Former Fast N’ Loud star Aaron Kaufman is set to be in his own new show on Discovery next year, called Shifting Gears.
The “Bearded Wonder”, who parted ways with Richard Rawlings and Gas Monkey Garage at the end of last season, is currently filming the new series, which is slated to air in Spring 2018.
Unlike Fast N’ Loud, it will not be about flipping and selling cars, but will instead explore different types of car culture through building and driving cars. It is being filmed at the HQ of the new company Aaron set up after leaving Gas Monkey — Arclight Fabrication in Dallas.
Aaron, who went in front of the camera for The Lowlife Show on YouTube earlier this year, opened up about Shifting Gears in an interview with C10 Nation’s C10 Talk podcast, ahead of the premiere of the new series of Fast N’ Loud.
He said: “We’re moving into a new phase — we have a new shop, a new operation, and we’re shooting a new show. Initially when I walked away from Fast N’ Loud I was ready to close the door and having enjoyed that chapter — chapter written, chapter closed — move on to something else.
“But I was being pursued to do more TV, and the thing is I actually enjoy doing it. I enjoy sharing the things that I enjoy so much. You know, there’s so many things I’m not the best at. There’s so many things that so many people are better at but, I tell you the one thing is, I doubt there’s anyone having more fun doing it.
“That being said, it wasn’t hard to perk my interest to get back into this and, initially with Arclight I was really going to take the slow and easy road. I had a little money saved up and I kind of planned out how that would work for me, and so when the TV thing came back we battled with whether we were going to do it or not, what it looks like, how we make it genuine, how it fits and how we avoid some of the pitfalls of the past.”
Aaron also said that while he had enjoyed his time on Fast N’ Loud, it was so busy that he didn’t really have time to sit back and “relish” the experiences he was having. But he said after having a few months off, he found he was ready to take the leap to do a new show.
During the interview, Aaron also revealed he will be filming the show 32 weeks a year where they build four cars a season. He said: “That allows us an opportunity to step back, pop our head up and take a breath, take a look at where we’re going, where we want to go and how we’re going to do it. And I think that’s important because in the past it’s been so head-down and so ‘go go go’ that we kind of lost sight and it’s kind of hard with the burn-out.”
Aaaron also spoke about his new show to Guide Live. He said: “Initially, I had left television with the intention of staying gone from television. However…my phone kept ringing to do more television, so finally we found a set of circumstances that I think work better for my personality.
“The purchase of the vehicle bears little importance [to the show] at all. [With] every vehicle, we’re trying to use it as a catalyst to explore a different automotive subculture.”
Shifting Gears is expected to premiere in Spring 2018 on Discovery.