Car Masters Season 6 – Rust Free Creativity

For the first time in quite a while a new season of Netflix’s Car Masters: Rust to Riches debuts within the same calendar year as the previous season. As my wife and I often review this show together in great detail, we’ve commented before that the last few seasons felt “cut off” or “half baked” and Season 6 (or as we like to refer to it: Season 5, Part II) dropped less than 10 months after Season 5, fulfilling our need for closure.

But before we jump into all the gawdy details of Season 6 of our favorite RUSToration show, we have to recall the cliffhanger ending from January.

Where we left off: Mark and Shawn find themselves at West Coast Exotics – a high-end dealership – with Nick Smith presenting a “next level opportunity:” what amounts to a package deal for a Ferrari 612 Scaglietti *AND* a 458 Italia to be “customized” (with no confirmed clients) at the bargain combo price of $290k.   

With an emphatic vinyl record scratch and the ghostly voice of Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka saying “Scratch that, Reverse it!” we do find ourselves starting from West Coast Exotics, but instead of at the exact moment we saw the dark blue 612 and black 458, we’re now talking about a “new deal” – $300k for both a satin white F8 Tributo and giallo (yellow) 488 GTB. 

The Ferrari Saga

Having spent enough time working with William Ross from Exotic Car Marketplace (ECM), we recognized that there’s – “not no way, not no how” – you could purchase two newer (within the last 5 years) Ferrari’s for that kind of price package, unless there was something seriously wrong with both of them. Double checking the Ferrari Market Index at ECM we confirmed that the F8 clocks in at $347k and the 488 at $258k, respectively.

The decision to bring these cars into the shop is well above our pay grades, but they signed the deal and drove the cars to the shop where we realize that while Brian (part of Nick’s original team from last season) has left the show, Jake has stayed behind as the second fabricator.

With the same “creative” disregard for a client’s wishes as past seasons, Mark dives head first into the white F8 Tributo as the next project for the team. We appreciated the idea of turning the F8 into an F40 tribute car (above) and it would have been interesting to see how they could have executed it, had it not been for Nick in the background constantly reminding them “…the client has to approve the changes…” – and rightfully so.

Modifying Ferraris is a complex process, and as we’ve learned from William, you can also upset the factory resulting in cease & desist letters, not to mention the immediate value loss for a high-end collector car like the F8 Tributo. To save you some reading time, we got together with William to talk in deeper depth about the Ferraris that were used in this season of Car Masters. You can check it out by listening to the Ferrari Marketplace Podcast episode (below), as well as checking out the follow-along article.

Tune in everywhere you stream, download or listen!

In the end, the client rejects all of Mark’s plans and forces the team to settle on aftermarket wheels, a bolt-on competition exhaust, Italian flag vinyl striping and the compulsory Gotham Garage emblems.

Doing what they do best! 

Meanwhile, the team was given a ’32 Ford Roadster rolling chassis that was ready for modification and final paint. This second build carries a $75k budget and will be a promotional/giveaway car for Pechanga Resort Casino. 

As always, Tony doesn’t disappoint, creating a working slot machine from spare gaming parts after scavenging the back rooms at Pechanga. The electronically controlled spinners would come back later in the season to inspire another cool “gadget” but we were really hoping that they would have found a way to connect the slot machine to the manual transmission and every time you shifted it would spin the dials. 

The Ford’s grille is a great representation of blending styles, it builds a great combination of Gotham’s aesthetic and the casino’s theme; as my wife said “It really works, it’s another gimmicky, fun build” and I couldn’t agree more. 

For the ‘Gram! 

The Ferrari Saga drags on for almost the first half of the season and for some reason they aren’t able to move on the 488 GTB project, we were glad that this car didn’t become the token albatross like Mark’s Concept Car from Season 3.

After saying Ciao! to the 488, Nick turns up with a McLaren that is being daily driven by a young social media influencer. We knew something was up when Mark was mocking up “his vision” using painters tape and cardboard and not pushing the team to start cutting the car immediately. What came next, we don’t think anyone expected aside from Nick.

The young influencer arrives excited about his soon to be Need For Speed: Underground inspired McLaren mods (ie: flames, LED under glow, extreme widebody, wheels, etc.) but then his father abruptly steps in and quickly puts the kibosh on the whole effort with an honest bit of fatherly advice starting with “that front splitter… how are you getting up the driveway?!? … You can’t change this car!, this car was perfection before it came in here.”

Sensing the “I told ya so!” vibe in the room, Mark was taken aback, and closely analyzing the backshots of Nick you could see a “cat eating the canary” grin on his face while the Dad (the real owner of the McLaren) shot down the project. Was it a petty trick? Or was it just the right dose of reality that Mark needed to understand what Nick has been trying to get the team to understand about high-end car clientele?

