DRAMA! DRAMA! DRAMA!

Well, the drama keeps coming on TV. It seems every few weeks there is a new car building show. They air a new group of car builders that build more DRAMA than cars!

They manage to set themselves on fire, break stuff, and forget to do something important to the build just to add to the drama.

Is this good for the Industry? Maybe yes and maybe no. It’s like pro-wrestling or as they call it “Sports Entertainment”. So is this now called “Car Entertainment”?

All these car building shows have help promote the Industry on one hand and on the other have hurt it.

They find some wreck for $1,000 – spends $7,000 to fix it up and sell it for $15,000. And they do this in 8 days!

But in reality any one who has built a car, knows this is not a realistic formula!

This is nothing more than “Car Entertainment”!

But it IS FUN to watch. The only two shows’ I enjoy are 'Overhaulin' and 'Wheeler Dealers'. Chip Foose is the BEST! And those two guys in England have a great show. The rest just fall into the “Car Entertainment” slot. They try to outdo one another in the DRAMA department.

In my opinion, the car building Industry has benefitted from these shows AND these shows have also hurt the Industry with false hope and unrealistic expectations, not to mention unrealistic time frames.

It’s a 50/50 deal. If you enjoy watching the DRAMA keep watching, if you want a car built do some real extensive car builders search online and talk to some real car builders, not the “DRAMA kings”.

Hey, that’s a great name for a car building TV show!

Keep Them Rolling!

Bill

East Providence Welding Co. "Billy the Welder"

When I was 14 years old my Dad told me to do some welding on a 1951 Studebaker, get it set up for a stock car track. I built a roll bar, crash bumpers and exhaust system. Well, I worked on it for a few days. My Dad was impressed with my work and the car owner was even more impressed. Instead of building the run of the mill stock car, this car looked more like a professionally built car. It won several races and was very successful for a couple of years. 

I built several more stock cars and was building a reputation at 16 years old. I got into drag racing and my rep took off. Soon I was doing work on most of the cars that were racing in Southern New England. Such cars as Tasca Ford, King & Marshall, Frank Federicci. 

From 1959 - 1980  - I built Funny cars, Dragsters, Wheel Standers, Stock cars, Sport cars and Street cars or tricked out more than 400 cars - 22 of them were N.H.R.A. National Record Holders. I worked on Jay Leno's 1967 Olds 442 - modified the engine and suspension.  

Back them I didn't have a computer or Aftermarket bolt on stuff. I built everything by hand or went to a junkyard and found something I could adapt.

In the late 60's and 70's, E.P.W. was the place to go to get your car to go faster or get something built that would be competitive from stock cars, drag cars and sport cars. In 1968, with a friend of mine we successfully campaigned a C Sport Racer in Region I to back to back championships. Later we campaigned a 1967 Camaro in Trans Am race -it was the fastest un-sponsored car in the circuit.

I also built motorcycles and custom choppers. One of my customers and I built a twin engine Harley Davidson drag bike which was very competitive.

In the past I met such greats in racing as:

Mario Andretti

Paul Newman

Bob Tasca

Mark Donohue nicknamed "Captain Nice"
Tommy Ivo

Jimmy King

John Healey

Jackie Stewart nicknamed the "Flying Scot"

Steve McQueen

Carroll Shelby
Don Garlits

Bill Jenkins nicknamed "Grumpy" or "The Grump"
and the list goes on...

In 1982-1983, I built and maintained Offshore Race boats that won back to back World Championships under the name "Newport is Sports" out of Newport, Rhode Island.

My wife and I now own a company called OLD IRON AZ LLC. We list cars, trucks, hot rods, classics, muscle cars on www.oldironaz.com website. I am back doing what I love dealing with cars. We connect the Seller with Buyers. We've been doing this for a year now and we are meeting some interesting and very nice people and having fun doing it.

Keep them Rolling!

Bill Abatecola

aka "Billy the Welder" - Widely known as Billy the Welder

Southern New England business trip

My wife, Miki and I just returned from Southern New England on a business to promote Old Iron.

 

Spent some time with a dear friends and fellow car enthusiasts from way back. Some are still racing.

Spent time with Bob Tasca, Jr. and Carl Tasca (Tasca Ford). Had breakfast with John Healey and talked about old times and cruise nights.

 

We enjoyed some New England seafood, rode around looking at the foliage. Met some interesting people to help promote Old Iron.

 

It was a great trip. Now it's time to work here in Southern Arizona for upcoming car shows:

• October 19, 2013 - St Gregory's
• November 2, 2013 - Cops and Rodders
• March 2, 2014 - Ford on Fourth

and many more...plus all the cruise nights we love to attend - all held in Tucson, Arizona.

 

Some new and exciting things are coming up for Old Iron - so keep watching.

Bill

Keep them rolling!

Drama Drama Drama

Some of these car building TV shows are all about the drama.

Two stand out against the dramatic chaos:

• +Overhaulin +Chip Foose is a no nonsense car builder and designer. He's the best there is on TV. His drama is fabricated to surprise his Overhaulin Client.
• +Kount's Customs +Danny Koker builds some great cars and there isn't a lot of goofy drama. Just serious car building.

Here are the over the top drama Car shows:

• +Grave Yard Cars is the #1 drama car builder. He's a joke, I don't even watch his show anymore.
• +Fast n Loud. Everything they do is drama! Once in a while they accidentally build a good car.

Funny thing is some of these guys think they are doing something uniquely special. I was doing this stuff 45 years ago. 

But if you like drama in car building I guess this the way to go.

Keep them rolling!

Bill Abatecola

Old Iron

www.oldironaz.com