Heads Up - TV Programme 'Turbo Pickers'. Citroen CX & Honda CB200 content

[ProgRocker]

Last night I was channel hopping and stumbled across a somewhat cheesy show with somewhat contrived scriptings called 'Turbo Pickers' which appears to be based around the goings on in garage.

 

Anyhoo, one chap and his buddy was at the Citroen spares place that's in a church somewhere in Yorkshire (?). The James Bond 2CV is stored there. They bought an ECU and some CX spares. Eventually found out that the car they were working on was a W reg CX 2.4 GTi . Large gallic cars get me all hot and bothered.     

 

One of the main guys who prefers 2 wheels was given a job to rebuild to custom spec (eg: no suspension) a 'Wall of Death' 1970s Honda CB200 belonging to Ken Fox: http://www.wall-of-death.co.uk/. He also uses Indian Chief (?) motorbikes too.

 

I thought that some of you might be interested I think the Quest TV channel has it's own online channel.

[forddeliveryboy]

They did relatively little to the CX - replaced the ECU, did some work on a front door and cleaned it. The interesting bit was haggling the scrapyard lady down from £900 for a dead, rough-looking CX and visiting Nigel Wild at his church of Citroëns (he's an architect with a bit of a Citroën problem).

 

Building up the Honda could've easily been an episode in itself, but they seem to like to mix things up a bit. Dave's expression while listening to NW was priceless.

 

http://www.questtv.co.uk/video/turbo-pickers-citroen-cx/

 

They had their legs lifted in another episode when they bought a totally rotten H-van for £2500,to their credit an entire rear chassis was fabricated.

http://www.questtv.co.uk/video/turbo-pickers-citroen-h-van/

[Pillock]

Turbo Pickers caught my interest last week when they went to a scrapyard and haggled over a Porsche 924, and then a BMW 325 Cabrio.

It seems relatively uncontrived - the scrapyard owner initially told them to FRO when they tried to knock over 50% off the BMW price, and they later went back and paid a bit more to get it (the scrappy didn't have the keys initially). Then when they were mopping the 924 they went through the paint and had to carbon wrap the bonnet. Also the "first time" they started the 924 up in the yard, honestly sounded like it was starting for the first time in years rather than "oooh, fingers crossed, let's see if it works" (having had it running all morning)

 

It seems more like the older days of Wheeler Dealers when Edd would get himself in a bit of a pickle, like the Capri wing or the SJ410 being utterly rotten, rather than the polished Mike Show where it's all expensive restorations and rare cars.

 

Noticed there was one recording last night, I'll have a watch over a few beers later. 

[oldcars]

Watched this for the last three weeks. Really enjoy it. Much better that some of the shouty car programs that are on. Last week they were polishing the Porsche with 3M fast cut plus. Its harsh stuff i though they better be careful and not strike through. Next thing the bonnet is being wrapped.

[Sigmund Fraud]

He also uses Indian Chief (?) motorbikes too.

 

Wall of death ? Indians ? I didn't know that our very own Junkman had a TV show !

[richardmorris]

Last night I was channel hopping and stumbled across a somewhat cheesy show with somewhat contrived scriptings called 'Turbo Pickers' which appears to be based around the goings on in garage.

 

Anyhoo, one chap and his buddy was at the Citroen spares place that's in a church somewhere in Yorkshire (?). The James Bond 2CV is stored there. They bought an ECU and some CX spares. Eventually found out that the car they were working on was a W reg CX 2.4 GTi . Large gallic cars get me all hot and bothered.     

 

One of the main guys who prefers 2 wheels was given a job to rebuild to custom spec (eg: no suspension) a 'Wall of Death' 1970s Honda CB200 belonging to Ken Fox: http://www.wall-of-death.co.uk/. He also uses Indian Chief (?) motorbikes too.

 

I thought that some of you might be interested I think the Quest TV channel has it's own online channel.

 

 

Nigel Wild has the Citroen church. It's very sad, as he has many very rare cars that will never see the light of day. The running joke in the CCC is that no one has ever seen him in one of his own Citroens.

[mrcitroen]

Nigel Wild has the Citroen church. It's very sad, as he has many very rare cars that will never see the light of day. The running joke in the CCC is that no one has ever seen him in one of his own Citroens.

Always the GMC motrorhome. He's a bit of a CCC legend.

[ProgRocker]

Nigel Wild has the Citroen church. It's very sad, as he has many very rare cars that will never see the light of day.

 

That's a shame.   I remember reading about that place in an old issue of Practical Classix.

[Stanky]

Thanks for the heads up ProgRocker - that was a throughly good programme. Almost bereft of the faux 'tension' that they inject poorly into almost all modern documentaries.

 

I shall keep my eyes peeled for future episodes.

[richardmorris]

I watched the prog this evening. I also checked mot history of the cx ( it has none). As averyone said- a very rare car. Sills are available though- at a price. They paid way over the odds from the scrapyard though.

