Desert Car Kings Debuts on Discovery Channel

It wasn't that long ago that film crews from the Discovery Channel visited Exponent Systems in Phoenix to record a few segments for the show Mythbusters. Now, Discovery is returning to the same part of town to begin recording a new program centered around Desert Valley Auto Parts, the massive classic car junkyard we first wrote about back in 2009.

The show is called Desert Car Kings and it gives viewers a look at what goes on at Desert Valley Auto Parts. There are plenty of flashy graphics and gratuitous overhead shots of the massive yard as the employees set about restoring a 1963 Ford Thunderbird in the debut episode.

There was even a short piece about the show in the Phoenix New Times, where viewers who caught the show's debut episode are already sounding off in the comments section below the article. Surprisingly, there are a lot of negative comments regarding Desert Valley and their business practices from viewers.

One point of contention is that on the show's first episode, the restoration "had" to be done in time for the car to be sold at an auction. The auction was not one of the once-a-year, high-dollar collector car auctions in Scottsdale. In fact, it was quite the opposite.

5-Star Auto Auction is a Phoenix-based business which holds auction events on a regularly scheduled basis, with 17 different auctions planned for 2011 alone. The majority of the vehicles sold are used cars and trucks which come from police seizures, impounds, and donations. The vehicles that 5 Star sells fall into two simple categories: Drivers and Non-Running.

To put it simply, buying a car from an auction is not a very glamorous experience. Cash gets you a basic set of wheels regardless of your financial or criminal history, and you are lucky to find a car with under 100k miles on it at one of these auctions.

The bottom line is that the car did not HAVE to be restored by a certain date. If the DVAP crew had wanted to spend some extra time on the car, they could have easily done so and sold it at the next auction a few weeks later. Or the next one after that, or the one after that.

However, there are a few gearheads who have nothing but good things to say about Desert Valley as an awesome resource for those hard-to-find original parts that you just cannot seem to get anywhere else.Have you watched Desert Car Kings? What do you think, is it a cool show with good entertainment value or is Discovery dressing up this unremarkable junkyard to make a mediocre show? Post your opinion using the comment box below.

Desert Car Kings airs Wednesday nights on the Discovery Channel at 10PM Eastern/Pacific. Check your local listings or program guide for further details.