Fast N' Loud Page 13
Those of you who want to go out and get Gas Monkey tattoos, though, I’m all for it. Why not? It’s free advertising for me! We’ve seen pictures sent in from one guy who got a huge Gas Monkey tattoo on the back of his bald head. Another had his complete forearm done in nothing but our logo. There was a guy at the airport who came running up to me and pulled half of the backside of his pants down to show me the Gas Monkey he’d tattooed on his butt cheek. Then there was a guy who got Aaron’s face tattooed on his ass. Ha!
Okay, that one’s kind of my fault. We threw a big viewing party one night, and a fan drew a picture of Aaron’s face and put it on Facebook. I took one look at it and issued a challenge to everyone at the party: “I’ll pay someone $1,000 if they get this tattooed on their butt.”
This one guy was like, “I’ll do it.”
I was shocked. I was like, “Really?”
We e-mailed the image to the tattoo place next door, they printed it out, the guy went over there, and sure enough now he’s got a big old picture of Aaron’s face and beard on his butt cheek.
Another woman who contacted us through Twitter has a tattoo of a monkey with a goatee on it (which is supposed to look like me), tattooed along with the phrase GET YOU SOME OF THAT! She was actually scheduled to visit the garage before this book came out, and she said she wanted me to sign my autograph near her tattoo so she could get my signature tattooed on herself, too. I was like, “Fine. Whatever you’re into!”
The fact is, we get lots of messages now from people asking if it’s okay to use our logo for a tattoo. My response is, “Have fun, but please don’t butcher it.”
There was one guy in an airport who came running after me: “Roger! Roger! Roger Rawlings!” he yelled. He got my first name wrong, and yet he had this big Gas Monkey tattoo on his arm. I posed for a picture with the guy anyway, because you know what? It doesn’t matter if everyone knows my name. What matters is that they know Gas Monkey Garage, that they know our reputation, and that they get excited about the show.
The Gas Monkey fandom has grown so big, I’ve been able to land spokesman deals with two of my favorite companies on the planet: Miller Lite and Dodge. My face is on one of the biggest Miller Lite billboards in the whole Dallas area now. I can see it from where I live, which means there’s a giant me staring back at me through my window. Let that s—t sink in and mess with your head for a minute. Some of my employees complain that they have to see my face ten times on their morning commute before they’ve even gotten in to work. I tell ’em everyone should be so lucky!
In addition to providing me a 392-Hemi Challenger to drive around in, Dodge jumped in and helped us throw a massive event here in Dallas, complete with a concert by Mötley Crüe. Just about the only music I listen to is hop-hop and hair bands, so to be involved in a Mötley Crüe show was a dream come true.
The list of cool stuff goes on and on. I mean, even Havoline’s a sponsor for the show, and they’ve jumped in on some really cool giveaways for the fans, including an amazing green Camaro I picked up at auction that drew more than 150,000 entries on Facebook.
The fact that our fandom keeps growing means we gain new sponsors all the time, which allows us to do more cool contests and events for the fans, which earns us more fans as a result. It’s an unbelievably cool cycle to get caught up in, and all I can say is, “Thank you!”
THE GROWING GAS MONKEY EMPIRE
Fast N’ Loud has taken off so much that Gas Monkey Garage is in the process of expanding—big-time. I just bought the property on each side of us here in Dallas, and we’ll be blasting through the walls next door by the time this book hits the stands. One of the things I’m thinking about adding to the customer experience here is a sort of car museum—a place to show off my personal car collection and some of Gas Monkey’s favorite builds from the past. I would love to let our fans see some of these cars up close. I know they would love it.
I keep a stash of cars and bikes for myself over in one corner of the shop as it is. Among my favorites, I’ve got a kick-ass replica of the Porsche James Dean was driving when he died. It’s been listed among the finest replica cars ever built, and you’d know why if you got behind the wheel.
