Richard Rawlings
The Man
Richard Rawlings, a native of Fort Worth, Texas, followed in his dad’s footsteps and developed a passion for cars at an early age, building cars and attending car shows with him. The earliest photograph of Richard, aside from his infant years, is of him sitting in a Volkswagen Beetle pedal car. His dad sometimes would work three jobs so he could afford to have his one toy — a car or motorcycle he could call his own. Richard bought his first car when he was 14 years old: a green ’74 mercury comet. By his senior year in high school he was already on his third car, a ’77 Bandit Trans Am. Richard says he has always worked so he could buy cars and his passion for them is one he’s worth shedding not only sweat for, but blood. He took a bullet in the early ’90s as he fought off a carjacker who was trying to steal his 1965 Ford Mustang 2+2 Fastback.
Richard has held several jobs to feed his car habit: he was a firefighter, police officer and paramedic all before he was 21 years old. He eventually left those jobs to start his own business, building a printing and advertising company from the ground up. He later sold it so he could fund his next venture, Gas Monkey Garage — a world-renowned hot rod shop that has produced and shipped cars around the world.
A veteran of transcontinental road rallies, Richard has competed in the Gumball 3000 and the Bullrun. He is the current world record holder in the Cannonball Run and was even recognized by Jay Leno for this achievement, having broken a record that stood since 1979. He covered the 2,811 miles from New York to Los Angeles in 31 hours and 59 minutes with an average speed of 87.6 miles per hour, an achievement he has immortalized on his arm in ink.
Richard says: “bottom line, if we’re gonna have fun, it better have a motor!
Chad Isbell
Fluffy
Chad “Fluffy” Isbell is too busy running around ordering parts to contribute to his bio. He likes soccer.
Daphne Kaminski
Boss Lady
Daphne is partially to blame/to credit for the way Richard Rawlings is today. She helped raise him! Daphne is Richard’s sister, and you can watch their sibling rivalry play out on Fast N’ Loud. Daphne handles the books at Gas Monkey Garage, so a big part of her job is cutting Richard off from his beer funds or shaming him when he overbids on a car at an auction. Daphne grew up with Richard in Fort Worth, TX and has always been involved in most of Richard’s business ventures.
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- Daphne is partially to blame/to credit for the way Richard Rawlings is today. She helped raise him! Daphne is Richard’s sister, and you can watch their sibling rivalry play out on Fast N’ Loud. Daphne handles the books at Gas Monkey Garage, so a big part of her job is cutting Richard off from his beer funds or shaming him when he overbids on a car at an auction. Daphne grew up with Richard in Fort Worth, TX and has always been involved in most of Richard’s business ventures.
Christie Brimberry
Zookeeper
Christie never thought she’d use the term “zookeeper
Jason Aker
Restorer
Back in 2013 when Richard and Dennis bought the No. 1 and No. 2 Firebirds, they knew they needed to call in the cavalry to manage the restoration process. Enter: Jason Aker. Aker owned his own restoration shop called Worldwide Muscle Cars in Oklahoma City when Gas Monkey called on him for his restoration expertise. He decided to come down to help on the project and ended up staying permanently. How could he not? He’s now the shop foreman at Gas Monkey Garage and he also judges Shelbys (his all-time favorite car) at national car shows across the country.
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- Back in 2013 when Richard and Dennis bought the No. 1 and No. 2 Firebirds, they knew they needed to call in the cavalry to manage the restoration process. Enter: Jason Aker. Aker owned his own restoration shop called Worldwide Muscle Cars in Oklahoma City when Gas Monkey called on him for his restoration expertise. He decided to come down to help on the project and ended up staying permanently. How could he not? He’s now the shop foreman at Gas Monkey Garage and he also judges Shelbys (his all-time favorite car) at national car shows across the country.
Mike Coy
Head Painter
Often confused with Jamie Hyneman from Mythbusters, it’s no myth that Mike Coy is one badass painter. Coy heads up all paint and body projects at Gas Monkey Garage. Coy has been painting cars since he was “knee-high to a grasshopper.
Tony Cano
Painter
Newest to the Gas Monkey Garage crew, Tony joined in early summer 2016. He knew Mike Coy from the industry, and came in to work alongside him doing paint and body. Born in California and raised in South Texas, Tony learned how to paint when his friend needed help on his ’83 Cutlass. Tony didn’t have experience painting, so his friend bought him a book from House of Kolor, which became Tony’s How-To manual. He painted the cutlass in his friend’s dad’s 2-wall carport, and the Cutlass went on to win 2nd place in Autorama that year. He’s been painting ever since.
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- Newest to the Gas Monkey Garage crew, Tony joined in early summer 2016. He knew Mike Coy from the industry, and came in to work alongside him doing paint and body. Born in California and raised in South Texas, Tony learned how to paint when his friend needed help on his ’83 Cutlass. Tony didn’t have experience painting, so his friend bought him a book from House of Kolor, which became Tony’s How-To manual. He painted the cutlass in his friend’s dad’s 2-wall carport, and the Cutlass went on to win 2nd place in Autorama that year. He’s been painting ever since.
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- Newest to the Gas Monkey Garage crew, Tony joined in early summer 2016. He knew Mike Coy from the industry, and came in to work alongside him doing paint and body. Born in California and raised in South Texas, Tony learned how to paint when his friend needed help on his ’83 Cutlass. Tony didn’t have experience painting, so his friend bought him a book from House of Kolor, which became Tony’s How-To manual. He painted the cutlass in his friend’s dad’s 2-wall carport, and the Cutlass went on to win 2nd place in Autorama that year. He’s been painting ever since.
Tony Taylor
The Buyer
Tony heads up all of the buying and selling for Gas Monkey Garage on eBay. His eBay auto descriptions are as long-winded as his stories, but better than his jokes. Tony spent 10 years working as the service director at Lamborghini Dallas before joining the Gas Monkey crew in 2012. Prior to Lamborghini, he sold BMWs and Mercedes Benz in Savannah, GA. Tony also worked on the pit crew for the BMW M1 IMSA Camel GT racecar. So he’s a pretty big deal.
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- Tony heads up all of the buying and selling for Gas Monkey Garage on eBay. His eBay auto descriptions are as long-winded as his stories, but better than his jokes. Tony spent 10 years working as the service director at Lamborghini Dallas before joining the Gas Monkey crew in 2012. Prior to Lamborghini, he sold BMWs and Mercedes Benz in Savannah, GA. Tony also worked on the pit crew for the BMW M1 IMSA Camel GT racecar. So he’s a pretty big deal.
Chris Montavon
Tow Mater
Chris, better known as “Tow-Truck Chris
Jeremy Cheatham
Fabricator
Jeremy joined the Gas Monkey crew back in 2014 and he tackles suspension setup and fabrication. He’s been working on cars for 16 years and even owned three auto shops in the early 2000s. He and Aaron worked on a project together in 04, and continued to stay in touch, which is how he ended up at Gas Monkey Garage. In 2015, Jeremy became a grandpa, and as the only grandpa on staff, despite being one of the youngest guys on the crew.
Charles Cimino
Sleeves
What Charles lacks in shirt sleeves, he makes up for in tattoo sleeves. He’s known as “Sleeves