Original subtitles

[Plane engine roars]

[Narrator] Tonight on lost car rescue...

It's a beetle.

We're out here in the north

hunting early volkswagens.

- [Matt] Hey, watch that tree. - I see it.

[Matt] You're going to just nail that corner panel, man.

[Man] To see inside

a phenomena from outer space.

What?

Have you ever considered maybe

- selling? - No, not really.

[Dave] The inside, that is solid here.

What are you thinking on this thing?

Ten grand.

I don't know if Matt would like that.

Well, Matt's not here.

[Lee] I can get this thing out.

You don't think you're going to smash any of these windows?

Oh, hey, hey, hey, hey.

[Matt] What are the odds of that?

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

[Narrator] In northern Canada,

there are thousands

of valuable classic cars

abandoned in ravines,

swamps and barns.

A hidden gold mine,

out of reach... until now.

I'm a treasure hunter. That's what I do.

I hunt classic cars that others can't get.

Yeah, go, go, go, go, go, go, go.

[Crashing]

Yes, give me a hug.

[Laughter]

It takes a team to achieve the impossible

and I have the best.

Pilot Jess is our eye in the sky.

My brother, Steve's our wrench.

Dave is an expert body man.

Lee sets cars free.

And me,

I set the mission and I pay the bills.

Yes!

Said it couldn't be done.

[Narrator] They rescue cars

that were lost to history.

We got 'er done.

[Narrator] And sell them all over the world.

[Matt] People say we're crazy,

but I say we're just crazy enough.

[Rock music, plane engine roaring]

♪

[Narrator] Matt and his team have traveled 1,300 kilometres

from Vancouver island to hunt for classic volkswagens

in the wild frontier of northern British Columbia.

[Matt] So I did some research

and I found out that one of the oldest

and most remote Volkswagen dealerships

was right here in Dawson creek.

[Narrator] The dealership closed in the '80s,

but the team is certain

that within 100 kilometres of Dawson,

these old volkswagens are still out there.

♪

Matt and Dave drive the back roads

to a remote homestead.

They're following a lead from Jess,

who thinks she saw a beetle from the plane.

The potential of finding

a rare 1950s classic

has brought Matt and his team way north

in search of the last Volkswagen hunting ground.

- How's it going? - [Don] All right.

What's happening?

I'm Matt.

We were flying our plane over,

noticed you had an old Volkswagen, maybe.

Oh, that's a pretty old machine.

Did you want to look at it?

[Don] My brother bought it

mid 1960s secondhand.

There wasn't hardly any road there.

If you wanted to get through,

you'd have to take a run up mud puddles

and it's really rough on that car.

So eventually the transmission went.

My brother just parked it.

[Matt] That's a nice one.

Still got all the emblems.

I don't think anybody has really taken

any parts off it or anything.

And this has all the original glass in it.

It's kind of like trapped in time.

[Narrator] The demand for vintage beetles

keeps skyrocketing.

And if this car turns out to be any good,

there's a lot of profit to be made.

What year is this, Matt?

It's a '66,

but you see how it's got the plastic brake lights on it?

The early, early ones in the '50s,

the late '50s, had really nice snowflake

turn signals and brake lights, glass.

This beetle's cool.

I mean, it's from the '60s,

but there was millions made,

and it's nowhere near as rare and as valuable

as those '50s beetles that I'm after.

[Dave] There's a tree growing out of the back bumper.

I've been at it for 43 years.

I've got a collection of 200 cars.

I know my stuff.

And when it comes to that car, I'm not quite sure.

- [Dave] No motor. - [Matt] No motor.

[Dave] No motor.

It's rusty, and the distance-wise,

to bring it back home, it's just not worth it.

We have to leave it behind.

It looks like a woodchuck

might have lived in here at one time, too.

Dave's been a body man for 40 years.

I trust his opinion

whether a car is worth saving or not.

It's kind of deep in the mud.

They were so low to the ground

that with the Clay out in these areas,

they just wiggled their way in.

The floor's pretty much gone on this beetle.

Without a floor,

it's not really worth much.

Don, the idea is we fly over and find a vehicle,

and realize that it has potential to be restored.

This one is just looking a little bit too far gone.

I mean, there's a place in my heart for all of them,

- but, uh... - Yeah, this isn't the one.

- [Matt] This isn't the one. - That's all right.

[Matt] I'm not going to lie, I'm disappointed on this one.

I was hoping for more.

If I got it for free,

it still wouldn't make sense hauling it

1,300 kilometers back.

[Upbeat rock music]

[Narrator] Matt needs help finding volkswagens,

so he hits up a friend

who is the go-to car guy in the area.

- [Matt] How's it going, bud? - [Warren] Good.

- Jess, Warren. - Nice to meet you.

[Narrator] Warren is a young hot rod builder

with old school tastes,

especially 1930s fords.

I don't know how many cars you and I have dealt

with over the years, like a hundred, maybe?

Lots. Yeah, probably.

[Narrator] As a local with tons of knowledge,

Matt believes that Warren must know where some vws

could be hiding out.

Warren does amazing work restoring cars.

What's this over here?

[Warren] It's a '28 roadster.

It's on a '32 frame, '39 brake.

