01x05 - Low Riding Lincoln

[bunniefuu]

Narrator:
right now on "fast n' loud"...

[ Tires screech ]

Hot-rod hunter richard rawlings

And master mechanic
aaron kaufman

Are gonna take this 1970
lincoln continental mark iii...

Whoa! Easy, k*ller.
This thing is fast.

...and turn it from granddaddy
to pimp daddy.

But the road to get there
is anything but smooth.

What's the problem,
dude?
This right here is a little
higher than ride height.

It's going to auction.

And they have the title
and if I don't show up,
I got to pay for it.

Narrator: then richard
checks out a local swap meet

And takes a chance
on a yellow hot rod.

What's the story
on this thing?

I don't know.
This is pretty cool
right here.

But will the gas monkey guys
share his enthusiasm?

It took me a while to decide
this thing's a pile of [bleep]

Narrator:
and the boys hope to make
a fast buck on the block

With a ford pickup.

Rawlings: anything over 5 grand
is making money.

That's one sketchy dune buggy...

Two separate auctions...

And a continental mark iii.

What could possibly go wrong?

Oh [bleep]







Rawlings:
there's an old saying about how
everything's bigger in texas,

Whether it's 10-gallon hats
or 72-ounce steaks.

I just got a call from a guy

Who wants to sell me one
of the biggest, baddest cars

On the planet -- a 1970
lincoln continental mark iii.

Aaron and I are looking
for our next big project,

And we hope this is the one.

It's not a muscle car.
It's a luxury car.

And it was and still is.

And if it's everything
he says it is,

It'll still be
somewhat luxurious, I guess.

Cotroneo: how you doing,
brother?
Rawlings: doing good, man.

I appreciate you taking the time
out of your busy schedule

To come look at this car.

Ken's a good friend of mine.

We do a lot of business
together.

He's selling, I'm buying,
whatever.

Today's a little different.

Selling the car
for someone else.

It doesn't matter, though.

Just hoping we can
both make a little change.

Is this it?
Yeah, this is it.

'70 Lincoln.

Supposed to have been
in the family for the
entirety of its life.

Rides and drives great.

I told him this is something
I don't specialize in

But I know the guys
that do.

Have you driven it any?

Just right around
the parking lot here.

Seems to drive and do
what it's supposed to.

When I first saw this lincoln,
I thought,

"This is one big-a*s boat."

I'm gonna fire it up,
aaron.

Don't run me over.

We don't usually do cars in
the '70s, but in our business,

You're either an imitator
or an innovator.

[ Engine turns over ]

Gas monkey's always trying

To stay one step ahead
of the competition,

So while everybody else
is snagging up cars in
the '40s, '50s, and '60s,

We're gonna put our stamp
on the '70s.

We do it right,
everyone's gonna do the same.

What do you think?
Well, we need to take it
for a drive.

Think that'll be
all right?

Kaufman: this is not gonna be
your grandma's lincoln.

It may look like your typical
big car, luxury ride,

But the road ends there.

I want to gangster this bad boy
up a little.

Scuff it up,
throw some big wheels on it,

Drop it to the ground,
make it fast and loud.

Keep it on two wheels,
man.
It's super clean.

Yeah, yeah.

You know me.

I'm just gonna
mess it all up,

Take some guy's pride and joy
been in the family for years...

Jack it all up.

Rawlings: built on
the ford thunderbird platform,

The 1970 lincoln mark iii
was ford's ultimate luxury ride.

Had a grille modeled
after the rolls-royce.

The chrome, wood, and leather
interior had style and class.

The 365-horsepower engine
made that lincoln soar.

Whoa!

Easy, k*ller.
This thing is fast.

Frank sinatra and elvis presley
both drove lincolns,

And it was a premiere big car
of its time.

I'm good with it. Let's just
head back and go see him.

All right.

[ Tires screech ]

Wow.
I dig it, man.

Yeah, I really didn't expect it
to drive that nice.

Kaufman: it's not gonna be
the fastest car

And it's definitely not a muscle
car, but you know what?

With the right stands,
the right wheels,

With the right attitude,

It can be as cool
as anything else out there.

So, does it drive as good
as it looks?

No,
it's all right, man.

It's got some front-end noise
and brakes are a little squishy.

But, I mean, it's nice.
It's all easy, fixable stuff.

Well, heck,
it's a '70 model car.

Right now, it's just
an ugly, old man's car.

Where's this guy got to be?

You know, he's really hoping to
get about 6 grand for this car.

I don't know
if it's there or not.

[Bleep] I don't think
I can get there, man.

I'm at like --
I'm at like $4,500.

I mean, I think $6,000, $7,000
is probably retail.

How about we try
to get it 5,500 bucks?

The reason he brought it
here is probably 'cause
he can't sell it retail.

Or he's not as proud
as he says he is of it.
All right.

I think $5,000's my --
that's it.

Sell him some floor mats
or the tire shine or whatever --

Some window tint or some
chrome wheels, something.

All right. Let me go make
a call. I'll be right back.

All right.

Rawlings:
I felt bad beating ken down,

But, you know,
he stepped into this car,

Kind of told the guy
what he thought it was worth,

But that's not
where it's got to be.

I've got to buy that car
a lot cheaper than that
or it's just not worth it.

