Monster Garage
A team of professionals headed by expert mechanic Jesse James specialize in transform cars. The clock is ticking as they attempt to turn ordinary vehicles into 'monster machines' in just a week.
Reality
Episodes (22)
West Coast Clipper
1981 Kayot Pontoon / Shark Boat This is Discovery Channel after all, and in honor of Shark Week, Jesse and his Monster mechanics tackled the challenge of turning a 28-foot Kayot pontoon into the ultimate party/shark-observation boat, complete with cage. • Jesse James, custom-bike builder/designer, West Coast Choppers, Long Beach, Calif. • Robert Fletcher, industrial designer, Lum Design Associates, Irvine, Calif. • Chris Gregor, yacht engineer, West Palm Beach, Fla. • Shannon Michaels, welder/fabricator and personal trainer, Newport Beach, Calif. • Eddie Paul, design engineer, E.P. Industries, El Segundo, Calif. • Dick Reynolds, truck customizer and bike builder, Lake Havasu City, Ariz. • Eric Simon, high-performance outboard builder, Simon Motorsports, Alpine, Calif.
Monster Nation 1 - American Monsters
Shopping Cart / Go-Cart & Rock Crawler In this special edition of Monster Garage, the crew goes on a road trip to see homemade monsters across the country. Shop Class Monster Build Crew: Martin Aguilar, Ernesto Cornejo, Jaime Rodriguez, Christian Ponce, Eric Cortes, Eddie Moreno, Elizabeth Garcia, Patrick Chung Suburban Monster - 1973 Ford Bronco, 1960s Ford GT 40 Look-alike Build Crew Bernardo Rodriguez, Marty Maler, Richard Weissensel, David Swingle, Steve Slump, Bryan Pearce, Dennis Steibel, Eric Weber In a side plot, the crew visits various Monster Cars across the country. Dobbertin Surface Orbiter - Pennellville, New York Shortfut High - Magnolia, Delaware Bad Taste Bar-B-Q - Houston, Texas Close Enough Cars - Seattle, Washington The Wheel - Walled Lake, Michigan Draka - Geriach, Nevada
Cop Car / Donut Shop
1998 Ford Crown Victoria / Donut Shop This mostly all-cop team converted a squad car into a mobile doughnut shop complete with coffee maker and pastry display case. The most inspired build yet? Or a misguided (if not defamatory) one? ""It would be cool not to have to leave your cruiser to have a doughnut and a cup of coffee,"" said one wide-eyed visiting Long Beach officer. ""But it's still wrong."" • Jesse James, custom-bike builder/designer, West Coast Choppers, Long Beach, Calif. • Brian Armstrong, police helicopter pilot, Long Beach, Calif. • Alan Dively, food technologist, Dunkin' Donuts, Braintree, Mass. • Jay Hillebrandt, doughnut-equipment technician, Belshaw Bros. Inc., Seattle, Wash. • Jason Hulst, hot-rod and custom automotive designer, Pasadena, Calif. • Mike New, sheriff's deputy, Chesapeake County, Va. • Tom Prewitt, custom painter, Damon's Motorcycle Creations, Brea, Calif. • John Pytlovany, police chief, Scotia, N.Y. • Frank Torres, police officer, Long B
El Camino / Figure 8 Race Car
1971 Chevrolet El Camino Super Sport / Figure 8 Race Car What is figure 8 racing? It's racing around a track shaped like ... well, a figure 8. As you can imagine, the possibilities of collision (at speeds of 60 mph or more) at that center intersection are super high, so the cars, much like demolition-derby cars, are built to take a beating. • Jesse James, custom-bike builder/designer, West Coast Choppers, Long Beach, Calif. • Bruce Berkey, animator and former Ford Motors designer, Pasadena, Calif. • Scott Burson, rental-equipment service and repairman, San Bernadino, Calif. • James Hollan, special-effects artist and mechanical fabricator, Tujunga, Calif. • Mark Nelson, manager, West Coast Choppers, Long Beach, Calif. • Rod Proctor, restaurant owner, Riverside, Calif. • Jeremy Stets, pipe welder, Carlisle, Pa. • ""Barefoot"" Billy Ziemann, tow-truck driver, Bloomington, Calif.
