I like watching the show but they are bunch of hacks on par with the dirty people who flip houses but only half ass the job. I keep hearing people talk about driving up the price of our cars up is good. All I see is the cost of parts skyrocket and more good cars parted out because of hacks like them. Making it harder/costlier for those of us who enjoy driving our cars to maintain them.
I equate it to my dad who has been restoring a 67 Ford Galaxy slowly over the last few years. Parts are already scarce on them. Prices keep going up because of half assed "resto-mods" done on tv(GMG included). The hobby/nostalgia builder who wants to rebuild the car they owned when they were young and didn't have the spare cash to do it the way they wanted gets pushed out of the market. Ass hats like them make it the same all over again by driving up prices because they have a TV show to subsidize the cost of builds. Instead of showing the market for what it really is.
GMG first season was in a tiny ass garage with minimal luxeries. Then all of a sudden blows up because of the "deals" on the cars. Then it can afford to open a Bar Grill also. Sure..........
Preach it, Brutha! I feel pretty much the same way - with a twist.
While he's still not my favorite (mostly just because of the 'so typical' design cues he uses... almost every time...), Chip Foose at least does not 'half-ass' anything - just like Boyd Coddington didn't, either. Count's Kustoms is the same way. You also know you're getting a completely repaired/gone through restomod that's actually worth something and will last, and the money they command is much more realistic expectations of the high-end products they produce.
GMG is simply capitalizing on the genre, with their own twist, and believe they are on-par with the 'Big Dawgs,' and should therefore command the high dollars for their hack jobs. These guys are not hacks, though - they actually do have mad skills and talent on staff... they're just lazy and greedy and produce hack jobs for the show. They probably do some really nice work that doesn't make it to the camera, because it's a lot more expensive than the 'car flipper motif' of the show will allow. The biggest problem is the fan base eating up all the half-assed projects and over-valueing them - that's what's driving the expense up for the rest of us 'DIYers.'
You have to look at Fast and Loud for what it is .... at the end of the day it's a television show and T.V. is designed to be entertainment. I like to watch the show....does it mean that I think their cars should be drawing that much money for what they do .....NO!
They have come up with some cool things but because of crap that is designed to " entertain" it gets lost along the way.
If I had my way I'd rather watch the show without all the hype and crap.
But that really is the problem to me. I tend to see the persona they play on tv as reflecting how they really do business. If that was my business I would not allow it to be portrayed negatively or differently than it really is. As evidenced by the quality builders you see on tv. You can see the care and time they put into the vehicles they work on/restore. The TV show comes and goes but the persona your business practices take on will follow long after into reruns. In this case I don't prescribe to the idea that all attention is good attention.
Skills yes they have some skills. Unfortunately thay also seem to make alot of amateur mistakes that would get them fired by any self respecting business. Or at least force them to pay for the damages.
