Original subtitles

We are one step away

from bringing an incredibly rare unicorn into our shop.

Shawn has spent the last few weeks setting up a two-for-one trade.

We're giving up a 1930's vintage race car

and this 1947 Dodge Power Wagon

in exchange for a one-of-a-kind replica

of a 1960 Plymouth XNR concept car.

Once we've made that XNR dead-nuts accurate,

it will be worth well into the six figures.

Money aside, the XNR is a once-in-a-lifetime build.

We've already finished the single-seat racer...

so we're halfway up the mountain.

If we want to make it to the summit,

we have to restore this old vintage Power Wagon

back to its glory.

This Power Wagon looks like money. Let's get this thing done.

Let's tear this truck apart. Let's go.

Man, this door was put together so it would never come apart.

When these trucks were originally manufactured,

they were not designed to come apart.

Even something as simple as taking the glass out of the door

takes three times as much work as any other truck.

These old nuts and bolts are so rusted up.

It's a good thing I'm totally up-to-date on my tetanus shot.

During World War II,

Dodge was the sole provider

of all 3/4-ton 4 x 4 trucks

to the United States military.

These trucks were referred to as weapons carriers.

And if you talk to any World War II veteran,

they'll all tell you the same thing...

these were the most reliable vehicles to see the battlefield.

After the war, a very similar truck was mass-produced by Dodge

and sold to the public under the name Power Wagon.

It was mostly used as a work truck,

and this thing could take a pounding.

As cliché as this sounds,

they do not make trucks like they used to.

Did you run through the sprinklers now? You're gonna lose 20 pounds today, bro.

Hell, yeah. I gotta get my summer body on.

Once we get this truck torn apart, I have big plans for it.

I want this military-style truck to stay vintage underneath,

but I want it to look like it belongs on the highway today.

We'll keep everything on the inside all original.

We'll take that inline-six flathead and bring it back to life

and make it drive like a vintage truck.

We're gonna keep the original wheels, but we're gonna slap on

some brand-new tough-as-nails off-road tires.

I also want to add a custom military interior

with a brand-new wood bed.

And when it comes to the paint job,

that's where you're gonna do a double take.

We're going with an urban camo that'll make this World War II-era truck

look like it's ready for a modern-day battlefield.

Watch out, 'cause Tony's got to walk slow.

One, two, three.

Don't scratch the paint!

Oh, we scratched the rust.

, that hurt. All righty, so now that this is destroyed...

Caveman, I would definitely do a little drive by the home

and take a shower.

Then take another shower.

Even though the Power Wagon isn't even done,

I'm very confident this deal's gonna go through,

and even though we don't even have the XNR,

I'm just letting everybody know what we got coming out.

Putting out the word ahead of time isn't a normal procedure for me,

but this isn't a normal car.

It's such a rare car, it needs a bit of a presale

just because cars like this, they're never on the market,

so the big players, the guys that have those big car collections,

they want a car like this,

because nobody else has a car like this in their collection.

One guy in particular, this guy named Don,

is very interested in this car.

Are you Shawn?

I am Shawn.

Oh, good, 'cause I don't let just anybody come in here. Nice to meet you.

A '62 'Vette to greet me? I like this.

Yeah, this is my favorite car right there.

- Come on in. This is my garage. - Ho, look.

This is... This is, uh, more than just a garage.

Look at the size of this place.

It's about 12,000 square feet.

There's a little bit of bling going on around here.

Yeah, I like bling. This is the Beach Boys' 409.

Whew.

Sixty-five Corvette, 327,

365 horse, 27,000-mile car.

That a Nassau blue?

- That's Nassau blue. - There you go.

You know what this collection is missing?

You need something really super unique in here.

I came here to gauge a price on this car.

I'm gonna hit him with a higher number at first just to see how he reacts.

You need something that somebody else hasn't got.

You got a bunch of, you know, Bel Air convertibles and Corvettes,

but nobody else has got an XNR in their collection.

- Am I right? - I'm curious.

