One Final Rob "Rabbit" Pitts story - I'll miss you buddy!

hey everybody uh Eric uh Gearhead daily um not a video I thought I'd be making today I had some other things that I was kind of planning on doing you know tool related and other car stuff that kind of goes with the channel but um uh bad news is uh rob rabbit Pitts is uh no longer with us and I was lucky enough to get to know him uh fairly well um and I thought I would tell you one final Rob story uh and it is kind of quintessentially uh Rob I have not been able to talk about the story because him and I had signed an NDA that we were not able to talk about at all and uh I thought well if there's ever a time to tell the story uh here it is and I was lucky enough to get to know him he did a a short little podcast with me that's on YouTube I'll put a link in down below where we I got to learn uh where his name came from and uh you know I was one of those lucky few uh people who uh kind of met through Vin Wiki through Ed and a couple of the other people uh who have always been uh you know really good to me so uh it was it was a cool experience I got to know Rob through Vin Wiki and um you know we shared some conversations and had a great time and uh it it was cool so uh I'll just tell you one final Rob pits story uh not super funny or you know super poignant or anything it's just a it's just a good story that nobody knows about and maybe me and like two other people know about it so I thought I would share it with you because it's it's uh you know it's it's gonna it's going to how be how I remember him in the end so uh in the beginning uh I met Rob through Vin Wiki uh we kind of were in this little little band of Misfit people who had gone on the show and uh you know done a couple stories and had a good laughs and got some good responses and you know and uh just kind of enjoyed the camaraderie with each other and uh I would uh always kind of troll just a little bit in the comment section when one of his videos would come up I knew it was him and I'd kind of give him a little little jab a little bit uh in the comment section and he would respond and we'd go back and forth he kind of he he knew who I was he figured out who I was pretty quickly and uh and then we started talking to each other uh offline uh and uh realized that you know he's got a really really wicked sense of humor he's got a million onliners and a thousand kind of idioms and uh you know little jokes that uh some of them I never heard before and and we're we're solid stuff so uh we we became friends uh you know we talked a little bit offline we talked uh you know uh you know about YouTube and and the business side of things and you know him selling cars and you know kind of what his motivation was and again I I highly recommend going to that podcast that we did it was really really cool uh that he spent the time with me because he was really really busy at that time putting his business together and the fact that he was able to give me an hour was uh really solid of him to do he didn't have to do that at all so uh I you know he was you know he was just a nice guy he was just nice all around and he liked to having fun and he was he was kind of joking around and uh so again we met through Ed uh through Vin Wiki and Ed and them were friends and unfortunately you know I wasn't on the short list of friends uh to to be in the know about it unfortunately until until yesterday and the News kind of hit me pretty hard because you know Rob and I are pretty close to the same age he was born in 79 I was born in 80 um and uh you know he he was really cool he's always really cool with me we would text back and forth uh talk about certain things and he would kind of tell me what's coming up in his life he's like Eric you can't tell me you know can't uh you know talk about this but here here's what's going to happen and then he would tell me something and it was uh it was always something cool he was always kind of doing you know life to the fullest and every opportunity he would come with he would just kind of take it and run with it and it was it was always amazing so uh you know he uh he he he lived a life that a lot of us uh kind of aspired to so it was it was uh cool to watch uh cool to watch and see uh that that uh you know kind of grow for him and his YouTube channel exploded and then his TV show on Netflix exploded but here's the story uh that I think uh uh is kind of fun uh so it starts off with um uh an Instagram message that I got from somebody and this person wrote to me and said hey uh we saw some of your videos we don't know how to get in contact with you but we found your Instagram page here's an Instagram note are you interested in doing a TV show okay uh you know instantly I thought it was spam I thought it was junk and I was just like uh okay something about this feels a little weird because the profile picture was of a you know attractive woman and I'm like something just feels way off about this and I said to myself H I'm G to just forget about this and a day or two goes by and I'm thinking maybe maybe something maybe there is something to this and uh so I I actually investigated the person and turns out it's a real person they actually do have a filming studio um they have a LinkedIn page the whole nine yards I was like all right sorry right back I'm like uh okay what what about and they wanted to do an automotive show they had seen some of my YouTube uh videos they had seen some from my vinwiki and they thought I was you know relatively funny uh which is good uh because most people follow that up with you know looking so but that's uh that's another story for another day and I started talking to this uh this this woman um it turned out it was real um we had some conversations she was she was nice and she said well you know I want to introduce you to kind of the producer and kind of see if you're fit for the show to you know your kind of sense of humor might uh you know kind of fit with this and I was like oh okay that that sounds pretty good and we get through the the thing and you know we kind of do some uh interviews and uh the premise of the show was to go out and look at cars and you know find some rare cars and you know have some just you know just have a a fun little show and then they said well we're going to pitch this to a studio we're going to pitch this to Netflix and we really want to get uh you know Know Two Hosts you know play off each other a little bit I'm like okay um do you want me to find somebody and they're like no no no we got somebody they're like do you know a guy named Rob I said I know a lot of robs they go do you know you know Rob Pitts I said do I know Rob Pitts yeah I know Rob Pitts yeah his guy's hilarious I love that guy and we got some chemistry and uh we uh we got together we had um a couple interviews actually with the producer and then uh they actually recorded Rob and I going back and forth yeah again Rob and I had known each other we had done the podcast together we you know we had each other's phone numbers and text each other and had a great time uh and they wanted us to sign this NDA and uh he made Rob kind of made