Dream Car Garage

Michelle Jobin, new co-host of Dream Car Garage,
at Cayuga International Speedway with the show’s
’Cuda project car and a 2010 Camaro SS.

By GLEN WOODCOCK

Earlier this year fans of Dream Car Garage were justifiably upset when the made-in-Canada show was dropped by SPEEDtv after nearly a decade.
“We’re not sure what SPEED was looking for,” says Adrian Chadwick, VP of marketing for Westward Wind Productions. “Last year we went to high definition and really pulled out all the stops with some great episodes that included a trip to the Ferrari factory.
“There aren’t a lot of shows like ours with a magazine format and maybe we didn’t fit with SPEED’s idea of all NASCAR, all the time.”
But take heart, all you Dreamers: the show has been picked up by SUN.TV and MEN.TV and will be coming at you with a new season of fresh episodes starting in mid-September.
However, one of the garage’s familiar faces will be missing. Tom Hnatiw, one of the original hosts, has left to pursue other projects and has been replaced by Michelle Jobin.
TV these days can’t get enough young, pretty female faces – especially on shows aimed at a predominantly male audience. And Michelle certainly fills the bill (and other things).
She’ll be familiar to many viewers as one of the weather specialists on both Global and the Weather Network, and for hosting the cooking show, Toronto Dining, on Rogers.
Returning to his role as co-host is Peter Klutt, Sportscar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA) driver and president of Legendary Motorcars in Halton Hills, Ont. With his team of craftsmen and a state-of-the-art restoration and sales facility, he’s the guy to see when you want to put a dream car in your own garage.
Klutt’s restoration shop makes possible one of the show’s most popular features – the building of one very special car each season.
Last year, the “Pro Shop” segment restored a 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing. This coming season, they’ll be building a Super ’Cuda with a 1,500-hp, twin turbo Viper engine.
“We’re going to SEMA (in November) with that one, so we’d better hurry up and finish it,” says Chadwick.
A mini restoration project will feature a 1970 Chevelle SS.

Back for another season as co-host of Dream Car Garage
is Peter Klutt, president of Legendary Motorcars.

The new season will have some new segments. One of those is called “The Collectors” and will present human interest stories about the homes, lifestyles and, yes, the garages of well known car collectors in both Canada and the U.S.
Also new is a “Driving Tip” segment with NASCAR racer and Corvette factory driver Ron Fellows. Those bits with the Canadian racing legend are being shot right now at Cayuga International Speedway in Hagersville, Ont.
The cancellation by SPEED wasn’t the first crisis faced by Dream Car Garage. The show’s producers went bankrupt after the first season and Hnatiw and Klutt “picked it up and ran with it,” says Chadwick.
They thought the show was too good to disappear back then, and SUN TV thinks it’s too good not to be around for another season.
Episodes from the two prior seasons are airing this summer on MEN TV, Monday through Friday at 6 a.m. and 11 p.m.
The new season is tentatively scheduled to start on Sept. 19. First showings will be on Saturdays at 1 p.m. with repeats on Sundays at 7:30 a.m. Keep checking your TV listings or dreamcargarage.com.