Series synopsis
Junkyard Wars is an American drama television series that premiered on TLC on January 3, 2001. It ended on April 30, 2003. It stars Robert Llewellyn, Lisa Rogers, Rossi Morreale and George Gray.
Two rival teams face off to overcome the challenge of the episode's theme. Using mechanical prowess, engineering, luck, and problem solving, they rely on using only the items found in an unusually well-stocked junkyard to rise to the occasion in the hopes of becoming the Junkyard Wars Season Champion!
Junkyard Wars was adapted from the UK TV Series titled "Scrapheap Challenge".
Premise
Two rival teams face off to overcome the challenge of the episode's theme. Using mechanical prowess, engineering, luck, and problem solving, they rely on using only the items found in an unusually well-stocked junkyard to rise to the occasion in the hopes of becoming the Junkyard Wars Season Champion!
Junkyard Wars was adapted from the UK TV Series titled "Scrapheap Challenge".
Cast and characters
Leading cast
- Robert Llewellyn as Self - Presenter
- Lisa Rogers as Self - Presenter
- Rossi Morreale as Self - Presenter
- George Gray as Self - Presenter
Episodes
This series spans 16 seasons with 127 episodes.
| Season | Episodes | First aired | Last aired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 0 | 1 | ||
| Season 1 | 7 | January 3, 2001 | January 24, 2001 |
| Season 2 | 7 | September 26, 2001 | November 14, 2001 |
| Season 3 | 11 | June 5, 2002 | June 26, 2002 |
| Season 4 | 7 | August 18, 2002 | October 16, 2002 |
| Season 5 | 9 | March 19, 2003 | April 30, 2003 |
| Season 6 | 14 | May 29, 2002 | |
| Season 7 | 7 | June 26, 2002 | |
| Season 8 | 8 | November 29, 2002 | |
| Season 9 | 14 | March 9, 2003 | |
| Season 10 | 7 | April 30, 2003 | |
| Season 11 | 8 | ||
| Season 12 | 12 | January 6, 2004 | |
| Season 13 | 5 | February 22, 2004 | |
| Season 14 | 7 | February 17, 2004 | |
| Season 15 | 3 | August 8, 2004 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Locomotives Special |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Hot Rods The teams embark on a ten-hour build of two completely different vehicles. One team builds a hot rod with a big, heavy engine and the other designs a car with a light body and less powerful engine. George and Cathy get in on the shoptalk to see why the teams went the way they did and interview expert and competition judge Pat Foster, a veteran drag racer. The next day, the teams have three chances to see who can get the best possible time. |
January 3, 2001 |
| 2 |
Ballistic Missiles Challenge to build a machine chunk a pumpkin the most accurately to hit a target. They must use human power only. Contestants Team Blue: The Young Guns Team captain Stan Brighton Jeus Beltran Brian Michem Expert Ron Toms Team Orange: Three Rusty Juveniles Team captain Jay Ray Tom Expert Waddy Thompson |
January 3, 2001 |
| 3 |
Off Road Vehicles Challenge to build a machine to carry each member on one lap around a off road course that has bumps, jumps, and water. Contestants Team Orange: Damage Team captain Ristow John Kalbot Expert James Aduskevich Team Green: The Long Brothers Team captain Brian Long Terry Long Gary Long Expert Mike Ferguson |
January 10, 2001 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Jumbo Trucks Challenge to build a vehicle that can jump crushed cars, race down a dirt straight away, but can still be agile enough to handle tight turns. Contestants Team Blue The Law Dawgs Team captain Tom Dave Mike, Expert John Seasock Team Orange Ghost Mountain Riders Team captain Scotty Clark Johnson, Expert Roy Hooser |
September 26, 2001 |
| 2 |
Portable Bridge The Challenge is to build a vehicle that not only must carry all members to a gap, but then span the gap without leaving any parts behind, retrieve a flag, and go back to where they started in a head-to-head race. Contestants: Team Red: The Miami Gearheads Team Captain Milton, Frank, Anthony, and Expert Bill Harris Team Blue: Canadian Junkies Team Captain Gary, Kevin, Mike, and Expert Richard Hunt |
October 3, 2001 |
| 3 |
Heavy Artillery Challenge to build the most accurate and destructive cannon. The objective to break the most concrete bricks in the opponent's wall. They both get three shots both teams thinking the 1st being pretty much a throw away shot to sight in the sights Contestants Team Green The Hicks Family Team captain Sam Anna Jakey Expert Bruce Paulson Team Yellow Washburn Boys Team captain Ray Shane Jon Expert Bernie Paulson |
October 17, 2001 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Mechanical Mole In this episode, each team has to build a drilling machine. Then, the vehicles will be tested in a competition which consists in digging a hole big enough through 3 concrete walls to get all the team and the machine in it. Contestants: "Turbines" vs. "Bold Three" |
June 5, 2002 |
| 2 |
