Jump to content

TV Show - FAST 'N LOUD


Dosmo

Recommended Posts

Would love to do a show with the real work that goes into these old cars, but it would take a long time to film because it takes a long time to do the work properly, so you'd end up with weeks of filming to get just 1 car done.

I think this would be fine for many of us, and is what we are yearning for. A true show about the restoration of cars. Not flip it in a week and see what profit we can make off it.

A similar formula has worked for This Old House for over 33 years.

Though, in the case of old cars the audience may not be large enough to make financial sense.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think this would be fine for many of us, and is what we are yearning for. A true show about the restoration of cars. Not flip it in a week and see what profit we can make off it.

A similar formula has worked for This Old House for over 33 years.

Though, in the case of old cars the audience may not be large enough to make financial sense.

A few years ago, I was contacted to host such a show that focused on finding unrestored cars and the process of restoring them. I talked a lot with the producers and there's even an audition video out there of me on YouTube (admittedly, I'm not talk show host material). At any rate, the problem wasn't drama because they in fact specifically mentioned that it would be more like a "home improvement" type show such as you mention for This Old House. It would follow the restoration of 3-4 cars that we would find (3-4 because waiting for one car to have insignificant things done would be a waste of time). And yes, the punchline would be to sell the car at the end.

Anyway, the show never got made and when I followed up with the producers to find out whey, the reason was three-fold:

One, finding sponsors was problematic. Summit Racing, Edelbrock, and Jeg's were on board. But you know what they sell and it just wasn't compatible. They really didn't have much to offer a show that was restoring a 1932 Buick.

Two, finding the cars. They really wanted to make it about "barn finds" and the magic there (my audition video hits this pretty hard since it was the original theme of the show, like American Pickers). However, they quickly realized by talking to several other sources in the industry that barn finds are quite rare and those things you do find in barns aren't necessarily sensational. I talked about faking it with them, and to their credit, they said they didn't want to "manufacture" drama. They wanted it to be legit.

Finally, the market research showed that home improvement shows are popular because average folks can more or less do it themselves. You watch them on Saturdays and maybe you pick up a trick you can use in your own home. You can get materials at Home Depot and it's cheap and requires only modest knowledge and skill. Not so with cars, and studies showed (what studies, I don't know) that the restoration process was too intimidating and too many specialized tools were required, so the DIY kind of guy might be scared off instead of inspired. Like it or not, these other shows are basically instructional videos of how to bolt on parts sold by the sponsors I mentioned in item #1.

There have been several restoration shows that I've seen (a Packard restored by one of them was recently for sale here on the forum), but I don't think any of them ever caught on. Apparently car restoration is fun for the guy doing it, not so much so for the guys watching. People will watch a guy yelling and getting drunk at an auction (and so will their wives) but a lot fewer will watch a guy block sanding a quarter panel for 45 minutes...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest PhippsAuto

That's probably why the shade-tree mechanic show worked: that WAS something people felt like they could do on their own. And it's part of why Fast N' Loud is working, too --- people see our old shop, and the lack of super-duper fancy equipment at Gas Monkey Garage, and they feel like maybe they could do that, too. And they seem to like the fact that there is none of the drama that something like American Choppers has; these guys like each other and get along pretty well for the most part, and when they disagree, they don't have screaming matches over it. That is one of the things I really give them credit for, and one of the only reasons they are still back there. Dewaine wouldn't have put up with it so long if the guys back there weren't genuinely fun to be around, and I think that comes across on the show.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This show has just been aired here in the U.K. Why, I don't know. We have had some excellent restoration series - I particularly like "a car is re born" with Mark Evans who buys and restores an E type Jaguar and a MGB amongst others. He also rebuilds an old Harley Davidson. Another restoration show is "salvage squad" who take on a wide variety of interseting projects - an early White steam car and a Morgan three wheeler for example.

The original British "Top Gear" is an established institution over here and Clarkeson, Mays and Hammond are loved or hated in equal measure.

Fast and Loud is a poor show and plays to the lowest common denominator. If this is the standard of your motoring programmes you have my sympathy. Butchering classic cars is in my opinion deviant behavour and this kind of show gives a false impression to the general public of what our hobby is all about.

My favourite U.S. show is "American Restoration". Dale knows his stuff, that's for sure.

