We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn more ›
If you didn’t know already, T-Pain is a big drift guy. One of his cars, a Nissan 240SX done up in a Pickle Rick livery, is a bona fide meme machine and hilarious send-up that looks like a blast to slide. That’s because it has an LS V8 under the hood that makes 430 horsepower and shreds tires. Or at least, it did.
On his TikTok, T-Pain gives his account of entering the drift scene. It involves meeting an Atlanta shop owner, George Grob, who offers to help with Pickle Rick and T-Pain’s new BMW. At a track day, T-Pain bends the BMW and discovers that the Nissan is in poor shape after Grob has driven it—metal in the oil pan, blown head gasket, etc.
In an interview with The Drive, Grob says the Nissan was mildly damaged at the track and that several weeks later they noticed issues with the motor due to a part failure.
Grob, who operates GMG Automotive in Atlanta, offers to fix the car for free if he can showcase the car in Discovery Channel’s “Getaway Driver.” T-Pain agrees, and the story goes downhill from there. For his part, Grob says he wasn’t forthcoming on damage done to the car during the filming. “I was embarrassed, I didn’t tell him the extent of the damage,” said Grob.
What unfolds over a staggering 28-episode saga is simultaneously frustrating, sad, and tragically hilarious. There are multiple accounts of engine swaps and rebuilds, body kits, and wraps that go on for months. Rick Ross even makes an appearance, kind of.
The messages are exhaustive, but the narration is hilarious.
By the time Pickle Rick appears in T-Pain’s driveway, it’s in pretty rough shape. We won’t spoil the ending, but it involves an extremely questionable wrap job, a wobbly seat, and more. People have flocked to GMG Automotive’s factory page on social media, which has since been closed for commenters telling the shop to refund T-Pain’s money. Gorb said the car was delivered in admittedly poor shape: “That was horrible. It looked like shit. That’s not our completed product, he didn’t let us complete the product,” adding that Gorb intended to rewrap the car and finish it after returning from SEMA.
For all the heartache and cash, T-Pain appears to have a pretty good sense of humor, which is probably more than we could say after thousands of dollars in repairs and months of getting the runaround. At least it makes for compelling videos, three minutes at a time.
“It’s not his fault, and it’s not fair to him,” Grob said. But also that the videos cost him his business: “I have nothing. He’s ruined my life. He went way overboard with his video.”
UPDATE: This story has been updated to include comment from Grob.
Got a tip? Send it in to tips@thedrive.com