“It’s not about the profit, it’s about the creativity” – Mark

All of this continues to mount into an undramatized tension between Shawn and Nick; and things just seem to be falling apart between Gotham Garage and Nick Smith.

After what must have been some serious off camera discussions, the team returns during the next episode to amicably part ways, leaving the door open for “future projects.” So that means Nick is on the outs … but what about Jake? Does he stay or does he go? (#spoiler, he stays.)

Foreshadowing the Nostalgia Builds

Having just celebrated “Back to the Future Day” doubtful the season’s release somehow hinged on that fact, we soldiered on, a bit shocked that the team would suddenly take on a DeLorean DMC-12 restomod project. “Great Scott!” – Dr. E. Brown. 

Mark recognizes that the DeLorean collector community is really specific about the ways in which they continue to preserve their cars, and often times “modded” DeLoreans (though there are some cool widebody and LS-engine swapped ones out there) are often shunned.

The DeLorean community is probably one of the most established neo-classical-preservist car groups out there, and this original owner is no exception. He doesn’t want to mess with the stainless or the body work in any way.

Fair enough… wheels, exhaust (hoping to get more power out of the anemic 130hp PRV engine), front air dam and rear diffuser for that “proper sports car look” and the client’s wishes all go out the window when Mark decides to wrap the car in a candy apple carbon-fiber look.

It’s all sorts of … meh. But thankfully, the DeLorean can easily be converted back to stock with no noticeable indications that it has been modified. But the irony here is two-fold: 1) This is the same type of build that Mark was complaining about with respect to the Ferrari F8 as more of a “tuner build” rather than a “creative vision” and 2) The car seems completely out of sync with the rest of the season, but we come discover this is more intentional than coincidental. #thefinalbuild

Let’s Juice it Up! 

“Just keep making goofy Hot Wheels and enjoy your lives” – That’s a direct quote from my wife, reinforcing the idea of “stick to what you’re good at” and like every season of Car Masters there are some fun builds that fall right in line with that sentiment.

Shawn goes after a 1981 Ford Bronco 4×4 and with it returns the classic “wheeler-dealer negotiating” style we all know well. The “$5k no $15k; NO? how’s about … here’s something entirely different…” that we’ve come accustomed to cringing at sets in motion probably one of the longest “upgrade and trade” scenarios we’ve seen yet. And it starts with taking a hot air balloon basket and combining it with a car to trade for the Bronco. Anything’s possible.

With the Grape Escape guy happy; the team ends up with the ’81 Bronco which gets extended and converted to a 6×6 mobile tasting room for Whistlepig Whiskey. 

It wasn’t for lack of noticing all the Speedway Motors stickers and other items all over the shop, but this cemented Season 6 with the most product placement to date; but it feels more believable than “the regular clients” and is completely in line with the business they *should* be chasing. 

Dangerous Dan’s racing Camaro build (above) is what springboards the “6-Figure Pay Day” we were waiting for from this season. With Dave’s help, they were able to complete the Bronco, and pick up a 1970 Camaro SS-350 as payment (from Dan) in early stage restoration that would be used to trade for another vehicle.

Unfortunately, the Camaro SS build started off on the wrong foot, for the team and for us as the viewers. The potential new owner started leveraging his vehicle for changes in the requirements for the Camaro build, including a 454 big-block swap and other mods he values “in-kind” as a trade for a dismantled Hummer (and some spares).

Going back and forth on the 350 vs 454 engine chewed up some time, finally settling on a chat between Shawn and Constance about sourcing a big-block (for free) from Ernie, Constance’s dad. It felt completely forced and had one of those “you know you want to…” vibes.

All that aside, this was probably one of the worst deals to date, awkward in its “…not what I had in mind. It’s different.” ending with a PSYCHE! “…this is my poker face, I love the car!” whomp-whomp! 

We personally took issue with taking a “numbers matching” SS and dismissing the inherent value loss by throwing in the big-block. But!, it’s easy enough to convert it back, and the exterior mods were kept pretty subtle.

We have to say that we admire Mark’s tenacity to walk away from any deal he feels is going south. “Yes we get a lot of money, yes we get a lot of creativity, no we don’t get a lot of time” – Mark. 

After trading off the Camaro for a Gen-1 Military Surplus HumVee (above), we start the real climb to big payday. If you’re trying to keep up, like we were, the process goes like this: Balloon > Bronco > Dangerous Dan > Camaro SS Big-Block > HumVee (ecoDiesel) > ’63 Jag XKE > $200k. Let’s gooooooo! 

In the second shadiest deal of the Season, the vision for the “rust free” collector Jag (this would have been No.10, btw) is never realized as the owner impatiently sold it (if it existed in the first place) before making the trade for the eco-friendly bio-diesel powered HumVee, thus leaving the team in a lurch. Alas, what is a poor restorer to do? #drama

Father’s Day

While all the moving and shaking is happening with the big upgrade and trade deal, Mark gets a phone call from none other than…. Nick Smith!

