Counting Cars

Counting Cars
The cast (from left to right): Kevin, Danny Koker, Horny Mike and Scott
Genre	Reality television
Created by	Joel Patterson
Directed by	Jonathan Wyche
Starring	Danny Koker
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	5
No. of episodes	112 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	For Leftfield Pictures: Brent Montgomery David George Shawn Witt Simon Thomas Danny Koker For History: Zachary Behr Julian Hobbs Ed de Rivaz
Editor(s)	Ducan Adams Eric Dow Phillip Chernyak
Running time	22 minutes[1]
Production company(s)	Leftfield Pictures
Release
Original network	History
Original release	August 13, 2012 – present
Chronology
Related shows	Pawn Stars American Restoration
External links
Website

Counting Cars is an American reality television series, shown on History, and produced by Leftfield Pictures. The series, which is the third spinoff of Pawn Stars, is filmed in Las Vegas, Nevada, where it chronicles the daily activities at Count's Kustoms, an automobile restoration and customization company owned and operated by Danny Koker, who previously appeared as a recurring expert on Pawn Stars. In a format similar to another Pawn Stars spinoff, American Restoration, the series follows Koker and his staff as they restore and modify classic automobiles and motorcycles. Counting Cars debuted on August 13, 2012.

Guest appearances have been made by Rick, Corey and Richard Benjamin Harrison, and Austin "Chumlee" Russell of Pawn Stars,^[2] Ziggy Marley,^[3] Cassandra Peterson (aka Elvira, Mistress of the Dark).^[4] The shop was also visited by members of the heavy metal band - Judas Priest and Danny gifts Richie Faulkner a custom Gibson Les Paul. Rob Zombie has also made an appearance.

Production history

Counting Cars is an American reality television series, shown on History, and produced by Leftfield Pictures. The series is the third spinoff of the TV series Pawn Stars, following American Restoration and Cajun Pawn Stars. It is filmed in Las Vegas, Nevada, where it chronicles the daily activities at Count's Kustoms, an automobile restoration and customization company owned and operated by Danny Koker, who previously appeared as a recurring expert on Pawn Stars. In a format similar to American Restoration, the series follows Koker and his staff as they restore and modify classic automobiles and motorcycles, and also documents the occasional conflict among the cast members.

The opening title sequence features Koker narrating the following introduction:

Vegas is a gambling town. Most people bet with chips. I bet with rides. And I always go all in. I'm Danny, aka the Count and this is my all-star team. We find 'em, fix 'em, flip 'em and sometimes, I keep 'em. For my crew, every job is high stakes, and we can't afford to lose. This is Counting Cars.

The series debuted August 13, 2012 after Pawn Stars before assuming its regular Tuesday time slot the following day.^[5][6]

The show's initial executive producers were History's Zachary Behr and Julian Hobbs, and Leftfield Pictures' Brent Montgomery, David George, and Shawn Witt.^[7] The series was created by co-executive producer Joel Patterson.^[8] By mid-2014, Behr and Ed de Rivaz were History's executive producers on the show, with Tom Romita and Jonathan Wyche joining the three Leftfield executive producers as as co-executive producers.^[9] In early 2015, Simon Thomas had joined as a fourth Leftfield executive producer, and Sean Moran had succeeded Romita as a co-executive producer.^[10]

Episodes

Season		Episodes	Originally aired
			First aired	Last aired
	1	13	August 13, 2012	September 25, 2012
	2	26	April 9, 2013	July 30, 2013
	3	26	January 7, 2014	August 26, 2014
	4	TBA	February 24, 2015	TBA

Cast

• Danny "The Count" Koker – Koker is the proprietor of Count's Kustoms, a shop devoted to the repair and restoration of motor vehicles, automobiles and motorcycles in particular. The shop's name is derived from Koker's stint as part-owner of local independent station KFBT (now KVCW), during which he hosted a weekly B-movie showcase, Saturday Fright at the Movies, as "Count Cool Rider".^[11] Danny, who grew up in Cleveland and Detroit, is a self-taught mechanic who comes from a family of Ford Motor Company employees.^[12] He has over 50 cars in his personal collection,^[13] and is so obsessed with finding, buying and converting classic American muscle cars and motorcycles that when he sees a vehicle he admires, he will go out of his way to acquire it,^[12] even making on-the-spot purchase offers while cruising around Vegas with Kevin,^[14] or searching through parking lots at car shows.^[15] While he enjoys classic vehicles, Danny dislikes working on newer vehicles, and generally rejects offers to work on them.^[16] He has been running his business for over 15 years by the time of the series premiere,^[12] and was a recurring motorcycle and automobile restoration expert on Pawn Stars, first appearing in the third season episode "Getting a Head" in September 2010.^[17][18] He has also appeared as an expert on the Pawn Stars spinoff, American Restoration.^[19][20] In addition to Count's Kustoms, Koker also owns Count's Vamp'd Rock Bar and Grill,^[21][22] and Count's Tattoo Company, a tattoo parlor at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino,^[21] that was formerly a partnership with Vince Neil.^[23][24] He also heads a Las Vegas hard rock band, Count's 77.