this uh big deal about it he said look uh I I don't mind signing your NDA but um you've got like it's like a year or two years like exclusivity contract right like they they you basically what it says is you can't uh go and do another TV or work for another studio for a full year because we've got you kind of locked into this timeline I had nothing going on in my life so I was like yeah whatever I you know nothing like this ever comes up for me but apparently happens to Rob all the time because he said look I can't do that uh I'll sign one for a month but I'm talking to other people and uh ultimately they said fine you know they altered the his contract and uh we did and we did like a little test screening where you know him and I and I actually have a picture of it I cannot find it by I sneak sneakily took a picture of the interview process with me Rob and this producer and they recorded us kind of talking to each other back and forth and the premise was is that Rob would be the you know kind of wild wacky guy and he would you know do rob it would just be rob it just be himself and then I would be me you know I'd just be me and I'd be kind of the straight guy that they would play off of and kind of you know make make embarrassed or do funny things or whatever and then Rob would be the you know the the guy that would say something funny and then you know you know they cut to me like oh my god did he really say that you know that kind of you know shtick you know we two guys playing off each other um because my my humor tends to be you know a little bit more subtle sometimes uh you know little double and triple on Tundras uh and Rob's is you know kind of more wacky and kind of you know a little bit bigger and uh and then they sent it in they sent it in and they said Eric hey uh they called me and said hey you know they've made it to the final two there's between two guys you know you you and and uh know one other pair of people we've put together for this show uh you know just kind of cross your fingers and then a month goes by didn't hear anything about it I at this point in my life um I'm talking to my work and said look um you know I I'm pretty sure I can't do work and this and they said yeah you you got to pick one or the other and I said look if I get it I have to pursue this and I have to kind of see where it goes because why not right that you got to kind of see where this stuff goes maybe it'll lead to something really cool the pay was a abysmal they're you know they said basically look you're not going to get paid for the first you know season of it and if it gets picked up again then that's when this you know that's when the money starts flowing a little bit but the production costs uh you know getting people there and you know the recording company and getting all the videographers and stuff you know eats up a lot of the money so in the beginning you're not going to make a lot of money but if it gets picked up for you know two or three seasons that's when you start making some money and you start doing some appearance deals and yada yada and that's where the money comes in but you got to do the first one first okay um you know I could I could swing that so so um long long story short I said uh yes let's do it um and it kind of comes to the end and they they kind of said look uh they they said no um they they thought you and Rob were funny together but they just didn't they didn't combination of a lot of things and it just didn't work well uh four weeks later after that I get a phone call from Rob hey buddy how you doing like hey Rob what's going on you know my phone's ringing it's Rob he's you know again I love Rob he's a good dude and I pick up the phone and he's like hey can't tell anybody super secret but I'm gonna do a show uh for Netflix and I was like not okay first off screw you buddy we were supposed to do this together and second off amazing like good for you like I was really really happy for him um you know he show he told me the premise of the show what was going to happen they were going to go do these things they're going to do that thing um and then uh you know I was really happy for him I congratulated him and uh and then he went off and did the show no hard feelings super happy for him you know again this is Rob is you know he's he's living life at 1,000 miles an hour and and uh you know it it worked out and then he calls me about six weeks later Eric you won't understand what happened this guy uh this happened and this happened and then uh you know and then he named a few names and he said so and so was on a plane back home and they they fired this person they fired that person there was a big this and a big to-do this on set on set and you know all this stuff and he was Shar all these crazy stories of behind the scenes uh of the the text show what became the texme show and uh it was kind of fun to hear because when the show came out and that I could see some of the players he was talking about it was it all kind of came to life uh for me so that was that was absolutely amazing and uh so I was really I was honestly truly happy for him um he you know uh you know introduced me to his watch guys so you know we kind of talked watches for a bit and we talk cars and and uh you know ultimately Rob was uh he was just one of those guys that if you just talk to him for 30 seconds you got you felt like you were lifelong friends he was just he was just that kind of way he was upbeat he was he was always funny he was living life you know at a th miles an hour and uh yeah it was just hard not to be friends with somebody like that he was just one of the coolest dudes and uh uh really bumped uh really bumped I've had uh a number of friends and uh family members in the past six months or so who have passed away so uh it's uh kind of a few folks recently uh so this one this one was hard because Rob is uh was was was always really good and uh we had uh had a a long running pool you know thing where he thinks he's really good at pool and so do I and um and uh you know kind of running running gag is you owe me a pool match buddy and we were supposed to gamble and we were gonna you know gamble for beers or whatever you know nothing crazy but you know he talked big and you know thought he was uh you know always like well Eric you know I'm a pretty good pool shark myself and okay uh I you know I I I play pool at a fairly okay level most days and uh you know so anyway I'm just I guess I'm I'm most uh bummed that I won't get to have that pool match with you Rob so um yeah that's a that's a real bummer I know we had talked about that for a really long time your schedules and my schedule didn't really line up a lot I was in town where you were sometimes and then that and then you were gone and that didn't work out so um yeah I'm I'm sorry Rob I'm sorry we didn't ever get that pool match we uh we promised it to each other for a very long time uh I probably would have won but yeah sorry buddy anyway I'm just gonna miss you Rob you're a cool dude and uh the the world's a little less bright today so anyway that's my one final Rob story that nobody knows about all right see you guys