Classic car fans can look forward to fresh small screen content in 2019, following the announcement that UKTV has commissioned a brand new show, Lazy boy Garage, for its entertainment channel Dave.
Set to shown from February, Lazy Boy Garage, follows three friends into the world of international car ‘flipping’ – where cars are quickly resold for profit – at Roadhouse Motor Co. in Stamford, Lincolnshire. Dubbed ‘lazy boys’ because they don’t leave the garage, motoring journalists Jonny Smith and Tom ‘Wookie’ Ford join garage owner Tim Glover in hunting down classics from abroad to recommission, relying on social media and a network of international fixers to aid their search.
Presenter Jonny Smith said: “It’s a great concept – can you use the internet to bring the whole process to you? Buying via Skype, arranging shipping, and the car lands in the UK without you seeing it in the metal. Is it possible to make a profit?”
Executive producer Gareth Cornick added: “We’ve got a brilliant team of presenters – Tim’s our mechanic, Jonny brings years of classic car knowledge to the process, and Tom’s experience meant he was the perfect person to drum up interest in the finished cars on social media. For the viewers it will be an exciting, fun, eye-opening show that the Boys hope might inspire a new generation of car flippers! ”
Ten of the unusual imported classics involved in the show were sold at a specially organised sale in Stamford on December 2. The cars include rarities such as a SEAT 133, a Ford Taunus 2.0 V6 Ghia from Austria, Renault 4 van and a two-door VW Jetta, plus tidy examples of a MkI Fiesta and a Mk2 Escort estate. They were all auctioned with no reserve.
With some slow sales early on, bidding picked up for the final few lots – much to auctioneer Tom Ford’s relief. “There are some cars where it’s been close – the tension’s built by the fact we have no idea what we’re going to get for the cars.” At least one of the cars sold for less than the investment, though that was balanced by some of the more successful projects! Gareth Cornick believes that sales would have been stronger had the cars been road-registered for the UK. “Unfortunately, the time the DVLA would have taken would have eaten too far into the overall production schedule – we will consider it for the future but for this series we just didn’t have time.”
We won’t spoil the surprise by bringing you the final results, but rest assured there are a few interesting figures in there. It’s a certainly an intriguing premise for a car show and we’re looking forward to tuning into Dave from February to check it out.