 

Nigel does annoy me somewhat as none of his cars have a hope in hell of being sold or going on the road- they're all going to rot there unless the unsafe church they are in falls down on them. Also note that the people carrier he turned up in to view the cx running was not a Citroen.

[Timewaster]

Whilst I like that the show is no where near as contrived as some of the others, I can't get over the fact that both presenters appear to be complete bell ends.

The "mechanic' is shouty and patronising and the" brains" appears to be a grinning idiot.

 

I'm also pretty sure that that didn't do a GTi Cx until much later than that one they had. Although I am happy to be corrected.

[Stanky]

Is a running CX GTI really only worth £1200? Or did it lack an MOT and/or needed a shed load more work doing?

[RichL]

I also found this by accident whilst channel hopping. Thought it was alright I'll watch it again

 

 

 I remember reading about that place in an old issue of Practical Classix.

 

I knew I'd seen that place before somewhere

[richardmorris]

It's still not got an mot record so it's not been tested since 1996. It's not really running until its road worthy and that one had a fair bit to go. I note that they didn't mention the metric tyres at £300 a corner!

 

I sold my fully motd DTR for £700 p/x in 2006. I bought it for £3000 in 2001 60,000 miles earlier. However the galloping metal moth had taken hold and the subframe had parted company with the body. Interior was like new, the air con worked and the body work was perfect. Just a shame the underneath had the structural strength of a hobnob. It was extremely worrying that the doors wouldn't open when the car was on a four post lift!

 

The 2400 was the first GTi from 1979 I think. That one was 1980 - and should have had that red bootlid logo and body coloured, not chromed, bumpers. But I don't think it was a black car originally.

[richardmorris]

Is a running CX GTI really only worth £1200? Or did it lack an MOT and/or needed a shed load more work doing?

I loved my cxs ( 20 pallas and 25dtr) but they were ruinously expensive to run as a daily. It wasn't the Pallas's fault as some idiot hit me just after I'd spent a lot on paintwork. But the DTR cost a bomb- I was doing 14,000 a year in it and about 100 a month in maintenance. Not every month, but the annual budget- mostly welding!

[forddeliveryboy]

Is a running CX GTI really only worth £1200? Or did it lack an MOT and/or needed a shed load more work doing?

No, loads more - think they were just flipping it, so a £50 ECU, a bit of door fettling and a wash and they're a few hundred quid up.

[Timewaster]

It was extremely worrying that the doors wouldn't open when the car was on a four post lift!

 

I think that's a French thing. My mate jacked up his 309 to do the brakes. When he let it down neither the rear door or the boot would close.

It was okay again after a couple of hours on the ground.

[mrcitroen]

It's a shame that the CX has never turned a wheel since that prog. Hopefully someone has taken it on and it's undergoing a wee bit of tlc.

 

I must say, I do like CX's I know of two people locally who have Gti Turbo 2's and another with a CX20 Palllas. They are just lovely cars to drive. Very underrated cars. A worthy successor to the DS. If I was offered a good CX Gti and a good DS 23 and told to pick one, I would be stuck!

[Dan the van]

Yeah,not bad but to make it true Autoshite TV they need to do all collections with a knackered LDV beavertail and hand winch.

[MorrisItalSLX]

They did an episode where they by a totally original Triumph Herald with super low miles for something like £250 and recommission it for the road, keeping it as original as possible.

 

It was on TV in Australia last year.

[dollywobbler]

I have it on good authority that the H van repairs were not good at all, and that it sold for far less than appears on TV...

[PiperCub]

^^ I'd be willing to bet that happens an awful lot more often than any of these programmes ever admit to!!  

 

("Oh we made £umpty-dillion on this one" - mmm, no you didn't especially after to factor in everything you didn't allow for originally!).

 

That said, the programme isn't totally bad, it's watchable - just and I've become very tired of this format recently (ie: not bothering any more), especially with those from the USA. 

[Hertz]

I quite like it, it's a lot more realistic in that you could do it yourself. That being buying auto memorabilia or cheap classics and flipping them for a bit of coin. Not fabricating a new chassis for a H van. 

 

My Mrs even likes watching it, but I think she has a thing for the tall chubby Arthur Daley character of the partnership.

[forddeliveryboy]

I have it on good authority that the H van repairs were not good at all, and that it sold for far less than appears on TV...

Aye, the most gifted mechanic (he's a more gifted engineer than many qualified ones) in this area was highly surprised by the sophisticated structural engineering under the skins of ancient Cits.

 

I'm not surprised that H-van wasn't perfect, what were the probes I wonder?

 

I see the H in the Salvage Hunters advert appears to have its rear wheels rather a long way back in the arches...

[matty879]

Yeah,not bad but to make it true Autoshite TV they need to do all collections with a knackered LDV beavertail and hand winch.

i just happen to own such a vehicle.