It's perfect, the car.
We don't have to, you know --

It's nice enough. I'd leave
that "perfect" word at home.

You got a deal.

Cool.

Yeah.
It's yours.

We're friends.
I'll just wire it to you.
Deal.

All right. Well, I'm gonna drive
this thing home, then.

I thought they were gonna
have it delivered.

Hell no.
He says it runs and drives?
It's 40 years old.

I'm gonna drive the [bleep]
out of this thing.

Rawlings:
I was able to get ken down to
where I needed to be on the car.

I know it's the right car
for us.

I'm kind of excited
about it.

I think it's gonna look
really freaking badass.

And hopefully we'll make
a bunch of money on it.

We're not gonna use
these tires.

I might as well
just blow them off, right?

Hell, stop halfway.

I'll switch the fronts to the
back and you can do it again.

[ Laughs ] cool.

Thanks, ken.
I appreciate it.
Thanks for coming by.

Thank you, ken.
You bet.

All right.
See you at the shop.

Kaufman: I can't wait
to dig into this one

'Cause I think this one's
gonna showcase

A little different aspect
of what we can do.

I think it'll be appealing
to people in my demographic.

It's the right size, it's the
right shape, it's a big motor.

Everything about it
is right, right, right.

I think that this one
will work out well.

[ Tires screech ]

Rawlings: [ laughs ] whoo!

[ Car horn honks ]

[ Laughs ] did you see
those people? [Bleep]

You should have seen them.

The construction workers almost
dropped all their tools, man.

I thought all the people
on this side of the road

Were gonna get out
of the car.

Dude,
this thing runs all right

For a big-a*s,
freaking 5,000 pound --
I think you're selling
a little short.

I might weigh more.

What the hell's
this thing here for?

Well, we're pretty sure
we're gonna slam it,
put big wheels on it.

What are you gonna do,
k.c.?

Come on, man.
This is already done.

Hey, for once, it won't be
rushed to do a paint job.

Hey, you can wipe down
my hand and my paw prints

All over the front there
inside.

Somebody wanted
to trade this in.
Cool.

So we zipped over
and grabbed it.

I think it's pretty badass.

So, what made y'all decide
to go with maybe a '70s car?

You know, we never really done
anything this big.

Because ken didn't call us
on a '63.

Somebody left it to somebody
who left it to somebody,

And that last somebody
didn't want it no more.

That last somebody
didn't give a [bleep]

Didn't want to roll around
in this.

You got to have some stones
to roll in this.

Yeah, this is a little
out of our style.

That's the only reason
I asked.

That's really the thing.
We didn't go out and pick it.

It found us.
And so, it's gonna get done.

I think that what we'll do with
vinyl roof on it, which is nice,

One of the better ones
we've had here,

Is throw it away.

And what we can do is
just carbon-fiber the roof,

Have k.c. Clear it.

We'll carbon-fiber the dash and
the door panels, stuff like that

And try and bring the roof
and the interior

A little bit more modern.

And so I'm thinking 22s
with kind of a 40-series
tire, big tire on 22s.

And then we're gonna do the air
sacs on it and get it laid out.

Kaufman: I want to put in
an air-ride suspension,

Get this car as low as it'll go.

I'm happy with the motor
and transmission.

Everything seems to do
what it's supposed to do.

I just think we need
to fix the looks on it.

So, get it to stop right,

Get it to sit right,
get it to look right.

So, I want everything
on the car brushed.

Mathieu:
that'll look good.

Rawlings:
man, aaron's on fire today, and
he's got a vision for this car,

And he's damn sure
not listening to me.

Well, man, are you sure
you don't want to go

Just like full '70s with some
wire wheels and curb feelers?

I'm okay with that, too,

And we can all get hats
with big feathers in it

And have a good time,
I'm sure.

That'd save me
a lot of work.

Your red polyester suit
would go right fine in there.

Yes, it will.

So, I throw out an idea.
Aaron's not having that.

That's okay. I trust
he knows what he's doing.

But he better have that thing
done in time and budget

So I can get it to
the houston auction next week.

I think what I'm gonna do

Is go try to find
a set of wheels and brakes,

See if we can't get them ordered
in in the next three days.

All right. We'll see.

So, now we're gonna get
the car up on the lift

And prepare it
for the air-ride suspension.

Let's go ahead
and pop the wheels off.

Once it's on the lift,

We're gonna yank
the coil springs and shocks out

Of all four corners.

What gives a car its rise

Is a coil spring lives in here
and supports the vehicle,

Allows it to go up and down.

What we're doing...

Removing the coil spring and
replacing it with an air spring.

What we're gonna do

Is remove some of the material
off the frame here.

Scot will handle that
with a torch.

And then as we remove
the air pressure,

It'll allow the control arm
to raise up into the vehicle,

Which will lower the vehicle.

As we apply pressure to the bag,
it'll stand up,

Make the coil spring
a little taller.

And at that point,
it'll lift the vehicle

And we can drive it
down the road.

And then the air in the bag

Actually gives us our ride
going down the road.

What's up,
what's up, what's up?

How's it going, guys?

Or guy.

Where is everyone,
scotty-scot?

They're looking at some parts
back there in the back.

We're getting the lincoln
all set up,

Getting the air bag
put in.

Just blasting it out right there
or what?

I've been using
the torch.

Everything's been working out
real well.

