Rob “The Rabbit” Pitts, star of Netflix‘s Tex Mex Engineshas passed away. He was 45 years old.
Pitts died on Sunday, August 25, from stomach cancer, his cameraman Jeff confirmed. The car expert left a final message in a YouTube video titled “This is goodbye (RIP 7/27/79 – 8/25/24).
“I started feeling ‘weird’ after SEMA [a car show in Las Vegas] “Last year I was losing weight,” Pitts explains in the video with Jacob Lincoln’s “Too Late” playing. “But I was getting ready to film Season 2 of Tex Mex Engines for Netflix and I wanted to be camera ready, so I didn’t mind that much.”
Pitts explained that while filming the Netflix series, he began to lose his appetite and “had more and more acid reflux-like symptoms.” He said he went to the emergency room several times “but didn’t get to the root of the problem.” Pitt’s co-star Jaime took him to the emergency room, believing it was a gallbladder problem, and that’s when he discovered in March that he had stomach cancer.
The Netflix personality said she had been receiving treatment at home “and it’s been tough,” adding: “More bad days than good, but hanging in there. I’ve got a lot to live for and life has been going my way. Don’t be sad for me… I fulfilled my dream of buying my own store, finishing season 2 of [Tex Mex Motors] and marry the love of my life.”
Tex Mex Engines premiered on Netflix in June 2023. The show followed Pitts and Marcos “Scooter” Carrera as they searched for vintage cars in Mexico and restored them in their shop in El Paso, Texas.
Carrera paid tribute to Pitts at a Instagram Post: “It is with a heavy heart that I write about the passing of my cast member and friend ROB ‘RABBIT’ PITTS. Rest in peace, brother. I will miss you so much!”