Nestled in the heart of the Shuswap in B.C.鈥檚 Interior lies a classic car lover鈥檚 dream: a sprawling collection of 400 iconic vehicles just waiting to be restored to their former glory as kings of the road.
It鈥檚 the collection of Mike Hall, a resident of the small community of Tappen near Salmon Arm, and it鈥檚 set to make a debut on the small-screen as the focus of the History Channel television show Rust Valley Restorers.
Mike Hall definitely stands out in the small community, getting his nickname, the 鈥淩asta Blasta,鈥� from his long blonde dreadlocks and his day-job blasting rock faces with explosives. His car collection ranges in condition from wrecked, rusted chassis housing valuable parts to near-mint collector鈥檚 pieces just needing a finishing touch.
The cars are as varied in their condition as they are in make and model.
Hall has been amassing this collection for 40 years, and has been looking for people interested in restorations to help offload some of the surplus. After making it public online that his massive collection was open for bidding, he soon found a flood of interest coming in which grabbed the attention of auto magazines and the online car community.
鈥淚 put my whole place up for sale, a 40-year collection of over 400 cars, and it kind of went nuts!鈥� he says. 鈥淚 had people calling me from England and the U.S., all over the world. I thought we had the place sold a few times to guys from Switzerland and the States. From that exposure, five or six people wanted to do a show with us.鈥�
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Following this, the collection was documented by several publications in the car community, such as Roadkill. When a viral video snowballed the popularity of the car collection, the idea of a television show came up at the beginning of 2018. After close to eight months of filming between the day job 鈥� blasting rocks with dynamite, Rust Valley Restorers is set to premiere Dec. 6 on the History Channel.
鈥淚t was definitely a different experience,鈥� comments Connor Hall, Mike鈥檚 son and business partner. 鈥淚t was a little weird getting used to having a camera in your face all the time.鈥�
Now in semi-retirement, Mike is taking this chance to live out his dream of restoring classic cars while Connor focuses on the family business.
鈥淏asically, I worked all year all over the province and I kept buying and buying. And then finally, I am 62 and I said 鈥榳hat am I going to do with 400 cars?鈥� My whole dream is I was going to retire and build cars, and that is the emphasis of the show: If not now, when?鈥� Mike says. 鈥淚 have seen my buddies who collect cars and run into health problems and their family is left with a bunch of stuff they don鈥檛 want or need, and I don鈥檛 want to do that to my wife and kids because they will curse me for eternity! So I figured, let鈥檚 build the place, start the show and give it a shot.鈥�
While also featuring as a fixture on Rust Valley Restorers, Connor is also busy with the rock-blasting business.
鈥淢y dad sits at home and plays with his cars and I go to work and make him the money to afford to do so,鈥� Connor jokes.
Some of the cars which feature on the show were restored for clients, while others were done out of a labour of love. Without spoiling anything too much, Mike noted they worked on everything from a 1940s-era Dodge Power Wagon to big block Chevelles, learning on the fly just how complex it was all going to be.
鈥淭here are always more problems than you can prepare for. It鈥檚 like unravelling a sweater, you just want to pull that one out- of-place thread and then you look down and you have 500 feet of yarn at your feet,鈥� Mike says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been an extreme learning curve. They say you can鈥檛 buy experience but it鈥檚 very expensive to obtain, and I got a lot of expensive experience this year.鈥�
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Despite the huge size of the collection, both Mike and Connor can agree on something they would love to have to round out their collection: a 1957 to 鈥�67 split-window Corvette. And, while most of the collection is open for new owners, Mike stands firm on a few of his all-time favourites.
鈥淚n 400 cars there is some gems and some granite boulders, and when people come to buy the gems sometimes I am like Charleton Heston: you will have to pry it from my cold, dead hands,鈥� Mike says. 鈥淓ven if I don鈥檛 drive some of my cars, I just look at them and it puts a huge grin on my face. Even if it never moves, I can just go and rub the hood. It鈥檚 a weird thing.鈥�
The majority of the show is set in and around Tappen, and both Mike and Connor are happy to get the chance to showcase their community to the world, incorporating some of their friends and other local collectors into the mix as well.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 cool we are doing something here. You watch TV and all you see is these car shows in Las Vegas or California or down south in the U.S., but they don鈥檛 have anything in Canada,鈥� Connor says.
However, both Mike and Connor note that it鈥檚 tough to stay low-key about their latest project in the little town of Tappen.
鈥淚 get called Hollywood about 10 times a day,鈥� Connor says with a laugh.
鈥淚t is getting kind of freaky. I can鈥檛 go anywhere in Tappen without people making jokes like 鈥榟ey, there goes the superstar,鈥欌�� Mike adds. 鈥淚 just say, don鈥檛 worry, I am not going to change, I am always going to be the same a**hole I always was.鈥�
Rust Valley Restorers premieres Thursday, Dec. 6 at 10 p.m. PST on the History Channel.
Interested in new or used vehicles? Visit today!
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