In Tim Allen's new comedy "Shifting Gears," his character Matt Parker operates a classic car restoration business.
"I didn't do it this way in my head. I wanted to have a car shop and it was mostly a small North Hollywood car shop. It's turned into a resto-rod shop," said Allen.
The actor is no stranger to having his on-screen characters mix cars with comedy. In his first show, "Home Improvement," a '33 Ford street rod had a recurring role. His next network sitcom, "Last Man Standing," featured a vintage Ford pickup.
As for placing interesting cars in this new show, that's the job of car consultant Kady Fox. For realism, the cars seen in Parker's resto shop keep changing.
"We are operating under the guise that this is a functioning shop outside of the sitcom. So we have cars coming and going as if we have real customers, and we have to meet these deadlines," said Fox.
Cars are loaned from local Los Angeles collectors. The early episodes used a very willing one: Tim Allen himself. Classics like his '55 Chevy Bel Air, '68 Camaro, and '62 Chevy 409 were seen on screen in the pilot and the early episodes. And, the '33 Ford street rod and '56 Ford F-100 pickup from Allen's earlier sitcoms have made appearances as well.
"There was a good percentage starting off that were Tim's vehicles. Not all of them," said Fox.
So if you like classic cars, it's fun to spot what's in the garage each week. And if some kind of detail about a car is not done correctly as far as the script, most people won't notice. But car enthusiasts will often call the mistake out.
Shifting Gears has a huge advantage in that regard, as a car guy not only stars, but executive produces as well.
"He's the first person to look at a script and be like, 'That's not a slant six, that's an inline six.' You know, he's the first person to absolutely call it out, said car consultant Fox about star Tim Allen.
So far, Shifting Gears has been a huge hit, so it could very well have a long run on the primetime schedule. That will mean lots more classics to fill the set each week. Stay tuned.