346 Cadillac flathead, just to be weird.

[Matt] This is like a gentleman's car.

Yeah, a very classy person, eh?

[Matt] He's the perfect example of why we do what we do.

He takes the car everyone thinks is too far gone

and somehow makes it into this gem.

So how long did it take you to redo this?

Ten years to gather the parts to even start it.

Well, the body was actually my...

My grandpa raced a stock car in the mid-50s.

So this is the body that your grandpa had?

That's super cool.

[Narrator] Warren is always

on the lookout for vintage cars to restore.

And now he's after a 1935 Ford

that's trapped down a ravine,

but he doesn't have the means to get it out.

So Matt has offered

to retrieve the car for his friend,

and in exchange,

he's hoping Warren can help him find

volkswagens hidden away in the area.

I know Warren's got permission from the farmer

to retrieve the car.

I really think we can help him out.

[Plane engine roaring]

[Truck honking]

[Narrator] Matt has called in the team

to pull off this extraction.

[Matt] So we're hunting volkswagens in the north,

but a good friend of mine in town, Warren,

absolutely loves fords.

He has tons of information on volkswagens.

And when we rescue this old Ford down there,

he might just open up about where we can find volkswagens.

When you say "down here," what are you talking about?

It's a bit... bit of a ways down the cliff, so...

- There's a cliff there? - [Matt] Yeah.

You got to expect the unexpected with Matt.

Whenever he says something's simple,

it's usually the opposite.

[Matt] It's down there.

- [Dave] Really? - [Matt] Yeah.

Holy god, this is thicker and harrier than a dog.

[Matt] It's like a jungle.

- [Dave] Oh. - [Matt] Careful.

[Dave] Are you sure we're in the right place?

Can't see anything.

[Matt] Trust me, it's there.

[Dave] Oh, crap, here it is. That's a Henry Ford, man.

[Narrator] Matt and Dave have found the Ford

that Warren wants,

a 1935 slantback sedan.

[Dave] A guy can use these doors

on a standard five-window coupe.

[Matt] Yeah, all the original gauges are in it.

The ashtray's got the v8 in it.

Hand crank.

Ah, and it still... It still works.

That's sweet.

You never see the crank still work.

This '35 Ford...

Sleek, cool looking.

It's got the suicide doors in the back.

The fords from the '30s are very, very collectible

because of the lines, because of the look.

Everybody wants them.

They want to build a hot rod out of them.

They want to convert them into

their own personal design.

This car is a winner.

[Lee] Matt, you down there?

[Matt] Yeah, come on down.

[Lee] Matt says bit of a ways down.

I'm worried about falling down the cliff,

not getting this car up the cliff.

Steve, let's have a gander at this thing.

Let's see how we're going to do this.

[Matt] We're winching it up the hill,

I think that's more than 150 feet.

This is going to be the toughest car we pulled.

It's been sitting there for 70 years.

That's 70 seasons that it's been slowly

pushing itself into the ground.

We don't know how much of it's going to come out,

- if any. - [Lee] If we hook

on to the frame right here,

and we can kind of get it, you know, nose forward,

it'll be kind of like a sled going up the hill.

It's sunk on an angle. You got to pull it up and out.

We got to rig this car in a way

that we pull at equal points,

because if we twist this frame,

we're done.

[Narrator] The abandoned Ford is resting down a steep,

tree-lined ravine.

At the top, Steve and Lee

will have to cut a trail through the trees

so they can back up their tow truck

to the edge of the embankment.

From here, they can lower their winch line

all the way down to the car

and then carefully drag it up the incline

over top of the brush to safety.

[Chainsaw whirring]

[Steve] We got to cut down a whole bunch of trees

and we got to really clean up the floor.

We got to make sure nothing is there

that could puncture a tire or damage the car wagon

just getting to the car.

[Lee] I own a landscape company where our primary focus

is just relocating and saving trees.

The last thing I want to do is cut one of these guys down.

But in this situation, can't be avoided.

We got to cut them down and get the car out.

[Narrator] With the trees now cleared,

the guys have enough space to back up

the tow truck close to the edge of the ravine.

I'll bring the winch down.

Every time we get into one of these extractions,

it's an adventure.

This one's a challenge.

It's not going to be easy.

Give me a little tension on this.

Yeah, that's perfect.

Just keep going and I'll walk it down.

[Tense music]

[Lee shouting] Keep it going, we're about 50 feet away!

[Steve] That's it. That's all of it.

[Lee] We've used every bit of our winch line.

And we're still 50 feet short.

I don't know what we're going to do.

[Intense music]

♪

[Narrator] Matt and his team are hunting

for valuable classic cars

in the remote wilderness of northern British Columbia.

So far, a Volkswagen beetle turns out to be a bust.

This one is just looking a little bit too far gone.

[Lee groans] You ready?

[Narrator] Meanwhile, Steve and Lee

are at the end of their rope trying to rescue a Ford

from a steep ravine.

[Lee shouting] Keep it going, we're about 50 feet away!

[Steve shouting] That's it. That's all of it.

There's only 100 feet of winch cable,

we Max it out right away,

so we're going to have the Daisy chain

a bunch of the straps that we have from the winch

to the car and make up that gap before we start pulling.