How close to the real car is this gonna be?

This thing is so accurate.

Let me... Let me show you some pictures.

The guy originally put this car together

'cause he had the designer blueprints

for the original one of one.

As far as I know, there's no other one like that out there.

What kind of price range were you thinking on this hot rod?

Well, I gotta think 200,000

is totally fair for a car like this.

What are you thinking on something like that?

If it's that good of a car and like you say it is,

I would entertain maybe the idea of it.

- I'd like to see the car. - Of course.

I have a hole right here for one more car, so we have an opportunity.

And if I got something nobody else has, that's even better.

All my buddies are gonna try to take it away from me. Heh heh.

I'm here to help you one-up everybody else.

It's my job.

We can keep the conversation going, and maybe we can work something out.

I came here just to get a feel of what I think this car is worth,

and I think it went pretty damn well.

I hit Don at 200, and the guy didn't even flinch,

and now I'm thinking, "Wow, Don's the first guy I met."

I plan on casting a wide net,

so who knows what the final price is gonna be for this car?

I just want to hang here all night is what I'd really like.

On this '47 model Dodge Power Wagon, we have...

the side hood that you can look inside on this side.

If you come around, we can open the other side and see the other side.

I'd make a terrible car model.

If we want to keep this vehicle vintage on the inside...

then it is absolutely crucial that we use the original motor.

All right, here we go.

Sounds like it's cranking.

- It's kicking. - At least flame ain't coming out.

I like flame.

It's like The Little Engine That Could.

Like, the fact that it made any amount of sound

gives me some type of positive feeling about it.

- That might be a problem. - Are you serious?

Electrode's gone.

- That's definitely not a good sign. - So where did it go?

Are you serious? Two of 'em came out with no electrodes.

- Yeah. - Well, that just means they got burnt.

Anytime you come across anything in a motor that's burnt away,

you need to figure out,

"Well, if this is burnt off the end of this spark plug,

where did the rest of it go?"

And that could potentially lead to disassembling an entire motor

instead of just replacing a spark plug.

- Did it just burn away... - Another one?

I mean, it looks really burnt up, so...

If it broke off, it could be stuck inside there.

Stop trying to find negatives in the situation.

This truck was based off trucks that were used in World War II,

and they couldn't have the luxury of having trucks

that were going to break down.

Out there in the battlefield, they really needed to be

bulletproof motors and bulletproof trucks.

So these straight sixes are designed to really run forever.

Even though there are these basic maintenance things we have to fix,

like these spark plugs,

fingers crossed, it's going to fire over, and it's not gonna need anything else.

Everybody pray.

I'm gonna do one of these.

Let's hope that's the only issue. Let's hope that's the only issue.

- Are you kidding? - I'm a genius!

Are you kidding me?

What is that? Wait. What is that?

Damn. Listen to that fire right up.

- It runs. - It's got reverse!

It's got a clutch.

- It's got brakes, too. - Really?

I think we have a winner!

I'm pretty happy right now.

People underestimate.

- They really do run forever. - Yeah.

It sounds like my grandma's sewing machine.

This isn't a cheap replica.

We're talking over 200 grand for a car like this.

Ever since I met with Don,

I've been putting the word out, and everybody's hit me up on this car.

I'm calling because I heard a rumor

that you guys are making a replica of the XNR.

Word apparently has got around.

- I'm definitely interested. - Well, there we go.

I thought I'd get just a few guys,

and all of a sudden, everybody knows about the car.

I mean, to be honest, this is exciting.

I'm gonna put your name in the hat right now.

I'm getting texts. I'm getting calls. I'm getting emails.

Don't make any moves without talking to me.

No problem, Mitch.

This is a rare car, sure,

but when you have this many people interested...

Don't get upset if I blow up your phone three times...

That... That's all right with me.

...it gives you massive leverage when it comes to the selling price.

Is this the number I can get you back on?

Go ahead. This is my number. Keep in your belt.

Sounds good.

All right.

It's time to reassemble this truck and make it look like a modern beast.