Ray.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest PhippsAuto

Fast and Loud is a poor show and plays to the lowest common denominator. If this is the standard of your motoring programmes you have my sympathy. Butchering classic cars is in my opinion deviant behavour and this kind of show gives a false impression to the general public of what our hobby is all about.

Ray.

I don't think the show has ever claimed to be a classic car restoration show (at least, not here in the States). The name itself says it all: its focus is to turn old cars into something "fast and loud" and to "flip" other cars as quickly and profitably as possible. That's the only "hobby" it claims to represent. Obviously, that's not everyone's cup of tea, but the show is doing very well in the ratings, so apparently there are plenty of people out there who enjoy it. They may be the "lowest common denominator," but I would hardly call them deviant.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have been keeping silent about these gentlemen..I don't know them but certainly know of them from some rather crude and foolish things from another forum.

update on Gas Monkey Garage scandal - Hot Rod Forum : Hotrodders Bulletin Board

The Gas Monkey Scandal thread..

I guess you can judge for yourself..

What they were doing earlier does not seem very ethical..if truly described. I am not a poster in any of these threads..have the same exact name as here..

Some said they are not actors..but they sure did some crude poses..and spread them around to get some notoriety.. Some things were removed from youtube..some picture captured.

Hope they have changed the attitude..but it seems unlikely..but Phipps may know them better and their early crude nonsense may have just been a foolish mistake to advance a name..

Phipps ..you seem a thoroughly decent person..and this has absolutely no bearing..reference or insinuation on you or your business. We rent to people and really only know them as they are now..or pretend to be.

Certainly we all have had situations where people were quite different in the past..or just changed..or even fooled us.. I have no idea except what exists in the Ethernet..

Sorry..but I read this for months wondering if I should post this link..but it's a public forum that they decided to make a name for them self..good or bad..

These are the "gentlemen" as they posed and attempted to show their "attitude"

[ I removed this offensive thread..Page 2 - Hot Rod Forum : Hotrodders Bulletin Board

Just have no idea about the accuracy of these threads but enough to make me not interested..maybe someone can correct my misunderstanding of these "gentlemen"

Maybe just a stunt gone wrong ?

The thing about the internet..what you do..or post lives for a very long time. If you are slandered you can take action. I would imagine if these threads are false..actionable..

Especially in light of their recent success..they may wish to review these things posted long ago..but recently revived..

Due to the nature of these threads..please delete if it violates rules.. Again..I have read for months and keep silent..

Edited by Docc (see edit history)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest PhippsAuto

Yes, as far as I know, that was a publicity stunt they came up with several years ago that really came back and burned them. They wish it would go away, but as you say, things live forever these days on the Internet. Personally, I hated that when I saw the online pictures the first time (a few years ago). They are still on the "crude nonsense" side from time to time, but most of that seems to be for the TV. When you get Aaron alone back in the shop and talk to him, you can tell what a smart, thoughtful guy he is, and not just about cars and bikes and fabrication ... but he has a wild and "could care less" side to him, too, and he's only about 30, so he's still living it up. Richard is okay, too, in real life but definitely has one of those larger-than-life types of personalities that you can sometimes only handle in relatively small doses in person. He's been renting from us for about 4 years now, and at first, we weren't positive about renting to him at all, but he's been an excellent tenant back there, so from a purely business perspective (landlord/tenant), it's worked out just fine.

However, we're not unhappy that our business (rental) relationship will be ending soon. With the State Fair in town, the number of fans of the TV show who have stopped by the shop has gotten out of hand. If we had not already agreed to the 6-week deal with Richard to rent out our shop and parking area, we'd be in big trouble, because there are many days right now where it would be almost impossible for a customer to pull in. Because we're doing this short-term deal with the front shop, we don't have to worry about that until early November, but if the fans keep coming then, we will have to figure something out until Richard moves Gas Monkey Garage to its new location a mile or so down the road. It's been incredibly interesting and cool to watch the show being filmed for the past 8 months, but we are definitely ready to move on and get back to our normal shop life.

Edited by PhippsAuto (see edit history)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

As far as I know, there are only two "Reality Rides" vehicles. The first was the Buick and the second was the Dodge Command Car. Our North Texas Chapter, BCA has been to Carl's shop several times as he hosted our meetings. When and if you see "The Reveal", that's us the Buick is being revealed to. The workmanship on the Buick is excellent, but it's not completely accurate in all respects. But, the changes made make it a more roadable vehicle . . . and it now appears at weekend cruise events in the southern DFW area.