We're gonna get it
within a couple inches
of hitting the ground.

All right, so, cool.
So, we're gonna get that there.

Back's no problem basically,
right? It's just...

Ah, well, you know aaron.

He picked the biggest tires
we could fit,

So we're gonna have to work
on the wheel well a little bit,

And we're gonna have to finesse
the wheel well in the front.

But it's gonna
make it look badass.

Changing the wheel wells
was not part of the plan.

Sometimes I think these guys
forget who pays the bills.

If a problem comes up,
it's my a*s on the line,

And I'm starting to get nervous.

What I need to do is start
scuffing up all the chrome

Like we were talking about while
y'all got it up in the air.

The houston auction
is in five days,

And I'd like to get this car
in it.

I'm hoping these wheel wells
don't set us back.

Well, I'll go back
to what I do --

Looking for more cars.

All right.
Take it easy, boss.

I'm sensing that the lincoln's
gonna be way over budget,

So before I blow a fuse,
I'm gonna give the guys
at gas monkey some space

And hit the road.

I'm looking for some cars I can
flip quickly and make some cash,

And there's no better place
to find cars

Than new braunfels swap meet.

So, I'm at the swap meet
and I'm rolling around.

I'm just not finding anything
that I'm interested in.

There's a lot of, you know,
doll heads and used gloves

And old tires
and beat-up mail carts.

I need a car. I need something
I can make some money on.

And then I find this thing.
It's just sitting there.

It looks like an open-wheeled
indy racer from the '60s.

I think it's badass.

Pretty cool.
Is this yours?

It's mine. Yes, sir.
How you doing?

I'm doing good.
Richard rawlings.

Paul giffin.
Nice to meet you, richard.
Paul.

This is pretty cool
right here.

Well, let me put you
in the driver's seat.

[ Laughs ] what's the story
on this thing?

I don't know.
I bought it from an estate sale.

[ Crowd cheering ]

This yellow hot rod is known
as an open-wheel race car

Because the wheels sit outside
the car's main body.

Open-wheel race cars are among
the fastest in the world.

They became known as indycars

Because of their worldwide
recognition at the indy 500.

You know, I'm digging
this kind of car.

It's kind of
a '73-something-or-other.

I'm not sure if it's a kit car
or not.

But it's a great-looking car.

It just needs
a little gas monkey styling.

Well, paul, I like it,

But until I get it torn apart
and see what I'm working with,

I'm thinking
about 4 grand.

Oh, no. No.

Just figure the parts.

I mean, you know, I figure
there's $5,500 worth of parts

On this thing.

Yeah.

I don't have aaron with me,

So I can't be exactly sure
what I'm looking at.

But my instinct is telling me

This yellow hot rod
is gonna be awesome

And aaron's gonna love it
when I get back.

I could do 5 grand on it.

All right.
That's my low dollar.

With the title and everything,
you're getting a lot of parts.

I think I can jazz that car up.

Made a deal with the guy
for 5 grand.

I got your 5 grand
out of my truck.

That's all I had.
Well, that'll work.

It's leftover stripper money
if that's all right.

That's all right.
That'll work for me, sir.

I know that was the right deal.

That's gas monkey.
It's fast and loud.

It's gonna be badass.

Mcmillan: due to the fact that
we can't buy an air-ride kit

For this car,

We have to make
all of our own bag mounts.

So, right now what I'm doing

Is I'm building
an upper bag mount...

...and a lower bag mount.

When I install them in the car,

Our air spring replaces that big
tall coil spring that we had.

* Welding, welding *

* Welding, welding *

We got the air-ride mounts done
on the car,

So now it's time
to upgrade the brakes.

So we're going from drum brakes
to disc brakes

And keeping this 5,000-pound
beast safer on the road.

They have better performance
and design...

...and they look cool.

There you go. Disc brakes.

I bought an awesome open-wheel
race car at the swap meet,

And I can't wait
for aaron to see it.

Mcmillan: holy [bleep] aaron,
what did he bring up today?

Yeah. Look at that.

Yeah, look at that.

So, richard shows up

With this street-dune-
buggy-race-car thing.

I mean, I wasn't there
to keep him from buying it,

So look what shows up.

What is that?

That's the question.

The guy that I got it from
didn't know.

And it's too nice
to just be homemade.

It's some type of kit.

I think it's pretty bitching.

I just think
it's got the wrong look.

Does it run?

Yeah. It'll run, but it doesn't
have a driveshaft in it.

So drivability, I don't know.

Oh, if it doesn't have
a driveshaft,

I know what the drivability is.
It's pretty weak.

I think a little
presto-change-o, black paint,

Get rid of some of the stuff,
get the headlights down low,

Change the wheels and tires,
it might be kind of cool.

Is that
an addams family interior?

We can make the car look better,
the car could be cooler,

And it could sell for money.

It just won't drive.

It took me awhile to decide
this thing was a pile of [bleep]

It's not
a pile of [bleep] aaron.

It's a [bleep] pretty cool,
little ride.

And especially
for the money.

You didn't even ask
what I paid for it.

You know, I don't care
what you paid for it.

I know. That's your attitude
with everything.

You hate everything
until you get to do it your way.

This is a k*ller ride.

What's wrong with aaron?
He didn't pick it out.

If he's not there and it's not
his idea, it ain't cool.

