MotorTrend Group (L-R) Bisi Ezerioha, Faye Hadley, and Tory Belleci pose with the Flinstones car.
Automotive hijinks and science are on a collision course thanks to a new show from MotorTrend. “Motor Mythbusters” takes on shows and movies from history and tries to determine whether certain things shown on-screen are even remotely possible. The result is a unique experience that addresses important questions, such as “can you improve the speed of a van by chopping the top?”
Co-hosted by “Mythbusters” alumnus Tory Belleci, mechanic Faye Hadley from MotorTrend’s “All Girls Garage,” and engineer and professional race car driver Bisi Ezerioha, “Motor Mythbusters” combines years of real-world experience in garages and shops with “lively curiosity” and old-school trial-and-error.
During the first season, the hosts focus on using urine in a radiator, improving the aerodynamics of a bulky van, whether “The Flinstones” car could work in real life, and how UFOs affect vehicles among other myths. Not every plan to recreate specific myths pans out, but the hosts showcase their excitement with each and every episode.
“It was a dream come true. It was amazing,” Ezerioha told Heavy during an interview ahead of the season premiere. “The projects were absolutely splendid. However, having co-hosts like Tory and Faye was just icing on the cake. They made my life so enjoyable.”
The hosts did not have any previous relationships with each other, but they quickly built chemistry after initially meeting on Zoom. Once they met in person on the first day of shooting, they realized that they had solid chemistry. More importantly, they did not hold back while showing their excitement, which Belleci said will only help increase the fan enjoyment.
The First Episode Highlights Dominic Toretto
While there are a multitude of outlandish car-related moments in cinematic history, there is no franchise that has turned heads more than “The Fast and the Furious.” Vin Diesel and his co-stars constantly push the boundaries with sequences, and “The Fate of the Furious” is no exception.
One street race in Cuba, in particular, served as the inspiration for the first episode of “Motor Mythbusters.” The hosts wanted to see if it was truly possible to increase a car’s speed using a bottle of nitrous, a soda can tab, and some wire. However, the hosts had to add in a rat trap to fully examine all possibilities as they attempted to recreate a pivotal moment featuring Dominic Toretto.
“I had to think of something that could be old-school, that could be accessible in Cuba, and something that could pinch that vacuum line,” Ezerioha explained. “It made sense. Actually, I had to use a rat trap or two at my old facility before moving to my new facility. I had seen the concept firsthand, so that was how it came to be. Just finding a creative way to solve a problem, and that’s what we engineers do.”
The Hosts Have an Unending Supply of Myths to Examine in Future Episodes
Given the number of TV shows and movies with ridiculous moments that exist, there could be a never-ending supply of “Motor Mythbusters” episodes. After all, the entire “James Bond” franchise could take up multiple seasons. Shows such as “The A-Team” could add even more possibilities.
“When we came up with the stories for this season, we pitched… there is a notebook filled with ideas,” Belleci told Heavy. “A lot of them were shot down just because they were like ‘we want to get things that are simple, that we can do quickly, that we can do cheaply.’ Right now, we have a backlog of myths that we want to test, but we feel like the ones we put forward now are great ones that people can take away and apply in their garage.”
The hosts will potentially have the opportunity to further test out ideas from the notebook if they make more episodes in the future. However, they make have some difficulty deciding which options would be the best. Belleci explained during the interview that he wants to drive a Formula One car upside down using the downforce generated by the race car. Ezerioha, on the other hand, drew his inspiration from “F9” and the automobile that goes to space.
“You guys are thinking so huge,” Hadley added. “As a professional technician, there are so many technical service bulletins and rumors that we get in the automotive industry. On the technician side, I’m curious. Is this actually real or is it a bunch of people trying to sue manufacturers? You know, some of the unintended acceleration that we see in Toyota, Subaru, the other manufacturers. Is there actually anything behind that?”
The first two episodes of “Motor Mythbusters” are available exclusively on the MotorTrend app, with new episodes releasing each week. The streaming service runs $4.99 per month or $44.99 for a one-year subscription. MotorTrend OnDemand provides an ad-free experience and access to numerous shows, such as “Fast N’ Loud” and “Top Gear America.“
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Automotive Myths Go Under the Microscope on ‘Motor Mythbusters’