Diesel Brothers’ New Series Mixes Junkyard Wars, Top Gear, and More

Mike Schlee
by Mike Schlee

For those of you, like me, that are a certain age, you may remember the television gold that was Junkyard Wars. Called Scrapheap Challenge in its homeland of the United Kingdom, Scrapyard Wars was syndicated to North American viewers, and it was some of the finest television for those who loved anything mechanical and/or getting their hands dirty.


Essentially, the show pitted teams against each other with a weekly goal of creating a mechanical contraption to complete a task or series of tasks. The catch? The teams could only scour a carefully stocked, on-set junkyard to gather supplies and resources. Of course, depending on the challenge, some key items were planted within the scrapheap, but for the most part, it was ingenuity, Macgyver solutions, and cobbled together monstrosities that would win the day.

Scrapyard Kings

An international hit, the show caught the attention of millions of fans around the world, including the Diesel Brothers. Stars of the televisions show featuring the same name, David "Heavy D" Sparks and David "Diesel Dave" Kiley have been making videos on YouTube for several years to an audience of 4.38 million subscribers. Their content ranges from rescuing heavy machinery, creating intricate vehicle builds, assisting in a whole range of search and rescue efforts, and purchasing goods sight unseen.


Now the two friends are creating a new series, taking elements from a variety of television shows and YouTube content. Called Scrapyard Kings, three teams are tasked with creating vehicles to complete three challenges on land, water, and air.

Combining the Best of Worlds

The three teams have a set budget to purchase a vehicle initially, which is a format Top Gear made popular and seemingly every automotive YouTube channel has followed since. The teams then scavenge the junkyard for bits and pieces to make their vehicles more adept at tackling the various challenges. That’s where Junkyard Wars comes in.


Finally, the teams build their monsters at their home-bases using the bits scrounged up. This part feels a bit like Monster Garage, in the sense of taking one mechanical contraption and repurposing it for another mission. In fairness, I could probably list a dozen shows/series with the same basic formula though.

Watch Now, or Watch Later

For those interested in learning more, or checking out the new series, you can visit Spark Motors Official website and become a VIP member to watch all episodes now. Or, if you like suspense and saving a few dollars, it’s possible to watch each episode on HeavyDSparks YouTube channel, with new episodes dropping each Sunday.


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Mike Schlee
Mike Schlee

A 20+ year industry veteran, Mike rejoins the AutoGuide team as the Managing Editor. He started his career at a young age working at dealerships, car rentals, and used car advertisers. He then found his true passion, automotive writing. After contributing to multiple websites for several years, he spent the next six years working at the head office of an automotive OEM, before returning back to the field he loves. He is a member of the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC), and Midwest Automotive Media Association (MAMA). He's the recipient of a feature writing of the year award and multiple video of the year awards.

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