Mercedes / Handicap Car
1998 Mercedes ML320 / Handicap Car This time, Jesse and the team are tasked with transforming a Mercedes ML320 into the ultimate handicap-accessible vehicle. Their goal: Make the car accessible to anyone in a wheelchair via a ramp in the back and a passageway to the driver's seat. This is also the first episode where we're treated to the new Monster Garage and the new rules for Season 2. • Jesse James, custom-bike builder/designer, West Coast Choppers, Long Beach, Calif. • Warren Chalker, welder and fabricator, Prime Engineering, Lancaster, Calif. • Scott Deacon, engineer and fabricator, Advanced Mobility, La Canada, Calif. • Stuart Klein, technical trainer, Mercedes-Benz USA, Southern Calif. • Mike Montenegro, automotive designer and owner, Montenegro Designs, Hesperia, Calif. • Ray Paprota, fabricator and race-car driver, Birmingham, Ala. • Ed Sandoz, mechanical engineer, Upton, Mass.
DeLorean / Hovercraft
1982 DeLorean DMC 12 / Hovercraft In this challenge, Jesse and the guys take on a 1982 DeLorean DMC 12 and transform it into a hovercraft. Or at least that was the idea... • Jesse James, custom-bike builder/designer, West Coast Choppers, Long Beach, Calif. • Rick Gendreau, electronic designer, Pembroke, N.H. • Mark Hannah, transportation designer and artist, Pasadena, Calif. • Casey Heller, auto mechanic, Manhattan Beach, Calif. • John Rago, air-bag suspension distributor, Highland, Calif. • Don Steger, De Lorean repair shop owner, Garden Grove, Calif. • Rich Weissensel, computer consultant and engineer, Lyons, Ill. The original design for the car called for the build team to just cut off the top of the old DeLorean and stick it on top of a fuctioning hovercraft. But Jesse came in and stopped the build altogether and changed the direction of the project. But Rick had problems with Jesse's taking charge, and walks off the build. Things look bad, short a day and a builde
Hearse Revisited
1954 Cadillac Hearse / Grave Digger Almost exactly a year later, after the historical first failure of Monster Garage, The same team from the first Hearse show is back to resurrect themselves from Monster Garage Hell. They get a rare second chance to correct the mistakes from the previous build. Last time the project was supposed to end up being a car crusher, but this time around it became a grave digger. • Jesse James, custom-bike builder/designer, West Coast Choppers, Long Beach, Calif. • George Barris, custom-car designer, Barris Kustom Industries, North Hollywood, Calif. • Mike Desmond, custom-car designer, MAD Machines, Long Beach, Calif. • Tim Conder, mechanic and motorcycle customizer, Seattle, Wash. • Jose Gonzalez, heavy-equipment tech, Yale/Chase, Long Beach, Calif. • Bart Grande, software consultant, Carlsbad, Calif. • Doran Hirschkorn, Bobcat manufacturing engineer, Bismarck, N.D. • Steve ""Tombstone"" Sterle, horror-prop manufacturer, Hollywood Tombstones,
Escalade / Tailgating Vehicle
Project vehicle: 2004 Cadillac Escalade ESV It's football season, and you know what that means — pre-game celebrations. Now imagine what Jesse and his crew could do with that concept: creating the ultimate tailgating vehicle. Design team: Kevin Kuenzie (m.a. audio supervisor), Todd Blandford (Freedom Motors hydraulics expert), Stacey Sunada (artist) Build team: Larry Webster, Car and Driver writer from Ann Arbor, Michigan Ed Federkeil, fireman and custom truck fabricator from Fort Lauderdale, Florida Danny Webb, hod rod builder and garage dude from Palm Springs, California Todd Blandford, hydraulics guru from Battle Creek, Michigan Kevin Kuenzie, audio wizard from Anaheim Hills, California
Champ Car / Streetline Painter
1999 Reynard Championship Car / Street Painter For anyone who's ever gotten stuck in traffic piling up behind a worktruck crawling along, may we present Jesse's latest attempt to create the fastest (fill-in-the-blank here) ever. Will he and the team be able to help countless commuters by turning a 1999 Champ Car into the world's swiftest street painter? Jesse James, custom-bike builder/designer, West Coast Choppers, Long Beach, Calif. John Buttera, race-car builder and toymaker, Kenosha, Wis. Gavin Diehl, heavy-equipment mechanic, San Jose, Calif. Clyde Foss, streetline painter and owner, Four S, Long Beach, Calif. John Gregory, fabricator and owner, Gregory Racing Fabrications and Racetronics, Nazareth, Pa. Paul Gentilozzi, race-car driver and Champ Car team owner, Lansing, Mich. Tony Giaccone, welder and fabricator, California Hot Rod/MRL Industries, Jamestown, Calif. Tom Prewitt, custom painter, Damon's Motorcycle Creations, Brea, Calif.
