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Lou Santiago has a contagious laugh; the kind that bellows deep from the gut. Most likely, this hot rod builder and retired Navy Seabee wouldn’t describe himself as charismatic, but spending a few minutes with him is all the convincing one would need.
Santiago is a very charismatic dude.
He is most recognizable as a host for Car Fix on Velocity, a network owned by Discovery. Santiago and co-host Jared Zimmerman focus their energy on manufacturing machines, not reality show drama.
“We just teach people how to build cars,” Santiago said. “That?s what we do.”
Jared Zimmerman (left) and Lou Santiago, hosts of Car Fix on Velocity.
Unexpected Developments Charisma aside, Lou Santiago does not fit the profile of the average TV host; in fact, he didn’t even expect it, saying his venture into television in 2000 was a total fluke. At the time, Santiago would keep the TV on in his shop for background noise, enjoying the antics of The Three Stooges and the nostalgia of classic Kung fu movies while he worked. At one point, he saw an advertisement to the effect of “if you think you got what it takes to be our next host, submit a video, and you could be a star.”
“Yeah, sure, okay,” Santiago thought.
A couple of months went by and while setting up his first computer, Santiago came across the TV host application online.
“I had never done anything like that before and it...