Hey, I can't even make it
to the bottom of the seat.

Yeah, I know.
I couldn't, either.

Oh [bleep] k.c. Made it.
[Bleep]

[ Laughing ]
I think it's a little low.

[ Laughs ]

I like it.

Why are you so tall?

No, hey, richard,
no, no, no.

So you're at the swap meet
and you found a really --

A really crappy
dune buggy?

No, no, no, no.
No, don't buy that.

No. On the phone,
I can tell it sucks.

Don't buy that.

I'll just get the car fixed
somewhere else.

You guys are hating on me.
I dare you.

Ain't y'all
got [bleep] to do?

Richard does this
from time to time

Where he shows up with just the
most completely random vehicle

We had no business buying
in the first place.

It's just that
it's gonna take more work

Than the car's worth
to get on the road.

Rawlings: I'm disappointed
nobody liked the yellow car,

But I got bigger problems.

Aaron just showed me

That there's a rusted brake line
on the lincoln,

Which means they could have
completely gave out on me

And I could have
crashed and died

Just getting it over
to the shop.

This is incredibly unsafe
to sell to anyone.

That could have happened to you
on the way over here.

That's pretty scary.

Luckily I didn't drive
straight through the shop

When I drove up in here.

We're replacing
this section of line,

And if we have a blowout
again,

All of it has to come out
of the front of it, everything,

The whole line, so...

I hate telling richard
this kind of stuff

Because, ultimately,
it's gonna cost more time

And that costs more money.

But I think on this one,
we definitely dodged a b*llet.

So, I mean,
we're trying to get brakes,

And that's where
we kind of ended up at.

It's good we caught it before
we sold it to somebody else.

Just unsafe.

This lincoln wasn't fit
to be driven when we bought it.

I mean, you're just talking
about all the brake lines?

The rest of the brake lines
on the whole rest of the car

From the proportioning valve

Down all the way
around the front

And making them fit
up inside there.

I mean, the front end's
a pain in the a*s.

It's a good four, five hours
to make all that stuff work.

'Cause this car, the brake lines
are put on this frame

Before the body goes on.

They're all up over the top.
We can't get to them.

I'm gonna have to cut
this section of it out, so...

Just so you're aware
of what's going on

Because we'd be on the ground
right now if it wasn't for this.

Rawlings: I'm pissed.

If there's more problems
like a rusted brake line,

We're screwed.

I'm just wondering

If I shouldn't just punt this
car right now and cut my losses.

All right, well,
we just [bleep] ourselves.

Either we burn this car to
the ground and forget about it

Or we got to fix it all.

We're [bleep]

Rawlings: I'm freaking out.

I just hope aaron and the guys
can fix the brake lines.

I got other business
to take care of,

And I can't
let them see me sweat.

Got a guy that called me
on an f-250 pickup.

He's gonna bring it over.

If we can cut a deal,

Those guys are working and
I'm making cash in the front.

Very cool.

Good to see you, joe.
Yeah.
How you doing, richard?

So, you finally decided
to part with it or what?
Yeah.

I really figured
I couldn't do with it

What I wanted to do with it.

Why do you do anything
with this? It's freaking cool!

So, what's the deal?

I don't remember the story about
why you ended up with it.

Well, I bought it from
a friend of mine to fix it up.

Wanted to put power steering
in it,

You know, put some nice,
aluminum wheels on it,

Put an air-conditioning unit
in it.

The truck's a 1967
ford f-250 camper special.

I've had it about four years.

I did a little work on it,

And it set
for another year or so.

After seeing it sit,

My wife really wanted
to get it moved on,

And I've got other things
I want to do

And sort of just
starting to get in the way.

Rawlings:
ford's only 1967 f-250 pickups,

Well, they were built

To be tougher, smoother,
and a pleasure to drive.

Millions of americans
fell in love with the f-250

Because it rode more like a car
than a truck.

Let's check out
the motor compartment.

Cool.

Just superstock
and sanitary.

This is a good example
of what I like to get here

At gas monkey garage.

Untouched, virgin sheet metal,

All original,
just taken care of all its life.

I mean, it's got
plenty of scratches,

But it's supposed to be
a farm truck.

It's supposed to be beat
to [bleep] isn't it?
Oh, yeah.

All right,
so, what's the deal?

I really need to get
$6,500 out of it.

I can't do that, man.

I got to tell you, joe,
I'm probably at like $3,500.

I mean, just like
what you were saying,

You're gonna put a/c in it
and some power steering

And maybe wheel it up
with some period-correct wheels

Like sears
and the j.c. Whitney catalog

And things like that.

By the time I do all
that and then I still
got to make a profit,

I mean,
I'm just down there.

Bring the title with you?

Oh, yeah. Oh, I got that.
I came ready.

I can go 4 grand cash.

Man, how about $6,000?

Come on.
I know you can do $6,000.

I had to keep this guy
at 4 grand.

Bottom line is, I think
the truck is worth 6 grand

Just like he was asking.

But I've got to do a couple of
things, back him down to $4,000,

I do those things,
get it out there for sale,

It probably brings
around $6,000.

I can't step in it
any more than 4 grand.

That's it.
That's my bottom line.

He'll drive it home
if he doesn't sell it to me.

I can't do $6,000.
I'm at 4 grand.

Come on, richard.

