“Misfit Garage” is a reality TV series spawned from the show “Fast N Loud.” It features four members and mechanics from the “Gas Monkey Garage” Tom Smith and Jordan Butler, plus Tomas Weeks and Scot McMillan, who started their own company and car shop entitled Fired-Up Garage. The show, produced by Pilgrim Studios, premiered in October 2014, and ran for six seasons. Even though there hasn’t been an official statement, it’s believed that the show has been canceled, since the last season ended in 2018. The show’s cast, especially with their exciting and goofy personalities, gained much attention from fans,. Since the six seasons concluded, the cast has been under the radar, which tickled the viewers’ curiosity, who wondered what they were up to today.’
How did “Misfit Garage” come to life?
The story of how “Misfit Garage” was created resembles some of the Marvel or DC comic origin stories. Two mechanics, Tom Smith and Jordan Butler, were previously employed at Gas Money Garage, a trendy auto-restoration shop in Dallas, Texas, owned by Richard Rawlings, who is the main member of “Fast N’ Loud.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAXVFEeYvvw
Having been employed at Richard’s famous shop, Jordan and Tom were also regular members of “Fast N’ Loud” until Richard fired them. According to TMZ reports, the two were sacked after allowing a fan with cystic fibrosis to pose with one of Richard’s cars which angered him, and who yelled at the fan, saying: ‘get the f*** away from the car.’ Tom and Jordan cussed back at Richard, saying: ‘Chill the f*** out.’
Obviously, this came out to Richard as disrespectful, and on the same day Richard told them to pack their tools and leave the shop. The mechanics were known as jokers, and often pulled pranks and messed around with other members, which was excellent content for the show. Still, according to Richard, their antics disrupted the working climate at his garage, and with this incident, he’d had enough. So after they were fired, Jordan and Tom had the idea to start their own shop, and invited two other skilled technicians. Scott McMillan and Tomas Weeks helped them out, and the quartet opened Fired-Up Garage. Later, Pilgrim Studio came in with a contract for Discovery Channel, and the rest is history, as they say.
The story of the show’s inception is invigorating, but what is more interesting is that Richard supported the project and even produced “Misfit Garage’ alongside Craig Piligian, Eddie Rohwedder and Pilgrim Studios.
Meet the “Misfit Garage” Cast
Tom Smith
Tom Smith is a seasoned mechanic and TV reality star, who rose to popularity starring in “Fast N’ Loud” and later “Misfit Garage.” He was born in Ohio, and later relocated to Georgia with his family. Interestingly, Tom had a knack for cars and mischief from a young age – when he was 10 he was booked for a traffic violation after being caught driving a Pontiac, obviously without a license. Allegedly, Tom wanted to go for a joy ride, and when the, cops tried to stop him, Tom crashed into their car, and so was escorted to his parents for a ‘talk.’
After matriculating, he opened up an auto shop in Ohio, but also launched a career as a stand-up comedian, performing in clubs across the US. Sources say that even though he was terminated from Gas Monkey Garage, he saw it as a blessing, and an opportunity to start a new business.
Jordan Butler
Jordan Butler is a co-founder of Fired-Up garage, an automotive technician and reality TV star who, similar to his friend, gained popularity in “Fast N’ Loud”, and later became known from “Misfit Garage.” Hailing from Texas, Jordan inherited the love of cars from his father, and spent a lot of his childhood roaming around his garage, where he fixed and assembled bicycles. During his high school days, Jordan often engaged in drag races to earn money, and enjoyed the rides. After completing his education, he attended Wild Tech and studied street rodding, fabrication, and auto body collision. Allegedly, Jordan was a part of John Force’s pit crew, and traveled with them to participate in drag races. Later, he focused more on mechanics rather than racing, and became known as a phenomenal race car chassis builder. At some point, he met Aaron and Richard, who offered him the job at Gas Monkey Garage. He was caught off guard when Richard fired him, as it was the first time it had happened to him. Jordan later shared his opinion on the termination, and said that employees should not be fired for calling the boss ‘an asshole.’
https://www.facebook.com/rodrigoaraujodublador/photos/a.400868806686262/764383597001446/
Thomas Weeks
Thomas Weeks is a car enthusiast, mechanic, and reality TV star who came into the limelight by appearing in “Misfit Garage.” Thomas also grew up with a father who was a mechanic, and spent a lot of time in his father’s garage. One incident was when Thomas was rushed to the emergency room after a rod went through his mouth. While his father was working under the car, Thomas used the opportunity to take a glance under the hood and fell in on the rods sticking out. This unpleasant experience didn’t dissuade Thomas from pursuing a career as a mechanic.
His father supported him in continuing to acquire knowledge – his father gave him a 1995 Chevy truck when he was 15, however, it didn’t have an engine, and his father told him that if he put the engine back, the truck was his. Later, Thomas opened a shop, and that is how he met Richard. Besides being a mechanic, he also has a private pilot’s licence.
Scott McMillan
Similar to his co-stars, Scott inherited a passion for cars at a very young age. Born and raised in Texas, he also learned the craft from his father, and during his high school days, built his first car and sold it, earning some profit. Interestingly, after matriculating, Scott enlisted in the US Marine Corps, and did a couple of military tours. However, having been nearly killed in an accident in Iraq, he changed his mind about being a marine, and turned to the automotive industry. Scott met the other members of Misfit Garage through Aaron Kaufman, the former lead mechanic at Gas Monkey Garage.