“Don’t go away mad, just go away” was the tone of their last encounter, leaving the door open for future projects *IF* they could play mixologist and bring all their creative juices together in a cocktail of profit. Nick doesn’t surprise nor disappoint, and comes to the table with a 1979 Ferrari 308.

This car is apparently the catalyst that Mark needed to realize a lingering thought that’s been nagging him for apparently “quite some time.” I know… what about “Nostalgia Builds!” Mark’s epiphany allows him to capitalize on people’s need to relive their youth, living out the fantasies they’ve seen in TV and movies.

Lots of cars come to mind when you open this Pandora’s box: Ecto-1, Robin 1, K.I.T.T., The BTTF Time Machine, The Munster Mobile, The Fall Guy Truck, Black Beauty, The Nautilus and so many others. But how is Mark going to pull off *buying* another Ferrari? 

Turns out that the ’57 Kenworth that we haven’t seen since Season 4 has been locked up in storage in yet another Gotham Garage facility and Mark has been “secretly” working on it in his spare time. The plan for this semi-truck has been uncertain since the day he acquired it, outside of the notion that he wants to pay tribute to his father (seen above) and his trucking days. We always enjoy the moments when family has been brought onto the set (ie: Caveman’s Mom), it humanizes an otherwise standard RUSToration formula.

“If you love something let it go” is an old proverb, and has many ways of being interpreted, but in dollars and cents, Mark had to make the tough choice to unload his Kenworth to be able to afford the $60-70k for the 308 and begin his “Nostalgia Builds” effort.

This leads to an inevitable phone call to Nick and even more drama around the shop when  when Nick shows up to deliver the Ferrari. We thought Shawn was going to quit on the spot, expecting a confessional with complaints about disloyalty and disrespect. That didn’t happen, but there was no scripting his anger or disappointment, it was splayed right across his face.

Magnum’s, I mean, Bond’s, I mean… Inspector Gadget’s 308. 

The final build of Season 6 culminates in Mark’s first “Nostalgia Build” (ahem… did we mention the DeLorean earlier?). Mark wants to pay tribute to Tom Selleck’s iconic Ferrari 308 from the hit ’80s TV series MAGNUM P.I.

But wait… there’s more.

Magnum’s Ferrari isn’t a tall order: paint and/or wrap the car Ferrari Rosso, add a ROBIN 1 vanity plate and voila, you’re done! But since this car is for a surprise birthday gift for “the man who has all his toys” (except a 308) his wife commissions them to add gizmos and gadgets akin to James Bond to the car, oh and… some Italian racing heritage stuff too! (whatever that means).

We talk in detail about this 308 conversion in the Break/Fix & Ferrari Marketplace Podcast crossover episode mentioned earlier in this review, so tune back in for the rest of the details of this build. But from draft to execution, here’s how the 308 turned out (below).

Could it have been better? Sure. I can hear my wife’s words even now “I want to hate it; but it’s hard to.” Maybe I’m not as kind, or slightly more jaded, as more of a car enthusiast than her. That said, I don’t love it, nor do I hate it. There’s good with the bad, and a striking resemblance to a second generation Toyota MR2 when you catch it at the right angle. 

As much as Mark was given carte blanche to do what he wanted with the car, I feel as though we’d seen this mod before, and I was again taken back to Season 4 and the Mako Shark C3 Corvette (above). That back fender though… Oof. Feels unfinished. More on that in the podcast episode! 

Final Thoughts

In the end, the Ferrari netted them a $123k pay day (including an $18K bonus for all the spy gadgets), so not exactly the $200k that the Jag would have pulled in, not even close.

But now more determined that ever, Mark is going to double down on “Nostalgia Builds” and has already put into motion two builds: The Nautilus from League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and a 1966 Imperial Crown that will be turned into his version of Black Beauty from The Green Hornet. And if Mark’s goal is to become the new George Barris – famous for creating Hollywood icons like the original Batmobile and countless others – then we support him. He’s got the talent, the team, and past precedent in his portfolio (ie: Speed Racer Mach V, Splittin’ Image and others) that proves he’s got what it takes to excel in this specific genre of restomodded cars. 

Thinking about some of the reactions my wife had to the season like “I think they’ve tamped down their tackier instincts this season” and there was “One Chinese food joke too many…” the charm and appeal of the show is lasting, nothing for us there has changed. We wish the team the best of luck, and look forward to a speedy Season 7 (coming 2025?).

And if you happen upon this series of articles (Mark, Tony, Caveman, Constance… heck, even Shawn) we’d love to have you featured on an episode of Break/Fix Podcast sometime soon. Until then, Merry Motoring. 

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