FILE PHOTO - From left to right: Avery Shoaf, Mike Hall and Connor Hall are the stars of History Channel's Rust Valley Restorers.

Image Credit: Corus Enterainment Inc.

“It was a gong show.”

That’s how Rust Valley Restorers’ host Mike Hall described the scene of roughly 500 broken down cars being removed from his Shuswap property.

Mike Hall became a local celebrity back in 2017 when he tried to sell his five-acre parcel of land in Tappen, known as his “field of dreams.” The catch? It was filled with more than 500 cars Hall had collected in the last 40 years.

Born in Saint Boniface, Manitoba, Hall moved to Kamloops as a kid after his dad got a job with CP Rail. A backyard in Kamloops is where his car collection first began to evolve and expand.

An auction was held in October to sell off the cars since his “field of dreams” had sold. Eight months ago, Hall began to reflect, being nearly 65, that he didn’t want to leave behind the field and his cars and dream to his family.

“It was bittersweet. It was the biggest financial gamble I’ve ever done in my life. I took a pretty good licking on some of the cars and some of the cars I made out better than I expected but I was supposed to keep 10 cars and I ended up keeping 60,” he said.

The 60 are what Hall considers “the cream of the crop” and said you’ll have to watch the show to see which ones are left.

READ MORE: Rust Valley Restorers host finally selling his 500 cars, Shuswap property

The TV show Rust Valley Restorers stars Hall, better known as the Rasta Blasta for his dreadlocks and rock stabilization business, and his team of auto mechanics. In each episode they take broken-down cars and restore them to their former glory.

Mike Hall said they’re still wrapping up filming for season 4 but didn’t know when the new season will air. The official date for the new season has not yet been announced. Whether there will be a season five of the show has also yet to be announced.

Some of the cars on the property Mike Hall sold.

(BRENDAN KERGIN / iNFOnews.ca)

Attracting a massive fan base for its unique approach to restoration, Rust Valley Restorers is a Top 10 program amongst men ages 25 to 54, according to Corus Studios, which owns the History Channel.

Hall still owns the shop and roughly three acres of property where he will store and continue to work on the cars he's kept.

“It’s not like I’m carless but I mean, we shipped those cars across the country, down into California and New York State. It was sad to see them go, but if I’ve been dragging a car around for 40 years and haven’t built it, when am I going to do it?” Hall said.

“The hardest part was after that auction, spending the next 30 days loading them out of the mud in the field of dreams.”

In between filming, he’s been blasting in Tumbler Ridge, helping CN Rail following flooding.

“It’s unbelievable," he said. "People who don’t believe in global warming — go look at the Coquihalla.”

It's been difficult to get certain supplies amid COVID-19 and supply chain disruptions. 

“For a simple part you could be waiting for two months,” he said, adding they’ll likely be wrapped up filming somewhere between the end of December to the middle of January.

“I don’t think we’ve been finished once before the first episode aired so the pressure’s on,” Hall said.

Watch Rust Valley Restorers on Amazon's StackTV, Netflix and on the History Channel in Canada and Motor Trend in the U.S.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Carli Berry or call 250-864-7494 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. 

News from © iNFOnews, 2021