When it comes to car TV shows, there are those we love to binge-watch and others we’d ignore. Among the most popular ones is Fast N’ Loud. The show centers on the Gas Monkey Garage, which is headed by Forth Worth, Texas-native Richard Rawlings. He is joined by Jason Aker, Tony Cano, Jeremy Cheatham, Charles Cimino, and Mike Coy.
You may be unfamiliar with what they did before the show, but you certainly know everything else about them now. Over the years, fans have also wondered which elements of the show are fake and real. Here’s what we found:
10 FAKE: ‘Random’ Clients That Happen To Come In
Fast N’ Loud has been around for several seasons and every episode is supposed to have its own unique storyline. The only way to make this happen is to make sure that Gas Monkey Garage always has clients coming in.
In reality, though, businesses like this don’t really get regular clientele, let alone big ones. For some reason though, Rawlings and his crew manage to get customers regularly and it is believed that the show’s producers are responsible for making this happen. Let’s just file this under things that don’t make sense on Fast N’ Loud.
9 REAL: Richard Rawlings Put Up Gas Monkey Garage And Proceeded To Make A TV Show
From the beginning, Rawlings has always dreamt of opening a garage that would draw massive attention. While speaking with Fox News, the reality star and garage boss explained, “Since I started Gas Monkey Garage, I thought in the back of my mind that there might be a market in television for the world of flipping cars.”
He also later admitted that when he opened his shop, he knew that he would instantly aim “for the top.” Rawlings added, “I started with building world-renowned [sic] cars and that got us the attention of developers.”
8 FAKE: The Garage Needs To Keep Making Money To Stay Open
Sure, Gas Monkey Garage probably still enjoys working on really big (and expensive) restoration projects. Ever since the shop got its own show though, Rawlings and his crew pretty much found another income stream.
Just to give you an idea, Rawlings’ salary was estimated at $50,000 per episode way back in 2012, according to TV Show Casts. And now that the show has already become a huge success, you can bet he is getting paid a lot more. He has also been credited as an executive producer in some episodes. And that ultimately means more money.
7 REAL: The Struggle To Restore The “Shart Cat”
It all started when Rawlings and crew engaged in some trash talk with YouTube’s Roadkill guys. This resulted in a drag race and for the occasion, Rawlings and his crew restore a 1967 Dodge Dart that they named “Shart Cat”.
On the show, the restoration process looked simple. In reality, though, it took a whole lot of effort and time. Fortunately, all the hard work paid off as the Gas Monkey Garage guys won. Kaufman even told Hot Rod, “The Roadkill guys definitely looked bamboozled after we beat them.” Last year, the “Shart Cat” went up for sale.
6 FAKE: The Value Of The Pontiac Firebirds
Gas Monkey Garage referred to the two Firebirds as the “holy grail of barn finds.” They were supposedly found “neglected in a garage” and Rawlings and his crew worked hard to restore them to their former glory.
According to Hot Rod, producers had claimed that the cars were valued at $325,000. More likely though, the cars’ value is just around $30,000. The producers also reportedly stated that these cars were “prototypes or pilot cars.” Instead, “they were just the first two cars down the line.”
5 REAL: The Sentimental Value Of Some Of The Restored Cars
Gas Monkey Garage deals with all kinds of customers. Because of this, some restoration projects tend to have more sentimental value than others. “On our big cars, which we build from (the) ground up, there’s often an emotional attachment,” Rawlings explained while speaking with Fox News.
“A car their grandpa had, or one that the high school jock had, and they couldn’t afford it then but now they can.” Such cars carry a lot of value to customers.
4 FAKE: The Firing Of Jordan Butler And Tom Smith
Butler and Smith were supposedly fired from Gas Monkey Garage after they allowed a fan with cystic fibrosis to pose next to Rawlings’ Rolls-Royce. According to TMZ, the manager on duty told them to “get the f*** away from the car.” And then Smith responded, “Chill the f*** out.” A few hours later, the two were fired.
But then, they also got their own show, Misfit Garage. Interestingly, too, Rawlings has served as an executive producer on the show. Moreover, the Gas Monkey Garage boss has also made appearances on Misfit Garage. Hence, it’s possible that the whole firing incident was staged. Although, Rawlings’ decision to sack the two guys might have been real.
3 REAL: Their Restoration Timelines Are Sometimes Close To Impossible
Gas Monkey Garage tends to take on restoration projects that truly stand out. And unlike other car shops, they seem to do in the least possible amount of time. “We’re building cars that most sane, normal car shops wouldn’t attempt in less than six, nine months or possibly even a year,” Kaufman told Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
“We’re building the cars in six weeks. If we run over our time budget, we’re building them in seven and eight weeks.” Indeed, these guys do a lot of cramming and that’s something that other shops would probably try to avoid.
2 FAKE: Richard Rawlings’ Shock Upon Aaron Kaufman’s Exit
If you ask Kaufman, his decision to leave should not have come as a shock to anyone at Gas Monkey Garage, especially Rawlings himself. After all, he’s always talked about it. “It was not a surprise,” Kaufman told Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “I was fairly vocal about it for quite a long time, so it was really just the time came.”
Meanwhile, Kaufman also said that it’s possible that some people didn’t believe his intentions to leave were real. Nonetheless, he doesn’t think Rawlings should have appeared shocked. Kaufman remarked, “I’m not sure how legitimate his surprise was or was not.”
1 REAL: Aaron Kaufman Also Had His Own Projects While Working On The Show
In a lot of ways, Kaufman was instrumental to Gas Monkey Garage’s success, although some might say that there are some mistakes that he had made at the shop too. That said, Kaufman is also responsible for delivering some incredible restorations.
That said, fans of the show may have been unaware that Kauffman was also taking on personal projects around this time. He told Fort Worth Star-Telegram, “Outside of the first six months of the program, I’ve really operated very independently despite what the appearances were.” We bet this is one of those things you never knew about Kaufman.