The Netflix hit reality show Car Masters: Rust To Riches documents the crew of Gotham Garage. Owned by Mark Towle, this interesting and unique crew builds props for movie studios and television shows. Towle is responsible for leading the troupe, who gives classic cars more modern makeovers in order to raise their monetary values, earning the garage large profits and a well-known name in the car industry. Every episode begins and tackles a new project, but they don't always end up with big cash profit. In one episode of Car Masters, the team created a rocket car, worth around $45,000 but when it car round to selling it, there wasn't a lot of interest, and they ended up losing $15,000
Updated October 2022: If you're a fan of the show Car Masters: Rust To Riches, you might have seen Shawn Pilot — he's the deal maker with all the connections. However, there's more to him than that, so we've updated this article with all the latest information we could dig up about him.
The crew is what makes Car Masters so fascinating to watch. One member of the crew who is especially captivating to watch day after day is Shawn Pilot. Shawn is a staple part of the reality show and is perfect for the big screen.
Let’s find out a little more about who Shawn Pilot really is…
The Rise Of Shawn Pilot
Shawn Pilot is an actor who debuted in his first film back in 1999 in the movie Three Kings. Despite his part being a minor role, he was fortunate enough to share the spotlight with A-list actors who have gone on to have successful careers. Mark Wahlberg, Ice Cube, and George Clooney had main parts in this movie with Shawn, who got his first taste of what Hollywood was really like. The movie ended up being very successful, earning $108 million. Even though he had a minor role, the success of the movie was a great start for Shawn's net worth as a movie actor.
However, he didn’t go on to have any success or fame, as one would have thought after such a prolific first start. He went on an extremely long acting hiatus that lasted over a decade. He returned to the small screen when he featured on Inside West Coast Customs in 2011, a show about Ryan Friedlinghaus' car modification company. An entrepreneur, producer and TV presenter, Ryan is best known for Pimp My Ride and now his incredible specialty car customization shop.
What Is Inside West Coast Customs?
This car remodeling reality show based in Burbank, California mainly focuses on Ryan Friedlinghaus and his staff at the aptly named West Coast Customs. The crew is responsible for transforming ordinary cars into fully customized creations for celebrities and auctions. Shawn appeared on the second season, which contained 16 episodes. In episode 2, he teamed up with movie make, Hunter Clancey and the Ryan Friedlinghaus, to combine a 1958 Chevrolet Corvette with a 2008 Corvette’s modern touches.
This blend of the classic Corvette and the newer Corvette, was actually the brainchild of celebrity music producer and hip-hop artist, Will.i.am. It subsequently became one of the most challenging customizations the crew had ever come across. Will.i.am is a big car fan and has an interesting collection of his own. He was also involved in a very cool collaboration with Mercedes-Benz and West Coast Customs to produce a custom one-off Mercedes-AMG GT, which was subsequently unveiled at the Formula 1 race in Miami this year. A great lover of cars, Will.i.am has also customized a DeLorean and a Tesla Model S.
How Much Is Shawn Pilot Worth?
Although he might not have the long list of acting credentials that A-list actors obtain these days, he has been fortunate enough to have met extremely successful actors, work on popular shows, and still be able to flip cars for exorbitant amounts of money. In addition to acting and flipping cars, he has a career as a skilled poker player and is seriously considered to be at a professional level. His successful poker playing adds to his overall wealth, estimated at $700,000.
Speaking of poker and net worth, Shawn has won over $400,000 in his poker history, and that's just from tournaments alone, not including cash games. He's joined more than 67 live tournaments in total and ranked at 2601 among poker players in the U.S., and is in 5020th place for all-time money ranking. The most impressive feat was when he won nearly $40,000 in one single poker tournament.
Keeping Life Private
One can applaud a semi-celebrity for not broadcasting their life on social media, since that seems to be so much a trend in today’s culture. Shawn is not someone who overshares his personal life on social media. In fact, you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone from the public who really knows his birthday, age, early history, or where his parents are. What we do know is that Shawn's passion and talent for restoring vehicles started at an early age. Shawn's other passion is for Corvettes and as a result, he is also known as the “Master of the Corvette” due to the fact that most of his own sports cars and projects involve the Corvette.
Although his Instagram account has a healthy 27.8k followers, he has just 10 posts and follows only 23 other accounts. He mainly uses this platform to showcase Corvettes, a few of his friends, and some photos of the Gotham Garage crew. Recently, Shawn's mother has made an appearance on his Instagram account. She also features in Season 4 of Car Masters: Rust To Riches.
Shawn Pilot might be an actor, but much of his life is still shrouded in mystery. In a day and age where everything is online, it is kind of nice to not be able to so easily find out all you need to know about the actor, car modifier, and car-flipper — Shawn Pilot.