“In the end, the crew added a lot of extra weight but didn’t even adjust the suspension to compensate,” Martino recalled. “So I felt like I was driving a boat, and with every small bump in the road, the tires would end up scraping the car.”
As a result, Martino claimed that he couldn’t drive his car after just one month following the show.
The LED Lights were Too Hot
Martino explained to HuffPost, "the LED lights would get really hot if left on so I couldn't use them while I was driving, besides that there were several issues with the car."
The crew ended up taking the gull-wing doors off as the pistons that were used to lift them, prevented them from putting seat belts in the back, which can be dangerous.
More Problems
Martino's problems with his ride didn't end there, though. He went on to say, "There wasn't any real improvement under the hood when it came to the actual mechanics of the car."
Martino continued, "It still needed a lot of work to make it a functioning car for a regular driver, and the crew didn't deliver."
A Brand New Engine
So, in the end, Martino had to buy a brand-new engine just to fix the issue. The show's executive producer, Larry Hochberg, spoke about what happened and said that these things can't be avoided, and there's not much you can do about it.
This meant taking MTV's very own tow truck to assist the former contestant.
Mechanical Issues
But Hochberg's thinking is that it's not accurate to say that they didn't work on the mechanics of the cars. Some of the cars were just so rusted and old that they were still going to have mechanical problems no matter how much work you put into them.
Dearinger and Glazier found themselves in a similar position to Martino, as they also had issues with their cars after the show.