[Lee] And a shackle. There it is.

I kind of want to pop it up out of the hole it's in

- and then get it going. - [Lee] We can't afford

to have anything go wrong, everything has to go right.

There is no margin of error.

The further we get it hooked

to the front of the frame back here, yeah,

the more it's just going to pivot it nicely.

If we twist the frame, it's a parts car.

Frames gone, car's gone.

Okay, start taking up the slack.

'Kay.

[Tense music]

[Lee] All right. Hold it there for a second.

Hold it there.

[Narrator] Now that the Ford

is out of the ground, Lee is re-rigging the car

for a straight shot up the hill.

Yeah, start taking up some slack again.

[Whirring]

[Narrator] Lee has to ensure the car is pulled

from equal points.

If the winch is off-centre,

it'll put stress on the frame

and risk their chances

of safely pulling the car out in one piece.

[Whirring]

[Tense music]

♪

[Lee] There she is!

Whoo!

All right, all right, all right!

[Steve] Whoo!

What do you think about that?

That was pretty fun, eh?

[Steve] We should do that all the time.

[Lee laughing]

Oh, it's actually not that bad when it's out of the ground.

It's always exciting getting a car that's really

lost and no one knew was there.

And the fact that's the car that's now going to get

a sort of second life and it's going to be able

to get back on the street which is where it belongs,

really, not down a valley somewhere.

We got 'er done.

[Narrator] Rescuing the Ford was a win.

But Matt knows they have limited time

to find the vws he wants.

So he's back in the air

spotting cars, while seasoned pilot Jess

flies slow and low.

[Jess] I love flying.

There's endless opportunities

with the places that it can take you.

I am a firm believer

that everything does happen for a reason,

which led me to be able to fly with Matt

and get to work with this team searching for cars.

And honestly, it's probably

the most fun flying I've done ever.

So we're just going to do a low pass just a couple times.

I just want to inspect the field.

[Matt] Jess is vital to this operation.

You could take a little peek out the windows,

see if you see any fences, farmlands,

or anything like that.

[Matt] Her calm, cool,

collected way of flying,

her precision to put me where I need to be,

is exactly why I need her on this team.

[Jess] What's the blue one?

What's that? Oh, nice.

[Jess] That's a muscle car, isn't it?

[Matt] It is, yeah, yeah, '70... '70 chevelle.

That light blue was such a chevelle colour.

- Mark the location, then. - Okay, I got it marked.

I got to send to the guys here, so...

- Who are you sending it to? - I'm going to send it to Dave.

I think Dave is the one who's going to want

to check this one out.

[Upbeat rock music]

[Narrator] The team's goal is to score

some classic volkswagens,

but they also have to fill the trailer to pay the bills,

and an iconic muscle car could be money in the bank.

Slow shift right away, there, buddy.

[Narrator] For Dave, car picking

is business as usual.

But as the crane operator, this is new territory for Lee.

[Lee] Being out here, hunting cars,

every day is different, every day is exciting.

It's the thrill of a lifetime. I love it.

The last thing I want to do

is screw up what we're going to be doing.

So when we see the car,

are we going to get excited

and do you want me to downplay it?

Just be cool. Be calm.

We'll check everything he's got.

Maybe he's got some...

Some nugget tucked away that we didn't know about.

Then if we get too excited,

we don't want to up...

Get him to up his price a little bit, too.

If he thinks it's worth five grand

and it's only worth two grand,

we're hooped before we started.

[Lee] Okay.

[Dave] When you approach a farmer, it's his property,

you have to respect that.

And once you earn that respect,

it's a win-win situation for both parties.

- [Dave] Hi, there. - [Tim] Hello.

[Dave] How's it going?

- Dave's my name. - Dave. Tim.

- I'm Lee, nice to meet you. - How you doing, Lee?

Our friend flies around and he looks for...

For nice cars and he spotted a little blue car from the air.

[Tim] I don't have any plans for that car.

I got my own little project going.

- 1938 diamond t. - [Lee] Really?

[Tim] This has been in the family for so long.

My granddad bought that brand spanking new.

[Dave] That is a gorgeous truck.

Any other projects?

Had an old Vespa scooter.

He got tucked into the back end of the shop.

[Lee] Wow.

What year would you say that is?

Early '60s just by the seat.

[Tim] I remember driving this with my cousin.

We're going up this hill, he's riding on the back,

and I shifted down because I was running out of power,

and went right over backwards.

Squished us both.

[Dave chuckling]

1961 Vespa.

I love it. I'm not a scooter fan.

But how many of these do we find?

This is the first time for me in 35 years.

Oh, it turns.

- [Lee] Wow. - [Dave] And it's amazing.

[Lee] The Vespa's nice and all,

but it's a little bit of a detour

from why we're actually here.

[Tim] Yeah, that seat is pretty cool, eh?

[Dave] That's awesome.

Is Dave really thinking of buying this thing?

There's your goggles so you can drive fast.

Oh, there's a wrench so you can fix it.

[Dave] I'm not going to make an offer on this Vespa right away.

I'm going to sit on it for a bit.

We're going to go out in the back

and take a look at the chevelle and possibly other cars.

[Gentle music]

[Lee] Plymouth.

[Tim] Special deluxe.