At a later meeting we had at Carl's, we saw the Command Car in its original condition.

Carl and his staff are great people. His orientation is to use more modern technology to make older vehicles capable of daily driving in modern environments . . . for which there are good things and not-so-good things about. I don't have any issues with what I term "incognito upgrades" (as electronic ignition and other things which can be hidden), but some other things might easily make the vehicle more of a "street machine" than a "stock vehicle". Many shades of gray in that situation! Everything which I've seen come from Carl's shop has been show quality, at the least.

We all liked the approach of the Reality Rides format, but I guess it was too "instructional" for current reality television orientations? We kept hearing about it being edited in California with no time schedule for completion. At first, there was much excitement about it being on History or Discovery channel, but when it didn't materialize the next year, I didn't expect to see it. It was also explained how the time frame of production/editing/finalization was for the "seasons" of television schedules.

"Reality Rides" on the website might not be complete, but what's there is pretty decent, to me, but then I might be prejudiced a little. Some great shots of the Buick in several scenic North Texas areas, like the old US80 bridge over the Brazos River.

One thing Carl mentioned was that when you're being filmed, "the takes" needed to get a good sequence can be just like "in the movies" . . . several times to get it "right". That can increase the total work time on the car.

Congrats to The Phipps for their tolerance and keeping us posted about "the inside scoop" of the F&L show!

Enjoy!

NTX5467

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think it's been very interesting to read the comments of PhippsAuto regarding how the filming of the show has affected their business. Getting insight from someone who is personally acquainted with the personalities of such a show helps me understand that while there may be great attention to detail with some aspects of a particular segment, another segment may suffer from that lack of detail because those same personalities may not be involved when that part is put together. Man, that was a long sentence.

Anyhow, I continue to watch some of the episodes. There is a lot about the show I don't like - but, I'm still a car guy, and this is still a show about cars - and, I have a particular interest in a lot of the cars on this show. Occasionally, things are done to the cars that bother me - but, I don't see another show on current television that shows as many cars in my range of interest as this one. I guess I will continue to watch F&L until I find something I like better. It's sure better than "Dancing With The Stars" and "The Biggest Loser".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest PhippsAuto
Our North Texas Chapter, BCA has been to Carl's shop several times as he hosted our meetings.

NTX5467

Since you are in north Texas, you should stop by the shop sometime. If you wait until they're done with this 6-week rental of our front building, I'm sure Dewaine would be happy to show you around the shop, and there are always interesting cars there to see. Right now, they have to keep people out of the front shop for the extra TV project they are doing, so it's not a great time to get a real feel for the place if you're a car guy. But a month from now, come on up and visit! Dewaine loves to talk about old cars and knows a lot about them, and he loves to talk about the shop.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest PhippsAuto

Now it's been officially announced, so I can say that the reason we're renting out the front shop for 6 weeks is to let Aaron have a place to build a motorcycle for the Biker Build-off they have arranged with him, Jesse James in Austin, and both Paul Jr and Paul Sr from OCC and Paul Jr Designs in New York. They needed a separate location for the bike build, because it needs to be off camera as far as the filming of "Fast N' Loud" is concerned. It's a separate deal arranged by the Discovery Channel, who sent a separate film crew to the shop for this. When we were all talking about the potential for a build-off, Richard was trying to figure out where to film it, and this ended up being the best option.

Anyone local who knows anything about Aaron knows that he builds some very cool bikes. We have a good feeling about his chances in this build-off. The reveal and voting on the bikes will be in early December, with the bikes displayed in Las Vegas. I think the bike has to be finished by November 2nd, but we built in a few days leeway in case they go a bit over. After that, we get our shop back.

Meanwhile, filming of the second year of "Fast N' Loud" is continuing in the back shop.

ETA: To the best of my knowledge, last night's episode was the last one from the first season/year of the show. That was the 12th episode, and I think the first season was just 12 episodes, although they've ordered 15 episodes for the second season.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Foggy norm

I agree, some of the thing's they do bother me also... and it's definately better than the biggest loser, etc. For one, I've never heard of the Wildfire and probably never would have, the closest thing to it was the car in Rocky Jone's...space ranger (50's TV), still haven't figured that one out. Their antic's do get annoying somewhat, perhap's that I'm older and slowing down. In my youth, I recall, darn near't every shade-tree guy being this silly, without the bankroll. So the show take's me back (memory time) to a place and time long past. I've become more serious about the old car's, but in our youth, we put mismatched part's and piece's on those old wheel's, just to get them on the road. These guy's are doing the same thing, only they're better financed and better equipped. And seem to be having fun doing it....like kid's, refreshing.

