What is the American Restoration All About?
American Restoration is a History Channel reality TV series, produced by Leftfield Pictures with its first six seasons shot in Las Vegas, Nevada. The show premiered on 25 October 2010 and revolves around the daily goings of Rick’s Restorations, which is an antique restoration store run by Rick Dale, the owner, his workers and also his teenage son. The team restores a variety of pieces to their former condition.
How the Show Came to Be, and Its First Six Seasons
The idea for this show started through Rick making appearances in another series named “Pawn Stars”. In this show, the cast was performing activities at their pawn store, however, from time to time, Rick Dale, an expert in vintage pieces, would be consulted for his expertise. He was their go-to individual whenever they needed to restore vintage items, and this was how Rick came up with the concept of “American Restorations”. The difference was that this show focused on his day-to-day activities of Rick Restorations, his own business, with the participants including Tyler Dale, his son Ron Dale, Rick’s brother Knowboy, also known as Kevin Lowery, Kelly Dale, Rick’s wife, Ted Hague, Brettly Otterman, Rick’s stepson Kyle Astorga, Niko, Dave and Chris among others.
Some “Pawn Stars” cast members have also appeared as guests in “American Restoration”, as well as other cast members from popular reality shows including “American Pickers” and “Counting Cars”. Some celebrities who have made appearances in the series include Lance Burton, Jason Mraz, Billy Joel and David Copperfield. Rick’s Restorations store is based in Las Vegas, and the owner has a metal artist and restoration experience that goes beyond 30 years. His team received vintage items from customers, and managed to restore many antique items such as vending machines, jukeboxes, barber’s chairs, gas pumps and motorcycles. As the show progressed, another segment known as Rick’s Tips was introduced, acting to answer what might be described as trivia questions, that related to restoration.
At any given time Rick’s Restorations undertook 12 projects, most brought into the store by customers. The team would then get to work on them, and sometimes reach out to freelance workers for assistance in some of the tasks, and to merchants for the required parts. Rick also purchases items from pickers, so that he can restore them for himself.
What did u think of last nights episode of #AmericanRestoration Truck Edition? #RicksRestorations @HISTORY @bedwoodandparts @Ford pic.twitter.com/oy3z2UD2Kk
— Rick Dale (@_RickDale_) November 12, 2018
The team has a limit to what they can easily restore, as there are certain considerations such as their financial restrictions. The show depicted everyone doing a great job, although they sometimes also encountered some difficulties while working as a team; the most affected people were Dale and his brother Ron.
Rick Dale Restoration Journey
When Rick was only nine years old, his father brought him an old bicycle to restore; his dad valued the pride that a person gets from doing a good job, and wanted his son to understand the same. After restoring the bike together, Dale loved riding it around his neighborhood. Later, Rick and his father built a soapbox, and from there he graduated to restoring motorcycles, a variety of vehicles, hot rods and finally gas pumps and Coke machines – these last items led him to start his own Rick’s Restorations business in Las Vegas.
Posted by Ricks Restorations on Thursday, December 6, 2018
The most challenging project that Rick had to work on was a motorized surfboard, which took him six months as the project had so many issues. Originally, customers would bring items that didn’t require extensive restoration, however, that has changed. Rick thinks that all the good things are long gone, and people now bring items that really test him, ranging from those that are rusted beyond repair, to components that require complete reassembly – Rick’s job has never been easy. Although having been at the business for three decades, Rick says that he still learns something new each day, but always loves what he does.
American Restoration Cast Fired, Was the Show Cancelled?
It came as a shock to the entire cast when the History Channel decided to alter the show’s format – Rick was fired along with his cast after the sixth season. There were rumors that the change was due to low ratings, and that Rick was not getting along with his clients, but it then took two years for History Channel to renew the show for the seventh season, and when the show resumed, the plot was still about restoring items, however, there were a number of stores where the action was taking place as opposed to just one shop. Whatever the case, Dale was not happy about everything, and went ahead to post a video of himself thanking his fans for their support and for watching the show; he literally had to hold back tears. His message also carried a hint of revenge – Dale asked his fans to go to the “American Restoration’s” website and air their grievances at the cast being fired. In the seventh season, Rick’s Restorations was replaced by five other businesses with each having a specific speciality. A new cast was brought in too. There is no news of the series’ eighth season yet. Although some people claim that the show was a fake, this might not be the case as Dale even had the pleasure of restoring items belonging to celebrities such as Jason Mraz and Billy Joel.
American Restorations Net Worth
Dale began his business Rick’s Restorations before History Television picked it up for a TV series. He was able to earn a fortune from this business and also from the “American Restorations” show. Reputable sources estimate the American Restorations net worth to be around $2.5 million, as of late 2018.
