“Building Cars from Junkyard Finds: Inspired by Top Gear and Scrapheap Challenge”

Jenkins was inspired by TV shows such as the world-famous Top Gear or the British competition show Scrapheap Challenge, in which participants built vehicles with a specific purpose from what they found in a junkyard.

“We’re actually having moments that we’ve seen on TV as kids, on Top Gear or the Scrapheap Challenge, seeing them build these crazy things and thinking ‘wow, I’d like to do this one day’.” Now that we’re older, it’s here,” Jenkins was quoted as saying by the AP.

“That tractor is the second machine on this topic. We just wanted to see if we could make a road car with tractor wheels. We used a manual fiesta for the first time and it didn’t last very long. The second time we took a Peugeot 206 with an automatic and it works much better,” continues the builder.

The wheels are mounted on the original axles with a pair of welded sheet metal discs, and although the car is still front-wheel drive, the tire pattern gives hope that it can handle quite a bit off-road. However, the turning radius, we estimate, will be huge.

The amphibious car is another idea from the Chop Shop London Garage show. “It couldn’t go in the water then, but my brothers and I loved the show,” says Jenkins. Sometime in 2014 it came up for sale at a scrap yard near Blackpool so they bought it and in 2020 they finally decided to turn it into an amphibious vehicle.

They calculated the necessary modifications, welded the parts and made the bottom of the hull from shipboard plywood. The ship’s engine, steering and instrument panel traveled aft. “We finished painting and fitting five minutes before we left for the boat show,” says Jenkins.