Aaron Kaufman LEAVES gas monkey! Rawlings: "it came completely out of left field"

[LateralJeaz]

So I want to preface my post by saying; yes, I know most of the show, not unlike almost everything else on tv that claims to be 'reality', is about as from the hip as pro wrestling....THAT BEING SAID..

After catching the short preview of next season of fast-n-loud on discovery, I quickly dug this up online:

http://www.gasmonkeygarage.com/yes-a...monkey-garage/

Along with this:

http://www.hotrod.com/articles/revea...beat-roadkill/

Followed by this journalistic jem, horrid punctuation in tow (not that mine is stellar):

http://liverampup.com/news/aaron-kau...eave-show.html

First off let me say, Being a native Texican myself and spending lots of time in the dfw area with family, I liked the idea and the personalities of this show from the get go. I don't watch it religiously. And yes, it has its ridiclous moments and the plots can sometimes be thin at best. But I must say, I'm entertained by it for the most part.

However, the episode(s)? about dave's general mayhem vs the GMG dart felt different to me. They contained palpable tension between GMG and Roadkill that I swore I felt even as I watched it on tv. And sure enough, looks like where there was smoke there was fire! And quite possibly it seems that those events contributed to Aaron's departure!

So I guess there's a dash of reality in reality tv after all! And I may just have to dvr this season, to take in some silly but generally fun automotive based TV, and....TO SEE THEM BICKER UNTIL AK QUITS! Lolol. mission accomplished discovery, ya got me. I hope Aaron gets his own show. Brillliant mechanic or not, you can tell he has a genuine love for wrenching. Thoughts?

[Ketzer]

Mr. Kaufman seems like a genuine hot rodder. Seems to be a really down to earth guy. The departure (for whatever personal reason) seems scripted out to gain veiwers and add tv drama...

[Rod P]

Aaron is good folks I have been privileged enough to call him a friend for a few years now....he is genuine....what many don't see is the REALLY long hours these guys truly put in...... the cameras and its crew slow down progress all day leave till they leave at 5pm and most every night we were there till 9 or 10 pm making up build time and then eating at 11pm or later just to get back up and be at the shop between 6 and 7 to get some stuff going again before the film crew gets in....I can't speak for Aaron but I do now there has been tension for a while, and the 15 hour days take there toll....not sure what he's doing he wouldnt say and neither did his girlfreind

[Grnova]

'm not sure but I think Aaron is working with his friend KC at KC paint and Restoration, according to KC's Facebook page.

[youthpastor]

I heard that was in the works for over a year.


He's a solid guy and will do well wherever he goes.

[TheJDMan]

While I'm not a big fan of GMG, it was apparent from the start that Aaron was the talented car guy and Rawlins was the self-promoter. I hope Aaron finds his happy place. I would love to see him bring his Falcon out to some autocross events someday. Maybe, if we are lucky, he will show up here on the pages of Lat-G or PT.com some day. Rod, if you see him again, point him in our direction.

[randy]

I was at the gas monkey car show 2 months ago and won an award. The shop guys were really nice asking about my car. My type of people. Shop is only 30min away. Hopefully they can make it out to some shows.

[Brewtal66]

So just to add to this...if it even matters, my buddy was on a Discovery Channel show that aired directly after Fast 'N Loud. He got to talking to the crew, which obviously Discovery that puts on Fast 'N Loud.

According to him/Discovery guys...Aaron and Richard have been on the outs for years. I guess they both would pretty much come in, do their shoots, then leave. He said that Richard was jealous that Aaron was gaining a lot of popularity and saw him as a threat to his kingdom. I don't know if that's true, but it sort of makes sense...let's face it, Richard is extremely full of himself.

Overall I enjoy the show if I happen to catch it. It's definitely not the worse one out there.

[clill]

A friend told me Richard does not know how to work on cars ? That he used to be a printer ?

[zz430droptop67rs]

Rod,

I often see cars in the background that were allegedly sold in previous episodes or even past seasons. What is the story on those?

Thanks.