A new BBC One Northern Ireland series aims to fuel local motoring fans’ passion for cars. Petrolheads takes a look at the modified car scene here and meets the people who can turn normal road cars into customised classics.
Presented by Carolyn Stewart, each week two teams of car enthusiasts are set a build-off challenge of modifying an ordinary car into a gleaming show car.
The programmes follow the teams as they transform their chosen cars into modified mean machines. At the end of the series the cars will be judged to find a winner. The first two teams taking part in the Petrolheads build-off challenge come from Larne and Bangor.
Carolyn also reports from on location at a number of the main events on the modified car scene including Belfast’s Passion 08 and Dublin’s Coolnights where she finds out what it takes to be a car modifier and the lengths that some modifiers go to.
On the track, Petrolheads will also feature its very own racing series – the Petrolheads Challenge Cup from Nutts Corner. Each week a field of drivers go wheel-to-wheel - on three wheels - in a fleet of Reliant Robins.
Producer Niki Hinman of Hinman Media who made the series for BBC Northern Ireland said: “People in Northern Ireland love their cars and there’s a really active modified car scene here attracting scores of people to events in Northern Ireland and further afield. And don’t think these are just young guys tinkering with their cars at the weekends – it attracts people from all walks of life who in some instances spend thousands of pounds to make their car stand out from the others.
There’s huge competition and Petrolheads aims to give viewers a taste of the effort and lengths these enthusiasts will go to. You could say these people treat their cars like pets and like nothing more than showing them off at the various shows that are organised. Probably everyone knows someone who’s a real petrolhead and if you like cars, this series is right up your street.”
The new six-part Petrolheads series starts on BBC One Northern Ireland on Friday, October 03 at 9.00pm.