YouTuber’s Famous Lambo is Every Restorer’s Nightmare
Tight deadlines and a demanding fleet won’t sink him, but his situation is an important lesson in moderation.
YouTube is filled with dedicated automotive channels devoted to expensive car collections. Some of those channels are operated by individuals independently wealthy of the streaming site. Freddy “Tavarish” Hernandez is not one of those people. Given his popularity, it’s a foregone conclusion that he’s earned quite a bit of money from his channel. The thing is, anyone can get in over their heads, even successful YouTubers.
Hernandez obviously isn’t near financial ruin, but his latest video shows how quickly project cars can eat into your budget. Car enthusiasts of all stripes have their ideal fantasy garage, but what happens when you’re able to make your dreams come true? A lot, it turns out. And for Hernandez, his projects might be too numerous in number to complete. His latest video shows off the Lamborghini prominently featured in The Fate of the Furious and his efforts to restore it to showroom condition. It’s ultimately an expensive journey that should be a lesson to car collectors of all stripes.
Before getting into the wallet-destroying state of the Murcielago, Hernandez takes viewers on a tour of his garage. First up is his fire damaged 1995 Ferrari F355 Spider. The Ferrari exists as a shell because it needs a significant amount of body work. Hernandez will be working with a partner to graft the hardtop of another F355 onto it.
If fixing a heavily scorched Ferrari while simultaneously converting it to a hard top sounds crazy, it’s because it is. But the car itself is already far beyond what any claims adjuster would deem salvageable. That gives Hernandez a bit more leeway to do what he wants with it. His friend is coming onboard because Hernandez wants someone at his side to double check everything they do. This particular project is fairly involved even by YouTube standards and it will be interesting to see if he can actually complete it.
Hernandez also talks about his 2004 Bentley Continental GT. “We ended up breaking a bunch of bolts because galvanic corrosion is a thing. When you use disparate metals they tend to break off.” His situation should be familiar to any gear head. Hernandez is committed to finishing all the outstanding work on the Bentley because he wants to sell it. Before that can happen he needs to install the new (to him) engine he purchased and mate it to the transmission, a process that includes the installation of a whole bunch of solenoids, sensors, and motor mounts. “This car is one of the hardest cars I’ve ever worked on.” As it relates to the Bentley, Hernandez is in for a penny, in for a pound, but hopefully not for long.
Hernandez then takes viewers to his 1995 Toyota Supra. Unlike the Bentley, Hernandez still loves his Toyota. That may be due to the fact that it isn’t in need of any major rehabilitation. He just wants to make sure everything is working correctly, which is why he has it on the lift. The Supra is slated for a respray and light fender work, but he’s not too concerned about the cosmetic stuff.
Veterans of Hernandez’s channel will no doubt be familiar with this 2008 Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder. It’s the car that propelled him to internet stardom. He’s never been able to diagnose exactly what’s preventing the top from going down, which is why every hydraulic component is slated for replacement. “If you have the chance to buy a convertible just don’t. Don’t get a convertible. Get a hardtop and you won’t have any of these problems.” Despite his frustration, the Gallardo is clearly one of his least complicated projects.
Hernandez doesn’t gives out any details about this Nissan 300ZX other than describing his dissatisfaction with the current engine that’s in the car. He’s going to be putting a V8 into the Nissan, which is an interesting move since the 300ZX never featured one. Hopefully he gives it more attention, because the project could potentially produce a really unique vehicle.
This 2003 Mercedes SL55 AMG remains a highlight for him as he loves driving it. Unfortunately, his plan to swap out the automatic for a manual transmission hit a snag when he realized the clutch he bought isn’t going to work well with the car. He talked with some colleagues but is otherwise out of ideas and asked his viewers if they had any advice.
Lovingly dubbed “The Junkyard Twins” by Hernandez, this pair of Nissan Pulsar NX coupes will eventually spawn one working example once the black model provides enough parts for its sibling. This particular restoration is part of a challenge proposed by the folks at Avalon King. They’re confident Hernandez will fail to spend less than $1,000 to restore the red Nissan. He found a bit of a loophole by acquiring the black one solely for parts in an effort to keep costs down.
The black twin will also donate one of Nissan’s most interesting creations. The Sportbak enabled a Pulsar to become a shooting brake of sorts, and it was one of three different modular components available to buyers. It was an extremely rare option and Hernandez plans to transfer it over to the red Nissan because of its desirability.
We finally get to the star of many of his recent videos, the Lamborghini Murcielago featured prominently in The Fate of the Furious. This is a far more expensive endeavor than he anticipated. The production caused quite a bit of damage to the Lamborghini while shooting the film. Hernandez also committed to having the car at SEMA, a decision that does not give him much time to get the car in shape. He’s not sparing expense in his quest to make the car presentable and that is costing him a lot of money because he decided to adorn the Murcielago with parts made of forged carbon.
In addition to the cosmetic damage, the film’s production crew also removed the plastic brake ducts, which help cool the brakes. Given the importance of the ducts, Hernandez opted to buy a new pair for a staggering $500.
Those ducts pale in comparison to what Hernandez spent on a new rear bumper. “This is just like Christmas morning except I bought my own gifts and I also opened my own gifts before” exclaims Hernandez. The Premier 4509 carbon fiber bumper by Veilside came straight from Japan at a cost of $12,000. Hernandez explains that he couldn’t afford to go with anything less because he’d run the risk of a bad fitment so close to SEMA. It’s an eye-watering price to pay.
Hernandez later demonstrates why he had to buy a new bumper for the Murcielago. The film crew constructed a fiberglass bumper for shooting purposes and it was subject to a lot of abuse. It’s also extremely heavy and not the type of thing you’d want on a Lamborghini. You can see their failed attempts to mount the bumper by all the non-factory holes they drilled. That’s the case for every bumper and the side skirts too.
The car is currently residing at a trusted paint shop where it’s getting a resprayed with a darker orange. Hernandez will also need to repaint the calipers to the new color as well. Overall, his list of projects is staggering and completely capable of swallowing him whole. What’s more likely is that he’ll sell what he can’t finish. Hernandez, like other YouTube car enthusiasts, created the “hot mess” persona as a way to make things more interesting for their viewers. While they’re probably being a bit disingenuous in regards to their actual financial situations, they are educating millions of viewers and promoting a worthwhile hobby. And Hernandez seems like a genuinely great person. Car enthusiasts just need to be aware of the dangers of taking on too many projects at once. That being said, the video shows a lot of cool stuff and is totally worth watching.