Wheeler Dealers Best Deals from the USA

When scrolling through Craigslist on a quiet Sunday morning, many enthusiasts fancy themselves as being savvy enough to spot an automotive diamond in the rough, fix it up, go for a drive, and then sell the project for a little profit. Anyone who has ever seen the British show Wheeler Dealers knows that the process is seldom anywhere that easy, though.

Now entering the 12th season, hosts Mike Brewer and Edd China are returning to Velocity on Wednesday, August 26, at 9:00 PM Eastern and Pacific for a two-hour premiere for their new, all-American adventure. The fresh finds then keep coming over the next six weeks.

For the first time, the show is spending the entire season in the US with Mike tracking down bargain-priced classics here, and Edd doing the hard work to return them to the road. The duo are setting up headquarters in California and scouring the whole country for cool cars to make a profit on.

Things kick off with the extra-long episode to buy a Pontiac GTO in Chicago, and the goal is to make at least $10,000 on it after all the wrenching. From there, the projects run the automotive gamut, including episodes featuring the Datsun 240Z, DeSoto Firedome, Volkswagen Thing, Ford F-1 pickup, MGA, and the ignominious AMC Pacer. There’s a clunker in the mix, though, because one of this group is the guys’ worst loss ever on a sale.

With over 100 cars featured on Wheeler Dealers since 2003 and several of those even purchased in the US, Mike and Edd have had plenty of experience with American-sourced iron. To get revved up for the upcoming premiere, click through the gallery to see the six cars from these shores that the guys have made the highest profit on.

In one of their highest profits ever, the Wheeler Dealers crew made an amazing 20,220 pounds ($31,467 at current rates) on this red 1964 Chevrolet Corvette convertible. It's easy to see why such a beloved '60s sports car would be an easy sell, but the 'Vette definitely needed some help before changing hands. As seen in this video, it came fitted with the original hardtop but without the mechanism to fold the soft top. Mike had to take the roadster to some specialists to get the frame and fabric installed, and even that didn't go perfectly.

Chevy scores another slot among the top American-sourced earners on Wheeler Dealers with this 1968 Chevrolet Camaro SS. The guys made a profit of 8,970 pounds ($13,960 currently) on the blue muscle car. While Mike bought this performance machine in the US, it was sold in the UK. In a country full of modern, European vehicles, the new owner definitely wasn't afraid of standing out when purchasing this beautiful '60s Camaro.

Obviously, a 1967 Volkswagen T2 13-window van isn't an American car, but Mike did track down this bus in the US. With an 8,335-pound profit ($12,972), the guys certainly made money in accordance with the big vehicle's size.

Beyond the split-window front end, this T2 isn't like many that you see. Rather than a bright, pastel exterior, this one wears some sinister black and tinted windows. The color choice really makes the Transporter's trim pop out in handsome way, though. If there were ever a hippie, death metal band, this would be the perfect van for them.

The clip here show's Edd's jovial, initial reaction to checking out the Transporter, and he and Mike have a little debate about how best to revitalize it.

Wheeler Dealers went after a thoroughly classic piece of American iron from the '50s when the guys bought a 1957 Ford Thunderbird in the US and sold it in the UK. With a profit of 7,880 pounds (12,318 at current rates), the car didn't disappoint them either. 

While the T-Bird initially looks like a sports car with it's two-seat layout and relatively compact size for the time, the droptop isn’t meant to win at the track. Instead, this is the convertible for cruising around with a sweetie by your side. You can understand why a British buyer might want to tap into some of that classic Americana with a purchase like this.

When thinking of the iconic cars of the '80s, the DeLorean DMC-12 is undoubtedly somewhere on the list. Mike and Edd tracked down a 1981 example in the US and were able to make a tidy 5,785-pound (currently $9,004) profit off of it.

The Giugiaro-penned DeLorean really puts style far ahead of performance. The gullwing doors and bare, stainless steel body look like nothing else on the road – then or now. However, the V6 behind the driver doesn't provide anywhere near the neck-snapping thrust to bend time like the driver probably wants. These coupes appeal to a very specific group of buyers, and clearly Wheeler Dealers knows how to find them.

Edd had a lot of wrenching ahead of him when Mike drove up in a 1962 Cadillac Coupe de Ville, but the guys made a respectable 5,450-pound (currently $8,482) profit when they sold this land yacht in the UK. Cars this big are rare anywhere in the world these days, so the new owner could probably rent the Caddy out as a small apartment in England to recoup some of the cost.

This clip shows a brief example of Mike’s haggling ability and gives an idea of all of work necessary to restore this Coupe de Ville in the episode. Exterior parts for these behemoths weren’t easy to track down, and Mike had to go to a specialist yard in the desert to source them.