Most of us who are watching this experiment to get car's back on the road, I think, will agree....Richard need's to learn what auction's NOT to go to. Come-on...Auburn! with that car. right year...wrong parade,

Edited by Foggy norm (see edit history)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest PhippsAuto

No problem. There are 3 film crews at the shop all the time now (a crew to go "on the road" with the guys when they go to buy or sell a car or take it for a test drive; a crew to film "Fast N' Loud" at the shop while they're working on cars; and now a crew to film the biker build-off). This is why Dewaine is technically "off work" for these 6 weeks, although he's been at the shop almost every day anyway because he is having the time of his life. He is enjoying meeting the fans of the TV show and not having to hang up under a dash all day or bend over under the hood of a car or be reaching up under a car that's on the lift. Physically, he can sure use this break! He is also enjoying seeing all the old cars that are coming through the shop, whether they make it onto the TV program or not. And now, finally, he is starting to get recognized enough/known enough that people are asking if he can work on their classic cars for them, which is how we are hoping this all ends up "paying off" for our shop. There is nothing he likes better than working on old cars (unless it's sitting around talking about old cars).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest PhippsAuto

We got our tee shirts and hoodies in yesterday, and I think they look great! Dewaine is at the shop today (along with Richard, Aaron, and almost everyone else associated with the show), and he's selling them there. Lots of people have come by already today, and it's sure to be a busy weekend because it's Texas-OU weekend, State Fair time, etc. Hope we'll sell out of the shirts quickly and make a little money. We only ordered about 70 to have on hand at the shop, but we're also going to sell them online through the vendor that made them for us.

Wanted to share here what they look like. We wanted to somehow get our 1951 Ford featured on the shirts, and this is what the company came up with. The one shirt with a different logo (race cars/flags) is what the back of our previous shirts looked like.

post-53904-143139213115_thumb.jpg

post-53904-143139213113_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Newbie here and just my 2 cents, but I find the owner to be pretty low brow and the show itself is a travesty to anyone who really cares about old cars. How in the world someone can take a straight, extremely rare Wildfire and butcher it without hesitation is astounding in a disgusting way.

The story line about that Rambler wagon was ridiculous. We're expected to believe some guy bought that rusted hulk for 20 grandish to give to his wife; and with no A/C in Texas? It might be noted there were a few ridiculous comments from them about the rust situation and the torque converter didn't even have a dust shield on it. It won't be long before a front pump seal will be leaking........

I have no idea about what kind of bikes Aaron builds but I will make a prediction right now on that Biker Build Off segment. Paul Jr. will win this. Why? Because he's the one with the most groupie star power of all the builders mentioned. It's not about talent; it's about the number of fawning fans, most of whom can't differentiate between a 3/8 NC threaded nut and a lock washer.

That may be harsh but just the way I feel and unfortunately every car show on TV grates on me; even the Foose show.

For what it's worth, those storage shows, pawn shows, etc, etc, are all staged. The Vegas pawn guys had to look at a guitar and per the usual brought in an expert. The guy who brought the guitar in is a luthier at the guitar store where that ax was for sale and the "outside expert" is the guy who owns the guitar store.

American Restoration? Read the bit about the old coke machine that was restored. Completely different pop box.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest ray17025

Hey, I'll say it. I like the show. Not all the stunts, of course, and I would prefer original cars. HATE low riders, but I find it entertaining. If the best thing that comes out of it is an inflated price for substandard cars...., so be it. Maybe some idiot will come take mine for twice market value.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Last night the episode where he takes the 48 Chevy and 63 Caddy to the auction was on,I think he needs to learn what auctions to take them on or have a reserve because it was said he lost money on both cars.

TV changes the dynamic.

I was watching one of the talk shows a while back (I think it was Letterman) when the Pawn Stars trio were on (Hoss, Chumley, Rick). The host happened to ask them what kind of cars they drove. This was early on in the show's lifetime, and they hadn't learned to be cagey about themselves yet (the show was about 2 years old). The least expensive car of the bunch was Chumley's, a new Aston Martin (all were exotics).