• Kevin Mack – Danny's right-hand man and best friend for the past 20 years by the series premiere.^[14] He and Danny enjoy cruising around Vegas to look for vehicles to buy,^[14][25] and Danny tends to use Kevin as "collateral" when he takes a stranger’s car for a test drive.^[25] He has a son named Devin who has been racing^[26] the Legends Car that belongs to Count's Kustoms since he was 13. Nicknamed "Cheeky", Devin started racing go-carts when he was 8, and appears in the episode "Dream On" (when he was almost 17), in which the Legend Car requires repairs.^[27] Kevin's brother, Steve, is a Las Vegas attorney and judge who also owns a tow yard.^[28]

• Horny Mike – An airbrush artist whose nickname is derived from his practice of putting 3-D horns on everything from vehicles to helmets to clothing.^[14][29]

• Roli Szabo^[30] is the shop's detailer, responsible for cleaning and polishing of all the vehicles that Count's Kustoms works on. His thick Hungarian accent is often the source of amusement at the shop.^[31] According to Roli, the jobs in which he previously worked include driving an ambulance in the Army, working at a PVC pipe company; working as a transportation executive and working as a bodyguard, personal assistant and driver for the world's smallest man.^[28]

• Big Ryan – At 6 feet 7 inches and 350 pounds, Ryan is Danny's project scout,^[4] parts expert and picker with over 15 years of experience.^[32]

• Scott – Scott was the manager of Count's Kustoms,^[33] and Danny's bookkeeper, who maintains an accounting of the money on each project to make sure that they are profitable. Danny concedes that Scott is very good at his job, but can be "a real ass" at times,^[14] as Scott sometimes comes into conflict with Danny and the others over project budgets,^[4] project schedules,^[33][34] or instances in which Danny wishes to keep a vehicle instead of reselling it.^[15] Scott left between the second and third seasons and is only mentioned briefly in the third season premiere (having moved to Tennessee after the birth of his son).^[35]

• Shannon Aikau – Bike shop manager and lead builder whom Danny lauds for his fabrication and engineering skills, referring to him as the "A-Number One" in the bike shop.^[22][26] Born in Hawaii, he is related to the late Hawaiian surf legend Eddie Aikau^[36]

• Ryan Evans – (not to be confused with Big Ryan) works with Shannon in the bike shop. Slowly becoming Danny's main man when it comes to custom paint.^[37] He is the head painter and graphic artist.^[38]

• Harry "Grandpa" Rome Sr.^[39] – Employee who does body work at the shop. Though his nickname is derived from the fact that he is older than any of the other staffpeople, he says he can do twice the work they do.^[26] He is first identified by name and given dialogue in the Season 2 episode "Size Matters".^[40] Grandpa works with his son, Harry, a family man whom Grandpa describes as "the responsible one", in contrast to Grandpa himself.^[41]

• Joseph "Doc" Duggan integrates technology in working with the cars or adding advanced technological features with the classics. Normally comes into conflict with the "old school" guys.^[42]

• George – One of the mechanics who has worked at the shop for years. One of his most prized possessions is a green, 1940 Ford street rod pickup with purple flames.^[43]

