# Monster Garage 3/25/03 (spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 25, 2003, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monster-garage-3-25-03-spoilers/164025 "2003-03-25T15:05:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![elf6c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c57346/32.png) [@elf6c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elf6c)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2003, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monster-garage-3-25-03-spoilers/164025/1 "2003-03-25T15:05:07Z")
I know there are a few other fans of the show out there who watched the first run episode last night. Last night was the dune buggy from the RX-7 convertible episode and we had a first of sorts. I will get back to that. The design itself was quite lame-- A big tire in the back? That doesn’t look stock at all. Also the nitrous was a neat idea- but there was no way they could get any of that power down, so the design portion was a complete failure in my book. The build stage was fun as usual. The super-intense bug-eyed ex-football player turned office nerd was an unintentional riot-- even Jesse was making fun of his intensity in the end. The Jinx bit was funny, and the Freebie audio clip always makes me smile, even though 2/3’s of the car’s parts were Freebies at this point. The black and white security cam of the thieves was amusing as well. So they test the car at the beach at night and it works-- its a bit slow, but the build was done to the stupid design. That should be a win by rules of the show (and past episodes’ practices). But this time it’s not (as this show appears to be rigged to fail from the start). So having been tested successfully before the cops shut them down, I was surprised when the moronic faux hipster announcers said that the **real** test would be next day. Against custom built racing machines. What? The stupid RX-7 with one Big tire had no chance against the purpose built desert race machines and they knew it (hell Jesse has built them before). While would they do this? It was all a set-up, that’s why. The actual race was very rushed, and started without the stupid announcers for half of the race. The RX-7 lost handily, as anyone with half a brain knew it would. Still they built the car and it worked prior to midnight, and it ran the next day. Jesse had lost the snowmobile race by a huge margin and it was still a success. The boat would have lost by a huge margin had not they fabricated a bunch of bogus “style points”. The contest is a joke. Not this time. After rushing the race, the reason for the set-up became clear. The mini-gun truck. How convenient that it happened to be loaded and available at the perfect location to shoot off a powered mini-gun. So they get to blast the car with the gun, which was cool. But it was completely bogus to say the car failed. It went against every other episode and the rules. The Mini should have been crushed then too. Boooooooooooooooooogus! You want to play with the mini-gun-- fine, but don’t rig the contest and lie to us to do it. I guess the producers realized how pointless the end of show “contests” were and wanted to spice it up, but this is even worse. Here is a hint- can the stupid contests, fire the Big Shwag and Frankie Whitesides and just let the team go play with their toy after it is built. The midnight test runs are much more fun anyway. overall: design 3/10 (they dropped the ball, including Jesse), build 8/10 (good group, interesting build issues), result 0/10 (lying to us to play with a mini-gun is not “keeping it real” Jesse, you should be ashamed). Final score: 11/30 or a 37%. ---
**Author:** ![shelbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@shelbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shelbo)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2003, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monster-garage-3-25-03-spoilers/164025/2 "2003-03-25T18:19:41Z")
Did the team get the tools? If not, it is unfair, because, as you said, the car has lost before with out being called a failure. The Porsche-golf-ball-picker-upper didn’t even have a contest fer crying out loud! Thanks for the update! ---
**Author:** ![broccoli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@broccoli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/broccoli)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2003, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monster-garage-3-25-03-spoilers/164025/3 "2003-03-25T19:08:06Z")
Who gives a crap? DID YOU SEE THAT GUN? Oh my GAWD… ---
**Author:** ![skittles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@skittles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skittles)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2003, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monster-garage-3-25-03-spoilers/164025/4 "2003-03-25T19:39:50Z")
It didn’t show them getting the tools - so my guess would be no. I was disappointed in the episode as well - as they DID build the thing, and it DID drive. Not that it was stock by far, but a lot of them fail in that category. I like the show, but I’m beginning to think it won’t have a much longer shelf life. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![beajerry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@beajerry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beajerry)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2003, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monster-garage-3-25-03-spoilers/164025/5 "2003-03-25T19:52:24Z")