Funny how all you ever see them drive on the show are pickup trucks.:rolleyes:

If Fast 'N Loud's ratings are just average for The Discovery Channel, a 30 second spot on it nets about $13,000 for the network. Given that there are about 16 such spots per show (not including local spots for the cable company and promos for other shows), that means that each broadcast of a new show brings in over $200K gross for the network and the producer to split. Rebroadcasts are probably less, but pure gravy that must be well into 5 or 6 digits each). The next day the show is scheduled to be broadcast (Oct. 18) there will be 6 such rebroadcasts plus one new show, a likely single day gross of well over $1 million. Do you really think they're sweating a $4000.00 Chevy (or what ever those cars cost)?

And frankly if they didn't pretend to screw up once and a while their ratings would probably plummet.

It ain't real.

Edited by Dave@Moon (see edit history)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think the Asian lady, who does the upholstery for them, said it best. At the end of one of the shows, she said.. "They no Gas Monkey...they A$$ Monkey". How could I argue with such Oriental wisdom, and someone who knows them sooo well...B

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest PhippsAuto

I'm not going to vouch for 100% of what they end up showing on TV, but they did lose big at the Tulsa auction; we were in the shop when they got back that night, and they were really unhappy about how it had all gone. I remember in particular that Aaron told us that night, "It was all bottom feeders or people after the really expensive cars, and nothing in between" (which is where they thought they'd find a buyer). Richard is still trying to figure out which auctions are best for which cars, and which days/nights are best to bring his stuff across the stage for the kind of buyer who might actually want one of his cars. It's a game, and he's played it for a long time, but the dynamics have changed in the past few years, and the pressure of the deadlines the show has imposed on him have also changed how particular he can be about which auctions he can go to. They can't sit around on the cars for very long waiting for the perfect auction to come along, because they've got to wrap up filming on each episode.

I'm sure the money situation is better for him now that there's a TV show involved, but I don't get into those types of details with him, because (unfortunately) it doesn't involve our business.

Is reality TV 100% real? Of course not; "dramatic license" is taken on all of them, scenes have to be re-shot, things have to be re-staged, etc. All I can vouch for in terms of how "real" this show is would be the work being done on the cars. I'm not there when they buy or sell them, so all I know about that in terms of how much they spend/get is what I hear (and as I said above, I heard directly from them about how badly they did in Tulsa). But we do see the work involved, which is one of the main focuses of the show, and it's all done there. This is what these guys do, and it's what they've always done. Not everybody likes their choices or their work, and that's also always been the case. But at least they are getting some cool cars onto the show on a weekly basis and maybe firing up some viewers' passion for working on some old car themselves and doing it their own way.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
I'm not going to vouch for 100% of what they end up showing on TV, but they did lose big at the Tulsa auction; we were in the shop when they got back that night, and they were really unhappy about how it had all gone. I remember in particular that Aaron told us that night, "It was all bottom feeders or people after the really expensive cars, and nothing in between" (which is where they thought they'd find a buyer). Richard is still trying to figure out which auctions are best for which cars, and which days/nights are best to bring his stuff across the stage for the kind of buyer who might actually want one of his cars. It's a game, and he's played it for a long time, but the dynamics have changed in the past few years, and the pressure of the deadlines the show has imposed on him have also changed how particular he can be about which auctions he can go to. They can't sit around on the cars for very long waiting for the perfect auction to come along, because they've got to wrap up filming on each episode.

I'm sure the money situation is better for him now that there's a TV show involved, but I don't get into those types of details with him, because (unfortunately) it doesn't involve our business.

Is reality TV 100% real? Of course not; "dramatic license" is taken on all of them, scenes have to be re-shot, things have to be re-staged, etc. All I can vouch for in terms of how "real" this show is would be the work being done on the cars. I'm not there when they buy or sell them, so all I know about that in terms of how much they spend/get is what I hear (and as I said above, I heard directly from them about how badly they did in Tulsa). But we do see the work involved, which is one of the main focuses of the show, and it's all done there. This is what these guys do, and it's what they've always done. Not everybody likes their choices or their work, and that's also always been the case. But at least they are getting some cool cars onto the show on a weekly basis and maybe firing up some viewers' passion for working on some old car themselves and doing it their own way.

I've been pretty critical of the show and haven't watched more than bits and pieces because I hate to see an original car butchered along with some of the BS involved.

However, regarding their bike build-off I tuned in a bit last night from MNF (and especially towards the end) because I wanted to see what kind of bike Gas Monkey would come up with. I knew OCC and Paul Jr. would put out over-engineered garbage.