We sent out the original artillery wheels to be powder-coated black,

and we slapped on a set

of super-tough off-road knobby 38-inch-tall tires.

I'm pretty damn sure

this truck isn't gonna get stuck anywhere.

One fender.

Look. Bolt 'em on.

This truck weighs about 8,000 pounds,

so if we want it to withstand a pounding,

we're gonna have to install a set of super heavy-duty shocks.

The motor lasts forever. The tranny lasts forever.

Shocks, they don't last forever.

This one's a little...

- A little grease? - A little grease.

You're gonna have to spit on it.

- I got a good one. - Waah.

Spit. Spit.

There we go.

That is officially the shiniest part of this truck now.

We got to get everything else looking as good as the shocks look.

I want no doubt in Andy's mind when we trade for the XNR.

Dude, that is badass.

- That's hand-tooled leather and painted. - Really?

Andy's family has deep military roots.

We have gone and put a hand-tooled leather insignia

of the United States Marine Corps on the seat.

- Oh, badass. - I know.

It's all three-dimensional. It's all shaded.

I'm sure that Andy

will appreciate the homage that we're paying to his grandfather

who was a Marine in World War II.

Then all we got to do is get this thing ready for paint. Wa-psst.

Even though we're giving it modern touches,

we want it to have all of the elements of an original 1947.

From the sheet metal to the wood bed,

all the way down to the original headlights,

we need to resuscitate every part of this monster

to bring it back to life.

This Power Wagon is virtually indestructible,

so I want to make it look as tough as it runs

with a gray-and-black urban camo.

It's "new school" meets "vintage"

that will take this truck to a whole new level.

This '47 Power Wagon

owns every inch of the road.

It's a freight train.

It's a battering ram on four wheels.

This truck will go anywhere, do anything that you want it to do.

Whoa. Ha ha ha ha.

It's unstoppable.

It doesn't matter if you're going uphill, downhill, sideways.

It pretty much thinks the world is flat.

This classic truck is true to its roots.

We preserved all of the original gauges

and smoothed out the original sheet metal

and breathed new life into that straight six-cylinder engine.

The path to that XNR has been an uphill climb,

so it's only fitting

that this truck take us to the top of the mountain.

So how much information did you actually divulge to Andy?

- Did you tell him anything? - I didn't send him pictures.

I wanted to surprise him.

I think once he sees the look of these, he's gonna be so surprised and charged up.

- I mean, the cars look great. - I hope so.

I'm about as confident as I can be that this trade is gonna work out,

but we spent a lot of time and a lot of money

building two super-custom vintage vehicles for Andy,

and he's coming all the way from Vermont to see this through,

and we've actually never put our hands on this car.

We've only seen pictures and video.

Here he comes.

- Our toy is inside that Cracker Jack box. - Yeah.

- How you doing? - Andy!

It's impossible not to get butterflies in the stomach right now.

- You made it. - Man, that was a haul.

- How you doing, brother? - Nice to meet you guys.

It's been a big trip. I been spending a lot of time thinking about this.

Oh, yeah, I bet.

- Let's take a look. - Let's get in there.

Absolutely.

That looks like the backs of an Exner.

Let's get it out of here.

Pretty rock-solid.

That's good.

Wow. You know, you see pictures and videos of it,

but until you see it for real, you can't get that full vision of it.

Man, the thing looks good.

It looks like you started with a good donor car.

It's a '60 Valiant. It's got the Slant Six in it.

Both doors are molded into it. I could see the hood lines molded into it.

Some high-quality work. I mean, it's in damn good shape.

I was expecting this car to be accurate,

but this thing is 100% spot-on.

The mold for this body was machined out of foam

and came from the original designer blueprints of the car.

The lines are flawless on this body.

These are pretty thin seams,

and it's already got the trunk line molded into it.

The seams are perfect.

The fiberglass is some of the best work I've ever seen.

This car is a hundred percent spot-on.

Even the steering wheel looks brand-new.

You can see how nice the original was.

