Roadkill – “Best day of work ever!”

Stumbling down the never ending rabbit hole that is YouTube, I recently found myself watching Roadkill. Produced by Motor Trend it originally released in 2012 and is hosted by David Freiburger who spent years with 4-Wheel & Off-Road Magazine, Car Craft, Rod & Custom, and other publications before moving over to the position of editor in chief of Hot Rod Magazine – and his co-host Mike Finnegan who has written articles for Dragboat, Truckin’ Mag, and Mini Truckin’  as well as others.

Roadkill was formed when the duo decided to start filming their road trips so people could take a behind-the-scenes view of what happens while creating articles for the vehicle magazines they work for. Each episode is its own adventure, some with a goal and others without. A mainstay in the series is finding random vehicles and attempting to drive them back with minimal history or knowledge before their purchase. Many times they are on a budget or they encounter mechanical issues that prevent things from going smoothly. And when things go wrong, because they always do – “Because Roadkill.” #becauseroadkill

Some of the episodes simply deal with going to pick up a vehicle for Hot Rod Magazine for an article, fixing a random car from a junkyard or online shopping, competing in a Motorsports event, obtaining vehicles for their personal collection, or even doing joint episodes with other YouTube channels like Mighty Car Mods from Australia.

In other episodes they pull previous purchases and modify them for various purposes, from off-roading to just pulling wheelies. #ftfoi. They have even brought personally owned vehicles into the show for race events, challenges, and even an engine swap in the Summit Racing parking lot (See Episode 4).

These guys have also done junkyard rescues like a 1969 Mustang Mach 1, 1950 GMC Truck, and a 1967 Plymouth Barracuda to name a few. They have participated in various events such as 24 hours of Lemons, Alaskan Ice Racing, One Lap of America, and many more. An example of their extra-ordinary mods  include (but are in no way limited to) supercharging a 1978 Monza Spyder using leaf blowers.

Rooting for the underdog really adds to the excitement of the show. While some of the innovative solutions will have you impressed, others may leave you scratching your head. But as a “wrench-turner” who does not always follow a belief of using conventional ways to resolve issues, this show in many ways feels like looking in a mirror. Some may look at their methods and think these guys are crazy but having done some very similar repairs myself – I can’t help but reminisce over my personal automotive experiences. The show really documents their self proclaimed, “Bad ideas – Brilliant execution.”

If anyone has some extra time to kill this winter, prepare to be entertained by something different! I would definitely recommend checking out Roadkill. The show can be seen on Motor Trend on demand or YouTube at a slightly delayed release. It has sponsors such as Dodge, Optima, JEG’s, EBC, and more. The show even spawned its own short lived magazine Roadkill: Automotive Chaos Theory.

They also have spin offs like: Roadkill Garage and Finnegan’s Garage on YouTube, so be sure to check those out as well. And who knows, maybe GTM will begin to have video articles for our various events in the future too! The constant chaos makes RoadKill humorous to say the least. Even when things don’t go as planned the hosts lean on the phrase “Best day of work ever!” – and I – 100% agree and personally love their job! Watching their interactions feels similar to how some of the GTM club members are when we get together. As a contributing author for GTM, I see a fun relationship between this show and some of our articles, especially our weekly recaps during the race season!