Although in the past decade the niche of car-centered reality shows was seemingly crowded, this genre surprisingly continues to attract audiences nowadays. As an indicator, we have “Graveyard Carz”, the MotorTrend’s show which not only makes sure to let us know that people are pretty much still interested in seeing car restorations on TV, but also keeps the love for Mopars alive.
Nonetheless, despite the show’s popularity and having a stable spot on TV for years, the most loyal part of “Graveyard Carz” audience has been worried about the show’s future, and whether or not a cancellation is in store for it.
So whatever happened to “Graveyard Carz”? Is it still on TV? What about the cast? Keep with us to discover the answers to these and more!
What Happened To The Show?
To say the entertainment industry is constantly changing is an understatement.
Regardless of their apparent popularity, a lot of TV shows see their end coming just too soon, whether because of production issues, problems with the cast, or simply for not turning out to be as successful as expected, usually as evidenced by low audience numbers.
Though we know that this is not the case with “Graveyard Carz”, the fact it’s been on air for so long understandably worries people that a cancellation might be near. It was especially alarming when the show took several months off-air following the wrapping-up of its 12th season in August 2020, a rare occurrence compared to previous seasons which were aired with just a couple of months in between.
While there’s no official explanation as to why the show was on a nhiatus, the good news is that two brand new seasons of “Graveyard Carz” premiered on MotorTrend in 2021. Both seasons contained 13 episodes, and the filming of another series has also been announced.
All in all, it’s relieving to see that not only is the show still on air, but also that its end seems unlikely for the time being.
Why Was The Show Revamped?
No matter how popular a show might be, a couple of changes here and there are always necessary to keep audiences well entertained and ratings high. While that tactic doesn’t work all the time, for some shows it’s the right call to secure its spot on TV for years to come.
Although for new viewers it might not be as evident, the truth is that “Graveyard Carz” was quite different during its first five seasons. As it happens, filming only one season used to take almost a year to complete, due to the shop’s work schedule being limited to only weekends, besides the production putting too much focus on the casts’ personal endeavors.
Though that formula served “Graveyard Carz” for years, leaving aside important aspects of the shop’s staff work as restorers wasn’t necessarily the best way to go for a show which was supposedly centered on bringing automobiles back to life.
https://twitter.com/graveyardcarz/status/1400575286823972867
So in 2016, Mark Worman and his production team revamped “Graveyard Carz” to give mopar-heads what they really wanted.
The results couldn’t be better. Filming times were greatly improved by leaving out unnecessary personal scenes, besides attracting more viewers who were looking for actual car-restoration content. All in all, it was a risky move, but a smart one.
The Beginning
As with most guys in the car business, Mark Worman’s involvement with the said industry was just meant to be. At only 14 years old, he was already so passionate about cars that he spent the two following years flipping burgers and delivering papers to be able to finally buy an orange 1970 Dodge Charger himself, taking the first step into becoming a Mopar guy.
Even back then Mark’s Charger was rare in his town, as was his cousin’s Barracuda. That’s how they ended up taking pride in how their cars made them stand out from the rest: ‘Our cars were the oddballs, a lot like us.
And we were different, and the Mopars were too, so it was a good match,’ as he affirmed to the online blog Dream Big.
At 23 years old, Mark founded the workshop we nowadays know as Welby’s Car Care Center. The business started from the bottom, since Mark still had a long way to go when it came to mechanics, memorizing the body parts through old manuals, and from working on other cars, eventually giving shape to his business as a shop specialized in Mopasr.
Where Did The Show’s Concept Come From?
It’s normally assumed that behind every TV show, there’s a huge, million dollar-supported production team doing all the hard work. However, this isn’t the case with “Graveyard Carz”, as its cast has always been heavily involved with its creation.
As it happens, it all started with a 1971 Plymouth Barracuda a client wanted Mark to restore. The car was in a pretty rough shape and after a lot of deliberation, he went on to build it basically from zero, while filming the entire process with a cheap camera and microphone.
The 1968 movie “Night of the Living Dead” is where the whole concept of bringing cars back to life comes from.
Although the concept was clearly smart and undeniably creative, Mark didn’t have it easy. The pilot was rejected so many times with the argument that a niche show about Mopars didn’t have a potential audience, so Mark was left to found his own company, Division Productions to film the show by himself, making it more appealing by making it entirely high definition.
An Australian distributor was the first to buy the show’s first season for $500 each episode, but MotorTrend eventually picked it up. Nowadays, Mark’s production company has the show’s entire ownership and creative control.
The Show’s Success
Not long after its premiere in 2012, “Graveyard Carz” achieved top spot on MotorTrend’s most watched shows list. Though nowadays the hype about the show has evidently toned down, that doesn’t mean there are no viewers loyally following the show, season after season.
Although getting a hold of how well “Graveyard Carz” is doing ratings-wise is difficult, social media numbers tell us everything we need to know. While the show is not very active on Twitter with barely 20,000 on it, its very active Facebook page is followed by over three million fans, and their YouTube channel is considered a success too, with 80,000 subscribers and almost 15 million views of their videos.
Besides listing several top brands as their sponsors, “Graveyard Carz” is popular enough to sell its own merchandise. As seen on their website, hoodies, tops, diecasts and even pendants are available for sale, making it clear that whatever “Graveyard Carz” is doing, they’re doing it right.
