A brand-new series of Car S.O.S. begins on National Geographic this Thursday 9th March with 10 new episodes. The show returns to our screens for its eleventh season, with presenters Tim Shaw and Fuzz Townshend once again restoring the beloved classic and cherished cars of 10 deserving owners.
What has become a regular feature of the show now, is the appearance of some familiar celebrity faces. Some of the special guests for this new season include two-time world heavy-weight boxing champion Tyson Fury, who is a big fan of the show and appears in the first episode, as does legendary Formula One and Indy Car World Champion Nigel Mansell.
After a decade of restoring so many classic and iconic cars, as well as the odd van and fire engine, Car S.O.S. continues to grow in popularity with car enthusiasts all around the world since its launch back in 2013. This is largely down to its the two amiable presenters Tim Shaw and Fuzz Townshend, who I caught up with a couple of weeks ago to find out more about what the new season has in store for us.
Background to Car S.O.S.
For those of you unfamiliar with Car S.O.S., Tim and Fuzz have restored some fantastic classic cars over the last ten series, from an E-Type Jaguar and 1984 Audi Quattro in Series 3 to a stunning 1965 Mercedes-Benz 230SL Pagoda and Aston Martin DB6 in Series 5, which ranks up there as one of my favourite cars the team have restored. There was the iconic Volvo P1800 Roger Moore drove in The Saint, which had Tim tracking down Sir Roger to ask him to sign the back of the restored driver’s seat in a memorable episode. Then there was a heartfelt plea from James Nesbitt to restore a completely rotten old 1959 MG MGA and elaborate set up for the reveal so they could return the car to its owner in a London Mews on a make-believe filmset.
More recently, Tim and Fuzz restored a unique and very rare MG Metro 6R4, which turned out to have once been driven by a Scottish rally champion, as well as a beautiful Jensen Interceptor with its massive American Chrysler V8.
Last season, Tim and Fuzz brought a tired 1992 Saab 900 Turbo back to life as well as a classic Ford Escort RS2000. Then there was the restoration of a now rare 1992 Volkswagen Corrado and 1984 Opel Manta GT/E, which was returned to its former glory.
Series 11 – Episode 1 ‘Ford Mondeo’
The new series opens with restoring a sad and tired looking 22-year-old Ford Mondeo, but not to its standard original factory finish, but rather turning it into owner Karl’s dream car: a replica of the 1994 World Touring Car Championship Mondeo, as driven by the likes of Nigel Mansell and Paul Radisich.
Karl has experienced a run of life changing bad luck and heartache. Happily married to wife Debbie, they had two young daughters. But Debbie tragically died of meningitis just two days after being admitted to hospital following complaints of earache, aged just 37. Karl was then subsequently admitted to hospital himself with valve failure in his heart. Following life risking open-heart surgery, Karl’s father then passed away, followed by his mother being diagnosed with lung cancer.
Best friend Nick wrote to Car S.O.S. asking whether the team could restore Karl’s beloved Mondeo but at the same time transforming it into a Touring Car lookalike, which would make Karl’s dream come true and hopefully bring to an end his run of bad luck and tragedy.
Watch tomorrow night’s episode to find out what happened and for the moving reveal at an iconic British race circuit.
Future Episodes
In episode 2, Tim and Fuzz breath life back into a 1986 Rover SD1 and do a memorable reveal with diehard petrolhead and automotive historian Jay Leno.
Then over the course of the remaining eight episodes, the Car S.O.S. team go on to restore a 22-year-old Jeep Grand Cherokee, a 1973 Porsche 911 Targa, a classic old 1953 Riley RMF with only 32,000 miles on the clock that had been sitting around deteriorating for decades. Fortunately, Fuzz tells me, the woodwork on the car was still in pretty good condition and had not rotten away. They added an independent overdrive to bring the car up to date a little, and as Fuzz says, it’s a beautiful hand-built car and the last of the real Riley’s.
In episode 6, which airs on Thursday 13th April, the team go on to restore a rather rare fibreglass bodied 1987 Renault Alpine GTA which had a lot of hidden rot that needed some serious attention.
This series also features the show’s biggest reveal to date at the O2 Arena at a Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live event, as Tim and Fuzz highjack the event for the reveal of what is also their biggest restoration to date of a 1969 Ford Mustang Fastback.
For those of you who remember the restoration of the old Dennis Fire Engine in series 10, well in this series, the team restore a bright yellow 1978 bright yellow JCB earth moving digger, red wheels and all. And unlike last year, when the team converted a classic 1978 MGB GT from petrol to electric for the show’s 100th anniversary episode, in this series there are no EV conversions.
To many of us who follow and love the show, Car S.O.S. is a timely reminder to enjoy every day, as life is not fair, and Tim and Fuzz really enjoy being able to make a few people’s lives a little brighter by celebrating their life.
Car S.O.S returns to National Geographic with the new Season 11 airing Thursdays at 8pm from 9th March 2023.
Author Bio:
Simon Burrell is Editor of Our Man Behind The Wheel, a member of The Guild of Motoring Writers, professional photographer and former saloon car racing driver.
Photographs courtesy of Car S.O.S. and National Geographic
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