My very recognizable ’68 Shelby with the roll bar, which we fashioned to look just like a car that briefly appeared in the movie The Thomas Crown Affair, is there, too. My green Harley is there, the one I said I would never part with, right next to a crazy-looking chopper I bought online one day.
My James Dean–style Porsche replica. PHOTO BY MARK DAGOSTINO.
There’s an old-fashioned 1929 Packard, with a big long front and ornate details—a fantasy car from another era that I always dreamed of owning. I also recently picked up a gold Ferrari 308—that’s the Magnum P.I.–style Ferrari. Those cars have come way down in price in recent years, and I managed to find a gold one—one of only six gold ones ever built.
My 1929 Packard. An old-school dream car of mine . . . that’s now mine! PHOTO BY MARK DAGOSTINO.
On the nostalgia front, I repurchased the first car that Gas Monkey ever built: a dropped ’52 Fleetline with an old patina finish. I also bought back an incredible motorcycle that Aaron built entirely by hand, piece by piece, three or four years before we landed the TV show. I like having those old builds around to remind me of what we’re capable of, and just how far we’ve come.
I take most of those cars and bikes out and drive ’em, too. I don’t like treating cars strictly as something to look at. Cars are meant to be driven. A few chips in the paint, some road wear, and the smell of burned-out tires make any car—even a really expensive car, like a Ferrari—that much cooler.
The first car that Gas Monkey Garage ever built. COURTESY OF RICHARD RAWLINGS.
The way I see it, I’ve got my retirement in the corner of this garage. It’s my retirement, but I get to have fun with it now. I get to look at it every day, and I get to drive it if I want to. That’s a whole lot more fun than leaving my money in some bank.
The growth of Fast N’ Loud has definitely allowed me a few perks in life. It’s also allowed me to finally see through my early vision of turning Gas Monkey Garage into a brand that’s recognized all over the country and all over the world. In addition to our little shop at the front of the garage, we’ve got Gas Monkey apparel and merchandise showing up in major clothing and department stores all over the place these days. And we’re just getting started! We’ve seen the first Gas Monkey spin-off show in Misfit Garage, and a few episodes of yet another Gas Monkey spin-off called Demolition Theater—where me and some of the other Gas Monkeys sit around watching crazy videos of people crashing cars and doing crazy stunts and just laugh our asses off. It’s crazy, and I love it. But it’s still just the beginning.
I created a concept for a scripted TV show, based on a garage that’s a little something like GMG, full of all sorts of characters that are reminiscent of Daphne and Christie and everybody, and we sold it to actor Vince Vaughn’s production company. Heck, I could be the first so-called reality star to turn myself into a Hollywood mogul if I keep this up. And you know what? I plan to keep it up! It’s fun, and it’s making me money. So why not?
We also broke into the NHRA drag-racing world during our fifth season on the air, buying our dragster and jumping in the game without corporate sponsors, which is just unheard of. We didn’t come out on top in our first race, but Gas Monkey Racing is going to take that sport by storm in the year ahead. Just you watch!
Just a small sampling of our Gas Monkey apparel and merchandise. COURTESY OF RICHARD RAWLINGS.
Right here in Dallas we’ve already opened the first-ever Gas Monkey Bar N’ Grill, a restaurant concept that’s far exceeded even my wildest expectations of what a successful restaurant can be. I saw the potential of that property sitting right off a major freeway, so I bought it and I assembled a team to draw up designs and set up a kitchen, and off we went. The spot we’re in used to be a restaurant called Firewater Bar & Grill, and what we did was the sam
e sort of thing we do with cars: we gave it the Gas Monkey once-over. We took that old place and turned it into something entirely new and spectacular. It’s rustic-looking now, with reclaimed wood and all sorts of old rusty metal signs and things on the wall. We built a stage, and a VIP lounge upstairs, all overlooking that man-made pond with fire elements that shoot up from the water. It’s rad! Our kitchen cranks out great food, our bartenders are the best in the business, and we treat our customers like customers should be treated. After all, our customers are Gas Monkey fans, and those fans deserve all the thanks and praise in the world.