It wasn’t stock, so no tools. I agree, the gun at the end was totally cool. The failure of the car was just a set up for using the gun, I think. I love Monster Garage! Even when Jesse is a dickhead (which is most of the time) it’s a good show. You gotta love all those egos thrown into one room. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2003, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monster-garage-3-25-03-spoilers/164025/6 "2003-03-25T20:29:14Z")
Yep, had to be a setup - they took a car with RWD (couldn’t cut out much of the back end), and no real trunk or rear seats, therefore no place to tuck anything good out of sight. There was no possible way to make it appear stock, and it wouldn’t have fit the road show of these cars (they’re on tour somewhere). But it was worth it to see the flames licking out of the swiss-cheese holes in the car. Did it get a gasoline soaking first? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2003, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monster-garage-3-25-03-spoilers/164025/7 "2003-03-25T20:31:46Z")
I finally saw the [Mustang mower](http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/monstergarage/episode/episode_04.html) one recently (last week?) and the contest was lame even then. Of course the Mustang would do great in a straight line! What I want to know is, how would it do for mowing the whole damn thing? ---
**Author:** ![elf6c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c57346/32.png) [@elf6c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elf6c)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2003, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monster-garage-3-25-03-spoilers/164025/8 "2003-03-25T20:41:21Z")
> [@](#): > > Q: So. For the first time since Grim Ripper, a monster met its death. What’s your reaction to the Sand Rail being destroyed? > A: Well, it certainly was a disappointment, but that’s the fate our vehicle deserved based on the way it performed. We made three fundamental mistakes on the problematic rear end: The first was that we decided to create an overly complicated mechanism. The second was that we did not move away from the complex plan as we began to run out of time; instead, we tried to work harder to make it operate. And last, we took too much time building it. > > We ran out of time and never had a chance to test the completed sand rail. There were too many moving parts, points of failure, and things requiring perfect alignment. With no time on the clock, we literally had to “just make it work” and hope for the best. Monster Garage is not a show about handling equipment delicately or faking things. It’s real, and so are the teams and the vehicles they create. > > Jesse operated our sand rail as he should have: pedal to the metal, nitrous flowing, and aimed toward victory. The vehicle didn’t keep up with its demands and honestly, it deserved to be punished. This is a small taste of the interview of the ex-football player. He seems to take getting screwed over pretty well. Maybe is just clueless though. See for yourself: [http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/monstergarage/pass/mckenna.html](http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/monstergarage/pass/mckenna.html) ---
**Author:** ![elf6c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c57346/32.png) [@elf6c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elf6c)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2003, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monster-garage-3-25-03-spoilers/164025/9 "2003-03-25T20:46:50Z")
> [@](#): > > We got our tools! > > Hi, > > I was on the build crew of the RX7 Sand Rail project. > > First of all, we did get our tools; they just didn’t show it. There was a lot of footage of the vehicle running on the beach and unfortunately, you didn’t get to see a lot of it. But then again, you didn’t miss much. > > Our vehicle did work, was completed on time, but was really mismatched for the challenge. That car was heavy, the motor was the non turbo variant, and old. Nitrous only works well in a specific RPM window and it was hard to hold the vehicle in that window during the test. > > You are partially correct about the chain having fell off. By the time that shot occurred, both had fallen off. That very shot was just before we pushed it back up on the trailer and left before we were all arrested. > > There’s a little drama and staging of events on Monster Garage but it really is close to “what you see is what you get”. > > My set of MAC tools is sitting nicely in my Garage and I’ve got some of the best memories from that whole build week. > > Thanks! From the official forums: [http://discovery.infopop.net/1/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=6941912904&f=9951983295&m=7291986726](http://discovery.infopop.net/1/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=6941912904&f=9951983295&m=7291986726) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2003, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monster-garage-3-25-03-spoilers/164025/10 "2003-03-25T20:50:53Z")
I’d love to see Jesse James and his crew in Full Metal Challenge. 😃 They might be overqualified though.