‘Downey’s Dream Cars’ EP on Working With Robert Downey Jr. & How to Win His Wheels

Robert Downey Jr. was on more than a joy ride for his Max original series Downey Dream Cars. It was for a purpose. The award-winning actor looked to reduce his carbon footprint by modifying his beloved classic vehicles. Riding shotgun for this endeavor was Chris Mazzilli, founder and owner of Dream Car Restorations/CMC Motors. He challenged his team and connected Downey with others to push the limits for six eco-friendly mods from a prized family collection.

Among them was his mom’s beloved 1969 Mercedes Benz 280 SE, which saw a modern diesel engine installation, conversion to biodiesel, and transition to suede interior made from recycled plastics. Crews put in a first-generation modern hybrid engine and a first-of-its-kind prototype Aclima air quality sensor in the 1966 Buick Riviera. A 1965 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray is now equipped with an electric motor and adorned with an interior made from mushrooms. Rounding out the bunch was work done by this green Avengers on a 1972 VW Bus, a 1972 K-10 Pickup, and a 1985 Chevrolet El Camino.

Not only can you watch the series, but you can own one. Downey is giving away all six cars through an ongoing national sweepstakes through July 16. Proceeds will benefit the FootPrint Coalition, a nonprofit organization launched by the star and his partners centered on adopting technologies that will advance human systems toward a cleaner environment.

Here EP Mazzilli reflects on working with Downey and recently finding out their series was nominated for two Daytime Emmy Awards.

Max

What kind of response have you gotten from the sweepstakes? 

Chris Mazzilli: The feedback has been amazing. I’ve been at the auto shows and people love the cars. They also love what the cars stand for. It’s different to modify these cars in such a particular way. The response has been overwhelming. We’ve taken in millions of entries.

How much of an impact do you think the show has had? 

When Robert and I talked early on he wanted to make a difference. He is all about climate change and didn’t want to drive these gas-guzzling cars. He wanted to talk the talk and walk the walk. The response has been great. People are really excited about it. It’s interesting because one of the cars has mushroom leather interior. People will also ask me about carpets from recycled plastic bottles. People want to make these modifications to their cars, and that is what we exactly intended to do.

How has it been to get to know Robert over the years? 

It is a pretty amazing comeback story. I’ve known him about 20 years. I was friends with his dad. He was always nice and cordial. This all came together as a fluke….It got to a point where Robert asked if we could help modify his cars in an eco-friendly way. We were doing modifications like that in the shop to begin with.  He wanted to sell them and use the money to fund his charity. I said instead of selling them, let’s do a big sweepstakes and TV series to support it and make people aware of what we are doing. The series came out amazing and better than we could have imagined. Really if you look at each episode, it’s like a movie. It is informative, even for people who don’t know cars. It really explains what we did.

Max

How does it feel to see the show recently nominated for two Daytime Emmys? 

The crazy thing was Jay Peterson, another producer, texted me early that day we found out. He said two Emmy noms. I said, “I think you meant to send this to someone else.” He said, “No dummy, we got two Emmy noms. We’re really happy about it.

You see how much this project means to Robert. He looked to have so much fun with his son involved and reminiscing about his mom. 

He was much more involved than any of us thought. He was so hands-on with every single aspect of the design of those cars. Every finish, color, the wheels, what the interior looked like. Seeing him on set every day was fun, light, and easy. He was great. He knew everyone’s name on the set. Absolutely a pleasure to work with. We had a lot of fun and think that came through on the show. It was a great experience.

What were the biggest challenges you faced? 

We were building these during COVID, so there were supply chain issues getting parts to begin with, which made it difficult because when you’re building something you are going on a timeline. You need certain parts at certain times. Stuff we normally get in two or three days may have taken two or three months. Also, these are not common builds. You were learning on the fly like the Rivera episode.

We initially were going to use a hybrid motor that lived in the transmission of that motor. It didn’t fit the car, so we had to change that. It wasn’t just our shop but others that we farmed this work out to because to build one car like that usually takes a year or two. We had to do six in 18 months. That puts strain on any shop. It’s also Robert Downey Jr. You want to build these cars in an amazing way and deliver an amazing product. In the end, I think the cars turned out great, but we were under the gun.

Max

Where are we with Season 2? 

Yes, there is talk of a Season 2. Robert mentioned he wanted to do it. We’ve had some subsequent conversations, but he is busy. We’ll see what happens. We’d love to do one for many reasons.

What would you do differently next time? 

We want to get ahead on a lot of stuff, even before we start shooting. We want to know what direction we want to go in terms of the car and getting the parts in-house. It’s better now that the pandemic is pretty much over and the supply chain issues weren’t what they once were. I think for us I like to have those parts in-hand and know where we’re going with the cars ahead of time.

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What was your big takeaway from this experience after working with Robert? 

It was interesting to kind of come full circle. A lot of what I learned from Robert’s dad was about the film business. I used to have lunch with him maybe once every two months or a month and this other guy Burtt Harris, who was a very well-known producer and assistant director. They taught me a lot about the business. This reinforced all that. You put in the time, work hard, and hopefully in the end, you have a good product. We had a lot of fun. I’d do it again in the business.

Downey Dream Cars Season 1 is streaming on Max. 

For more information on the RDJ Dream Cars Sweepstakes, visit the official website.