The reality TV show centers around a famous and unconventional automobile designer named Chad Hiltz, who is also nicknamed “Bad Chad”. Chad uses his uncommon creativity, which he draws from his wildest imaginings, to turn seemingly trivial objects into exceptional, low-budget custom and award-winning vehicles.
The show has a relatively-high production value, and with each episode, Chad applies his ingenuity and even showcases his innovative side through his raging mind. Chad’s atelier is in a small, isolated, and hand-built shop in a rural Canadian town called Canning. He mostly relied on his imagination and resourcefulness using only basic tools. He is famous for assembling everyday objects and scrap materials into his cars; this usually includes parts from boats, old lockers, or even airplanes.
With time, Chad was able to bring together a team of like minds to work on turning scraps into award-winning cars. Chad took his creativity quite seriously with the help of his tight-knit team.
The show also explored the relationship that existed between Chad and his son, Colton, who also shares an enthusiasm for cars and assemblage with his father. However, Colton and his father are usually at loggerheads over a lot of things, but the son shows a rather resolved disposition, and he appears determined to maintain the family’s legacy through the business and turn out some awesome custom sports cars and classic cars in the process.
Chad has now been able to turn his lifelong passion for customizing cars into a serious life fortune for himself. As a matter of fact, he prides himself on the concept of thrift, never wanting anything to go to waste and believing that no matter what, everything has a use, irrespective of how useless one might think it is. Chad has a quip that solidifies his thrift mentality that states, “why would I need to buy a welding wire when I can use a coat hanger?”
UPDATED NOVEMBER 2022: The article gets updated to review the information previously published and include any new and relevant news on this topic.
The Cast Of Bad Chad Customs Assemble
The cast on Bad Chad Customs is pretty unique, and viewers keep meeting new creative characters on the show. However, there are four main characters that stand out:
Chad Hiltz
Chad Hiltz uses unique techniques to create exceptional low-budget custom cars using scrap materials to replace conventional car parts. Chad typically exemplifies the “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” adage by using a creative approach to build cars out of materials that a lot of people would normally put to waste, and with the help of his team he has been able to continually live out his life-long dream.
Jolene
Jolene MacIntyre is Hiltz’ fiancée, shop manager and co-founder of Hiltz Auto Co. She has been with Chad from the inception of the show, through filming, production and touring car museums. She manages the business and was largely instrumental in helping Chad land the show’s deal with the Discovery Channel. She has also worked with Chad on quite a number of iconic cars, such as the 1939 Studebaker Commander and 1957 Cadillac Coupe DeVille.
Colton
Colton shares his father’s love for cars, he works with his dad as a full-time apprentice, and he also proceeded into the creation of custom cars. Chad was quite strict with Colton most times, but Colton is thick-skinned and never allows the pressure to get to him. He is more than eager to learn the workings of the family business.
Aaron
Aaron is a super talented and versatile builder for Hiltz Auto Co., and he works directly with Chad, Jolene, and Colton both in the shop and in the show's production.
The Production Details Of The Custom Car Show
The two seasons of Bad Chad Customs got produced for Discovery Channel by Love Productions. The executive producers of the show are Jake Laufer, Richard McKerrow, and Kevin Bartel. The co-executive producers of the show are Jeff Garcia and Tim Beers. It was also executive-produced by Craig Coffman and Kyle Wheeler while Brian Peterson produced the show.
Bad Chad Customs debuted in the United States on Tuesday, 1st of January on the Discovery Channel and the two seasons of filming took place in Chad’s shop in the tiny town of Canning, Nova Scotia, with a population of about 2,500 people. Season 1 featured six episodes, while the second season featured nine episodes, all full of awesome classic cars.
Final Thoughts On Car Magicians Bad Chad Customs
Bad Chad Customs is one of the world’s most versatile reality shows, and Chad Hiltz’ story is evidence that there is no such a thing as ‘too big of a dream”. Chad floored most notable artists when he entered into the entertainment scene with an automobile blend solely as a result of his incomparable ingenuity and revolutionary approach towards car rejuvenation.
Presently, Bad Chad Customs' custom build cars stand a chance to compete with most conventional brands; this is mainly because the brand focuses a lot on sustainability and is quite innovative in upgrading and revamping. The brand has gained ground despite a limited budget, and all in all, this show is a very entertaining watch.
Since the inception of Bad Chad Customs we have seen many cool builds and the trend for restoring, modifying and 'resto-modding' classic cars shows no sign of abating anytime soon.
For now, Bad Chad uploads regular videos to YouTube and content to Instagram where we can keep track of the family-run business and enjoy the product of their love and labor.
It remains to get seen if there will be more seasons via Discovery or other platforms but the project is a fun, sustainable and ongoing one.