Monster Garage
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| Monster Garage | |
|---|---|
 Monster Garage logo |
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| Genre | Reality |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Creator(s) | Thom Beers |
| Starring | Jesse G. James (host) |
| Country of origin | USA |
| Original channel | Discovery Channel |
| Original run | 2002–2006 |
| No. of episodes | 80 (5 seasons) |
| IMDb profile | |
Monster Garage (2002–2006) was a popular television show for the Discovery Channel hosted by Jesse G. James. The show was an hour in length and was conceived and produced (along with Jesse) by reality automotive show mastermind Thom Beers. The show aired the series finale on June 12, 2006.[1] Jesse G. James, the host of the show, did actually participate in this finale, contrary to popular belief.
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[edit] Premise of the Show
A team of five people with mechanical, fabricating, or modifying expertise builds a "monster machine." A usually stock vehicle is turned into something else (e.g a PT Cruiser / Wood Chipper), a race car (e.g a Lincoln Continental / Open Road Racer), or a custom car (e.g a Ford Model A ratrod).
[edit] The Rules
According to the show, the rules are as follows:
- When complete, the monster must appear to be stock.
- The team has $3000 (later raised to $5000) for parts.
- The team has seven days to complete the monster.
- The first day is for designing
- the next five are for building
- and the seventh day is for the test of the monster.
In practice, as the series has progressed, some liberties have been taken with the first two rules, at times becoming punchlines. In one episode, when a Chevrolet El Camino was turned into a Figure 8 race car, James discarded plans for a spoiler on the vehicle, sarcastically citing the first rule.
Starting with season 4, the winning team also donated a toolkit to a high school of their choice.
[edit] The Host
Host Jesse G. James is the great-great-grandson of the cousin of the legendary wild west outlaw, Jesse James. He has both mechanical and metal fabricating expertise, and is the founder, owner, and head bike builder for his custom chopper shop, West Coast Choppers. Jesse says he likes monsters that go fast and do something. He prefers hard working build crew members. His favorite monster vehicles to date are the Ford Ambulance Wheel-stander and the Chevrolet Blazer Pikes Peak hill climber. One of Jessie's ambitions throughout the run of the show is to build a monster that will top 200 mph. He was unsuccessful.
[edit] The Monsters
80 "monsterized" vehicles have come out of the Monster Garage including a special two-part, two team face-off build. For more information on the monsters, go to http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/monstergarage/episode/episode.html
[edit] Failed Monsters
With rules as strict as they are in the Monster Garage, there is a 1 in 10 monster build failure rate. When a team fails to complete a vehicle in time, it is destroyed by host Jesse James.
Failed Monsters and their Ultimate Demise
- Cadillac Hearse/Car Crusher "Grim Ripper" — First failure on Monster Garage. The build team spent more time goofing off than building the car. In one scene, the original Batmobile appeared at the shop, and Jesse quipped "tryin' to weld" when asked what he was doing. The non-functional Car Crusher was then sent to Terminal Island to meet its fate in a Scrapper. At the suggestion of the Scrap Machine's owner, the Hearse came to an explosive end with a propane tank in the back. In Grim Ripper II, the team spoofed the demise of their first project by having the car they arrived at Terminal Island in meet the same fate as the first hearse.
- Mazda RX-7/Doom Buggy — Unsatisfied with how the Sandrail performed, Jesse destroyed it with a Dillon Mini-Gun. Video
- Scion xA/Rock'em, Sock'em Scions — In this two episode special, Jesse handpicked a team of the best Monster Garage participants at the time, while the Producers picked a "mis-fit" team of quirky and somewhat anti-social participants to build Rock'em Sock'em Robots out of two new Scions. The winning team would win a "special edition" set of Mac Tools while the other team would see their creation turned into scrap. Jesse's handpicked team, dubbed the Red Rockers, secured the Scion xB, while the producer-selected Blue Bombers received the xA. In the challenge, the Bombers' xA suffered transmission issues, meaning the Rockers won by default. Some members of the Bombers stayed to see their failed monster off, only to find out that they would be receiving tool sets as well.
- De Lorean DMC-12 Hovercraft — In an early attempt to shave time off the build, the team removed the outer bodywork of a Delorean and put it on a donor Personal Hovercraft. Quite angry about this decision (even though he himself declared early on that he didn't like the project), Jesse fired one of the team members after a snide comment. Working again with a "new" Delorean donor, the team tried unsuccessfully to make the monster hover but ultimately ran out of time. The car was eventually towed to a naval base where an amphibious landing hovercraft crushed the unfinished vehicle.
- Mazda Miata Jetski — Some fans have noted that the reason why this build failed was the engine might have contributed to the air intake being flooded due to the heavy weight in the nose area. Nevertheless, three members of the build team opted to send the Miata to the scrapheap with a dynamite explosion.
- Dirt Track Camaro — For the second time in MG history, this build had an All-Girl build team (the first was the Black Widow Demolition Derby Car, which was heavily gutted moments before a demolition derby). However, a plague of miscommunication and personal differences sent this Camaro to a steel smelter and eventual recycling into rebar.
- Peel Trident Micro Car — With a team comprised of mostly dwarves, the team attempted to put a Hayabusa engine into a tiny Peel Car. Some fans felt that the team was compromised due to their small stature, but Jesse coldly stated that he gave no team any exceptions; they were all equal. Other fans feel the project was simply too ambitious for builders of any size. After they failed, Jesse, sporting some of his personal gun collection, took out the Peel with a .50 cal sniper rifle.
[edit] Succeeded monsters destroyed in Day 7
- 1970 Cadillac Coupe DeVille / Demolition-Derby Car - In day 7, Cindy Regimbald lost the demolition derby, leaving the car crushed.
- 1970 Oval Racer/ RC Car - Jesse donated a stock 1970 Oval Race Car from storage at WCC to be turned into a large, functioning Radio Controlled Vehicle. The build team actually succeeded in building this ill-fated monster. During the challenge, after Jesse lapped the car about 5 times, he got into the rear fender of it and sent it smashing into wall of the short track. The monster was totaled, and it was stored outside the Monster Garage, later to be cannibalised in future episodes.
- 1969-1970 Classic Farm Tractor / Crop Circler - The vehicle was built successfully, but Jesse decided the project was uninteresting, so he burnt it in a desert with flamethrower.
[edit] UK Version
A UK version of the show was aired in 2004 by Channel 4. The team always included a Hell's Angel known as "Cookie". There was a budget of £3,000. Only 3 days were used for the build. Cars often looked radically different to the production models. Challeges included a converting a Toyota into a lawnmower, a Lotus into a hovercraft, and an Ice Cream van into a riot truck. In one episode, the team sold the internal fittings of the car that was to be transformed (A Rolls Royce) to raise funds to convert it into a muck spreader.
The UK series lasted only 8 episodes.
[edit] Adaptations
Invictus Games Ltd. developed a video game based on the series, available for PC and XBOX. The game was published by Activision Value.
