British motor specialist and television presenter (born 1971)

Edward John China (born 9 May 1971) is an English television presenter, mechanic, motor specialist and inventor, best known as being presenter and mechanic on Discovery Channel's television show Wheeler Dealers. He has also appeared on Top Gear, Auto Trader, Scrapheap Challenge and Fifth Gear.

Contents

• 1 Early life
• 2 Television career
  • 2.1 Wheeler Dealers
• 3 Business career
  • 3.1 *mfy Banana
  • 3.2 Grease Junkie
• 4 Internet presence
• 5 World record attempts
• 6 Personal life
• 7 Filmography
  • 7.1 Television
• 8 Published works
• 9 References
• 10 External links

Early life

China developed an interest in cars and mechanics from an early age. He was educated at King Edward's School, Witley in Surrey, and he holds a degree in engineering product design from London South Bank University. While at university, China created the Casual Lofa (driving sofa), which was his first major project of note. It was built to raise money for a Raleigh International expedition to Belize.

Television career

Following the success of his creation of the Casual Lofa, China's first job in television was as a special effects technician for Father Ted in 1994. In 1998, China appeared as a guest on Top Gear Live, driving the Casual Lofa at the Silverstone 'Live Arena'.

The same year, China and the Casual Lofa were also featured on Jeremy Clarkson's DVD The Most Outrageous Jeremy Clarkson Video In The World.... Ever!, where the Casual Lofa was raced at the Thruxton Circuit, in a manner similar to Wacky Races. China was also featured on Channel 4's The Big Breakfast three times over the years, driving the Casual Lofa, Bog Standard and Street Sleeper.

China was a guest on Scrapheap Challenge (known as Junkyard Wars in the United States) in an episode featuring driving beds and sofa cars. In the same year, China was featured in an episode of the television show This Is Your Life featuring Madness front man Suggs. China drove presenter Michael Aspel around old haunts, and delivered Aspel to the television studios on the Casual Lofa.

China was resident designer on the BBC series Panic Mechanics a year later, and was also a guest on Top Gear feature "Build a Bond Car On A Budget", where he showcased a Rover 800 (purchased for £200) that had been modified with budget Bond esque gadgets, such as an ejection seat, for just £100.

In 2005, China was a celebrity guest on BBC's Ready Steady Cook, for a Children in Need Special. He also co hosted the short lived Auto Trader television series alongside Brewer. The series was screened by Discovery Channel.

China was a guest in 2007 on The Culture Show, being interviewed and driving Arthur Smith and various other performers around the Edinburgh Festival.

He, along with Penny Mallory, Tony Mason and Alex Riley, presented a television miniseries for the United Kingdom that examined the history and culture of cl*ic cars, geared toward cl*ic car enthusiasts called Cl*ic Car Club for Discovery Channel, which premiered in 2005.

Wheeler Dealers

China was hired by Discovery Channel and paired with television presenter Mike Brewer in 2003 specifically to make a new car programme: Wheeler Dealers. It became both China's and Brewer's most famous television work to date, and they presented the show together for 13 series, from 2003 to 2017. On 21 March 2017, China announced on his YouTube channel that he was departing Wheeler Dealers due to disagreements over the direction of the programme. Six days later, in another video, China described how Brewer had telephoned him over the weekend saying that he, his wife and his daughter, were receiving significant online abuse, including death threats, because of China's leaving the show.

Business career

*mfy Banana

Following the success of his creations as a special effects technician on the comedy television programme Father Ted, China set up *mfy Banana Limited, in March 1999, as an outlet for his extreme creations. In 2001, China was interviewed about *mfy Banana's vehicles on ITV's Pulling Power. In 2006, he was interviewed on ITV's This Morning about his *mfy Banana vehicles.

Grease Junkie

In 2009, China incorporated Grease Junkie Limited (whose website sells Wheeler Dealers and Grease Junkie merchandise) and became managing director. China owned an MOT and servicing garage in Bracknell, Berkshire, called Grease Junkie, which was voluntarily liquidated in August 2016.

Internet presence

On 1 May 2018, China premiered his new series, Edd China's Garage Revival, on his YouTube channel. China uploads more regularly to his Edd China YouTube channel, which has videos following his notable exploits post-Wheeler Dealers. He answers questions from fans on the channel in the AskEdd series. In April 2021, "Edd China's Workshop Diaries" premiered on Edd's personal YouTube channel, showing various projects in his personal Workshop.

World record attempts

China holds the Guinness World Record *les for the fastest shed, toilet, bed, milk float and the largest motorised shopping trolley, among other things.

In 2007, owing to his record attempts, China was featured in a number of programmes, including Fifth Gear, Pulling Power and This Morning, showcasing his creations.

In 2012, China, and driver from the BTCC, Tom Onslow-Cole, were part of an eBay sponsored challenge, to convert a milk float into a drag racer, which then achieved a place in the Guinness World Records, for the world's fastest milk float.

Personal life

China is married to Norwegian born Imogen.

Filmography

Television

Published works

• Wheeler Dealers Car Restoration Manual, Haynes Publishing UK, 2015, ISBN:9780857337986
• Grease Junkie: Tall Stories and Wheel Adventures, Penguin Random House, 2019
• Grease Junkie: A Book of Moving Parts, Virgin Books, 2019, ISBN:9780753553541

References

External links

• Edd China on Facebook
• Grease Junkie Website
• Edd China on Twitter
• Wheeler Dealers Official Website
• Edd China's channel on YouTube
• *mfy Banana Website
• Edd China at IMDb