You find a lot of so-called “celebrity” restaurants in the world, and yet the “celebrity” is never in the place. They just lend their name to it and sit back to collect a paycheck. It’s not like that with GMBG. Me and the other Gas Monkeys are in there whenever we get a chance. I’ll admit, sometimes it’s not easy. If I show up when the place is hopping, it might take me an hour just to make my way to a table ’cause everybody wants to shake my hand and take a selfie with their cell phone, you know? But I take every one of those pictures, and I thank every person I come in contact with, because if it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be living any of this dream right now.
What amazes me is how many of our fans fly all the way to Dallas from Germany or Sweden and plan their entire vacations around a visit to Gas Monkey Garage and Gas Monkey Bar N’ Grill. I love it! I’ve been to London a couple of times since the show started airing in Europe and I can barely make it through the airport. People go nuts.
Gas Monkey Bar N’ Grill getting ready to open (above) . . . COURTESY OF RICHARD RAWLINGS.
. . . and open! A view from just offstage, and inside the main dining room. COURTESY OF RICHARD RAWLINGS.
My plan is to take the Gas Monkey Bar N’ Grill phenomenon and spread it all over the country, and all over the world. We’ve already got a mini location at Dallas–Fort Worth International Airport, and we’re opening a spot in Southern California. Heck, we could open this fun, laid-back atmosphere of a restaurant in all sorts of island and vacation destinations, too, and then I’d have to go inspect each one. (Tough job, but somebody’s gotta do it!) I’m fixing to open a bunch of Gas Monkey Roadhouses, too, like old-fashioned drive-ins, but ones that invite you to come in and have a beer.
Speaking of beer, that makes me think of bars—and as I’m writing this book, Gas Monkey is getting ready to invade bars all over the planet with Gas Monkey–branded tequila. We’re talking thousands and thousands of cases of the highest-quality tequila imaginable, kicked up a notch in true Gas Monkey style with a spice that’ll knock your socks off. We’ve already got a distribution deal in place with Bacardi, and I expect that all of you spring breakers out there have already tried it by now.
We’ve got a Gas Monkey concert venue now, too. Just up the road from the Bar N’ Grill I bought a 2500-seat live-music mecca and turned it into Gas Monkey Live! We’ve welcomed all kinds of bands there already, from Reel Big Fish and Los Lonely Boys, to Social Distortion and one of my personal favorites, Mötley Crüe.
The Gas Monkey empire keeps growing, and the reality of seeing that dream of mine come true is more rad than I ever imagined it could be. Considering the fact that Fast N’ Loud’s only been on the air since 2012, just imagine what you’ll see from Gas Monkey Garage in another year, or two years, or three years?
All I can say is hold on to your socks, pal.
And to think it all goes back to my love of cars, and my fast-thinking, cash-driven desire to flip cars that goes all the way back to when I was sixteen years old. It turns out that flipping cars was a pretty good little business to get into. And that’s what the next section of this book is all about.
PART THREE
FLIPPING OUT
Cash money! That’s my smile after making a quick sale. COURTESY OF DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS.
THE SECRETS OF MY SUCCESS
A lot of people ask me, “Do you think it’s possible for the average Joe to get out there and flip some cars?”
My answer: absolutely! That’s what I built my business on! I think it’s possible to make a very good living doing what you love, whatever that love may be. It’s like anything else in life, though: when it comes to buying and selling, you have to know when to hold ’em and know when to fold ’em.
On Fast N’ Loud we focus pretty heavily on the builds, the big-money, super-challenging projects that come our way. But a lot of times it’s those B-stories, the cars I’m flipping, that actually provide the money that keeps Gas Monkey Garage solvent. When I lose money on a build, I make up for it by flipping cars. Sometimes it’s with a crazy-lucky flip, like the Mustang I paid $65,000 for and sold for $125,000. But more often than not it’s the multiple cars we’re flipping for a profit of $2,000, $4,000, $6,000, and so on.