Where’s The Cast Now?
Mark Worman
Regardless of his popularity, Mark Worman has a very toned-down lifestyle. Unlike some other reality stars, Mark doesn’t try to parade as a celebrity, and his social media is nothing over the top, keeping him away from creating public pages for his fans, and barely becoming active on Instagram in late 2021.
His humble and somewhat passive attitude off-camera is unsurprising though, as Mark has always been more of an action-oriented type of guy. Since his early days, Mark wasn’t very into the academic side of things, never finishing high school, but instead getting his studies certifications through a General Educational Development test.
However, his lack of will to pursue a formal education didn’t demean his knowledge of mechanics. As admitted by himself, his passion for cars made learning everything about them easy, regardless of complexity: ‘One I realized it was almost a science to memorize these numbers and parts and codes, I really dove into it,’ he told the website Racing Junk.
Fast forward to the present – Mark is generally the same results-oriented guy. Though his company Division Productions hasn’t expanded to other fields, Mark is seemingly busy enough managing Welby’s Car Care Center, while continuing with “Graveyard Carz”.
Allysa Rose
Being both Mark’s daughter and a recurring cast member in the show since the start surely makes Allysa Rose unforgettable. Though you might be used to seeing her surrounded by muscle cars, Allysa was more interested in dancing while growing up, than getting her hands dirty with cars.
For some reason or another, she joined her father’s shop and was seen doing paint jobs and mechanical works on the Mopars during the show’s premiere season. She took a break from “Graveyard Carz” for almost two years before making her return in the fourth season, but nowadays she’s more of a researcher for Welby’s than an apprentice.
While she still goes by the surname Rose on social media, it’s been almost a decade since she divorced Josh Rose, who was her former co-star and father of her first daughter. In fact, in July 2021 she married Chris Wanke, with whom she had been in a relationship since 2013, and has welcomed two daughters.
All in all, Allysa’s life seems to be better than ever.
Royal Yoakum
Audiences know Royal Yoakum very well for many good reasons. Not only is he one of the original cast of “Graveyard Carz”, but he’s also Worman’s best buddy. While his quiet and calm demeanor is a rare occurrence in a reality show, the truth is that Royal’s predisposition to help his co-workers even when it doesn’t have to do with his job as a carpenter, definitely makes him a fan favorite.
However, if you haven’t been up to date with “Graveyard Carz” and happened to take a look on Royal’s official Facebook page, you might be disappointed to discover that it hasn’t been updated in a long while, added to the fact he’s impossible to find on any other platform. However, there’s nothing to worry about, as Royal was still a recurring star when “Graveyard Carz” 14th season premiered in mid-2021, making it an unlikely possibility that he would leave the series anytime soon.
Will Scott
Though Will Scott didn’t join “Graveyard Carz” until its fifth season, his impressive work in Welby’s made up for it. The audience easily recognizes his outstanding skills as the shop’s painter, a work just as necessary to bring Mopars back to life as the mechanical aspect of it is. Though his debut in the show might have been surprising back in 2016, what most people don’t know is that Will had been working in Welby’s long before the show featured him.
Fortunately for all of those who admire Will’s work, he’s still in “Graveyard Carz” today. More than that, he’s particularly active on Instagram, and even attends some high-profile car events like the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) from time to time.
Regarding the personal side, Will only let’s his followers know what’s necessary. Though it’s known he has an adult daughter, there’s not much information about his past marriage, but he’s nowadays in a stable relationship with Heather Jones, with whom he welcomed daughter Layla Adalina in early 2020.
Dave Rea
Though Dave Rea’s debut in the show raised a lot of eyebrows by how sudden the change of cast seemed, the audience of “Graveyard Carz” quickly warmed to him. However, the charm came to a halt when he left the series just as quickly as he joined it, barely staying in it for 21 episodes.
Despite being in the show for such a brief time, many viewers wonder about his whereabouts. Although not a lot regarding his personal life has been revealed, it’s known that he owns the Mopar-restoration shop DB Restorations.
Where Are Daren and Josh Now?
It’s sad when a star of our favorite TV shows leaves it, but it’s especially disheartening when they do it without explanation. This describes what “Graveyard Carz” audience felt when they tuned in the show’s fourth season to find out that Daren Kirkpatrick and Josh Rose were no longer in it.
Though not a lot is known about both men’s professional endeavors nowadays, their exit from the show was quite messy. In an interview with Racing Junk in 2015, Mark Worman affirmed that he felt ‘refreshed’ after letting them go: ‘Daren and Josh made me miserable and that was reflected in everything I did’.
Mark also added a couple of not-so-kind remarks about the so-called “clinker twins”, describing them as ‘lunatics’ for their tendency to cause arguments in the show. While his declarations weren’t well taken by part of the audience, Mark also affirmed the change was an opportunity to make “Graveyard Carz” a more car-centered show than it was before, due to the unnecessary drama his former employees supposedly caused.
Was Mark’s doing the right way to go about this topic? We won’t really know, but it’s clear that his idea to revamp the show to please motor-heads and Mopar fans alike has turned out well, as the series is as popular as ever.