[Dave] '46 to '48.

Not really worthwhile to pick up,

to be honest with you, but a few good parts,

if somebody needed them.

[Lee] Sitting back is probably

the best thing I can do with Dave.

Just watch him do his trade.

And I'm just going to learn just by being around him.

[Tim] Oldsmobile, I can't even imagine

chrome lasting that long.

They certainly don't build it like that anymore.

[Tim] No.

[Dave] That's the main car that we come to look at.

The chevelle, and by the lights,

the single light, it's '72.

[Tim] Our original plan was to make a stock car out of it.

Life got in the way and here it sits.

[Dave] Have a peek.

[Dave] Lee, if you're ever looking at a car,

make sure that the horns are straight

on the frame rails.

You want to have a straight frame

to get the car on the right track

right off the start.

If not, it takes a lot of time

and effort to straighten that frame out.

[Lee] How we supposed to drive it?

Got to check this floor.

The floors are very important in a vehicle.

I always say it's the bones of the car,

which gives it that foundation, right?

Inside, it's strong.

- Yeah, solid. - [Dave] That's solid here.

I owned a 1971 chevelle and I loved that thing.

Looked great, lots of power,

great design, good lines.

You know that this car wants to run.

It wants to take off without you.

Everybody is lined up to buy that car.

What we got here?

Oh, yeah, the trunk is solid.

There's a bit of a hump on there, but that's minor.

You might think buying a car without the interior,

the glass, tires is the wrong thing to do,

but you're wrong.

People are looking for that shell

because everything else is available for the car.

You can buy every piece for that car

and you can build around what you have.

A lot of times guys start with absolutely no floors,

no trunk lids.

So we're looking at something

that's actually saveable and I love it.

I know we're hunting for volkswagens,

but I love this car and I think we're going to make an offer.

What are you thinking on this thing?

Oh, I don't know.

Sure, you do.

- Ten grand. - I don't know

if Matt would like that.

- Well, Matt's not here. - [All laugh]

[Tim] What are you thinking?

I'm thinking a $1,500 car.

- Ooh. - [Dave] Yeah.

♪

[Upbeat rock music]

[Narrator] Matt and his team are hunting for cars

in the remote wilderness of northern b. C.

[Dave] That's the main car that we've come to look at.

[Narrator] Dave and Lee are checking out

an old Chevy chevelle, but are having trouble

reaching an agreement on price.

What are you thinking?

I'm thinking a $1500 car.

- Ooh. - [Dave] Yeah.

[Tim] That's... that's a little on the lower side.

Really, I was thinking right around that two, 25.

Let's... let's go 18.

Split the difference.

- Nineteen? - Nineteen, you bet.

Okay. Got it. Now, let's talk your Vespa.

- We agreed 19 on the car. - Okay.

Why don't we do the same?

Nineteen on the... on the Vespa?

- Let's do that. - Perfect.

- Right on, pal. - [Tim] Sounds good.

I can't believe Dave bought that Vespa.

It seems like a stretch.

I don't know if it's the right idea,

but I'm no expert.

I just can't wait to see how Matt takes it.

[Funk-rock music]

[Narrator] While the rest of the team

continues their hunt for vws,

Steve and Lee load the chevelle on to the trailer.

A classic muscle car is always a safe sale

and sure to bring in top dollar.

[Steve] Lovely piece.

[Metal scratching]

♪

[Narrator] Matt heads to Warren's garage

to deliver the antique Ford.

He hopes to trade the car for any leads Warren may have

on where to find volkswagens in the area.

♪

- [Steve] Hey, I'm Steve. - [Matt] Steve, my brother.

- How's it going? - Nice to meet you.

This one was a real hard pull for Steve to get it up.

Pretty much fried the winch doing it, but we got it.

[Warren] That's awesome. Make an awesome hot rod.

[Matt] And a guy like you can see the vision, right?

Like, when do you ever find one of these

that have intact rear light?

- And the slant back, too. - [Matt] Both of them, man.

- That's awesome. - Right?

I know it's not a deuce coupe and shiny,

but I think this is good enough for some info?

Oh, yeah, for sure.

I got a land map.

- Jesus. - [Map wobbling and whooshing]

[Warren] Oh.

But it also has, like, the names of settlers.

Yeah, it's got hundreds of the homestead names.

I think it was about 1939.

There's lots of Germans fleeing from world war two.

Homestead land was kind of available here and up north.

The overwhelming amount of German settlers is probably

why there was a Volkswagen dealership in Dawson creek

in the early '50s.

That's cool, there's like...

Totally German names up here, like Gunther.

That's German, right?

- [Warren] Yeah, Gunther. - [Matt] That sounds very German

- to me. - Sure.

Yeah, I got to get me one of these.

Seeing as you brought a '35 Ford,

I guess I could probably let you have it.

Yes.

Roll it on up there then, Matt,

we'll need it.

[Matt] This is a great deal.

Warren got the car he always wanted

and we got a treasure map.

With this map,

it's going to save us time.

We can hone in exactly where those German settlers

were and find all those volkswagens.

♪

[Narrator] With Warren's map in hand,

Matt and Jess take to the sky.

[Jess] The weather's good.