References

1. "Counting Cars 4 Seasons 2012: "McQueen For A Day"". Amazon.com. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
2. "Buyer's Remorse". Counting Cars. Season 1. Episode 4. August 21, 2012. History.
3. "The Marleymobile". Counting Cars. Season 2. Episode 18. June 18, 2013. History.
4. "Satanic Mechanic". Counting Cars. Season 1. Episode 7. August 28, 2012. History.
5. "Danny "The Count" Koker is in the Driver's Seat When New Car-Loving Series Premieres on History – 'Counting Cars'" (Press release). History Channel via TheFutonCritic.com. July 25, 2012.
6. Rose, Lacey (July 20, 2012). "History Orders Car Flipping Series Starring 'Pawn Stars' Personality (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter.
7. "Danny 'The Count' Koker is in the Driver's Seat When New Car-Loving Series Premieres on History" (Press release). History via FutonCritic.com. July 25, 2012. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
8. "‘Counting Cars’ exclusive: Danny ‘The Count’ Koker, Kevin Mack on cars, fame, and inspiration". October 2, 2013. Archived from the original on September 30, 2015. Retrieved September 30, 2015.
9. "'Counting Cars' Returns to History with All New Episodes - Premieres Tuesday, July 15 at 9PM ET/PT" (Press release). History via FutonCritic.com. July 9, 2014. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
10. "'Counting Cars' Returns to History with All New Episodes" (Press release). History via FutonCritic.com. February 2, 2015. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
11. K. Fudge. "Danny Koker Feature – 2005". Corbin's RideOn (via archive.org). Archived from the original on September 8, 2007. Retrieved April 28, 2007.
12. "Meet the Guys: Danny 'The Count'". History.com. Retrieved May 9, 2013.
13. "Maxed Out". Counting Cars. Season 1. Episode 9. September 18, 2012. History.
14. "McQueen for a Day". Counting Cars. Season 1. Episode 1. August 13, 2012. History.
15. "G-T-Whoa!". Counting Cars. Season 1. Episode 3. August 14, 2012. History.
16. "To Die For". Counting Cars. Season 2. Episode 7. April 30, 2013. History.
17. "Meet the Experts: Danny Koker". History.com. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
18. "Getting a Head". Pawn Stars. Season 3. Episode 16. September 6, 2010. History.
19. "Picks and Ricks (The Pick, The Pawn & The Polish)". American Restoration. Season 2. Episode 14. July 11, 2011. History.
20. "About Counting Cars". History.com. Retrieved August 14, 2012.
21. Donnelly, Amanda (May 17, 2011). "Las Vegas' entrepreneurial Danny Koker still going strong". Las Vegas Review-Journal.
22. "Back in the Wind". Counting Cars. Season 1. Episode 5. August 21, 2012. History.
23. "Vince Neil Celebrates Grand Opening of Vince Neil Ink at The Rio". VegasNews.com. September 13, 2009
24. Corbin, April (July 22, 2009). " Feelgood’s finally opens, wants to make ya feel all right". Las Vegas Weekly.
25. "Meet the Guys: Kevin". History.com. Retrieved August 14, 2012.
26. "Soap Box". Counting Cars. Season 2. Episode 3. April 16, 2013. History.
27. "Dream On". Counting Cars. Season 2. Episode 5. April 23, 2013. History.
28. "Day of Judgement". Counting Cars. Season 2. Episode 13. June 4, 2013. History.
29. "Meet the Guys: 'Horny' Mike". History.com. Retrieved August 14, 2012.
30. "Roli Szabo". Twitter. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
31. "Meet the Guys: Roli". History.com. Retrieved August 14, 2012.
32. "Meet the Guys: Big Ryan". History.com. Retrieved August 14, 2012.
33. "Muscle Memory". Counting Cars. Season 2. Episode 9. May 7, 2013. History.
34. "Ultimate Challenge". Counting Cars. Season 1. Episode 10. September 18, 2012. History.
35. "Electric Ride". Counting Cars. Season 3. Episode 1. January 7, 2014. Event occurs at 01:12. History. Scott had a baby boy and moved his family to Tennessee
36. , "Sunday's rally will begin with a memorial ride paying tribute to Jimmy Aikau (father of custom builder Shannon Aikau and cousin of legendary surfer Eddie Aikau),".
37. "Chumlee's Challenge". Counting Cars. Season 2. Episode 11. May 28, 2013. History.
38. "Ryan". Twitter Retrieved December 22, 2014
39. "Count's Kustoms Team". Count's Kustoms. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
40. "Size Matters". Counting Cars. Season 2. Episode 2. April 9, 2013. History.
41. "Change of Heart". Counting Cars. Season 2. Episode 15. June 11, 2013. History.
42. http://www.history.co.uk/shows/counting-cars/cast/joseph-duggan
43. "Super Nova". Counting Cars. Season 2. Episode 16. June 11, 2013. History.

External links

• Official website
• Count's Kustoms