The sun's beating down.
It's hot here in texas.

You got a long ride home

Or you can ride home
with one of my guys

In a nice air-conditioned
ford raptor.

He'll give you
a couple of beers.

You can sit in the back.
$6,000 And a couple beers.

[ Laughs ]
I just can't do it.

Well...

I got to be at $4,000.

I'm really, you know,
getting beat up on the price,

But at this point, you know,

You got to decide where
you're gonna cut your losses,

And I think this is a good time
to cut my losses.

I think I can go $4,000 on it.
That'll work.

Cool. I'll get the cash
out of the building.

You get the title.
All right.

I told him where I wanted to be.

He didn't want to do it
at first.

Then he came over here.
He realized I had the cash.

I do the deal.
It's great gas monkey business.

Counted it up myself, sir.
$4,000.

All right.
There's your title.

Cool.

I'm gonna probably keep this
truck pretty much like it is.

I think what I want to do
is buff this truck out,

Take a good look at what I have,

Maybe clean up the tires
a little bit.

But none of that shine stuff.

I want this truck
to look original.

There's gonna be a farmer
or rancher here in texas

That goes, "man, I had
one of those back in the '70s.

I'd like to have that."

This is the truck for him.

We're good to go.

I think k.c.'S
gonna take you home.

And I appreciate
the business.
Thank you.

All right.
Thank you, sir.
Appreciate it.

Aaron got the brake problem
fixed, and that's a huge relief.

Now it's time to focus
on how the car's gonna look.

Bottom line is,

I'm bringing in a little help
to scuff up the chrome.

Most people will think
we're crazy for jacking
with good chrome like that,

But the car's already
triple black, got black wheels.

So now we're gonna give it
that sinister look.

Mathieu:
some dude's crying in another
state watching us do this.

Oh, yeah.

'Cause he can't
find this [bleep]

But we're like [bleep] it.

[ Laughing ]
tearing it up.

[Bleep]

All right. So, I didn't get to
paint much on this car.

As matter of fact, I didn't
really get to paint anything.

So, I didn't like the way
the grille looked,

So I went ahead
and sprayed it black

And cleaned off the face of it
a little bit.

I think it adds to the car
a little bit.

Just a little touch
of something different.

Mcmillan:
is there any particular way
you want the air lines ran?

Let's bring it in over
in the gap up here.

This air-ride system's really
gonna set this lincoln apart.

Now that we've yanked out
the coil springs and the shocks

And installed our air springs,

It's time to move on
to the trunk.

With an air tank,
the compressors, and the valves,

It's time to bring
the suspension to life.

So, a lot of people wonder, "why
would you do this to the car?"

Well, we do it to the car

Because we think
it looks better.

It looks scary, it looks cool,
it looks creepy.

You can lower a car to the point
that it looks k*ller

And it's just horrible to drive.

This right here's
a happy medium.

It can look sick
when it's parked

And ride like a dream whenever
you're going down the road.

All these wires that I just ran

Going on each one
of these solenoids.

So whenever you push the switch
up there,

It sends electricity
to the wire.

The coil opens, air goes
from the tank through the valve,

Through the hose,
to the air bag.

Raises the car.

How low will she go?

[ Air suspension whirring ]

Everything looks good.

Everything worked out
how I wanted it to.

Hopefully aaron's happy with it

And we can get this thing
on the road.

Rawlings:
what's the problem, dude?

This right here is a little
higher than ride height.

Oh, how is it
when it's all the way out?

Can you put it
all the way --
it'll run into --

It just hits?

Rawlings: nothing's easy

When you're trying to put
a new spin on an old car.

So the big wheels we ordered
just came in,

Aaron put them on,
and guess what?

They don't fit.

It looks [bleep] badass, man.
I don't want to lose the look.

And I like the whole idea.

Kaufman: the issue right now

Is that our wheel and tire sits
out wider than our body does,

Especially low on the body,
which isn't a problem

When the air suspension's
aired all the way up.

But as we lower the vehicle

And bring the wheel
up into the body,

We run this edge
into this part of the car.

It's time, man.

And the wheels are too [bleep]
cool to turn around now.

So, what we're gonna do

Rather than put smaller wheels
and tires on it

Is we're actually gonna move
the fender wider on the car

To accommodate
the larger wheel and tire.

Rawlings:
I'm ready to hit the roof.

Now I got to widen the car
to make the wheels fit?

This is out of control.

It's been one problem
after another with this lincoln,

And we're too far deep
into it now.

I've already spent too much time
and too much money,

And this car better be ready

'Cause the auction's
in three days.

Rawlings: it's a desperate hour
at gas monkey.

The new wheels that
came in for the lincoln,
they just don't fit,

So now we're gonna have to widen
the wheel wells,

And that's a big job.

So I call my buddy
at mastercraft,

And they're gonna come over
and take a look.

They got the tools that it takes
to get it done,

And I need it yesterday.

Kind of what I was thinking
on it is,

If we actually split it
on the body lines here and here

And then we'd cut
just the lip off of it,

And when we pulled
the lip out of it,

You'd end up with these
little triangle-shaped pieces

So we return back
to the same place as we started

And ended from.

Rather than coming out and
laying this thing over like that

Where it gets real flat,

If we bring it up
so we mock the same angle,

It's just further out.

That's just kind of
how I was seeing it.