We've got a full tank of gas and I've got a lot of hope.

I've got a great feeling about this.

[Matt] Jess and I plotted a route that hits

the majority of those German settlers on the map.

The schmidt farm. Nothing here.

Muellers, I see some vehicles,

but no vws.

[Jess] By the time we got to the wagners,

we're running on fumes

and it was feeling pretty grim.

We're in for a rough ride.

[Engine buzzing]

There's only one more name on the map

and we've come too far to stop now.

[Engine roaring]

- [Jess] Look at that. - What's that?

I think it's a beetle.

[Matt] Oh, yeah, it is a beetle.

Looks like an early beetle.

Nice. That's exactly what we want.

♪

[Jess] Hello. Hey.

[Bruce] Hello. What's happening here?

Well, we were flying over

and we noticed that

- you have a little beetle here. - [Arlene] We do.

[Matt] Yeah, Jess and I are up with our team

and we're hunting old,

lost, forgotten vehicles.

And this one looked like a good one.

Well, you want to have a look at it?

[Matt] Sure, it must be having a story.

[Arlene] Actually, it does.

[Bruce] This was the first car I ever had.

I think I was 16.

I had some cousins living in saskatoon,

they found it advertised.

So they called me and i...

I hitchhiked down there and bought it there.

How long was the hitchhiking?

Ah, I didn't take me very long.

I think I was down there in a day.

That's dedication.

And then did you drive it from saskatoon to here?

- Yeah, yeah. Yeah. - Wow.

[Bruce] It ran perfect. Yeah.

[Matt] All 36 horsepower, eh?

[Bruce] Yeah, yeah, for sure.

It was in really nice shape when I got it.

[Narrator] The beetle was a classic of its time.

With its iconic rounded shape,

engine in the back

and bug-eyed headlights,

it was revolutionary,

making the beetle

one of the best selling cars in history.

Still has all the emblems.

I just love the colours.

It's like sun-washed, with the baby blue.

I mean, this colour was the colour in '59.

Do you mind if I open it up?

Not at all. Go ahead.

[Hood clanking]

[Matt] There you go. Original hubcaps.

Nobody's messed with this.

[Arlene] No.

♪

[Jess] And how long has she been parked for?

- Probably nearly 30 years. - Oh, at least.

You guys probably had a lot of good times?

We used to take it up to the skating rink over here

in the wintertime.

- I remember that with it, eh? - [Arlene] Yeah.

So you would've been, like, kid.

- You got this at 16... - [Bruce] Yeah, yeah.

[Matt] What age were you when you met?

- I was 13. - [Jess] Thirteen!

We started going out very young

and we spent a lot of time in it together.

Hunting for cars is very exciting,

especially with the flying that we get to do,

but honestly, one of my favourite parts

is getting to meet all of these people

and listening to their stories.

Have you ever considered maybe selling it?

No, not really.

[Tense music]

[Matt] I love this car.

This is why we travel so far north to find vws.

I want it.

What do you think?

I would like to see it

be taken care of, somebody to love it.

That... I would like that more than it just sitting here

for the rest of its life.

We do give these cars

kind of like a second life, right,

that they do get to be back on the road

and loved by someone new and taken care of.

Yeah.

Oh, I guess if the price is right

I might consider.

If this was a shell,

it wouldn't be worth a whole lot.

But because this is the way you parked it,

and I can tell from inside

that every knob is there

and you just walked away from it one day.

- The keys are still in it. - [Arlene] Yeah, that's right.

It sounds like it's getting more expensive all the time.

[Matt] I'm not trying to Rob it from you.

I'm just trying to say

it's a really nice piece, right?

And in my opinion,

I would say this car is worth around

3,500.

Have you thought about that number?

I don't know. Can you go four?

Does four put a smile on your face?

Yeah.

Four does. Okay, let's make a deal.

Done.

Okay, he's the tough one here.

You made my day. You made my day.

It's not the car that I'm buying.

It's the story.

And collectors collect the stories.

This story is unique to that car

and no one else has it.

That's where the value is,

and that's what I'm selling.

When you look inside there,

everything is just the way

it was when you would have bought it.

It's like a time capsule.

You're making me think I should ask more now.

[Laughter]

[Narrator] The '59 beetle is a good score,

but with two days already spent,

the pressure is on for the team to fill

the trailer with cars.

♪

They meet up at a local pub to plan their next steps.

[Matt] So, the truck.

I see a little blue car on there.

[Dave] Gorgeous, isn't it?

- What year is that? - [Dave] '72.

- '72 chevelle, right? - You bet you.

- Not a beaumont? - No.

What you pay for the Vespa?

- What Vespa? - [Steve] Yeah.

You guys bought a Vespa?

Yeah.

We paid $1,900 for the Vespa.

And how much did you pay for the car?

[Dave] $1,900 for the car.

[Matt] I think we got a little loss.

Look, that thing walked into my lap.

We're hunting volkswagens.

Stick to the plan.

[Dave] I don't know why i'm getting the grief from Matt

for this Vespa.

It's a great buy and I am standing by it.

I know we're going to make money on it,

and I hope he changes his view

because he's... he's going to be pleasantly surprised

at the end of the day.

Jess and I stumbled across a beetle.

