Aahana Swrup
ABC’s ‘Shifting Gears’ is a family comedy show that centers around a father-daughter duo who are forced to confront their complicated relationship in light of their new living situation. Riley Parker has always had an unpleasant relationship with her heard-headed father, Matt, who never approved of her life choices. Unfortunately, in her adult years, she finds herself proving him right as she moves back to her childhood home with her kids, Georgia and Carter after her marriage falls apart. Consequently, back under one roof without her mother to form any bridges between her and Matt, Riley must find a way to bond with her recently widowed father and get her life back on track.
In this Michelle Nader sitcom about hijinks and healing, the Parker Custom Cars restoration shop becomes a prominent location for the narrative to unfold. The family business contributes significantly to the show’s worldbuilding and plays into the story’s themes. Naturally, its on-screen significance is bound to stoke the audience’s intrigue about its off-screen connections.
Parker Custom Cars: The Family Business is a Fictional Establishment
Much like the fictionalized narrative of ‘Shifting Gears,’ the central Parker family’s car restoration shop, ‘Parker Custom Cars,’ is also a work of fiction. The shop is confined to the show’s narrative and doesn’t exist outside of the screen. In real life, the set that makes up the interior of the shop is in California’s Burbank at the Walt Disney Studios. Interestingly enough, a lot of the automobiles seen on the set are directly from actor Tim Allen’s own collection.
Allen, who plays Matt, was involved in the original show pitch and came up with the idea to have his character be a car enthusiast and work at a car restoration shop. Consequently, when the time came, he allowed production to dip into his own collection during set designing. In a conversation with On the Red Carpet, he spoke about the same and said, “I said (to the production team), you can use any of the prop cars I have because I built some movie cars, so you can use them. And this is like being at my home.”
As such, certain aspects of Parker Custome Cars came from Allen’s own collection—and imagination. The rest can be credited to the creativity of screenwriters Mike Scully and Julie Thacker-Scully and their team. Apart from its visual impact, the shop also seems to hold a thematic resonance with the Parker family’s story. The central plot revolves around the mending of Matt and Riley’s relationship despite their shared stubborn personality traits.
As a result, it only seems fitting that the Parker family, who are on the road to restoring their inner dynamics, has taken a liking to restoring vehicles as well. Therefore, the store that the story consistently frequents plays into allos room for plot progression while carrying an emotional resonance. Furthermore, it defines the world around the central characters and opens doors for new plot lines. Still, ultimately, the restoration shop is not based on a real shop and remains without any off-screen counterparts.
Read More: Where is ABC’s Shifting Gears Filmed?
