MotorWeek 45th Anniversary

[fantastic]

As you all know, this show has been on for a very long time, 45 years to be precise. They started working on the pilot way back in 1978. This show has influenced many here & abroad which brought automotive tasks into simple understandable DIY projects. Looks like they may of brought back Craig Singhaus back for now. Possibly to mentor the younger lad shown in the segment sort of taking on late Pat Goss's time.

Here they go into what is all involved into making these shows come to life.
Have you all any stories to tell?

 

[Wylie6G72]

Lots of screen time for the Acura Legend...one of my very favorites. That gen1 coupe is still sexy today.

 

[FordP3]

I was always turned off by the show when I wrote MPT Motorweek a letter asking about a possible job with the production team as I had just recently graduated with a degree in video production and telecommunications, and received back a odd and terse reply. It was from one of the producers for the show I believe. This was around 1991-92.

 

[fantastic]

Lots of screen time for the Acura Legend...one of my very favorites. That gen1 coupe is still sexy today.

Timeless!

 

[cheech279]

Almost a one-of-a-kind program. Now it seems its main sponsors Auto Value and Bumper to Bumper are shrinking. There are almost no stores in VA and NC, with one recently closed on the eastern shore of VA.

 

[michaelluscher]

I remember watching Motorweek every weekend as a kid on PBS 13
'04 GTO, Cobalt SS, the first Scions, the last Saabs
He's the only person I could think of who made stow n go seats and energy impact scores interesting
Before the Internet, hearing their experiences with long term road tests was always interesting
I went to the '07 NYIAS with Dad, caught a clip of me in the back of a Commander on the off road experience the weekend after
I'm amazed he's still at it, after all these years
81 and still going strong

I'll admit he must've got the hint, I haven't heard him grumble about an oil pressure gauge or volt meter in a solid ~10 years
"Television's automotive magazine"
Neither of those mediums are doing great at the moment, but they keep soldiering on

He's one of the only 3 notable things about Maryland

• Motorweek
• Old Bay seasoning
• Big Bill Hell's (iykyk)

 

[Zee09]

Maryland based

 

[FordP3]

I was always turned off by the show when I wrote MPT Motorweek a letter asking about a possible job with the production team as I had just recently graduated with a degree in video production and telecommunications, and received back a odd and terse reply. It was the producer for the show I believe. This was around 1991-92.

I remember watching Motorweek every weekend as a kid on PBS 13
'04 GTO, Cobalt SS, the first Scions, the last Saabs
He's the only person I could think of who made stow n go seats and energy impact scores interesting
Before the Internet, hearing their experiences with long term road tests was always interesting
I went to the '07 NYIAS with Dad, caught a clip of me in the back of a Commander on the off road experience the weekend after
I'm amazed he's still at it, after all these years
81 and still going strong

I'll admit he must've got the hint, I haven't heard him grumble about an oil pressure gauge or volt meter in a solid ~10 years
"Television's automotive magazine"
Neither of those mediums are doing great at the moment, but they keep soldiering on

He's one of the only 3 notable things about Maryland

• Motorweek
• Old Bay seasoning
• Big Bill Hell's (iykyk)

Number three was actually produced by an actual local TV station in Baltimore! It was supposed to only been seen at a Video Production Association Trade Show for the Mid Atlantic....nobody knew back in the early 90s that YT or the internet would become such a thing for videos to be seen !

 

[CleanSump]

Yep Sir! A small MD Public TV show produced in Owings Mills (not Bal'mer).
Pat Goss of Goss's Garage owned a shop in Lanham.

 

[michaelluscher]

Number three was actually produced by an actual local TV station in Baltimore! It was supposed to only been seen at a Video Production Association Trade Show for the Mid Atlantic....nobody knew back in the early 90s that YT or the internet would become such a thing for videos to be seen !

I'm so used to the parody version, I only recently found out about the actual ad

 

[97prizm]

I was always turned off by the show when I wrote MPT Motorweek a letter asking about a possible job with the production team as I had just recently graduated with a degree in video production and telecommunications, and received back a odd and terse reply. It was from one of the producers for the show I believe. This was around 1991-92.

Funny you say that. I just emailed them asking if they needed someone with a Journalism degree with an automotive background. And no reply. What was their reply? I'm curious.

 

[Zee09]

I remember watching Motorweek every weekend as a kid.

He's one of the only 3 notable things about Maryland

• Motorweek
• Old Bay seasoning
• Big Bill Hell's (iykyk)

@Zee09 is in Maryland lol

I had your experience in the years of limited TV that went off at midnight
Great post.

 

[repairman54]

I consider Motorweek just pure entertainment and not a reference, just like Click and Clack. Its not recording on my DVR.

 

[CleanSump]

MPT is like a small town in-crowd who do you know and did my parents go to school with your parents kind of place to work.

 

[97prizm]

I consider Motorweek just pure entertainment and not a reference, just like Click and Clack. Its not recording on my DVR.

Some of their segments were informative especially if it was a long-term test vehicle. It felt like Pat Goss went from a DIY segment to more of a "let the dealership or repair shop handle it" in his later years. That could have been a push from PBS or just his observations. The host John Davis has to have some type of record for being the longest time host on an automotive TV show.

 

[fantastic]

Some of their segments were informative especially if it was a long-term test vehicle. It felt like Pat Goss went from a DIY segment to more of a "let the dealership or repair shop handle it" in his later years. That could have been a push from PBS or just his observations. The host John Davis has to have some type of record for being the longest time host on an automotive TV show.

All of a sudden cars got more complicated... ha ha!
I can understand that to a point since everything seems to need a computer to diagnose anymore.
The older I get I'm feeling the same...tired of working on my own stuff anymore. I just changed the Ignition coils on the Volvo a few weeks back but that was simple stuff.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

This is a show I hold near and dear to my heart.

I grew up watching Motorweek on PBS with my dad every Saturday. Towards the end as his Alzheimer's got worse, he really couldn't carry a conversation, or even know who I was but one of a few things he still could comprehend and talk about was the cars on Motorweek.

For the last few months, when I'd go see my parents, him and I would just watch Motorweek reruns. During those few hours of youtube Motorweek reruns, a little glimmer of who he used to be would shine through.

 

[KGMtech]

Interesting stuff when there was nothing else to watch for automotive geeks. Now with the internet, not so much.

 

[Asterix]

Yeaaaa. The show that almost never met a car they didn't like. And, nobody on the show has ever really known how to drive. Their 0-60 and slalom times are a joke. Braking distance tests seem better because they're easy, but still do they actually try as hard as they should? It's likely not their car.

There's some useful information here and there if you're looking to buy the car they just reviewed, like cargo space and options. Just ignore their opinions. As someone above commented, the long-term road tests are better.

I won't comment on Pat Goss and his lame shilling. His replacements aren't any better, presenting complete fluff.