Rev Your Engines for BBC America’s “Mud, Sweat and Gears”

BBC launches a new reality competition series where teams of car nuts transform ordinary autos into extraordinary vehicles. Each week, hosts Tom “Wookie” Ford and Jonny Smith captain teams of two and in 24 hours, the teams reconstruct the cars and navigate them through three extreme challenges (that promise tons of stunts!)

Mud, Sweat & Tears
(In black) Team Jonny: Steven, Todd and Jonny. (In red) Team Wookie: Wookie, Keith and Robert.

In Episode 1, the teams create the ultimate cop cars. Jonny is joined by two hot-rodding brothers from Detroit and they choose to start with a Jaguar in homage to 1970’s British police dramas. Wookie and his team of California racers opt for a Pontiac Firebird, like the model used in the film Smokey & The Bandit, to transform from the ultimate outlaw’s car to an awesomecop car. After the teams get to work, they put their redesigned cars through three exciting and extreme cops and robbers challenges. Once one of the cars is declared the winner, the other car is destroyed.

Mud, Sweat & Tears
Jonny and Wookie goof around while riding T3 Patrollers.

One of my favorite shows in the late 1990’s and early 200o’s was Scrapheap Challenge (and its U.S. version, Junkyard Wars), so I totally geek out for any show where people can turn cool stuff into even cooler stuff. And it looks like the show is executive produced by Junkyard Wars‘ Nathaniel Grouille, so you know that you’re going to have the same visceral fun that made JYW so much fun to watch (But, BBC America isn’t messing around — after watching one episode, it’s obvious they’ve put a BIG budget into making things go boom! I love when production $$ is spent on pyrotechnics and sweet stunt sequences!  So if you’re a motor head, grease monkey, tinkerer or any other kind of person who likes hands-on entertainment, this show should definitely be added to your viewing schedule.

Mud, Sweat and Gears > BBC America > Premieres, Monday, Jan 26 at 10pmET

images © Michael Klein / 2014 BBC Worldwide Ltd.