I picked it up for four grand...

And you're bugging me about a $1,900 Vespa.

To me, Dave buying a Vespa is like

buying a motorized bicycle.

I mean, buying a chevelle, sure.

But buying a Vespa for two grand?

We've got to focus on cars.

That's what we've got to put on the trailer.

And that's what we're here for.

All I'm trying to get out of here,

guys, is that we have a truck.

It has the ability to hold five vehicles

and 60 tonnes of payload.

We have a chevelle on the truck.

We have five spots on the truck.

We're more than halfway through this trip

and we don't have a whole lot.

♪

[Upbeat rock music]

[Narrator] So far, the team have scored a '72 chevelle

and a '59 Volkswagen beetle.

I picked it up for four grand.

And you're bugging me about a $1,900 Vespa.

[Narrator] But with time running out

and their trailer only one-third full,

tensions are running high.

[Matt] Love to, you know, be luckier,

but, like, it doesn't run on hopes and dreams.

The fact that it is Matt's equipment,

it's Matt's truck

and plane and everything like that,

sometimes he gets a little flustered

when people are kind of taking him

off direction of where he thinks

things should go,

and you kinda see that boil up sometimes.

We got to move forward. Like, we got...

This is the map of the area that we're in right now.

We got Bruce's bug over here.

Dawn's was a bust,

so the cars likely will move

further away from town.

[Jess] There's your beer. Probably need it.

Sorry. I'm Matt.

Hi. Patty.

It sounds like you're looking for

really old vehicles to restore.

- Yeah. - [Jess] We're trying to look

for some volkswagens,

so things are getting a little intense.

Well, it's a good treasure hunt.

Live in the area for a long time?

[Patty] Yes.

- And this is your... your pub? - Yes.

We've been scouring the north for a few days now,

looking for old volkswagens in particular.

We're looking for anybody who might be into old cars,

perhaps, that you might know?

There's rumours that there was a Volkswagen Van

across the river.

Do you know the name of the person?

His name is Dave.

- Okay. Well, that's a start. - Okay. That's a start.

And Patty wasn't done yet.

There is an old dump.

The rolla dump would be one mile east and then south.

A lot of people just put,

like, cars and everything in the dump.

There you go. We've got to go to that, Matt.

You never really know

what's going to be at the bottom of it, right?

- It could be just amazing. - I love helping people.

- [Matt] Thanks a lot. - You just made our day.

Thank you.

[Narrator] The team finally has

some good news with two great leads.

She's basically told us that there's a Van north.

Well, it's kind of leading us there anyway.

Yeah, it's, like... it's, like, totally where we should go.

[Dramatic music]

[Narrator] Armed with fresh leads,

Jess flies off in search of a vw bus,

while Matt and Dave drive towards the car dump,

where they're hoping they will score

some rare finds.

I've found some amazing stuff in dumps,

but it's a crapshoot.

You got to roll the dice

and hope it's going to be a winner.

♪

Look, you got a front end, another front end.

Oh, there isn't really a whole lot here.

[Dave] '53 Chevy here.

[Matt] It's pretty roached.

[Dave] Yeah, it is.

[Narrator] The cars are all rusted out,

twisted hollow shells that are not worth restoring.

This is a bust.

This is a bust.

[Matt] This is super frustrating.

There's nothing here. We need a win badly.

♪

[Engine roaring]

[Narrator] While Matt and Dave are in the dumps,

team pilot Jess has made a discovery.

Hey, Jess, Matt here.

Hey, Matt, I just wanted to update you.

I could see the bus Patty was talking about earlier.

Really?

Looks like there's just in this farmer's field,

just along the peace river, like she was talking about.

There's actually a good spot for me to land there.

Awesome. How long 'til you're there?

- [Jess] Ten minutes or so. - We'll get in the truck.

We'll come right now.

We got to get going, then, because she's way ahead of us.

♪

[Narrator] Excited about the news,

Matt and Dave race north to meet up with Jess.

♪

[Jess] Dave, this is Matt.

[Dave 2] All right, eh? Nice meeting you, Matt.

[Matt] Good to see you, brother.

So you're a car guy?

Yeah, I got a few kicking around.

I can show you guys.

I think that's my cue, then. I'm going to skedaddle.

Yeah, hey, just before you go,

I want to show you something that's out of this world.

Okay.

[Curious music]

[Dave 2] It's in the old Ariel.

- [Jess] It's in the bus? - [Dave 2] Yes.

This bus here, it goes way back.

See inside... A phenomena from outer space.

What?

♪

Oh, wow.

[Dave 2] That's an old meteorite.

[Jess] In the middle of nowhere.

I love it.

[Dave 2] It landed back in about 1952,

somewhere out by Dawson's creek.

You know, a guy witnessed it land out in a field,

and he brought it up in front of his buddies there.

They went up there and they found it.

It was all charred.

Would you ever consider selling it?

Well, actually, probably both have to go together,

be a space bus package deal.

I'd ask you what you'd want to trade for it,

but I don't have any alien memorabilia.

[Laughter]

I don't think that I was ever expecting to see

a meteorite today when I woke up.

- So thank you. - [Dave 2] Absolutely.

