Hit reality series of car restoration expert makes Asian debut ...

Danny 'The Count' Koker, star of the History series 'Counting Cars'. (Photo by Smallz & Raskind)

If you?re a fan of ?Pawn Stars?, the popular American reality series aired on the History Channel, then you?re probably familiar with the series? resident mechanic and auto restoration expert, Danny ?The Count? Koker.

Now we?ll get to see The Count do what he does best in his own spin-off reality series ?Counting Cars?, which premiered last May 27 also on History where it currently airs every Monday at 9:30PM.

?In all honesty, it?s a very surreal thing for me. You know, working with the ?Pawn Stars? gentlemen is absolutely wonderful. The fact that History was gracious enough to give me my own show is kinda of mind-blowing to me! I feel like the luckiest guy in the world,? Koker exclaimed during a recent phone interview with InterAksyon and other Southeast Asian media.

In recalling how he got to be fascinated with cars, Koker revealed that he grew up in Detroit, known as the motor vehicle capital of the world.

?For me, it?s just a lifelong passion. A large part of my youth growing up was spent around cars, hard rods and motorcycles as far back as I can remember. My father got me my first motorcycle when I was 8 years old. Also, many of my relatives from my father?s side actually work for Ford Motor Compan in Detroit. I?ve got a lot of automotive blood in my family.?

Two particular cars made a lasting impression on The Count when he was a kid. One was the 1966 Mustang GT 350 Chevy that his dad bought when he was 9 years old and the 1979 Z28 Camaro that he bought with his own money when he was 15 years old. He still has both cars and would like to particularly restore the Camaro in a future season of the series.

A Las Vegas legend who makes a profit from the classic cars and motorcycles that he amazingly restores every week in his shop called Count?s Kustoms, he is helped by a very able and loyal crew composed of right hand man Kevin, airbrush artist Horny Mike, shop detailer Roli, project scout Big Ryan, manager and bookkeeper Scott, bike shop manager and lead builder Shannon and body work wizard Grandpa.

Danny 'The Count' with his crew. (Photo by Stuart Pettican)

?My main people, they?ve been with me for years. They understand my style. They understand my flavor, my vibe, the way I like to do things and we work very well together as a team. So it?s really kind of been a course of years in collecting and finding these right guys. Now, they?ve been with me for several years now and together as a team, we work great together,? Koker said of his team.

The Count added that he and his team have two ways of restoring old cars.

?Certain cars need to be kept original and so vehicles like that, I do my best to make sure that we use as many original parts on it as possible. Other cars, I do what I call, ?Restomod?. It basically means it?s half restoration, half modification. With a car like that, we use a lot of newer parts where we?ll put a new engine, new transmission, updated drivetrain, so you?ve got a vehicle that looks old has that vintage flavor and style to it, yet it runs and drives like a brand new car.?

Asked about his biggest restoration challenge, Koker points to the Stutz Blackhawk that he restored for the wife of the late, great soul singer Barry White in Season 1.

?That was a challenge because the car itself is such a rare and unusual car with a lot of detail and intricate parts that are almost impossible to find. Parts we couldn?t find, we literally had to make,? he recalled.

But more than the finding and making the parts, Koker was challenged more by the fact that he?s doing it for the family of a musical legend.

?Doing it for Barry White?s family, for his wife, for his kids ? it was very important to me. These folks were friends of mine, they are beautiful people. I understand how important this vehicle is for their family being the fact that this was Barry?s last car before he passed away. So between the emotional connection for the family and the fact that the car is just so rare and so unusual, that was an extremely challenging restoration. But it came out gorgeous! I love that car!?

As for the other highlights of the first season of ?Counting Cars?, Koker points to the restoration of 1967 GTO Convertible that he ended up keeping afterwards. There was also this little green dune buggy that The Count says was an ?absolute blast? to restore.

?And then there?s this gentlemen in a wheelchair that wanted to get back out and ride his motorcycle again. He was shot and had been paralyzed from the waist down and all he wanted to do was to get back out and ride. I don?t want to tell you what we did till you watch the episode, but all I can tell you is ? this gentlemen is back out riding motorcycles with his buddies. So you have to watch for that episode. You?ll love it!?

Finally, we asked Koker which of the many cars he would prefer to be stuck with on a desert island if he only had one choice.

?Off the top of my head, I have to say it?s my father?s 1966 Mustang GT 350 Chevy. It?s the car that really got me started in getting hands-on on restoring cars. So it was the first car that meant something to me. The first one in our collection when my father and I started collecting cars together. It?s an extremely cool car. Plus it reminds me of my fond memories of my father. So I would say, it would be the car right there.?

With Father?s Day just around the corner The Count just might need to take a ride in that Mustang GT 350.

Source: http://www.interaksyon.com/motoring/hit-reality-series-of-car-restoration-expert-makes-asian-debut/

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