I recently got to speak to the one and only Danny “The Count” Koker from HISTORY’S Counting Cars. I have to admit, I had a slight crush on the man before the call, but he was so much fun to talk to, I’m a wee bit in love with him. 😉 He’s a cool guy, a genuinely nice guy, and he absolutely blows me away every time I see him on TV, whether it’s giving his opinion about a car on Pawn Star$ or on his show, stopping someone on the street to look at their car and make an offer or restoring an old junker.
Danny spoke a little bit about what’s coming up this season, including whether or not his money man will be able to keep his cool. (Just as an FYI, I like Scott. I always find him amusing, and you gotta feel for the dude, having to rein in Danny’s excitement and open wallet sometimes. 😉 )
Jump with me to read everything he had to say.
Q: Can you give us a bit about what’s coming up on season two of Counting Cars? Does Scott blow a gasket (so to speak) this season?
Danny Koker: Scott blows a gasket on a semi-regular basis. His neck looks like a California road map almost daily when the veins start poppin’ out, but you know… I think this season, the fans are actually going to get to know Scott a little bit better and find out—I get this all the time. People are like, “Why in the world do you let him talk to you that way. You’re the boss. Why do you have him in your shop? You shouldn’t deal with that.” He definitely is a yeller and a screamer, I get that. But this season, you’re gonna get to know Scott a little bit more and people are gonna understand a little bit better as to who Scott is and why I have him here. He’s a very valuable part to my organization, but yeah, he blows a gasket a couple of times, but he holds it together, too. You’ll learn more about Scott in season two, that’s for sure, in a positive way.
Q: What else can we expect to see [in season two]?
Danny: You’re gonna see some great stuff. Season one was thirteen episodes, and the network stepped it up, and season two is twenty-six episodes. So we’ve been working very hard to get all of these episodes done. But also, if you loved season one, you’re gonna love season two because we’ve stepped up our game here at the shop. We’ve built some amazing vehicles in season two. To me, the vehicles are the stars of the show, so there’s some cars, there’s some bikes that you guys are gonna see in season two that I think are just unbelievable and I’m so proud of them. There’s some great, great stories, great back-line stories, behind the vehicles themselves, so there’s some really good stuff coming up. In episode one of season two, there’s a car—I’m not gonna say what it is. I don’t want to spoil anything.—but there’s a car in that episode that I just…absolutely poured myself into and I’m just so proud of this car, so I really want people to check that out.
Q: One of the most touching stories in season one was the husband who had the work done on his car and you guys did the special art on the glove box for his wife, who was going through cancer. It was so heartwarming.
Danny: It’s kind of a crazy thing that’s kind of happened with this show. It’s about my business, it’s about how the business operates, and then it’s about the transformation for these cars from Point A to Point B and then where they go, but what we didn’t realize was gonna happen—what the producers didn’t realize, what I didn’t realize, what the production team and even the network didn’t realize—was the fact that there’s so much of a human interest behind these vehicles that seems to be coming to light and seems to be happening during the course of the restoration, and the stories on these vehicles… We’re finding out about the people that own them and the things that they’re dealing with in their lives. It’s really been fascinating as to how much of a human interest side there is to this show. It’s not just a car show. It’s not just about motorcycles. It’s not just about cars. It’s not just about the business. It’s about the people behind it all…and again, during season two, I’ve gotta say, we’ve hooked across some very interesting people with some very interesting stories, so you’re gonna see some cool stuff along with the great cars and the great bikes. You’re gonna meet some cool people along the way.
Q: What’s your favorite restoration or transformation on any car you’ve ever worked on?
Danny: That is a really hard question. Over the years, I’ve built a 1967 Cadillac hearse for myself that’s kind of set up like a limousine. It made an incredible transformation from this pile of garbage that it started off as to just an amazing car right now. That one comes out in my mind. That GTO in season one that I still have kept for myself… It’s just absolutely…it’s just beautiful. It’s insane. I built a 1932 Ford Five-Window Chop Top High Boy Coupe that I’m awfully proud of as well. Man, throughout the years, there’s a lot of them, but those are a few that stick out in my mind for sure.
Q: If you could pick one car that you’ve never restored that you’d really like to, what would it be?
Danny: I would love to get my hands on a Mako Shark Corvette. It’s based on the C3 Corvettes—and that would be the Corvettes from 1968-1982—which is that Coke-bottle curvy body shape. There was a show car that inspired that body style of Corvette that General Motors did, and it was referred to as the Mako Shark. Then there was a company called Baldwin-Motion that built aftermarket bodies to build a Mako Shark. I would love to build a Mako Shark Corvette, so if somebody out there has a C3 Mako Shark Corvette, I’m all ears.
Q: I know you’re a busy guy, but do you have time to watch any TV? If so, what’s your favorite show?
Danny: I really rarely ever, ever, ever get the chance to watch any television—It’s the God’s honest truth—but… When I do watch TV, I’m addicted to The Walking Dead and I’m addicted to South Park. Those are my two television vices right there.
Danny had one more thing to say to the fans:
Danny: I appreciate everybody watching and enjoying the show. We’ve met some really cool people throughout the course of this, and it’s just exciting. So thank you very, very much. I appreciate it.
Thanks again to Danny for taking the time to speak with me. Check him out on Twitter @DannyCountKoker, and don’t forget to check out the season premiere of Counting Cars tonight on HISTORY at 9/8c, followed by a 2nd new episode at 9:30/8:30c.
– Jenny
***NOTE: Danny Koker does not and WILL NOT read comments posted for this interview. If you wish to contact him, you need to use his web site: Count’s Kustoms.***
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