Hats off to Aaron because he built a real Harley Davidson that not only looks fantastic but is also a functional bike that could be ridden anywhere; and he did this with far less help, far less machinery, and no doubt a smaller budget than the others. Anyone who appreciates real motorcycles should vote for that one in a heartbeat.

Excellent job! :-)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Foggy norm

Personally, the show is enjoyable. I'm willing to accept the fact, not every vintage vehicle will be restored (especially the 80's and upward). It seems they do incorporate much of the vehicle's original character in their final design. Aaron seems passionate about all thing's mechanical, I would guess Richard doe's too, but won't let on. The Chevy Apache, in my opinion, turned out well, Oddly, my first thought upon seeing it was.......They have spare part's for all the guy's on Ebay trying to RESTORE one of these! As to the bike build off, thank goodness Fast and Loud is in it. I'm so tired of shows being grim and dark, those guy's are nut's and brighten the show. It's my understanding that Paul Jr's bike used mostly Repoped item's instead of original's. It's an eye-catcher for old car nut's...for sure...But I agree with Aaron's choice, classic and............PINK!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think the Asian lady, who does the upholstery for them, said it best. At the end of one of the shows, she said.. "They no Gas Monkey...they A$$ Monkey". How could I argue with such Oriental wisdom, and someone who knows them sooo well...B

YEP. I've tried to be nice to the Richard guy for years, but finally grew tired of the rude behavior every time he wants to buy something of mine at a swap meet. I have a very close friend that is a friend of Richard's and for the life of me I can't see why my buddy tolerates the guy--- but my buddy is a hard pill to swallow too. My friend bought a Model A roadster that is severely rotted from sitting to many years under a pecan tree and he needed help dragging the car out of the back yard that it was in for 30 years. It was kind of fun dragging the car out with my truck knowing it was bound for TV. Richard payed way to much for the car and payed in advance. They came down and filmed a while back and they acted of course like this is the first time they saw the car after we tucked it away in the back of the workshop for drama purposes. These shows pretty well just don't do it for me. I think the people that usually buy the overpriced cars that got Richard his start to fame selling, are the guys that have large pocket books, larger egos, and they make the mistake of drinking to much before a visit to the Gas Monkey. I don't care for the guy's demeanor at all, but if the fools keep buying from him, good for him.

0816121908.jpg

Edited by carlisle1926 (see edit history)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't claim to be a psychic and I don't even believe in that stuff, but the cut and paste below is a comment I made on this thread back on October 16th. GM got hosed and it's not a surprise.

I have no idea about what kind of bikes Aaron builds but I will make a prediction right now on that Biker Build Off segment. Paul Jr. will win this. Why? Because he's the one with the most groupie star power of all the builders mentioned. It's not about talent; it's about the number of fawning fans

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't claim to be a psychic and I don't even believe in that stuff, but the cut and paste below is a comment I made on this thread back on October 16th. GM got hosed and it's not a surprise.

I have no idea about what kind of bikes Aaron builds but I will make a prediction right now on that Biker Build Off segment. Paul Jr. will win this. Why? Because he's the one with the most groupie star power of all the builders mentioned. It's not about talent; it's about the number of fawning fans

of course it's all about the fans, that's what tv does

all the bikes were hideous, gas monkeys was the best, but it needed help too IMO

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The American Chopper show has been pretty much an infomercial and I would strongly suspect that short of resurrecting those guys in a new show, that their shops will collapse without the show and parade of businesses using the show for exposure. Where else could a business get an hour of primetime and re-runs for the cost of a bike.

Some of those bikes have been through charity sales and brought practically nothing; much like some that have gone through the Barrett Jackson auction.

I'm not keen on pink but Gas Monkey built a pretty, and functional, bike although I do not agree with butchering up a stock '67 Shovelhead.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I watched the two night series they did on the build-off and have watched both Fast 'N Loud and American Chopper off and on since both of them first went on the air. I didn't personally care for any of the bikes very much, but the Gas Monkey bike was my favorite of the bunch...the "old school" nostalgia type of chopper. And it literally was a chopper...born from a '67 Harley Davidson Shovelhead. I have mixed feelings about the nice original being turned into a chopper, but STILL liked it much better than all of the others. I found it rather annoying that more than once it was mentioned that nobody had ever done a Harley based sport bike. This isn't accurate at all. Harley has factory built some sport bikes AND the entire Buell motorcycle line was exactly that...Harley powered sport bikes.

