Heard the one about the star television presenter from the most-watched car show on the planet running into a bit of strife with his production team and finding himself suddenly sidelined from proceedings? Any ideas what he did next?
Don’t worry, your eyes won’t be the only ones jumping from these words to the photos and trying to make sense of them. You see, Wheeler Dealers, co-hosted by Edd China and Mike Brewer for 13 seasons from 2003, reputedly has 350 million viewers, or a smidge more than the car show on the BBC you are thinking about, thanks in large part to its popularity in the US.
If you know China – or think you know him from his television appearances – you won’t need any clarification around the strife he ran into, because it’s well documented and because, at just under 200cm tall, he’s the definition of a gentle giant (albeit one with a far more complex character than those two trite words suggest). More on that later.
If you don’t know China, suffice to say this was not the result of a dispute over cooked meats, but rather a difference of opinion on how the show should progress. The format was well established and simple, with Brewer the cheeky-chappie car dealer who brought in wrecks that China, the in-house mechanical ace, then patched up prior to sale. It was mind-bogglingly successful, growing from a group of mates filming in a damp shed in the UK to a global phenomenon based in Huntingdon Beach, California, in the shadows of Hollywood. If your jaw has dropped at that, imagine how low China’s was hanging when he slid by longtime talk-show host Jay Leno’s for a personal tour of his cars, or when Sammy Hagar, former lead singer of global rock superstars Van Halen, introduced himself as a fan.
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seems I'm in the minority
I have watched every single episiode from the very beginning and I never had a problem with Brewer, he is a exactly what I'd expect of a "wheeler dealer". I marginally prefer Ant Anstead to China and I don't find that the technical articles have dimiminished in any way. Horses for courses I suppose. A close friend of mine met Brewer and China at a car meet a few years ago (just prior to going to the US) and he said that one was a surly so and so and the other polite and personable. The Autocar article would seem to explain the reason for that. To be honest none of it matters because I still watch and enjoy the programme, however it appears to me that Mike Brewer gets bashed somewhat unfairly.
Some good suggestions of
Some good suggestions of pairing him up with James May.
Did you know they were both on Top Gear?
Albeit like ships sailing in the night ie. not at the same time.
Series 1 of the early 2000s Clarkson reboot, the 'forbidden' series with Jason Dawes in that never gets repeated. Before May joined in Series 2.
Edd builds a Bond car with gadgets out of an old Rover 800.
Search for it on YouTube.
A great program in spite of Brewer
Ed did the tech stuff properly and explained it well. Was hugely enjoyable. Saw so many techniques
Brewer nearly spoiled it all with his sweaty greasy, wide boy, stating the bloody obvious many times, and was a walking cliche of himself. Bugged the hell out of me that he arrived at the workshop with the car rocking off its brakes, then proceeds to slam each bonnet, boot, door, etc. The bloody handshake must have made the sellers cringe. And his sweaty hair makes me boke.
If not embargoed then make another with Ed and James May, and a car nut who searches for the candidates.