- So the wheelbase is 106.5? - Yeah.

- It's right on the money. - You know, I got it this far

and just, I can't honestly see the finish line in the near future.

It's like the interior and the wiring and the gauges and all that stuff.

- It's... - Devil's in the details.

And this isn't just any car. It's got to be perfect, period-correct.

- What about that motor? - Yeah.

That's the Ram Jet that we talked about.

The XNR wasn't the only part of this deal.

Three-fifty Ram Jet, T400 trans.

Andy agreed to throw in

a plug-and-play Ram Jet 350 engine.

- It's even got the wrapper... - It's still got the wrapper.

- I even got the wiring harness. - Oh, yeah.

- He's got the goodies that go with it. - He's got everything.

This thing has all the bells and whistles.

Let's go inside and check out our toys.

The only question is is Andy satisfied with what he's getting in return?

What do you think of that?

How's that for a '47 Power Wagon?

Wow.

And I know that your grandfather was in the military, and he was a marine.

Stand on this side and check that out. How do you like that interior?

- Oh, man, "Semper Fi." I love that. - Yeah.

We got it in the door panels, everything.

Part of the reason I was interested in a military vehicle

is 'cause of my grandfather.

He was a World War II machine gunner, enlisted at 17.

He's gone now, but I know driving around in this thing

would honor him in a really cool way.

Yeah, we even put the logo on the tailgate.

- Amazing. - And then up front, the motor in it is...

It's the original six.

So it runs like a dream.

We didn't mess with any of this thing,

and it'll still crawl up that wall in low, low first gear.

And you can tell how solid this truck was before we even did all this.

They're hard to come by.

I like the rubber on it, too. This thing looks like it can go anywhere.

It pretty much can.

I got to say, I got to look at this, too, because...

- Yeah? - Man.

We're running a four cylinder in it with automatic transmission.

And is that a Model A chassis it's on?

Yep. It's in reverse, too, just like they used to do it.

Hop up in there. Yeah.

- Let's give it a try. - Lookit. It's a fit.

You really gotta throw some muscle into wheeling these things around...

Yeah. The car actually was an original racer.

This is original tin.

- Wow. - Yeah, it's pretty slick.

Oh, yeah.

Love it.

There you go.

That's what we like to hear.

So you got to admit,

you're getting a lot more than what you originally thought, am I right?

I can't see anything other than a full trade...

the motor and trans and everything for these two cars.

What are you thinking?

I got to be honest. I was feeling the deal was a little lopsided on my way here.

But, um...

you guys found the right car to throw in.

- It's that easy? - It's that simple.

- I think we got a deal. - With the motor and transmission?

- The motor's coming off. - All right! Now we're talking.

On the way, I was thinking the deal might not be the best thing for me,

but after seeing the cars and the detail and the time and the craftsmanship,

feels like they, like, read my mind

as far as what I would want out of a deal like this.

This is close to my heart.

I didn't tell you guys, but my dad races these,

so this is something that we could play around with together

and have a lot of fun.

I'm happy to be going home with these two cars,

and I think they're gonna have a cool project on their hand.

It's like you must have done some research on me.

This is exactly why you roll the dice.

With everything that's happened in this shop

over the past six months,

we finally got dealt the perfect hand.

This was a big risk, even for us, but it paid off.

Yeah!

This is what we've been working towards for the past month plus...

getting our hands on the unicorn

that will lead us to a massive six-figure payday.

I am gonna say, this looks a lot nicer in person

- than it did in the pictures. - Yeah?

The good thing is we did get this,

and that motor that showed up that you guys don't know what it's for...

It came with this as part of our deal.

It's a brand-new Ram Jet with a transmission.

- Everything's there. - It looks really cool.

But look. There's more.

- Grab that tube. - Yeah?

This is what's gonna help you figure out how to make what you gotta make.

- I like the way he said that. - XNR blueprints.

- There you go. - Oh, wow.

So basically, there's 3D models of this whole car.

And there's a lot of detail. There's a ton of detail.