I didn't think the results were surprising at all. Of course Paul Jr. was going to win. He could have built virtually anything and still pulled it off. He is the guy that's come up roses on TV and has the backing of the fans. His dad, Paul Sr., in my opinion, has always been portrayed as the 'bad guy' on the show, thus no way he could win; Jesse James builds neat stuff but doesn't have the fan base without West Coast Choppers and Monster Garage on TV (not to mention that his bad-boy image is getting old), and the Gas Monkey garage guys were (again, in my opinion) thrown in as the underdogs because the Jr.-Sr.-Jesse thing was already played out from last year. I wanted to see them win it, but didn't think they stood a chance with Jr.

The most surprising thing to me was to hear that American Chopper is done for. The last episode was last night (the build off show). I don't know if they'll be back doing individual shows or if this is the end of the road for them in terms of tv shows, but I sure didn't realize the show as we know it is over. There was no sort of wrap-up or retrospective aired prior to the build off show last night in which it was announced.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The most surprising thing to me was to hear that American Chopper is done for. The last episode was last night (the build off show). I don't know if they'll be back doing individual shows or if this is the end of the road for them in terms of tv shows, but I sure didn't realize the show as we know it is over. There was no sort of wrap-up or retrospective aired prior to the build off show last night in which it was announced.

I'm surprised that they were able to string it along for so long.

I hadn't heard it was ending, but frankly the show grew tired and ended for me after about 3 years.

I enjoyed it in the beginning when they worked out of the small shop. But for me this sort of thing becomes a victim of it's own success.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm surprised that they were able to string it along for so long.

I hadn't heard it was ending, but frankly the show grew tired and ended for me after about 3 years.

I enjoyed it in the beginning when they worked out of the small shop. But for me this sort of thing becomes a victim of it's own success.

I agree with you about the show...the early years were interesting but I grew tired of the drama (real or fabricated) and then it got to be one "theme bike" after another. After some time, they all began to look the same and they seemed to have run out of original design ideas.

I just didn't know that the show had been cancelled, so the announcement came as a surprise to me last night.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To Gas Monkey's credit, they actually rode the bike to Vegas. To be honest, none of those others are streetable for more than a few sanctioned miles.

Around here, both Sr. and Jrs. bikes would have been multiple ticketed at the least and hauled off on a tow truck at worst. James's bike would be debateable.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest PhippsAuto

Good to hear that you liked the bike Aaron built (with the help of another Aaron, Aaron Mather, who owns The Old Bike Shop in Dallas and who we've all known for years). Here's a picture of Aaron Kaufman, my husband Dewaine, and the bike (Fred). It was a long ride to Vegas, but Aaron said he enjoyed it and that the bike did great. I thought Aaron did really well on the TV show whenever he had to say anything about the bike or in response to any criticisms that were offered. The whole story of how they got the bike is an interesting one, and I hope they tell it sometime. (Aaron had visited a motorcycle museum in Maggie Valley, NC, called Wheels Through Time, and asked if the owner, Dale, knew where he could find this type of bike; Dale used to have "Fred" in his museum but had sold it to a place in Knoxville, TN. The guys got in touch with that place, Biker Rags, and ended up buying the bike from them, but they ran out of time to show all of that happening on TV.) Aaron then spent long hours working with Aaron M. in our shop to chop the Harley, and they didn't do justice to what he did with the clips they showed on TV. There are lots of details that would have been nice to have seen.

Richard gave Dewaine a plane ticket to Vegas, so he got to be in the front row with the rest of Richard's crew and his friends for the Choppers Live show. He had a great time out there. Said Jesse James was a jerk in person, too, but Paul Jr. was a real nice guy. Jr got 58% of the votes in the competition! Gas Monkey got 20%, Jesse got 13%, and Sr got the remaining 9%. Nice little showing for Gas Monkey.post-53904-143139294709_thumb.jpg

And here's a picture of Aaron from the Old Bike Shop working on the bike with Aaron K. in our shop.

post-53904-143139294716_thumb.jpg

As for Richard, there are plenty of people who can't stand him and plenty who enjoy his company, and you can kind of see why just from the show. And yes, he does seem to overpay for a lot of what he buys. Hope he gets better at that! They are moving to their new building this month, he says, over the Christmas holiday break. I'm sure it will take awhile before fans get the memo, so we'll have to redirect a lot of people to the new place once he's gone.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Foggy norm

