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Gotham Garage gives a forgotten old Chevy wagon a hot rod twist and embarks on an exciting upgrade and trade deal.

Gotham Garage is an entertainment show first, and a car show second; which is why despite making a lot of cringe-worthy cars, they are still one of the most watched automobile shows on Netflix. And we hate to admit it, but the cringe-worthiness is balanced out by the colorful drama put forth by the Gotham Garage family.

In the first episode, we saw a rather interesting zero-money build using a 1928 Essex and an out-of-the-comfort-zone build with a track-spec Porsche-powered Elite Laser 917. The team, still dry on cash, come up with a plan to do an upgrade and trade deal to get some money into the shop, as their concept car-and-bike duo is still gathering dust in the storage! Shawn gets hold of the perfect customer who happens to be a salvage car space owner.

Mark and his team come up with a plan to build a nostalgic car for the guy using a 1950s Chevy wagon. And by wooing him with a desirable build, they plan on swapping it for some pretty cool American classic cars. The Gotham Garage team manages to transform a rusty old skeleton of a Chevrolet wagon into a desirable hotrod classic machine. And they manage to trade it for two very interesting cars.

Gotham Garage gives a forgotten old Chevy wagon a hot rod twist and embarks on an exciting upgrade and trade deal.

The '57 Chevy Wagon was a cool-vibe machine from a time when wagons and muscle cars were on the same page. And the Handyman wagon was known for its cool appeal. It was the go-to family wagon with a statement, during the 50s. And the best part is that it was also offered in a two-door variant (just like what the Gotham Garage crew) has at hand.

This is one of those wagons that can be a soccer-mom machine during weekdays but also help dad look cool with his buddies on the weekends. So, Mark and his team come up with the idea to transform this left-for-dead wagon into a hot-rod creation with a Gotham Garage twist.

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By now you might be familiar with the fact that a Chevy big block is almost always the choice of rumble for custom-builds on Car Masters: Rust to Riches. It makes sense due to the easy availability and added drama without intensive effort. The 454 big blocks by Chevy churn out in the range of 230-255 hp and 385-405 lb-ft of torque.

But the Gotham Garage team wanted more drama. And so, they slapped on a Fi Velocity-stack intake manifold for a more interesting package. Apart from the engine, the team packed on fairly original mechanical components to pack an old-school vibe. The hot-rod wagon was lowered by a bit to give it the perfect stance.

There was nothing on the inside. Most of the body panels and flooring had been eaten up by rust. The team had to cut major parts out and weld on new sheet metal. It sure was a very intense method of reviving a wagon that was nothing more than a rust bucket.

The interior was given a complete custom makeover with three sets of bench seats. The third row was given a Gotham-Garage twist by making it a jump seat. The cabin was wrapped in white upholstery with custom stitching, and the dash was also given a clean yet classic makeover.

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This car was specifically built to woo a salvage space owner and so the exterior was given a classic makeover. Mark painted this hot-rod wagon in a desirable two-tone red-and-white which instantly teleported you to the cool 50s. Loads of shiny new chrome were added because as Mark says "you can never go wrong with chrome".

All of this combined with a cool set of custom wheels completely the cool factor of this 1957 Chevy Handyman Wagon by Gotham Garage. After the job was done, it was truly impressive to see a rusty old skeleton being transformed into a desirable hot-rod wagon.

This was one of those custom-builds where the only details known about the proposed buyer was that he was "nostalgic" about the wagon. Mark and his team used their creative freedom to the fullest, and we must say that this happens to be one of the few desirable builds by Gotham Garage in Season 4.

Mark and Shawn transport the wagon to the salvage ground and show Mark (the salvage yard owner) their creation. Initially, upon reaching the automobile graveyard, Mark Towle was skeptical as he couldn't see any desirable American metal in the vicinity. All he could see were modern machines.

This got him tensed. But when the salvage Mark was overwhelmed after seeing the build, he took them behind closed gates to show a whole different world of American muscle and other interesting stuff. Mark Towle accepts that he was wrong to judge the book by its cover. The Gotham Garage team filtered down on a 1969 Camaro, a 1962 Caddy, and a land speed record machine.

They wanted all three, but the salvage yard owner was not willing to let go of the Camaro. So, they pitched in a cash deal and two trade cars which the salvage Mark happily accepted. So, the Gotham Garage team was able to flip the hot-rod station wagon for a cash deal of $14,500 and two desirable American creations - a '62 Caddy that was in pretty good shape, and an interesting 250 mph land speed record car.

Tijo is an engineer, mechanic, and an avid content creator. He is a grease-monkey who loves tinkering with automobiles every now and then, when not busy penning down his passion for them. He has always had a soft spot for JDM and is keen on diving deep in for anything that involves wheels and engines.