Where is the cast doing today?
After the show concluded on such undefined terms without official cancelation or renewal, many began wondering what happened with the series and its cast, and whether they are still invested in the automotive industry.
Tom Smith, who became known for his one-liners, is now rumored to be doing stand-up comedy.
However, he’s still invested in the automotive industry, and works on both personal and client car projects. Furthermore, judging from his social media, he is still working in a garage, although the name remains unknown. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Tom performed a live comedy session.
In 2021, he hinted that he might be launching his auto shop reality series on his Facebook account. He’s very active on Facebook, and often has live sessions in which he talks about current happening, and shows his food ideas, as he calls himself a food connoisseur.
In addition, he’s a great dog lover and spends his time rescuing and transporting stray dogs.
Jordan Butler exited Misfit Garage in 2014, because he didn’t want to relocate to a new shop and work with new partners. This news came as a shock to fans, given that Jordan was the co-founder of Fired-Up Garage. Later, he wrote on social media that he hadn’t desired to work with cars, especially ‘after all that bs with fired-up.’
He has kept a low profile since he left the show and the shop in the fourth season. It’s believed that Butler owns his own garage from which he operates. Jordan was previously very active on his social media, until 2018 when he stopped posting. Many believe that Jordan has been focusing on his family and his two children, away from the limelight. In February 2022, he posted on his Facebook: ‘Been in hiding for a few years. I’m back to wrenching again, building cool shit and working on anything and everything – got a buddy that has a pretty cool fab shop, been hanging out over there a lot; we have been building some pretty cool stuff, pics to come.’
Thomas Weeks, known to fans as a magnet for accidents, has remained in the automotive industry and continues to build cars in his shop. In 2020, he teamed up with Paul Baker and launched the YouTube channel entitled Hot Rod School with Thomas Weeks and Paul Baker and the eponymous YouTube series. Thomas provides information to Baker and viewers about various cars, their specifics, and on driving.
Furthermore, it’s an eye feast for car enthusiasts, as the show features numerous rare and exciting cars, such as the 1969 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am. Thomas has a Facebook account with over 300,000 followers, but he posts seldom.
Scott McMillian left the show to focus on his business/restoration shop entitled Scot Rods Garage, which he founded in 2011. At the moment, he is working full-time at his shop, building hot rods with his partner Jeff Dunlap. Scott is very active on his social media, especially Instagram, on which he posts current projects. He recently participated in Holley LSFest, one of the signature automotive events.
The Truth behind Richard Firing Tom and Jordan
When it was announced that the two members who were sacked from Gas Garage Monkey were getting their own show entitled “Misfit Garage,” many rejoiced, especially given that fans sided with the mechanics, and thought that their removal from the series and the shop was excessive and uncalled for.
However, after Richard was hired as one of the co-producers for the show, it raised some eye brows and caused speculation among the fans. The theory resurfaced that the firing of the two was staged, because it seemed too coincidental that Tom and Jordan just happened to land a new show, with Richard as a co-producer and supporter.
Furthermore, even though Richard never appeared in “Misfit Garage,” some sources indicate that he had a lot of control over the shop, as he was the landlord, which was revealed in the first episode. Furthermore, being the show’s producer, Richard served as an artistic overseer, giving him control over the cars featured in the shop, and how they would be transformed. To make matters worse, he financed the project, which meant that he could influence what car should be featured, and how much money should be invested into restoring, promotion and marketing.
Controversy
Today, many reality shows stage certain events to achieve a particular effect, or to attract new viewers.
This also goes for “Misfit Garage,” which has stretched viewer credibility on several occasions. It went so far that a fan/ hater created a discussion on Vintage Mustang Forum, with an entire thread devoted to debunking the show and pointing out its flaws. One of the fans said that in an episode, a Misfit ‘flunkie’ was filmed painting a driveshaft near a high-running fan, making the whole project chaotic. He wrote: ‘Naturally, he could barely get any paint on the driveshaft, and the freshly painted project on which all their fortunes rely. Predictably, the overspray is now a great threat to their project being [completed] on time. Fortunately, the detailer can save their special paint job.’
Other fans further addressed the label of the paint cans, writing:’ Second, the can is clearly Plasti-Dip, [which is] not real paint. Nobody paints a driveshaft with Plasti-Dip. But they do paint things where they want the paint to be easily removable, like staged overspray on your project’s special paint job.”
While for the average viewers, situations like this would not be an issue, for fans who have some knowledge and background in the automotive industry, this seems to be a sloppy job on behalf of the “Misfit Garage” cast and the producers.’
Did “Misfit Garage” Wreck More Cars Than They Restore?
Considering that Fired-Up Garage is a restoration auto shop, where vehicles are fixed, upgraded and restored, fans expect the crew to ‘resuscitate’ old and run-down cars and not the other way around. Unfortunately, according to reports, the cast destroyed many vehicles. An example would be the 1971 GTO which was crushed by a tank in the third season by one of the crew members, to teach Thomas Weeks a lesson in etiquette. In the first season, a car was brought in by a customer; it was smashed by a fallen tree and shown on the series.
