Mighty Car Mods

Mighty Car Mods is a YouTube channel that focuses around DIY car modifications and car-enthusiast culture. The web-based channel was created and is hosted by Blair Joscelyne and Martin Mulholland, known as MOOG and Marty on the show, respectively. It debuted on January 9, 2008 and has since become a Just Car Insurance sponsored show. The show also generates revenue by being a YouTube partner.^[1] Each episode centralizes around the common idea of buying a car, modifying said car and then repeating it for each episode, with the added flair of automotive Aussie humour.^[2]

History

The Mighty Car Mods duo, Blair Joscelyne (known as MOOG) and Martin Mulholland (Marty) first met in 2005 while working at a recording studio, where they discovered a mutual love for cars, following a mishap during a shared commute. The series debuted in January 2008, when MOOG was asked by Marty if he wanted his 2001 Daihatsu Cuore to be 'fixed up.' This marked the birth of their series. Mighty Car Mods was initially titled Clean & Green Car and was intended to be focused around small economical cars with a focus on sustainability. The show took off with well known YouTube popularity as "Mighty Mods", before taking its now known name today as " Mighty Car Mods". ^[3][4]

Format

Each episode varies in duration, from 5 to 60 minutes, but most typically about 15 minutes. The series is filmed with a series of cameras which include the Canon EOS 7D, 60D, 5D, JVC HM100 as well as a variety of different GoPros. The show is filmed on Marty's mother's driveway, in her garage, and in a shed in Western Sydney. MOOG and Marty are amateur mechanics with no formal qualifications in automotive engineering so, for more complex tasks, the two enlist the help of experts in the automotive industry, most of whom are members of the Mighty Car Mods online Forum

Each episode commences with a semi-animated introduction created by Gavin Tyrell. This leads to the hosts talking briefly about what the episode will entail. In previous seasons, the introduction was a showcase of many of their previous episode's highlights. Colloquialisms such as the term "mad" that was coined by Marty, are often attributed to the show in Australian pop-culture. Throughout the seasons, the general format for episodes has been: Buy a car, modify a car, repeat. As of season 3, after the end-credits, some episodes finish with bloopers and amusing out-takes.

Special episodes such as How to Zombie-Proof your car, Turbos and Temples (their first feature-length film), Kei to the City and Chasing Midnight (their second and third feature-length film respectively), have drawn positive accolades from around the world. A couple of mini-series Lend us a Ride , Mod Max and the "subway challenge" were filmed in parallel with their regular format series.

Release dates for new episodes vary because Mighty Car Mods is a weekend hobby for MOOG and Marty. Both have full-time jobs Monday to Friday. MOOG is a music composer, musician and music producer. Marty is a sound engineer in a recording studio.

Cast

Mighty Car Mods is hosted and produced by Blair Joscelyne, Martin "Marty" Mulholland and James Batholomew Bartley Colleran. Joscelyne chooses to use his stage/musician name (MOOG) in the show. MOOG composes and produces the entire music content for the series, playing several instruments himself. Marty is an accomplished guitarist and joins MOOG in some music recording sessions.

MOOG is a composer and music producer, whose music can be heard in commercials, which include Telstra, Arnotts, Optus, Amex, Ford, BMW, Coles Supermarkets, Loveable Lingerie, IBM, L’Oreal, Heinz, OPSM, Subaru, Origin, Lexus, Jetstar, Touchstone Pictures, Visa Inc, Mazda, Cascade Brewery, Discovery Channel, 1800Reverse, Renault, Wrigley Company and Village Cinemas.^[5] He has released a number of solo albums and he has been involved with a variety of different bands, musical projects and noise making activities.^[6]

Marty works in the music/audio production industry and he is a sound engineer by trade. Originally debuting as a "phenom" with a soldering iron, Marty was labeled from the beginning of the series for his technical expertise and his practical approach to mechanical tasks.

Special guests often appear on the show in order to aid the duo with certain modifications. These people include Mechanical Stig, Turbo Yoda, Rake, Faceplant, Dose Vader, Mauswerkz, Tuning Fork of Haltech, Sharon and others who make one-off appearances on the show. They are usually denoted by their names seen on the Mighty Car Mods forums. Mechanical Stig is an experienced Subaru mechanic who works at Ichiban Imports and often appears in order to speed up build process or to aid with tricky modifications. Rake, the Mighty Car Mods forum administrator, also appears on numerous occasions in order to help the duo speed up the build process.

Reception

Mighty Car Mods has received attention from various sources, most notably for their How to Zombie Proof your Car. Numerous sources cite it as being incredibly funny, informative and even life saving (in the event of an apocalypse, that is).^[7] Their first feature-length film titled Turbos and Temples was well received by critics and motoring fans when it premiered at Hoyts Cinema, Fox Studios, in Sydney Australia. The film continues to attract many viewers on YouTube, achieving over 1.7 million views. Their second feature-length film "Kei to the City" has attracted an enthusiastic reception with more than 2 million views on YouTube.

Mighty Car Mods caught the attention of Australian Auto Salon, a popular modified car showcase that appeared around the country,^[8] in mirror of the Tokyo Auto Salon. They toured and showcased each event, including showing off their own show car deemed the Mighty Mira at the Sydney Auto Salon (which won). The build was a year-long process that was featured in a three-part episode series, some of their most viewed episodes ever.

References