Hurray for Fast & loud, no gripping about second for the new kid's. I'll alway's be an old car guy and I'll always enjoy a show in a garage. Being an old gas-jockey, it's a view of what the public never see's, beyond the front counter....hyjinks! My timing must have been right, was aware of the chopper's ending. With their moving to a new shop, it would be nice if they keep it small and vintage, of course with the new stuff. When the Chopper's had their new multi million dollar new dig's, I lost interest, may as well have been a factory, sure looked like one and had no personality which translated through the TV screen. Ya gotta admit tho, a 67 shovelhead chopper is a classic in it's own right, a bike with two distinct personalities. With their new move and fame, hope Aaron doesn't lose his down to earth attitude and become another Richard, they balance each other, if that's possible for Frick and Frack.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, GM did a knock 'em dead job on that bike. If the voting were limited to real bikers my feeling is that GM would win in a landslide.

It's the same principle with the 2 Harleys in the Easy Rider movie. Fonda's bike got the press because of the extended, and inoperable, front forks, flag paint, and so on but Hopper's bike was the one that every biker I've ever known prefers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest PhippsAuto
With their moving to a new shop, it would be nice if they keep it small and vintage, of course with the new stuff. When the Chopper's had their new multi million dollar new dig's, I lost interest, may as well have been a factory, sure looked like one and had no personality which translated through the TV screen.

That's exactly what we're wondering about, too. The new place is much bigger, has several offices, etc. Dewaine doesn't think it will have anywhere near the visual appeal of our front shop and the back shop the Gas Monkey guys have been renting, but that remains to be seen, I guess. I know the entire production crew has told Dewaine many times how much they love filming at our place. We would never have thought that, if you'd asked us before last year about using our shop as a film set. To us, it's just the shop ... basically the same as it's been for almost 40 years. It's functional, and Dewaine and his dad collected plenty of neat things to hang on the walls, etc., but it doesn't seem "special" in the way the film crew seems to view it. But we have to admit, when we watch the show on TV, the shop does look pretty cool.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This show has just been aired here in the U.K. Why, I don't know. We have had some excellent restoration series - I particularly like "a car is re born" with Mark Evans who buys and restores an E type Jaguar and a MGB amongst others. He also rebuilds an old Harley Davidson. Another restoration show is "salvage squad" who take on a wide variety of interseting projects - an early White steam car and a Morgan three wheeler for example.

Great suggestions, I am watching the Salvage Squad episode with the Morgan three-wheeler right now. Already impressed by the fact that the female host is removing an ignition switch to return the car back to it's 1931 hand-crank status! The polar opposite of these US shows, I guess that's also why I love Wheeler Dealers (even tho that show is also highly scripted like US shows, LOVE that they came to the US this last season too). I'm anxious to watch A Car is Reborn also. Found both shows on youtube.

I agree with you that American Restoration is a great show, I watched a marathon of shows On Demand on cable just yesterday out of boredom and every episode is fun if not totally realistic. Have you noticed how he overcharges for "sandblasting" on every project? A gas pump he says 10-hours and on a small radio he even said 3-4 hours, then they almost always cut to a shot of someone holding a fireman's sized hose soda blasting in 4-inch areas at a time. Must only take an hour for even the largest items. I'd love for Rick to subcontract his sand blasting work out to me!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

...I agree with you that American Restoration is a great show, I watched a marathon of shows On Demand on cable just yesterday out of boredom and every episode is fun if not totally realistic. Have you noticed how he overcharges for "sandblasting" on every project? A gas pump he says 10-hours and on a small radio he even said 3-4 hours, then they almost always cut to a shot of someone holding a fireman's sized hose soda blasting in 4-inch areas at a time. Must only take an hour for even the largest items. I'd love for Rick to subcontract his sand blasting work out to me!

I have never heard Rick give a quote for blasting alone, he always says (at least to the best of my recollection) "blasting and body work." High quality bodywork on ANYTHING is time consuming and therefore, expensive. The difference between a modern day "factory quality" paint job and a high end show quality paint job can be from 50%-150% more costly due to time and materials used.

I do love American Restorations. As being involved in a few "reality" TV shows (directly and indirectly), I know that they are far from real. AR does appear to be more real than fabricated.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...