I mean, I’ve got a Model A in the parking lot right now that we threw up on eBay. Last time I checked, it’s at $9,500. I only paid $4,000 for it, and I didn’t do anything to it! We bought it, had it delivered, took some pictures, and threw it on eBay. That’s it.
I know what you’re gonna say: “Well, people are just paying more for that car because they’re buying it from Gas Monkey Garage, and they want the bragging rights to say it’s a Gas Monkey car.” Correct. From what I’ve figured, the Gas Monkey notoriety has increased our profits on a lot of cars by a good 20, maybe 25 percent. Even so, let’s take that out of the equation. A $5,500 profit minus 25 percent is still $4,125 in profit. That’s more than doubling my money. Minus the freight cost, it’s still nearly double what I paid for it. You could be a bazillionaire with a Swiss bank account and not make that kind of a return on investment anywhere else.
When it comes to flipping cars, ever since day one my goal has been to beat the banks. So my basic rule of thumb is this: if I can make 15 percent on the investments I’m making, I’m doing pretty great.
If you’re looking to double or triple your money with every car you buy and sell, you’re going to be disappointed. Sometimes you get a bad one and you have to just get rid of it as fast as you can for whatever you can get. Sometimes you get a good one and you hold on to it and get as much money as you can. As long as you can make a profit on average, you’re good. If not, you’re doing something wrong. But it is definitely not a game in which you’re going to double your money every time.
I sure as hell like the 300 and 400 percenters, don’t get me wrong. I look for those wherever I can find ’em. But even with those, when you average them out against the break-evens and losses, that 15 percent number is the one I’m usually hitting.
Plus, I look at it like this: do you want your money sitting in the bank making 3 or 4 percent in your savings account, or even 1 percent in some checking account? Or would you like to at least take your old lady for a ride in a Bertone X1/9 that you paid $800 for and can sell for $1,200? Get you some of that! I mean, come on! It’s your money. If you can make a little profit at the same time you’re having fun, that’s a whole lot more valuable to me than letting it sit in the bank.
By the way, those X1/9s are horrible cars, and they’re selling for a lot more than $1,200 right now, so they’re probably a lousy investment. Don’t go buying a Bertone just because I mentioned it here, okay? But you get my point.
I think a lot of people struggle. They’re in a job, they have a certain amount of income coming in, and yet they’re struggling every month. They don’t think outside the box. If cars are something you love, you could invest some time and effort and money into flipping and maybe make a little something here and there on the side. There’s a learning curve to it, and it can definitely be risky, but for those who want to dedicate the time and intelligence it takes, I really do believe it’s a great way to make some money.
If everything else went away, I know that I could make a living flipping cars for the rest of my life. Back when I was going through my divorce, right at the same time that Gas Monkey was going through a rough period just before the show started, I
took off and rented a penthouse apartment at a high-rise in Dallas. The only income I had at that time was from flipping cars. Period. People thought I was some kind of a drug dealer or something because I lived in a great apartment and lounged around the pool most days.
The reality was I kept four or five cars at a time, and I flipped them. I had zero debt in my life, and zero bills except for rent and phone, so my overhead was low. That came from years of being disciplined with my money. Not only could I make ends meet, I could live like a king. All I did for a few months was sit in a swimming pool, drink margaritas, and flip cars.
My overhead was so low that if I flipped one car and made ten Gs, I didn’t have to do any more work that month. And I didn’t even have to work all that hard at the selling because I flipped the cars online.
I’ve pretty much been online since it started, and that is definitely one of the keys to my success. I was a very early adopter of eBay and then moved on to Craigslist and other listing sites. I use the newspaper and AutoTrader and Hemmings Motor News and stuff like that to place ads that say, “I buy cars.” I personally don’t ever advertise my cars for sale in those publications at all. I advertise to buy cars. That way people come to me when they’ve got something they need to get rid of, and chances are, if they’re answering an ad that says, “I buy cars,” they’re doing it because they need the cash—and that probably means I’m going to get myself a bargain.