Try not to get hit by a meteorite when you're flying

- [Jess] Okay, I will. - [Laughter]

So, you know, meteorite's really, really cool.

But we got to look at the cars.

[Rock music]

This used to be the old grain truck here.

- [Metal clanging] - [Dave] There we go.

- Oh, hey! - Oh, hey...

Bonanza, man.

Pop the hood open,

there's a 409 in the damn thing.

[Matt] I can't believe it.

- A 409! - [Laughter]

Well, I didn't know it was a 409 either.

[Matt] The first series of big block, Chevy product.

- [Dave 2] Awesome. - [Matt] It's like a one

out of every 30 have a 409.

Even... might be one in a hundred have a 409.

You don't find them anymore.

Everybody wants that engine for their hot rods.

In the '60s and stuff, they were so damn popular.

Now guys want them back. It's got a unique valve cover.

It's just a cool, cool engine.

Doesn't look like the truck's that healthy,

but would you ever let go of the engine?

Tell you what, let's walk around.

[Matt] Okay, let's do it.

Oh, nice.

A gt cortina.

This is, like, a full on rally car.

It's a 1600 gt.

They would have gone like a bat out of hell.

[Narrator] The Ford cortina gt

was all about performance.

With a small, nimble body and a lotus engine,

the cortina became a popular rally car in Europe

and North America.

But even with its racing pedigree,

it was marketed as a practical,

compact car for families.

[Matt] I love the wooden faux dash.

Some hipster would love this. How did you get it?

Bought it at an auction.

What you do is you go to the cattle auction,

you get rid of your cows and you go

right to the car auction and buy cars.

Sell the cows to buy cars and repeat, that's the life.

Cows for cars.

What else you got?

This is starting off really good.

- You guys like buses or what? - [Matt] Let's go.

[Narrator] Matt is hoping the bus Dave is talking about

is the same one they heard about from Patty at the pub.

[Dave 2] Hidden away in the trees.

[Laughter]

Hey, this is the hippie machine, Matt.

[Matt] Holy cow.

This is why we drive

all those kilometres to come up here.

A 1958 Volkswagen bus.

I can't stop smiling.

You driving that, you're hip.

♪

♪

[Hood thuds]

- Oh, hey! - What are the odds of that?

[Narrator] So far, Matt and Dave have uncovered

a rare 409 Chevy engine

and a unique cortina gt.

What else you got in your yard?

This is starting off really good.

You guys like buses or what?

[Narrator] But now, the car they most want to see

is a classic Volkswagen minibus.

This is the hippie machine, Matt.

[Matt] Look at that. Holy cow.

[Dave 2] Now you drive in that, you're hip.

- [Dave] Wow. - [Matt] Look at this thing.

People who buy these kind of volkswagens

are obsessed with perfection, originality.

All this glass, it's all original German glass, right?

The cupped-in door handles,

these little bullet turn signals...

[Dave] And they're good shape, too.

[Matt] Yeah. It looks pretty sweet.

[Dave] It's really fun to see Matt excited about this car.

You know, it reminds me of myself.

When I find something, you get into it.

[Dave 2] Dave, Dave, hey, that looks good on you, man.

And that's where you go time and time again

to find that nugget.

[Matt] You see how smooth that roof is?

This thing's still got spring to it.

It's like you couldn't ask for a better roof.

I love what these Volkswagen buses are about.

The love and peace in the '60s

and the whole counterculture thing,

and now they've become really valuable,

especially those from the '50s and '60s.

Fully restored ones

can sell for well over $100,000.

I'm just trying to imagine, like,

what you would have been like

in your hippie Van.

[Dave 2] Coolest guy on the block.

[Folksy music]

Back when the paint was new, it looked really good.

Green shag carpet, nothing cooler.

That gold and purple just exploded.

And you're listening to deep purple in a purple Van.

[Matt] It's kind of like a dream come true.

We couldn't ask for a better find.

I mean, this is... This is what we're after.

Could you ever let it go?

Yeah, you bet.

There's nothing worse to have something

really nice sit in the bush,

and nothing happened to it until it turns into junk.

[Matt] We want to see this thing saved, so...

- Yeah. - [Matt] What about a package

deal? So I'd like to offer you

500 on the 409,

1,500 on the cortina,

two on the Van.

That's $4,000 for all three pieces.

Uh...

You got to be happy with it, Dave.

I don't need to come in here and take away

your whole childhood in one big swoop.

Let's make it five grand.

Come on. That's a 409.

Okay, okay. Let's do it.

Okay, that's the deal.

[Dave 2] It's nice to see the old Van

go into the hands of somebody that can fix it up

and be enjoyed.

[Narrator] The vw bus is just the kind of find

Matt was looking for,

but now he and Lee will have to figure out

how to get it out of the trees.

Well, there's no sense turning the crane on.

We got to chop all these trees down first. Relax.

[Narrator] The vw bus

is completely embedded in the forest,

and it appears the only option is to cut

the trees down if they are to have any chance

of a successful extraction.

So we're going to grab a chainsaw.

We're going to cut all these trees down

and we're going to hook onto the ass end

and we're going to drag it out slowly,

and we get it broken from the ground,

I don't like it.

Any time we're doing an extraction,

I try not to get any trees killed

because it doesn't make sense.

