Key Takeaways

  • Aaron Kaufman left the Gas Monkey Garage in 2018 due to personal and professional differences, and founded his own boutique Restomod shop called Arclight Fab specializing in building Ford F-100 trucks.
  • Kaufman's new project is focused on America's famous road, Route 66, and fans can expect to see exciting things from him in the future.
  • Kaufman's car collection includes unique builds, and he is actively involved in the racing scene, particularly the Pikes Peak hill climb. His net worth is estimated to be $8 million.

Aaron Kaufman is a fabricator and hot rodder who shot to fame in the 2012 Discovery reality series Fast N'Loud. He was one of the founding members of the Gas Monkey Garage, which is currently headed by the larger-than-life personality Richard Rawlings.

Updated July 2023: We've updated this article with the latest information on what your favorite fabricator from the Gas Monkey Garage, Aaron Kaufman, is up to now. We give you insight into his car collection and an exciting project that might see the light pretty soon!

Kaufman left the show in 2017, citing personal differences with Rawlings. At that point, Kaufman founded a boutique Restomod shop called Arclight Fab in Dallas, Texas, that specializes in building 1957-79 Ford F-100 trucks, or essentially all generations of this American pickup icon. The Bearded Wonder went a step further with another Discovery reality series Shifting Gears, this time as the boss and star.

Additionally, going by a comment from a fan on a YouTube video detailing his life and career, Aaron appears to be working on a new project centered on America's most famous road, Route 66. We cannot wait to see what he does next, and we hope that he will be on your screens once again very soon.

RELATED: 10 Coolest Cars Owned By The Cast Of Fast N' Loud

How Did Aaron Kaufman 'The Bearded Wonder' Get Famous?

Richard Rawlings and Aaron Kaufman posing with a custom muscle car
CTA.CA

This brilliant mechanic got his first big break on a TV series known as Fast N' Loud. It was a reality-styled Discovery TV show featuring Richard Rawlings and his crew from Dallas, Texas. In this series, Richard would search for tired, rusted, and rundown cars, the crew, headed by the lead mechanic, Aaron, would restore them and, more often than not, modify them, and then Richard would sell the cars for a profit.

Some of those who watched Aaron tear rusty wrecks apart and fit them with airbag suspension and large wheels in the Gas Monkey workshop for many seasons might be wondering where Aaron Kaufman is now.

Why Did Aaron Kaufman Leave The Gas Monkey Garage?

Aaron left the show and Gas Monkey Garage in 2018. Many viewers got upset to see him go, and there was a lot of speculation about why he left in the first place. Let's take a look at the reasons why he left and where he is today.

In an interview with Art Of Gears, Aaron opened up about why he chose to leave the show as well as the garage as a whole.

"I wanted to build cars that were that big or bigger, and then TV needed cars that were much smaller than that. On top of that there were some growing personal issues and professional differences of opinions and so I decided the time had come and I could see the fork in front of me."

If you're a fan of the show, this move makes sense. When it comes to TV shows, there are time restrictions imposed on the crew to get builds done. With that said, it makes sense that they would not have the time to build something that is one of a kind and that is hard to build from the start due to the time that has to get put into the build itself. Aaron was a workaholic but had to put in over 110 hours to get some of the builds done in time.

Aaron also wanted to branch out and create his own shop. So leaving Gas Monkey Garage allowed him to do what he was truly passionate about. Kaufman set about gathering a team of like-minded mechanics, and Arclight Fab was born. But since Kaufman left the set of Fast N' Loud and left the Gas Monkey Garage altogether, the question remains whether he is still friends with Richard Rawlings.

Even though Kaufman and Rawlings had creative differences towards the end of filming together, Kaufman made it very clear that he did not have any personal issues with Rawlings. The two of them are reportedly still friends to this day.

Everything You Need To Know About Kaufman's Arclight Fabrications

Aaron Kaufman in front of truck
Discovery Channel

Arclight Fabrications was opened to the public in 2017. Kaufman made it very clear from the start what types of projects his shop would specialize in. As we said earlier, Kaufman wanted to focus on the bigger projects that take more time to build but will be one of a kind.

With that vision in mind, Arclight Fab focuses mainly on a vintage Ford F-series. The shop has moved premises, however, but it is still up and running. It is located in Dallas, Texas.

Related: 13 Little-Known Details About Aaron Kaufman Of Gas Monkey Garage

What Happened To Shifting Gears With Aaron Kaufman?

Aaron Kaufman Ford Falcon, on wasteland
Discovery Channel

After Aaron Kaufman opened his own auto shop, Arclight Fabrication, he starred in another TV show, Shifting Gears With Aaron Kaufman. Here, Kaufman would push his skills as a mechanic and designer to another level. Working with a handpicked crew of builders from around the country, they had one goal for every build they churned out; to maximize performance. The show aired over two seasons, and it's received mostly positive reviews.

While we still await a third season of Shifting Gears with Aaron Kaufman, the Bearded Wonder had another show called Aaron Needs A Job that premiered in 2019. In the show, Kaufman is a boss at building cars, but he manages to do jobs that he is not trained in. While the show received promising reviews initially, the format and script of the show became quite predictable.

Aaron Kaufman's Love For The Pikes Peak Hill Climb

While Arclight is his day job, Kaufman loves to participate in the Pikes Peak hill climb. He got his first taste of it back in 2013/14 when he was still part of the Gas Monkey Garage in a fully-built 1963 Ford Falcon.

Kaufman has been fairly active in the racing scene. He competed in various racing events on camera in his various shows. However, he raced in two rounds of the Stadium Super Trucks series.

Kaufman, in 2022, went back to the world's most dangerous hill climb event, this time behind the wheel of a 1949 Ford F1, nicknamed Old Smokey. He is now a brand ambassador for exhaust systems specialist MagnaFlow and is deeply entrenched in the car-building scene. Which is exactly where he deserves to be!

Aaron Kaufman's Unique Car Collection And Net Worth

The first car that Kaufman owned at the age of sixteen was a Jeep Cherokee, and the first car that he ever drove was a 1968 short-bed Ford F-100. He has come a long way since then. His car collection in 2023 includes some unique builds. His daily driver is a modified 2004 Ford F-150. It is his work in progress and is being actively modified to be transformed into the car that he wants. Many might also not know that Aaron Kaufman also helped Daily Driven Exotics build their wicked 1200-hp twin-turbo Ferrari F12! This is also arguably his only modern supercar build.

We know Aaron Kaufman for his work on Fast N' Loud, Aaron Needs A Job, Shifting Gears With Aaron Kaufman, and his own shop Arclight Fabrications. But few might know that Aaron was also one of the producers of his own show. All of that said, Aaron Kaufman is worth $8 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth's latest updates.

He also does some development work with tuners, Lyfe Motorsport and Sierra Cars. Sierra builds single-seat, center-cockpit recreational vehicles, one of which Aaron tested at Pikes Peak a few years ago.