Nearly a decade later, questions still surround what happened to Aaron Kaufman and why he left the iconic Gas Monkey Garage (GMG) crew.
Kaufman starred alongside Gas Monkey owner Richard Rawlings in the hit reality series Fast N' Loud for its first 12 seasons before departing from the show in 2016.
Fast N' Loud went on for another four seasons after Kaufman left the show. The former Gas Monkey mechanic set off on his own in the world of custom automotive work.
What Happened to Aaron Kaufman on Gas Monkey?
Fan-favorite Fast N' Loud personality Aaron Kaufman still has people wondering what happened to the former Gas Monkey mechanic and why he left the series that brought him so much success.
Kaufman notably left the Gas Monkey Garage crew (as seen on Fast N' Loud) at the end of 2016, making Season 12 of the hit Discovery series the last season he would regularly appear.
After leaving the series, the former Gas Monkey employee had a brief stint on a Discovery show titled Shifting Gears with Aaron Kaufman, following him after splitting from GMG and opening his own auto shop.
Shifting Gears lasted two seasons, coming to an end in 2019.
Shortly after he departed from Fast N' Loud, the Discovery star told MIC he needed a change in his life and that there were "some other things [he wanted] to get into:"
"I had some time off, and I think I got some other things — some other cats I want to skin. Some other things I want to get into. To quote Stevie Nicks, I think I have to go my own way."
He cited the exhausting deadlines he faced at GMG as his primary reason for wanting to leave.
As a part of him leaving, Gas Monkey owner Richard Rawlings wrote a lengthy blog post dedicated to the Beard Wonder, positing that "it will be a painstaking process moving forward without his talents:"
"I want you all to know that it was not my decision and came completely out of left field. Aaron has been a part of Gas Monkey Garage since day one, and it will be a painstaking process moving forward without his talents. It is a big hit to GMG, but please note that it would be an insult to everyone here at Gas Monkey who has been putting in the work these past few years to say that we can't do it without him."
Elsewhere, Kaufman noted one particular build at Gas Monkey that pushed him over the edge, making him want to leave for the first time since starting there.
"To be quite blunt, the Pantara build," Kaufman told Art of Gears, admitting, "I wanted to build cars that were that big or bigger, and then TV needed cars that were much smaller:"
"To be quite blunt, the Pantara build, you don’t see on the show, cars guys get it, but a lot of people don’t. The tipping point, that’s the bottom end of the type of cars I want to build....That was the rub, the crossroads there, I wanted to build cars that were that big or bigger, and then TV needed cars that were much smaller than that. On top of that there were some growing personal issues and professional differences of opinions and so I decided the time had come and I could see the fork in front of me."
Just because Kaufman left Rawlings and Gas Monkey does not mean he and his former employer do not get along.
In a 2018 interview with D Magazine, Kaufman disclosed some details about his and Rawlings' relationship and where he stands with the Fast N' Loud boss. "It’s not that we have an unfriendly rapport...We just don’t have much of one at all these days," the former Fast N' Loud star said:
"It’s not that we have an unfriendly rapport. We do. Or did. Do. We just don’t have much of one at all these days. But the deal is, I see the world very much differently than Richard does. I see how we interact with humans differently, what relationships with people are worth."
The pair have not been seen onscreen since his split from Gas Monkey, and Fast N' Loud finished its 16-season run.
Other members of the Gas Monkey team have also been heard from following the series' ending, with mechanic Mike Coy starring in a reality show of his own titled Tex Mex Motors in 2024.
Fast N' Loud is streaming on Max in the U.S.