You're saving one thing and killing another.

I can get this thing out

without having to cut any of those trees down.

[Matt] These trees are, like, 25, 30 feet tall.

How are you going to breach it?

[Lee] We're going to pick it up with the bars nice and level,

and I'm going to go right up through the top,

right through that opening, we swing it,

put it right on the deck.

I'm really worried about lifting it

because it's stuck in the dirt.

Who knows how hung up it is?

We're going to start torqueing on it.

It's going to twist that frame and break.

You got to let me do what I do best,

and I know I can get it up through there. I can.

You don't think you're going to smash any of these windows?

[Lee] No windows smashed.

We can't break this glass.

This is original German Volkswagen glass.

It can be upwards of $500 a window if we break it.

[Tense music]

All right.

We'll do it your way.

I know what I'm doing.

Let me do what I do best, and that's crane.

[Upbeat rock music]

[Lee] You're going to get the bar set up.

- [Matt] Yeah. - [Lee] Okay.

- Front and back axle? - Yeah.

[Narrator] With Matt agreeing to his plan,

the pressure is now on Lee to deliver.

First, Lee has to anchor the crane

before he can attempt the perilous extraction.

♪

With all the rigging secured,

Lee is ready to lift the minibus

from its resting place.

All right, Matt, I'm going to go up nice and slow.

♪

♪

♪

[Matt] Get a little left, a little left.

[Matt & Lee] Whoa, whoa, whoa!

This is the worst.

Matt's backseat driving again and it's starting

to get on my nerves.

Let me do my job.

- [Lee] The other left. - [Matt] Yeah, the other left.

[Matt] I'm not going to lie. I'm pretty nervous.

I mean, I know Lee knows his stuff,

but I just don't know how this one's going to turn out.

And let me just check the frame

and see if it's tweaking or not.

Okay, it looks okay. It looks okay.

Keep going. Come on.

Whoa, whoa, whoa!

[Suspenseful chord]

[Tense music]

[Narrator] Deep in the woods of northern British Columbia,

Matt and Lee face an extremely precarious

recovery operation.

[Matt] Okay, watch those trees.

Okay, a little left, a little left.

[Narrator] As they try to crane the vw bus

up and through a narrow gap between the trees.

[Matt] Now let me just check the frame.

- Whoa. Whoa, whoa. - [Lee] What?

[Matt] You're hanging up on your lines.

[Lee] Looks like it's stuck on something, got to go higher.

[Narrator] The extraction is risky.

It could go very wrong, very quickly.

[Matt] Watch that tree. Watch that tree.

[Lee] I see it.

[Matt] You're going to just nail that corner panel.

[Narrator] This bus has been sitting in the bush

for over 40 years,

and its framework is delicate.

Any false move

and the bus could suffer structural damage

beyond repair.

[Matt] Keep coming, keep coming, looks good.

Like it. Like it. I'll spin it.

Nice. Watch that front window.

[Lee] I see it.

Matt likes to micromanage everything.

He cannot lose control of it, or he gets all tangled.

[Matt] Dude, you're going to hit it.

[Lee] I won't hit it.

I know Lee convinced me to follow his plan,

but we have to recover this thing intact,

especially the glass.

You're literally going to tap it in two seconds here.

No, just relax for a second.

I'm trying to focus here on getting the Van out safely.

If I got to worry about Matt's emotions,

it's just making my job more difficult.

So what I need you to do...

We need to swap you.

- So now we got space. - [Matt] Okay, got it.

♪

[Matt] Yeah, yeah. Just like that.

♪

Looks good, yeah, looks good.

♪

[Sighs]

It was way too close for comfort.

I thought the whole front end

was going to smash into the crane.

I'm waiting for something.

Ha! You know what? It worked pretty good.

You dented the back, though.

[Lee] No, I didn't.

Yeah, that dent was definitely you.

We got the Van out. No trees got harmed.

We did it my way and it worked out.

I think Matt's going to agree,

this one was a homerun.

You know, I don't give you enough credit, Lee.

I appreciate that.

That was pretty intense.

I can't believe you got it out between those two trees.

Well, I had a hell of a guy on the rope.

Now that was all you, man. That was all you.

From now on,

- what you say goes. - Okay.

Except for when I say it.

[Lee chuckling]

♪

It's going to run.

[Engine buzzing]

Thing's amazing, Dave, you did well.

[Dave] Thank you. I appreciate that.

You guys got two Volkswagen's. That's cool, man.

You know, you got a bus in the front,

you got a bug in the back.

You got one, like,

top story from that car,

that's just, like, a must-hear.

The biggest thing with that Van

was the best doughnuts I've ever done was in that.

And if you get your speed up in a clover field,

it was just like being at the fair.

[Making spinning noises]

And everybody's all on the walls

all over the place, you know.

Not long ago, this purple hippie Van

was rusting away in the bush.

Lost to history.

But in the hands of a collector,

I know it's going to be restored to its former glory

and put back on the road where it belongs.

[Dave 2] You got to do doughnuts

and that on a clover field.

You have to check it out. There's nothing like it.

They're the best around.

[Lee] He sold me on it.

Yeah, yeah, hey, I want to go do it right now.

[Laughter]

♪

♪