This Is The Real Story Behind Junkyard Empire (2024)

The Junkyard Empire is yet another reality car show on Discovery’s Motor Trend channel and has been going on since 2015, with season five having aired in 2020, from January to February. Post that, there has been no news about the show, although with the current world scenario having been altered because of the pandemic, plenty of such shows are in flux.

The show focuses on the comings and goings of Damascus Motors based in Maryland, run by the father-son duo of Bobby and Andy Cohen (no relation to the talk show host).

There are some fans of the show, sure, but there are people who have pointed out that the show follows little to no safety regulations when it comes to the workshops. Is the show meant for the true motorhead or is it little more than tons of drama edited nicely to look like a car show? Frankly, the jury is still out there because you’d find both fans and foes.

If you do want to know more about the show, here’s what we could dig up about the Damascus Motors’ based Junkyard Empire, and the story behind it...

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The Origin Of The Show Is A Campfire Story

The show is produced by Half Yard Productions and the way it came about is also rather interesting. Apparently, the co-CEO and executive producer at Half Yard Production, Sean Gallagher befriended Andy Cohen at an Indian Princess camp out for kids. Cohen would tell great stories at the campfire and his gift of the gab is what made Gallagher decide to make a show around him.

It did take a while for the team to develop the show and its plotlines and they shot multiple pilot episodes till finally in 2015, Discovery’s then Velocity (now renamed Motor Trend) decided to give it a go, and Junkyard Empire went online in 2015.

The premise of the show is based on the real-life stuff Andy and his dad, Bobby Cohen do at Maryland’s Damascus Motors and Cohen's Recycling – a junkyard-cum-car workshop. Here, the duo digs out car corpses from the junkyard and turns them into automotive beauties that come to life. The cars are then sold, for a profit, of course.

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The Father-Son Tend To Clash, For Real

Bobby Cohen opened the junkyard almost half a century ago, with a dream of setting up a business for the family. That said; his idea of work is definitely more relaxed and laidback than his son, who wants everything, and usually wants it yesterday.

But Andy Cohen comes with plenty of business acumen, and it’s under his steady push that Damascus Motors has turned into an automotive restorer as well, and they do independent work as well as take on paid projects by people who want a classic car, and simply their idea of a restored dream ride.

Bobby and Andy keep on clashing on the screen, although by the end of each project, their differences seem to magically melt away at the thought of another car brought back to life, considering it can earn them a tidy profit as well.

For many of its watchers, sometimes, the show is a bit too theatrical and shows drama where it is not needed. According to Andy, the banter is all real, and it’s how they are in real life, even some viewers find him being too harsh on his dad. Either way, their net worth today, is definitely in the millions, and that’s a cool thing for this father-and-son duo to brag about even if some viewers feel that the actual motor work shown on the show is not as real as they try to make it to be.

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Is The Show Renewed, Or Cancelled?

There are one too many car TV shows in recent days, and yet an ample amount of them is neither here nor there. Most of them are doing well but post 2020, many of these shows are hanging in the balance. There has been no news about the renewal or cancellation of them, and a lot of it is being blamed on the COVID-19 pandemic and how it has made shooting for reality TV very difficult.

Will there be another Junkyard Empire season? We do not know, but till the time news of cancellation comes in, no one can really say for sure. We do know that the show has expanded the business of the Cohens, and has made the erstwhile Cohen Recycling expand into Damascus Motors and more.

The father-and-son duo may clash, but both have the best interests of their business at heart. And they have become quite the mini-celebrities as well, with Andy Cohen spotted at a recent Barrett Jackson auction, signing autographs for keen fans with a smile.

So clearly, whether we see Junkyard Empire back on the screen with new episodes or a season, or not, the show at Damascus Motors will definitely continue. And by now, Andy Cohen has amassed quite the car collection for himself as well, so do we see the business expand to new avenues? Time will tell…

Sources:Washingtonian, MotorTrend

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