I think we can do that.

Don't speak so fast.

I hadn't told you
how much time you have.

It's going to auction.

Gotcha.

And it's already entered.
It's already in.

It's already everything,
and they have the title.

And if I don't show up,
I got to pay for it.

I mean, I'm out the a*s.
So...

What kind of timeframe
are we looking at?

I'd like for you to be able
to tell me 48 hours.

Normally for a job like this,

It'd probably take maybe
two weeks to do it

Underneath normal circumstances.

But usually
dealing with richard,

There is
no normal circumstances.

We can give it a shot.

I can't give it a shot,
man.

It's, like,
if you say 48, it's 48,

And I'm gonna be screaming
at 46.

But if you say you need more,
can we squeeze?

Give me three days.
We can do it.

The way around, and match paint.

What's your ballpark figure?

Ballpark in that timeframe,

You're looking probably
close to 5 grand.

Damn, that sucks.

But I know
mastercraft can do it.

They're gonna make
the car look sick.

Can't be cool unless
you spend the dough, right?

That'll work.
All right.
Thanks for coming out.

Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. See you.

He gave me 72 hours
to do this car,

Which is quite a bit to do
in 72 hours,

But we will deliver it on time.

So, the lincoln's at mastercraft
for the next 48 hours,

And it's time
to make some quick money.

We're taking that ford f-250
to the leake auction.

Hopefully
we'll turn a tidy profit.

Dude, I tell you,
I like this truck.

Yeah. You know what I like
about it?

I didn't have to
do anything to it.

I wouldn't mind keeping it
in my private collection,

But we got to
make some money.
Yeah.

I paid the guy like 4 grand,
buffed it up, cleaned it.

Changed the wheels and tires
on it, but no big deal.

That ain't much.
Yeah.

Anything over 5 grand
is making money.

I think someone
will buy it here for fun

And then realize
they can still use it.

It looks good.
I can't wait till it comes up.
I want to see what it'll do.

Announcer: lot number 902
is a special lot.

This is the f-250

Four-speed manual transmission,
two owners.

All original,
never restored.

This is a very,
very unique truck,

And it's being offered today
at no reserve.

Selling today.

Ford f-250.

[ Auctioneer calling ]

$600. Now $700.

$700 Takes the bid.
Now $700. $700 Now.

[ Calling continues ]

This is the f-250.

Rare, rare, rare.

It is the camper special

With the custom-cab treatment
on the inside.

Has the padded dash.

Started getting
a little momentum.

They talked about it.
They said how much nicer it was.

The owner says the bottom
is just as nice as the top.

People got a good look of it
up there on stage.

Boom, it started rolling.

[ Auctioneer calling ]




Got up to 4 grand.

We're at even money right now
minus some tires.

We're real close.

[ Auctioneer calling ]

Come on, guys.
Here it goes.

It's no reserve.

$4,250 Going once.

$4,250 Going twice.

Is he done?
Everybody else is done.

$4,250.

Sold. $4,000.

Sold. Another one sold.

Obviously I now know
the f-250 camper special market,

And it's 4 grand.

Oh, cool.

I was hoping the truck
would have sold for more.

We really needed that
money to help out with
the lincoln repair.

Nothing like free drink tickets.

It's been a tough week here
at gas monkey.

I'm hoping mastercraft has
the lincoln finished in time.

There's another auction
coming up in houston,

And we got to make some bank
on this one.

It's a good day
for hunting hot rods.

* Hot-rod hunting
with richard *

[ Laughs ]

I couldn't carry a note
if it was in a bucket.

So, we're driving back
from the auction.

I'm taking the back roads,

And I spotted a bunch of cars
in a guy's front yard.

Got a pocketful of cash,
an empty trailer.

Maybe we can do some business.

I don't even think
anyone lives here.

I say we just
peek over the fence

And see if there's even
any reason to stay.

He's gonna have
this many warning signs,

Damn sure he's got
something back there.

You know all these warning signs
are just [bleep]

See a couple of old cars
in this guy's driveway.

Whole bunch
of warning signs.

"Don't come in,"
"danger," "electricity,"

All this kind of stuff,
you know?

Probably something's hidden
behind that fence.

Man, there's some cars
back there.

Of course, we can see
a few things poking through,

So aaron decided, said, "hey,
jump up there and take a look."

Check it out, dude.

What do you think? Do you see
anything better up there?

Yeah. There's a couple cadillacs
back here, man.

I didn't say jump the fence
and go over.

I got excited.

Hannah:
hey, what's going on?

Oh [bleep]
here he comes.

Oh, hey. How you doing?

Hey. What's going on?

Well, I saw your old cars here
and all the warning signs.

I figure somebody like
that's got to have some
cars hidden back there.

What's your name, sir?
My name's richard.
What's yours?

Hi, richard.
They call me jim.
I've been called
a lot worse.

Have you?
Yeah.

You know, I calmed him down
a little bit,

Told him
I'd just seen the cars.

That's a fleetwood.
That's the big one.

That's got too many doors.

What I'm wondering
is what you got out back.

Hey, what's going on?
How did you get in here?

I never know
what I'm gonna find.

Most of the time
I find an animal in here,

But I think this bearded one
came close to that black bear

That I see in here sometimes.

Oh, he's with me.

Oh. Really?

Well,
you guys are slippery.