That grille's gonna take a couple days to cut.

And the headlights and the wheels...

I don't think these wheels are off of anything else.

So basically, it's got to be done exactly like the original car.

I want this car to look and feel

as if it's sitting on a turntable at the Detroit Auto Show in 1960.

To do that, it's all about paying attention

to every single minute detail.

We'll need to create the dual sidepipe exhaust,

custom badging,

and a super-unique, photography-inspired instrument panel.

Under the hood, we'll swap out the old Valiant intake

with a more powerful intake and a four-barrel carburetor

just like the original XNR.

We'll also custom fabricate

a true-to-form replica of the original wheel,

and finish off the car

with a glossy red paint job that's smooth as glass.

I've already got potential buyers lined up.

I put the word out.

Everybody knows that we've got one of these coming down the pipe.

But the thing is, we don't want this project to get stale,

and if this car isn't done for six months,

those guys are gonna lose a little interest.

This is like a $150,000, $200,000 car sitting in front of you,

and that-that payday has an expiration date on it.

We want to get it done fast,

and the only way to do that is to utilize all 24 hours in a day.

We're gonna be sleeping here, eating pizza.

Call your family. If they want to see you, they got to come visit you for work.

Shawn, go find us

all those crazy little parts that we're gonna need.

The rest of us, let's get some tools and get to business.

No time like the present.

What's first now is that steering wheel. We gotta get this steer...

You mean you don't wanna drive like that?

I think it would be a little difficult with your chin embedded in the dashboard.

The Plymouth XNR had a much smaller cockpit

than the 1960 Valiant it was built on.

And then as far as the pedals go,

let's make linkage pedals that are welded to the floor,

but with linkage that goes to the original pedals.

We're going to have to extend the steering wheel

and move the pedals

so that they actually are orientated correctly

in the new placement of the new cockpit in the XNR.

All right, this thing's ready to come out.

- You got it? - Yep.

Yeah. It's got a few extras coming with it.

- How much of an extension does it need? - Everything's got to come back 13 inches.

While Tony works on that,

I'm gonna start cutting on all the fiberglass seams

and start carving out all the body panels.

These cuts have to be straight and precise.

This body is so correct, the last thing I want to do

is start having to fiberglass my mistakes.

Watch the edges, you don't cut yourself or get a fiberglass splinter.

Feel like it wouldn't be the first time, but it's still every time.

Yes.

Andy did a great job

on building a solid foundation for this XNR.

But that is just the tip of the spear.

There is so much work to get this car to the finish line.

You get a body put on, you're like, "I'm halfway there,"

then you realize, "I'm not even tenth of the way there yet."

There's a really big difference between "It looks like a car"

- and "It actually works." - It actually steers and has brakes.

You take steering and brakes for granted when you don't have to think about it.

The only thing I have is a set of blueprints

and four other sets of dirty hands.

- Say when. - When.

Everything on this car needs to be built in this shop.

All right.

There is no XNR let-me-buy-a-part catalog.

None of it exists.

That means every little detail

has to be replicated and fabricated from thin air.

I think we're pretty good.

We got steering, we got brakes. The gas pedals move forward.

It almost does all the things a car should do.

- What's up, buttercup? - I wanted to talk a little about the XNR.

I'd like to know where we're going and where it's gonna end up.

Let me tell you. The reaction on this car...

People know that we're doing it, and they are excited.

The XNR is getting way more attention than I ever could've expected.

Word spread really fast in the high-end car community,

but I got one call in particular that I need to talk to Mark about.

Let's just say it's way above my pay grade.

I actually got a phone call from Michael,

who is the curator at the Petersen Auto Museum in L.A.

- Got my attention now. - Yeah.

And they're interested in the car, and they want to make it

part of their permanent collection at the Petersen.

- Wow. - That's bragging rights right there.

The Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles

is one of the biggest car collections in the world.

Their car collection is unrivaled by anyone.

To get a car in their museum is one of, if not the biggest, honor

that anybody in the automotive industry can get.