Climbing Car Challenge : build a hill-climbing car capable of carrying a team member as far as possible up a 400 ft., 40 degree gradient hill. Each team gets 3 attempts at conquering the steep gradient. Contestants Team Yellow : The Pit Crew Team captain Frank, Scott, Tim, Expert Chris Adamson Team Blue : The Jet Jocks Team captain Ron, Dave, Gifford, Expert Randy Ellis |
June 5, 2002 |
| 3 |
Sand Yacht Challenge : build a land-racing yacht. Contestants Team Green : The Quantum Mechanics Team captain Leila Hasan, Danielle Smith, Kimberly Hamad-Schifferli, Expert Nord Embroden Team Red : The Geeks Team captain Thomas Massie, Rhett Creighton, Rony 'Koobs' Kubat, Expert Dennis Bassano |
June 12, 2002 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Maniac Mud Racers In this episode, each team has to build a light weighted vehicle which has to be able to participate in a race through a 3-lap mud course. Contestants 'Model Ts' vs. 'Detroit Muscle' |
August 18, 2002 |
| 2 |
Power Paddlers In this episode, each family team has to build a powerful boat which has to be able to hit another boat and withstand it. Then, the vehicles will be tested in a competition that consists in pushing the enemy boat out of a "battle circle". Contestants "Kentucky Fried Family" vs. "Morterheads" |
September 4, 2002 |
| 3 |
Paintball Tanks Teams from two New York City boroughs build paintball-firing tanks to out-gun each other. |
September 18, 2002 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Dune Buggies In this episode, each team has to build a "Dune Buggie" which has to be able to withstand the hard conditions of the desert. Then, the vehicles will be taken to the desert to test them in a competition. Contestants 'Junkyard Hogs' vs. 'Superchargers' |
March 19, 2003 |
| 2 |
Car Dozer The ultimate way to deal with traffic jams would be to push the offending cars out of the way and go through. Well, for the High Flyers and Big Shots, that dream is about to come true. The will be building a machine that will power it's way through a gauntlet of cars. A bunch of cars have been strewn down a track. The team that has the fastest total time after 3 runs (and a different driver each time) through the cars will advance. However, if they go outside of the yellow boundaries on the sides of the track, they incur a ten second penalty. So it isn't just speed...it's precision as well. |
March 26, 2003 |
| 3 |
Jet Trikes It will be a hot time in the junkyard this episode as the Auto Amigos take on the Dirty Drivers in a fast and furious challenge to build a trike powered by a jet-engine. The race will consist of three trips down a one-eighth mile track...one at a time. The team that records the fastest time in any of their three trips will advance to the semi-finals. The Dirty Drivers are building a true jet engine on a lightweight frame. A propane tank will provide the gas and a spark plug will act as the ignition source. The key ingredient will be a turbo-charger from a truck. The turbo charger has two fans that turn in opposite directions. One fan will suck the propane into a combustion tank while the other will suck the heated air out and through a nozzle. If there's time, they also want to build an afterburner which should increase their speed. An afterburner ignites any remaining gasses in the chamber for added thrust. Time is NOT on their side. |
April 2, 2003 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Episode 1 | December 5, 2001 |
| 2 | Episode 2 | December 12, 2001 |
| 3 | Episode 3 | December 19, 2001 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Episode 1 | June 5, 2002 |
| 2 | Episode 2 | June 5, 2002 |
| 3 | Episode 3 | June 12, 2002 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Episode 1 | August 18, 2002 |
| 2 | Episode 2 | September 4, 2002 |
| 3 | Episode 3 | September 18, 2002 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Episode 1 | October 23, 2002 |
| 2 | Episode 2 | October 30, 2002 |
| 3 | Episode 3 | November 6, 2002 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Episode 1 | March 19, 2003 |
| 2 | Episode 2 | March 26, 2003 |
| 3 | Episode 3 | April 2, 2003 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Episode 1 | |
| 2 | Episode 2 | |
| 3 | Episode 3 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Episode 1 | |
| 2 | Episode 2 | |
| 3 | Episode 3 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Episode 1 | February 1, 2004 |
| 2 | Episode 2 | February 8, 2004 |
| 3 | Episode 3 | February 15, 2004 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Episode 1 | |
| 2 | Episode 2 | |
| 3 | Episode 3 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Episode 1 | August 8, 2004 |
| 2 | Episode 2 | August 8, 2004 |
| 3 | Episode 3 | August 8, 2004 |
Production
Release
| Original network/platform | TLC |
|---|---|
| First aired | January 3, 2001 |
| Last aired | April 30, 2003 |
| Runtime | 60 minutes |
| Status | Ended |
| Schedule | Wednesday at 21:00:00 |