No, he came in
when you opened the fence.

Oh, he did? Okay.
All right.
Yeah.

I have trouble
with raccoons.

And bears?
Yeah.

Bears like this guy.

What's your name, bear?

Aaron kaufman.
Oh, hi, aaron.

So, what do you think your
best car is you got back here?

Hannah:
oh, it's kind of hard to say.
I fall in love with all of them.

My wife says as long as
they're shiny and pretty,

That's all that counts.

The only thing I say
is my wife is shiny and pretty,

That's all that counts.

Uh-oh. Now, see, now you got
my attention over here.

Here's some golden oldies,
huh?

Yeah.

Now, this guy over here,
that's a 1934 cadillac sedan,

And I call that my gangster car.

You call that a gangster car
'cause it's got suicide doors.

Suicide doors
and running board.

The guy can get out there
with a machine g*n and have fun.

Rawlings:
suicide doors are pretty cool.

They're hinged way to the back
of the rear of the vehicle.

A lot of people thought
it was because it was easier

To shove a body out back
in the gangster era.

I think it's b.s.

They ever throw dead bodies
out of those things?

[ Chuckles ]

That's another nice grille
right there.
Yeah.

And that hood ornament
just lifts up to open the hood,

Right?
Oh,
it's got a rocket on it.

It ain't cool
unless it's got a rocket.

What would something like that
cost me?

Well, I'd probably sell that one
for $3,000.

And we're walking.

Aaron,
you like orange vans.

Oh, yeah.

Well, that's a good one.

What would you want
for this van?

I'm thinking that guy
ought to be worth about $2,500.

No, no. You can buy them
running and driving for that.

Can you really?
Oh, yeah.

I guess it's not for sale,
then.

Guy's got a bunch of stuff.

He wants a little too much money
for most of it.

Didn't think his prices were
unfair or unreasonable at all.

I thought
he priced the cars great.

$2,000 For a ford van?
Come on.

Not the econoline.

Sir, we greatly appreciate it.
Thank you very much.

If you want to sell that old,
orange van, you call us.

We'll build us
a good-times van.
All right.

All right, sir.
You have a good one.
Thank you.

Good deal, guys.

Kaufman:
so I'm down here at mastercraft

Checking out the progress
on the lincoln.

For a big project
and a big car like this,

Everything has to happen
just right.

We've giving mastercraft
practically no time.

They say they're almost done,
so I'm here to find out.

So, what do we got?

About to get it painted.

All the body work's done.
I finished late last night.

Yeah?

Looks I drug my feet
a little too long.

I get down here to check on it,

And they've got it taped up
and in the booth.

Man, this looks great.
This really does.

Yeah,
this is my brother, aaron.

He's the one
that did all the metal work.

What's going on, man?
He worked the magic.

This project's been
a little bit difficult

Mainly because of
the time crunch.

So far, we've cut
the quarter panels off,

Widened them
to fit the rear tires,

And we widened the front fenders
to fit.

They're in the process
of doing the paint right now,

And that's about all
we got left.

I think it looked pretty k*ller.

So, the front, as long as
it's about two inches up

From all the way down,
you got about 40% steering.

Kaufman: okay.

So, that's a little more
than what you had asked for.

If we come into a driveway,

We can just pop it up
if we need to turn.

Right. Right.

I tell you, man.
I am tickled to death, man.

I mean,
it fits the body right.

It's so subtle.
I almost forget.
I almost forgot.

I was like,
"y'all didn't do anything."

[ Laughs ]
we got pictures.

Well, that's the point.

When it's
all said and done,

It's not gonna stand out
like a sore thumb.

It'll blend right in.

That's it. I just wanted to come
down here and check on things.

I got work back at the shop.
I got to get back at it.

Cool.
So, thank you.

We'll see you tomorrow.
I'll bring it up to you.

Yes, sir. Thank you.
Thank you.

They're doing a great job with
the last-minute lincoln fixes,

But I'm still concerned.

The car's not painted,
and we're right up against it.

Hopefully they can finish on
time, get this car on a trailer,

And off to auction
in another day.

Just testing out the air ride
to make sure all the wires
working how they're supposed to.

Now I'm gonna get them
wired under the dash and
hook up the switch box.

Mathieu: wow.

You want me to get in there
with you?

What we could probably do

Is, like, I can probably
come in here like this.

[ Grunts, laughs ]
[bleep]

Oh, you're [bleep]

Can you see?
[ Strained ] I can see.

All right.

I can see
you're crushing my [bleep]

You need anything,
I'll come back in a minute.

Okay.

[ Chuckles ]
I found you.

[ Engine turns over ]

[ Air suspension whirring ]

Rawlings: check it out.

A 1970 lincoln continental
two-door hard-top coupe.

All you got to do is stare at it
and you know it's cool.

Kaufman:
when we first got this car,
it was pretty cool.

It's a good driver,
and it looked nice,

It ran good, but it wasn't
cool enough for us.

So, we added some big tires,

And we had to put it
on the ground --

Slam it down
and get it to sit right.

So, we added
air-ride suspension,

And we flared out the fenders
for our new wheels.

We had to update
the entire braking system

To make this car
ride a little safer.

To finish it off,
we brushed down all the chrome

To give it a nice,
subtle, sleek look.

Honestly, I think it's perfect.

