I enjoy “Junkyard Wars”. Lately, though, it has been cloned (which was to be expected). Have any of you seen these:
“Warehouse Warriors”: Two 4-person teams meet in a big warhouse (which is split in two and separated by a wall) to build something (a kid’s playset, a small foot bridge, etc) in eight hours.
“Monster Garage”: Jesse James (the motorcycle builder) assembles a team to transform, literally, a vehicle into a functioning work vehicle: a Mustang becomes a lawnmower, a stretch limo becomes a fire truck, etc. The catches: the team has $3000 (plus any money found in the donor vehicle) and seven days to do the job. Free stuff (fancy wheels, pump motors) are allowed. Also, the vehicle must look stock when not performing it’s assigned task.
I’m sure there’s at least one or two clones left to produce.
I actually liked “Monster Garage” when I saw it. The Mustang lawnmower and Beetle airboat were pretty cool. However, nothing compares to the Junkyard Wars seasons with Robert and Cathy hosting. I can’t stand Tyler or the Weakest Link guy. I am, however, looking forward to the new season, because one of the teams is from just up the road from my hometown.
Have you heard about the kids’ version of Junkyard Wars coming to NBC this fall on Saturday mornings? It’s being produced by the same people, but it will feature teams of kids with with adult “experts” to do the dangerous stuff.
-brianjedi
I don’t care what the show is- if it has Kathy Rogers on it, I’ll watch. (But I really like JunkWars)
Don’t forget about “Panic Mechanics” - a British show that’s kinda like “Monster Garage” but with two teams competing and the cars don’t have to look stock. Hmm, but I don’t know if this one is still around anymore.
And don’t forgot “Scrapheap Challenge” - the British predecessor(?) to Junkyard Wars (we have both over here, Kathy is in both shows)
Let’s not forget the “Cast-Iron Chef” episode of Good Eats. 
Saw Robotica on TLC a couple nights ago. It was kinda interesting because there are three seperate challenges (Two of which are different types of obsticle courses, followed by combat). This means the robots have to be built for a variety of challenges. Not a terrible show.
In the US, they run these episodes under the Junkyard Wars title, mixed in with the American ones.