In the age of "Reality TV", automotive shows have made their place on cable networks to attract enthusiasts from every facet of automotive customizing and restyling. One of these shows basic premise starts with a run-of-the-mill "ugly duckling" vehicle and turns it into the "prom queen" of sorts. The Learning Channel, TLC for short, air's a show accurately named Overhaulin'. At the end of Overhaulin' season 2 is the episode of Frank Parze Jr. (known to friends as Frankie) from Whittier, California and his 1966 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu dubbed "Soldier's Ride". Frankie served in the U.S. Army including a tour of duty in Iraq.

 

   Frank's parents, Frank Sr. and Alma Parze are set up by the show as the "insiders" to trick Frank Jr. into thinking his car has been stolen. The show's hosts narrate along as they park down the street from Frank's house at 4 a.m. and take his car away to start a 7-day project that will make it the coolest Chevelle in Southern California. Frank Sr. calls one of the shows co-host's Chris Jacobs who pretends to be from the Whittier Police Department in order to get some information from Frank Jr. about his seemingly stolen car. The family then gets in their car to scour the neighborhood looking for Frankie's missing ride. Cut to a few hours later, and Frankie's Chevelle is being rolled into the shop area at Mother's Polish in Huntington Beach, California. The other co-host, Courtney Hansen, has a team of automotive builders ready to get the project started. Automotive designer Chip Foose leads the build team in revamping Frankie's ride to a level that Frankie could only have imagined. They start unbolting everything they can to take the car apart in preparation for it's re-creation.

 

   On day 2, Frankie's parents make the trip down to Mother's to talk with Chip and help him figure out what Frankie's finished Chevelle should look like. Chip begins his hand drawn rendering of what Frankie's ride will eventually look like. Meanwhile, the build team is working on putting together a completely new rear frame clip using computer-aided-drafting software to make sure it is perfectly designed and implemented so they can install a NASCAR rear-end. The audio specialty portion of the team works on the door panels, rear deck, and trunk space so that the '66 can sound better than anyone envisioned it would back on the production line at Chevrolet. The next day begins with a prank call to Frankie from Mother's employee Dennis pretending to also be from the Whittier Police. He tells Frankie that a suspect was caught with his car on the freeway and the suspect is saying that he is a friend of Frankie's. Dennis puts a suit on to play "detective" and meet with Frankie to let him know that there are some things about the case he is looking into. The build team continues to re-work the body back to new form and the new rear-end is installed. Day 4 starts with another call to Frankie from the shows co-host Chris who tells Frankie he is with the Whittier Police garage and his car is ready for pick-up but it is damaged. After a noticeably upset Frankie says a word that has to be "bleeped out" on TV, they set up a day for Frankie to pick up his car.

 

   At this point in the show, the car is being painted in a two-tone with black on top, gold on the bottom, and a yellow/gold stripe to break up the two-tone. Frankie's Dad returns to the Mother's shop with Frankie's brothers to see the painted car being worked on and meet Steve "Revo" Reeves from Stitchcraft to see the new interior before it goes into the car. Frankie's car is now almost finished and Chris calls him to tell him to pick up his car. Chris then dresses up as a goofy-looking mechanic to meet with Frankie as a final prank before revealing his newly completed ride. After messing with Frankie a little more when he arrives, the shows host's tell he that he has been "Overhauled". Frankie walks inside the shop and his Chevelle is revealed to him. He is overcome with emotion and his car in his words is now, Awesome.

   Sponsors for the show and Frankie's ride include: 3M, 5 Star Gas Welding, Baer Brakes, BASF Training Center, Be Cool, Bowler Performance Transmission, Century Towing, Classy Cars, Control Cable, Detroit Speed, Dynamat, Edlebrock Corporation, Foose Designs, G Cube Designs, Hotchkis Performance, Hydratech Braking Systems, Iron Clad Gloves, J&G Customs, Keyston Bros, Kicker, Lanzini Body Works, Lincoln Electric, Mac Tools, Magna Flow, March Performance, Mark V, MHT, Michelin North America/BF Goodrich, Mittler Bros, Mothers Waxes/Polishes/Cleaners, No Limit Automotive Lifestyles, Optima Battery, Original Parts Group, Paul Gonzalez Performance Fabrications, Protek Resources, Pure Power Lubricants, QA-1, Quality Tool & Equipment, R-M Carizzma, Rock Steady Clothing, SATA, Shoreline Motoring, Specialized Coating, Sticky Fingers Design, Stitchcraft Interiors, Street Wise, Summit Racing Equipment, Team C Performance Center.