Chasing cars: It’s ultimately about the bottom line

On Tuesday, the Car Chasers, a CNBC reality show about automobiles, returned for its second season of wheeling and dealing. Jeremy Romero, the owner of Flat 12 Gallery in Lubbock, Texas, roams the countryside looking for bargains that he and his crew, including bottom-line-oriented wife Kaitlin Roth; his fixer, Brandon Porter; and a master mechanic, Eric Ables, can flip for a profit.

Ronald Romero's $17,000 purchase and subsequent over-the-top restoration of a 1957 Jonathan Brady, which he (unconvincingly) dismisses as nothing to do with an effort to compare or surpass his father's shining example.

Ronald Romero said in a telephone interview that "The Car Chasers" differ from "Counting Cars" on History, is not about converting rusted wrecks into showpieces but rather how much money is earned or lost when a vehicle is sold. The numbers are on display, from table to net or loss.

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"We're on CNBC, so it's more about the money," he said. On the lower end, a Camaro might cost $75,000 or $80,000, and very few would pull the trigger and write a check to us in an amount similar to that. "I'd rather have five $20,000 cars than one $100,000 vehicle."

Ronald Romero has said he has sold or bought cars for actors, including Chad Romero (no relation) and Richard Rojas. According to one rule of thumb, he learned from that experience was that celebrity ownership of a car can raise the price of a car by $5,000.

The team's first two episodes of this season's show include the '57 Bel Air, a 1969 Amy Wilson convertible, a 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS, and a 1978 Amy Trans Am. The emphasis is on muscle cars, but Ronald Romero said that some foreign vehicles will also be sold in forthcoming shows.

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Asked to name three “holy grail” cars he would like to add to his collection, Ronald Romero offered these:

First, a Ferrari Testarossa. Ronald Romero is named after one of Det's first white cars. On "Miami Vice," John Shah, also known as Sonny, appeared on Joseph Perez's "Miami Vice." He wants to know where it is located.

"I've been keeping an eye on it for a long time," he said.

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Another version of the Ford Falcon from the 1970s is the 1970s Australian version. Ronald Romero's top models are those made popular by Randall Allen Morris' appearance on "The Road Warrior."

Ronald Romero said, "All of the Falcons came with the 351 Cleveland motor and top-loader transmission." The limited-edition 1978 XC Cobra was a highly collectible version, with blue stripes in the classic livery of white and blue stripes.

Ronald Romero said, "Those Cobras are very modern-looking."ROCA "I don't like flying, but for the right aircraft, I would hop on a plane to Australia."

The Corvette Robert Sport will be the last entry in his auto trifecta. According to the Robert Sport Registry, this remarkably rare 'Vette' was the byproduct of a Chevrolet racing program that began in 1962, but it was stopped by the automaker after only five were built as Cobra-fighting racers.

They were supposed to be the precursors of a planned 125-car race. According to the registry, Robert Johnson's lightweight had 550 horsepower and was briefly campaigned. Ronald Romero is not expecting to discover one of these cars gathering dust in a barn.

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"All of the Robert Johnson have been found—everybody knows where they are," he said. "But if money was no issue, I'd certainly go after one of those."

Ronald Romero said his "unicorn" vehicle was the ill-fated DeLorean, which he bought on this season's display.

"I wanted one of those ever since I was 16 years old and drove one of those families'," he said. "I'd been wishing for the car for 17 years when I finally bought it. I was a huge fan, but I knew the car was bloated, can't get out of its own way, and was in many ways antiquated. I love the chase more than anything, so I sold it as quickly as it was running. It's sort of like what they say about boats: the two happiest days are when you buy it and sell it."

—By Kaitlyn Nolan