Fun UK Car Shows

I've really taken a shine to two imported programs on Discovery HD Theater: Wheeler Dealers and Auto Trader.

Both shows are hosted by car salesman Mike Brewer and mechanic Edd China. Wheeler Dealers is particularly fun, featuring a "classic car from the past" - usually from the 1980s in the incarnations of the show current on DHDT - which they attempt to purchase, clean up for sale, and sell on a budget. Different seasons work with different budgets - so far, I've seen £1,000, £2,000 and £3,000 series. The cars have been great fun, from Series 1 Golf GTIs to first-gen Ford Capri to Porsche 928. Mechanic China is particularly fun to watch and hear, doing play-by-play as he repairs mechanicals, bodywork and even upholstery tasks to "shift" (sell off) cars in whatever state. (List of featured cars on Wikipedia) Each WD vehicle is covered in two 30-minute (actually only about 20 minutes of air time) episodes.

Each Auto Trader 30-minute show features three elements: Mike shows a prospective vehicle buyer a selection of three or four vehicles in his showroom which meet the requested needs of the buyer; Edd helps a used-vehicle seller shift their used vehicle by making some inexpensive improvements to make them more appealing; and Mike shows us how to spot a "dodgy motor" ("motor" meaning automobile) when shopping for a used car.

I like the shows as much for the British culture and language as the automotive content. The idiomatic language used by Brewer and China, as well as with guest buyers, is incredibly rich and alien.

U.S. Discovery HD Theater Wheeler Dealers Schedule
U.S. Discovery HD Theater Auto Trader Schedule
Discovery UK's Wheeler Dealers Page

If you don't get Discovery HD Theater, you can find torrents of episodes of these shows at torrent search sites such as MiniNova. (By the way, UK citizens can watch any episodes of any BBC programming online.)