What that would do for us moving forward is astronomical.

That's gigantic. It just, like, pfft, through the roof.

So here's the thing...

I already have a car in the Petersen Automotive Museum.

Twenty years ago, before I even started Gotham Garage,

I built a one-to-one scale car of the Speed Racer Mach 5.

That car was purchased by the Petersen Automotive Museum

and has been sitting on their floor ever since on display.

There is only a handful of us car builders...

I'm not talking America, I'm talking the entire world,

that can actually say

they have more than one car at this museum.

The reason I'm sitting in this chair right now talking to your ugly face

is because that white car with the yellow five on the door

is what started me in this industry

and got my name out there and put me on the map.

To go 20 years and have that again is gonna just launch us through the roof.

- There'll be nobody that could touch us. - That would be pretty impressive.

What kind of money they talking?

Here's the catch is this isn't 20 years ago.

There is a long line of people

that are trying to get their car into the Petersen Museum,

so they do not pay for cars anymore.

They go just on donations.

So they want us to donate this car.

They want us to donate probably a $200,000 car.

That's something to think about.

I know what having a car in the Petersen Automotive Museum

can do for this business.

It will put Gotham Garage in the upper echelon of custom car shops.

Everything that we do is worth more money.

People with big money are gonna to want to come to us.

- Yeah. - There's gonna be a line out the door.

You're gonna spend more time looking for cars than you are for people.

It's gonna fill...

Both these shops are gonna be, like, racked and stacked.

It's gonna become this big, giant machine.

But we would be taking a $200,000 financial hit

to make this happen,

and the crew has been waiting for weeks to get a huge payday on this XNR.

You and me sitting in here talking about it, it's a done deal.

I don't think the people on the other side of that wall...

are gonna be remotely happy with that idea.

Here, tighten that up.

Hey, guys, Shawn's got something to tell you.

- That's never good. - That's never any good.

No, no, no, no.

I've been putting the word out, and the word has got around,

let me tell you.

The Petersen actually called me,

and they're interested on the XNR being in their permanent collection.

Wow, that's... That's awesome.

Here's the catch. The Petersen doesn't pay for cars.

We would have to donate the car to the Petersen

to get it in the museum.

You're kidding.

We just built two other cars, traded for this, so that's like trading...

- Right? - ...multiple cars,

- multiple months of work for free. - It's not even a trade. It's a giveaway.

We're trading it for an accolade.

I get the prestige, I'm happy about all that, but that's a big hit.

We've gone months without seeing any money lately.

- Now you're asking us to dig deeper. - This was our big payday.

It is an honorhaving the opportunity to put a car in the Petersen Museum,

but I've got a family with a house,

and my number one priority is my family at home,

so I can't just donate cars and not have to think twice about that.

- I get we're earning our way into it... - Comes with a cost.

- That's a pretty steep cost. - The cost is...

That is a big cost, but it's an elite club.

This is like winning the Super Bowl.

- Yeah? - It's kind of like that.

It's such a benefit for the shop.

That gets more people wanting us to do bigger jobs,

which mean more money for us.

These people buy the five-million-dollar cars

you see going at auction.

That's the foot in the door to that clientele.

I think it's totally worth it. I think that's such a huge accomplishment

that would just bring us so much more work afterwards.

Our quality gets put out there where people go,

"Wow, I want Gotham Garage to put a car together..."

It means the next car is worth more money,

and the next car is worth more money, and the next car is worth more money.

With our business model,

they plan their lives around these paychecks,

and in the short term, yeah, it's probably kind of frightening

because if you're budgeting your money and then that money doesn't come in,

now you're high and dry.

But in the long term, it's my responsibility

to do what's best for the shop, not best for the individual,

and I know what this car in that museum

will do for Gotham Garage.

I don't know. This sounds like a good theory, but there's no guarantees.

I've had some big opportunities that I've taken,

and some have worked out great, and others just haven't.

And when it comes down to gambling everything,

- I'd just really think twice. - Yeah?

I really think twice.