The Garage 331

UNDERTHESPOTLIGHT
Under the Spotlight
Under the Spotlight this month is
Edd China, television presenter,
mechanic, motor specialist and inventor
You are currently working with Petronas; how did the
collaboration begin?
Obviously I do an awful lot of driving, we’ve got vans, 4x4s, Land
Rovers etc, and I haven’t got time to stop. Because Petronas
are at the cutting edge of all the manufacturing technology, it
means we can go stronger for longer and it means I don’t have
to service so much. I am quite happy not having to service my
own vehicles.
Where did it start in the mechanics world for you?
Wow, well I was a Lego kid, so I guess the interest began a long,
long time ago. Realistically though, it seriously began when I
did a degree in engineering and product design; I have been
playing around with vehicles since. I then began getting into
really crazy stuff, an early adventure I remember was when one
day we actually cut the roof off a VW Beetle, then welded the
doors up, covered it with fur and off we went. This got it into
the Top Gear Magazine back in the day as we went on a cruise
to Newquay, things grew from there.
I then started making even crazier vehicles including driving
sofa beds, all this kind of stuff. Then somehow along the way
this led us to being asked to do a show called Panic Mechanic
on BBC2, which became a success relatively quickly. Then some
guys we worked with previously had one of those light bulb
moments for a new idea, which initially was called Grand Autos
as a working title, we know it as Wheeler Dealers of course.
It was saving old and repairable enthusiasts vehicles, and as the
say the rest is history as I haven’t stopped working since.
What is your ideal car to work on?
That is quite tricky as I have lots of cool stuff to play around
with. The sofa car was fantastic, in fact just before all the
madness of the COVID pandemic happened we were on a very
long journey with it from L.A. to San Francisco and back again,
but I had a continuous overheating problem on the vehicle. I
was working on it almost every day just to complete the planned
journey. We also got some old 100-year-old Cadillac’s, on one
of my last episodes of Wheeler Dealers, that were due to go on
the Peking to Paris rally, which is 9000 miles over 35 days. I got
to customise these century old cars as if I was an Edwardian
gent back in the day, so that was awesome.
What car would you put in Room 101?
Well there are plenty that deserve it I guess. I think the Capri
that we did on Wheeler Dealers, that definitely needs to go into
Room 101. The morning we were working on it they turn up with
some wings that were for two different model years, I told them
they wouldn’t work, but of course the reply was well you are
going to have to do it!
Putting on my thinking cap, I managed to bash it around, well
bash it around a lot to make it fit, but then of course we had
to paint it. It didn’t help that it was the hottest day of the year
16 THE GARAGE
16,17 Spotlight.indd 1 16/09/2021 16:10
EF New