Remote-Control Dirt-Track Racer
[b]1971 Chevrolet Monte Carlo / Remote Control Car[/b] Little kids love driving (and crashing) remote-control cars, but what about once they've grown up? What do they do then? Well, they convert out-of-commission figure-8 race cars into life-sized remote-control racers. Duh. • Jesse James, custom-bike builder/designer, West Coast Choppers, Long Beach, Calif. • John Clark, product-planning specialist, Radio Shack, Crowley, Texas • Shepherd Ginzburg, kindergarten teacher and top fuel racer, Thousand Oaks, Calif. • Fred MacGregor, head fabricator, National Tour Inc., Huntington Beach, Calif. • Chris Marsolais, student and waiter, Vista, Calif. • Ed Robinson, event promoter and robot builder, Las Vegas, Nev.
Peterbuilt Chopper
Project vehicle: 1972 Peterbilt Semi-truck Jesse's a master bike builder. But just how will he tackle the challenge of transforming a semi-truck of all things into a diesel-fueled three-wheeled chopper? • Jesse James, custom-bike builder/designer, West Coast Choppers, Long Beach, Calif. • Randy Grubb, glass artist, engineer and co-owner, Blastolene Brothers, Grant's Pass, Ore. • Michael Leeds, artist and co-owner, Blastolene Brothers, Santa Cruz, Calif. • Bernard Juckli, Jay Leno's chief mechanic and former aircraft mechanic, Los Angeles, Calif • Dan Owens, head machinist, Panavision, Wenatchee, Wash. • Robert Vaughan, maintenance engineer, Vanguard Plastics, Wylie, Texas
Monster Claus Christmas Float
Project vehicle: 1986 Pontiac Firebird with 1991 Ferrari Testarossa body Christmas turned from nice to naughty when monster mechanics created an evil Santa float. Design team: Christopher Lowell (Discovery Channel decorator), Jocelyne Borys (art director), Dick Gillespie (float expert), Art Aguirre (sketcher) Build team: Michael Gillespie (as Mike Gillespie, Sr.), float builder and son of Dick Gillespie from San Gabriel, California Michael Gillespie, Jr. (as Mike Gillespie, Jr.), general automotives guy and float builder from Sierra Madre, California Ian Johnson, car engine and mechanical expert from Smiths Falls, Ontario, Canada Jeff Covey, custom fabricator and race car builder from Middleville, Michigan Garth McCrohan, pro welder and Monster Garage fanatic from El Cajon, California Gary Twemlow, float sculptor from Duarte, California
Monster Nation 2
Long Beach, CA Long Beach Polytechnic High School 1966 Volkswagon Bug / Dune Buggy If successful, each student gets a $700 tool kit and 2 Mac tool kits for the school's shop program. • Jayme Espinoza • Morley Pich • Chris Pheng • Antonio Perez • James Jacocks • Refugio Marquez • Brandon Overlin • Art Broadhurst (Mr. B) Monsters Across The Country Daytona, Florida - Ice Cream Truck From Hell Seattle Washington - Stiletto High Heel Shoe Car Los Buenos, California - Pharaoh's float Taylorsville, Georgia - Horn & Whistle Car Victorville, California - Monster Party Wagon Los Angeles, California - Cosmic Rocket Car San Jose, California - Guitar Motorcycle Houston, Texas - Sunflower Car
Celica / Jet Car
2003 Toyota Celica Jet Car To date, it's the fastest monster ever, topping speeds of more than 200 mph. And its engine? A Rolls Royce Viper MK22 that generates 6,300 pounds of thrust. Sweet. • Jesse James, custom-bike builder/designer, West Coast Choppers, Long Beach, Calif. • Joe Ruggless, race-car driver, Lockheed Martin Skunk Works, Palmdale, Calif. • Marty Schwerter, Toyota Pro-Celebrity Celica project manager, Toyota Grand Prix, Huntington Beach, Calif. • Ralph Snider, jet-car builder and truck driver, Mcloud, Okla. • Jerry Segal, owner, Segal Motorsports, Las Vegas, Nev. • Ben Wood, fabricator and assistant manager, Monster Garage, San Jacinto, Calif.
