TV series, 'Car Czar', to feature barn-find restos
January 14, 2010
A Nazareth father and his two sons will be featured
is a "Car Czar" episode of “Man Made”, in which
the reality series focuses on the rebuilding and
restoration of antique cars, at 8 p.m. today on
the National Geographic Channel.
James Klotz and his sons James
and Jeffrey Klotz, are part of Marquis Auto Restoration
of Philadelphia which restores a 1967 German Amphicar,
an all-in-one novelty boat and car. The elder James
Klotz is the shop manager of Marquis Auto, which is
owned by Alan Lewenthal. The younger James is an
auto-body restoration expert and Jeffrey is a
restoration painter. All three men will be featured and
interviewed on the episode.
The three Klotz men also will be featured on the "Car Czar" episode at 8 p.m. Jan. 21 in which the team restore a 1969 classic Chevrolet Camaro from a rusted relic.
Posted: Wednesday, 20 January 2010 4:15PM
Philadelphia
Man is Host of New Car Restoration TV Show by KYW's Paul
Kurtz
Alan Lewenthal (above), a 45-year-old Temple
University grad, holds a degree in accounting
and corporate law, but he put that aside long
ago to turn his passion into a career. Lewenthal brings old cars back from the dead,
and he's now doing it every week under the
watchful eyes of National Geographic TV cameras. The Nat Geo show, "Car
Czar," highlights the challenges that
Lewenthal and his crew face during the
restoration process: "Are we gonna make our deadline? Can we find
the parts? You know, the difficulties in
restoration. And what's great is uncovering it
once you get it. When we receive the car and
strip it down, we see what was truly done to the
car over the last 40 or 50 years." "Car Czar" debuted last Thursday night with a
1967 German novelty car that doubles as a boat
(above right). This week's featured
vehicle is a 1969 Chevy Camaro. NAZARETH | They're called the
"Car Czars," and the National
Geographic channel will show this
borough family of automobile
restoration experts in action
Thursday. James R. Klotz and his sons,
Jimmy J. and Jeffrey Klotz, work for
Alan Lewenthal, owner of Marquis
Auto Restoration in Northeast
Philadelphia. They commute from
Nazareth to work their magic on
rusted junkers given up by their
owners long ago. James R. is the shop manager.
Jimmy is an auto body restoration
expert, and Jeffrey is an expert
restoration painter. It really all
started with a good shine. "We did
TV commercials for Turtle Wax,"
James R. Klotz said Tuesday. Those subjects are a 1967
Amphicar, a beat-up Chevrolet Camaro
and an Oldsmobile. They're being
shown in three "Car Czar" episodes
of the National Geographic channel's
"Man-Made" series, which features
skilled individuals building their
dreams - everything from the
Amphicar to the production of coffee
beans. The Amphicar is scheduled for 4
p.m. Thursday; the classic 1969
Camaro Z28 is scheduled for 8 p.m.
and 11 p.m. The custom 1954
Oldsmobile F-88 Concept Car was
shown last week. The shows will follow the
restoration crew through the process
of bringing these classics back to
life and on the road, according to
the "Man-Made" Web site. "It was quite interesting to see
how they put all the pieces together
after shooting it," James R. Klotz
said. In a preview video of the
Amphicar's restoration, Lewenthal
unveils the rusted car/boat and
tells his crew it had been sitting
in a garage since 1975. He said restored Amphicars have
gone for as much as $115,000 at
auction. "I think it is amazing that my
father has gone from growing up on a
small farm in Nazareth to being
featured on a national television
network," said James Klotz's
daughter, Julie Klotz, in a recent
e-mail. Lewenthal has built a worldwide
reputation for the immaculate
resurrection of rusty heaps that
bring astounding sale prices at
classic car auctions. In 2003, he
became head of acquisitions and
curator of the Hendricks Collection
on display at The Gateway Colorado
Auto Museum. Staff writer Tony Nauroth can be
reached at 610-258-7171 or at
tnauroth@express-times.com.
(TV Tonight,
Thursday, January
21st, 2010) I can’t
believe I didn’t
know about the new
show Car Czar.
The new episode
tonight is about the
Camaro, but last
week’s episode was
on the Amphicar,
which is one of the
coolest cars ever.
Anyway, it’s good to
see something new
for the motorhead. American
Chopper continues its
slide into oblivion
with Mikey doing
stand up comedy and
Paul Jr. being
interviewed by Adam
Carolla. Didn’t they
used to build bikes
or something? Well,
at least it’s new.
A Philadelphia area man who
restores antique cars is now the star of a new
reality show, the Car Czar.
Nazareth family in a National
Geographic "Man-Made" special airing
Thursday
TV
Tonight: Something New
By
Nick Carter
2 Responses to “TV Tonight:
Something New”
January 22nd, 2010 at 12:01 pm
Thank you to everyone who has sent positive feedback about the new TV show on the National Geographic Channel. Let’s put the money aside as this is done to entice the TV viewers, the work done to the cars is incredibly difficult and the technicians all work together to get the job done.
Look for more great episodes to come in the near future.
January 22nd, 2010 at 12:39 pm
Car Czar, I have to say it was nice to see a more detailed approach that actually showed work being done! Great job and I’ll keep watching. Keep it informational and not emotional, or just do the opposite of what American Chopper does.