charm or appeal. I was really happy to see the team still together, and their work is nothing if not engaging and top-shelf quality. In the end, the Gotham team didn’t get “the big pay day” they originally hoped for, but I actually think they got something more. The notoriety that is going to come from the XNR build, along with having a vehicle in the Peterson, moves them way up the ranks. I’m really curious to see how this will effect Season-3 of Car Masters… But let’s not wait until 2022 to find out, ok – Netflix?