Jet Boat Car
Project vehicle: 2004 Picklefork Ultra boat The world of motorsports is turned upside down when the monster mechanics combine parts from land, sea, and air vehicles into a racing machine. Design team: Mike Desmond (Mitsubishi Motors automotive designer) John West (school bus pontoon builder, picklefork jet boat builder and donor) Build team: Howard Murray, helicopter mechanic from Inisfil, Ontario, Canada Tim McNees, chassis champ from Salt Lake City, Utah Brandon Smisek, fibre glass fabricator from Santa Ana, California Pippa Garner, inventor and artist from Santa Fe, New Mexico Mike Desmond, design wizard from Long Beach, California John West, super custom boat builder from El Cajon, California
Monster Nation 3
Box Truck / Wrestling Ring Car
Project vehicle: 1988 U-Haul International 16 Series Well, here's something you don't see every day: a hydraulic-powered wrestling ring/U-Haul box truck. Right? I mean, when you think U-Haul, do you think WrestleMania or RAW? Design team: Bill Goldberg (as Goldberg) (professional wrestler), Ellis Edwards (stuntman) Build team: Mark N. Carpenter Sr. (as Mark Carpenter), professional wrestling ring constructor from Bridgeport, Connecticut Angel Figueroa, welder/fabricator from Long Beach, California Mike Dilgard, U-Haul guru from Phoenix, Arizona Ron Powers, Hydraulics expert from San Jose, Carlifornia Marty Coronel, welder/bartender from Valencia, Carlifornia
Old-School '54 Chevy
Project vehicle: 1954 Chevrolet 2-door sedan A team of senior car customizing legends were summoned to transform an old school car into a modern chariot worthy of the Caesar of mechanics. With 393 years of experience under one roof, will they make history for the Monster Garage, or will they just become history? Design team: Bill Hines (as Bill 'the Lead Slinger' Hines) (83) (lead slinger) Dick Dean (automotive artist) Gene Winfield (body specialist) Fat Jack (custom chassis fabricator) John Robinson, Jr. (as John Robinson) (crane mechanic) Norm Grabowski (as Norm 'El Polacko' Grabowski) (hod rodder, actor/car enthusiast, sculpter) Tom Taylor (hod rod illustrator) Build team: Bill Hines (as Bill 'the Lead Slinger' Hines) (83), custom-car builder from Garden Grove, California Dick Dean, custom-car builder from San Jacinto, California Gene Winfield, custom-car builder of Gene Winfield's Rod and Custom from Mojave, California Fat Jack, custom-car builder from Lake E
Rock 'em Sock 'em Scions
Project vehicles: Scion XB (red), Scion XA (blue). In this season finale, two teams turn cars into Rock 'Em Sock 'Em robots. The winning team will receive Jesse James custom Mac Tools toolbox worth $6000. In this episode, build days 1 to 4 are shown. Red Rocker designers: Mike Desmond, Eric Tscherne (Hot Wheels designer), Wink Eller. Blue Bomber designers: Jonathan Bedford (Mattel designer), The Pizz (lowbrow artist), Eric Scarlett. Red Rocker builders - previous work John Babek (as Jon Babek) - NASCAR street sweeper Lisa Legohn - Fire fighting limousine Mike Stapleton - Mazda RX-7 sandrail Cindy Regimbald - 'Black Widow' demolition derby car Dwaine Jungen - Toyota Tundrinator Wink Eller (Captain) - Fire fighting limousine Blue Bomber builders - previous work Eric Scarlett (Captain) - Porsche Golf ball collector Steve ""Tombstone"" Sterle (as Tombstone) - Cadillac Hearse Grim Ripper, Cadillac Hearse Grave Digger Jason Jessee (as Jason Jesse) - Mobile Half pipe ska
