Car SOS stars teary as ‘tough’ reveal sees guest reunited with car bought by late sister

Car SOS hosts Fuzz Townshend and Tim Shaw are set to return to our screens on Thursday night for the 13th season of the popular show.

The first episode sees Fuzz and Tim surprise Vanessa’s daughter Katie, who is unaware that her rusty Mazda MX-5, which has been left to decay on the driveway due to high restoration costs, is about to get a makeover.

In an emotional twist, it becomes clear that the car, affectionately named Clarence by Katie, holds significant sentimental value. Vanessa reveals: “She bought it with the money that her sister gave to her because her sister knew she was dying.”

Tim then asks: “So she gave some money to Katie to buy a car that would mean the two of them could just go off and have a sort of final hurrah?”

To which Vanessa confirms they did, but only briefly before Faye became very ill. She adds that the sisters were “two peas in a pod” and shared the same birthday, albeit 13 years apart.

With this in mind, the team face a challenging task to restore the rust-ridden vehicle that means so much to Katie. Audiences will need to tune in to see the transformation and Katie’s priceless reaction to the surprise, reports the Mirror.

During an exclusive chat with Reach PLC about the heartfelt journey of Car SOS’s 13th series, Fuzz and Tim delved into the emotional essence of the show. Tim shared: “It’s a show about people, that’s what we always say, Car SOS is not about cars! We are a show about people, and you know, that’s ultimately I think why we’re still here 13 years later!”

Discussing the challenge of capturing such poignant moments on film, Tim remarked: “It’s one of these things we have to detach from it or do our best to. At the beginning, when I do the interview, you know, I give Fuzz a rough rundown of what’s in store, what the story is.”

Reflecting on the pressure of restoring these treasured vehicles, Tim continued: “But I don’t go into too much depth because the reality is, in the early days, we used to get very nervous about working on these cherished cars and if you were just aware of how important it is, you’d wear kid gloves, things slow down, you’re a bit more careful. We’ve got a job to do!”

Emphasising the urgency behind their restorations, Tim added: “We’ve got to get these cars back on the road so people can enjoy them, you know, one thing is for sure, that is the clock is ticking, and the quicker we can get them done and back to people, particularly considering some of them are very unwell, you know, every day counts.

“But, here’s a little thing, on the way back, I always ring Fuzz or he rings me and he goes: ‘How are you doing, Tim?’ and I go: ‘Yeah, I’m alright’ and he goes: ‘Are you crying?’ and I go: ‘No!’ and he goes: ‘Neither am I [pretends to cry].’ You can always hear it in our voices, it’s very emotional but we’re very lucky to do it and we love our job.”

Fuzz then chimed in: “The other thing is, when we watch it back, it’s the same for us, when we watch it back, it’s a tough watch when it comes to those reveal moments and stuff. Then we get the time to breathe, watch and see what’s happening, it pulls on our heartstrings just as much.”

Discussing Thursday’s tear-jerking first episode, Fuzz went on: “Her sister gave her the means to buy that car and that little bit of time together in it. You can understand why she didn’t just get it picked up off her drive, that was a scrap car sitting there and it had gone beyond use and everything.

“It was great that her mum got in touch, she understood it meant something more and that her daughter, Katie, couldn’t chuck it away. So rather than chuck it away, bring it to us, we’ll have a go at it and hopefully she will have that car now forever. It may need restoration again in another 20 years time if she uses it loads but I’m hoping she gets to enjoy that for the rest of her days!”

New episodes of Car S.O.S can be seen every Thursday at 8pm on National Geographic channel from 13 March.