This is exactly how
this car was meant to look.

We're here at the wwg
at the la torretta resort

Down near houston
somewhere.

A lot of good buyers.
They're excited.

They're ready
to spend some cash.

A lot of really cool cars here.

While I'm waiting
on the lincoln's turn
on the auction block,

It's time to go inside
and check out the other cars.

Maybe there's some merchandise
in there I want to bid on.

$28,500.

Like this '36 phantom.

[ Auctioneer calling ]

This is a rare car, and
it's the best one in the world.

So dennis and I
are gonna go in on this one.

[ Calling continues ]

It's nicer -- it's nicer
than the last two or three.

Dude, it's all it
by the time --

No, it's not. We're it.

Yeah.

[ Calling continues ]

$35,000 -- That puts us
at 40 grand at home, dennis.

[ Calling continues ]

Sir, do you want
to bid $35,000?

[ Calling continues ]

Auctioneer: at $35,000

And selling today,
ladies and gentlemen.

It's only $36,000.

[ Auctioneer calling ]

Bid's in.

Just sell it.

Fair warning --
any further bids --

[Bleep]

Now at $37,000. $37,000.

Dude that's [bleep]

Uh...

[ Calling continues ]

Give me a minute.
Give me a minute.

Rawlings: see this part where
I'm inspecting the interior?

Yeah, I'm not actually
looking at anything.

Just trying to buy some time and
do some quick math in my head

So I can figure out
with the auction fees

Exactly what I'm paying
for this.

I don't know, man.
I don't think so.

[ Calling continues ]

Auctioneer: he sees the quality,
ladies and gentlemen.

You all can. $37,500. $38,000.

The telephone bidder's up
at $38,000.

They got
a phone bidder on it.

$39,000, Guys.

Thank you.

Sold there. $38,000 -- 992.
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.

$38,000 -- 992.

We lost out on the phantom,
but I got to tell you,

I like the aggressive bidding
at this auction.

Hopefully we'll see some of that
on the lincoln.

Auctioneer: lot 80,

A 1970 lincoln continental
mark iii coupe.

I spent a lot of time
and money on this lincoln

To get it just right.


And now it's showtime.

We finally got it to auction,

And now I need someone
to really step up

And pay the money for it.

Real happy.

Just completed
with a 460 lincoln v-8,

C6 automatic transmission,
air-ride suspension.

Richard,
tell us about it.

What I like about it --
it's a hot rod,

It's a muscle car,
but it's put in big body.

So our premise was
lay it out on some 22s.

We put this car together,
and it is amazing.

I started with
a perfect '70 mark iii,

And now what you see
is what you get.

It's going no reserve.

Please bid.

Shall we sell the big lincoln?
$10,000.

$20,000.
Who gives $30,000?

$20,000.
Give me $30,000.

[ Auctioneer calling ]

They flared the wheel wells.

The time and the energy,
craftsmanship

That went into this
is really something to behold.

$25,000.

$25,000. $30,000.
$30,000.

$25,000 And selling today,
folks.

$25,000, Bid $30,000.

[ Calling continues ]

Hands are going up.

It's $15,000, it's $20,000,
it's $25,000,

And then just [whistles]
like crickets.

I mean, it just stopped.

[ Calling continues ]

Help richard
feed his kids.

[ Laughs ]

I don't have any kids.

Once, twice, third and final
call on a great lincoln.

Anybody else?
Sold, $25,000.

Congratulations.
You'll have fun with that.

Whoo!

Is this
the lucky young man?

[ Laughs ]

Awesome.
I'm richard rawlings.
I'm zach.

Zach, how you doing?
Bill.

You guys got
a hell of a car here.

Well, he liked it, and he says,
"dad, you've bid on five cars.

"You haven't gotten any.
Buy it."

So he says,
"buy that one, dad."

I really expected it
to bring closer to 50 grand.

It's an amazing,
amazing car.

I mean, it wasn't
a great deal for me,

But at the end of the day,
this is all a gamble.

It's all about
what we put into it,

And we're gonna go
out there,

We're gonna show off
what we got.

Hopefully
we make some money.

This time, we did okay, but
we didn't make a lot of money.

Up and down.
That's all it takes, man.

It's pretty much
what all of life is.

[ Laughs ]

Narrator: richard bought
the 1970 mark iii for $5,000.

He dropped in an air ride,
upgraded the brakes,

And put on tires so big,
he had to widen the body.

The parts and labor tab
was $14,000.

Zach just got a whole lot cooler
for only 25 grand.

Richard bought the f-250
for $4,000.

He swapped out the wheels

And sold it
for the apparent market value.

Then there's this thing.

Richard was psyched
to score it for 5 grand.

Aaron was less psyched.

But it turns out it's worth
at least $5,000 in parts.

The boys' take for the week
is $5,300.

Know anything about air ride?
You ever had an air-ride car?

No, sir.

You ever even had a car?
This is your first one?

Aaron, you got to
come show young zach here

How to work this car.

When you see a girl you like,
you know,

You just go up like this
and just...

You know what?
Zach's got a good deal.

Bottom line is,

He's gonna get all the a*s
in all the high schools.

Kind of have to wait on that,
you see.

You'll use all the air up.

Dude,
I wish I was 14 years old

And my dad bought me
a car like that.

You look good in it.

There you go.