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| Pimp My Ride | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Created by |
|
| Presented by | Xzibit |
| Theme music composer | Jeff Cardoni |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 6 |
| No. of episodes | 73(list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Producers |
|
| Cinematography | Scott Sandman |
| Editors |
|
| Running time | 27 minutes |
| Production companies | R-Lab MTV Series Development |
| Original release | |
| Network | MTV |
| Release | March 4, 2004 (2004-03-04) – June 9, 2007 (2007-06-09) |
Pimp My Ride was a staged American television series produced byMTV and hosted by rapperXzibit, which ran for six seasons on MTV from 2004 to 2007. In each episode, a car in poor condition is both restored andcustomized. The work on the show was done byWest Coast Customs until season 5 and was done byGalpin Auto Sports thereafter.
The show had several international adaptations, includingPimp My Ride UK,Pimp My Ride International (in central Europe), and other adaptations in Brazil, Indonesia and the Baltic countries. It also spawned similar spinoffs, including the seriesTrick My Truck on MTV's sister networkCMT.
The show was criticized by several participants for exaggerating or faking several aspects of the restorations and many aspects of the show.
In 2024,Pimp My Ride co-creator Rick Hurvitz brought a re-tooled version of the show toNetflix. Now titledResurrected Rides, Hurvitz is an executive producer.Chris Redd serves as host, with a team of mechanics and customizers from several different California-area auto shops working on the cars.
An episode generally begins with the participant, a youngvehicle owner fromLos Angeles or elsewhere inSouthern California, showing off their vehicle to convince MTV it needs to be "pimped". After this segment, the host, Xzibit (Chamillionaire in one episode), takes a look at the participant's car himself and makes wisecracks about the particular things that are wrong with it. He then surprises the participant at their house and the participant shows off their vehicle while Xzibit continues to make wisecracks about the particular things that are wrong with it. After examining the car, Xzibit promises the participant a complete makeover of the vehicle and takes it to a custom body shop (West Coast Customs (WCC), inCorona, California, in Seasons 1–4; replaced byGalpin Auto Sports (GAS) inVan Nuys starting Season 5).
At the body shop, the shop team generally replaces most of the car's components and rebuilds the interior and exterior from scratch. The cars are "pimped" based on the hobbies and/or occupations of the owners. For example, aNeed for Speed: Underground fan had his car painted to look like one specially customized in theNeed for Speed video game series, while abowler had a ball spinner installed in his trunk, abadminton player had a badminton net installed in the back of hisDodge Caravan, and asurfer got a clothes dryer in the back of hisVolkswagen Type 2. Work usually includes new paint, accessories,chrome,tires,rims, and internalelectronics (DVD players, video games, largeTFT screens, and other accessories). Most changes are only cosmetic, and mechanical work is generally only done to enable the car to run, but the show has occasionally replaced car engines.
At the end of the show, the car is revealed to its owner, as well as all the details of the renovation and the custom features; in addition, the participant is usually given a gift somehow related to the car or their hobby.
The West Coast Customs employees shown on the series included:
After the third season, WCC manager "Q" announced that he would not be willing to take a role in the show anymore. Q cited a desire to expand the company's business with a customs shop inSt. Louis, Missouri called Coast 2 Coast Customs.Ryan Friedlinghaus, the owner of WCC, was featured in Season 4 as the "lead" for discussions on customizing the cars.
In the fifth season, the show moved to another garage, Galpin Auto Sports (GAS), as Ryan, the WCC Owner, moved his shop toCorona, California and signed a deal with another television production company. However, the show retained Mad Mike (who quit at WCC and signed at GAS), now dubbed a "car customization specialist". The new cast consisted of:
On three occasions – all season finales – the show did not "pimp" the original automobile.
In all these instances, the vehicles of the participants were replaced with brand new cars, with extensive modifications made to customize each new car for the owner.
Pimp My Ride was one of MTV's most popular shows with nearly all of its worldwide viewers, and also in the U.S., where it ranked second only toThe Real World.
Canada's music network,MuchMusic, aired the show until MTV Networks signed a deal withCTV, which resulted in MuchMusic losing their rights to MTV programs. MuchMusic's French-language sister station,MusiquePlus, aired the show subtitled in French under the titlePimp mon char ("char" isQuebec French slang for "car"). The show would eventually re-air on Much in the Summer of 2008, showing the later seasons.
Pimp My Ride was broadcast in Arab countries on bothMTV Arabia andMBC Action.
In 2012,MTV Southeast Asia aired the first episode ofPimp My Ride Malaysia, which is sponsored by Celcom Axiata under itsXpax’s Whatchuwant? campaign, giving Xpax customers a chance to have their vehicles worked on by MTV, hosted byAltimet and Herrera.
Several participants who appeared on seasons 4 and 6 ofPimp My Ride later stated that elements of the show were either exaggerated or faked.[2] The houses where Xzibit would surprise contestants with the news they were selected were often rented by MTV. The initial poor condition of some of the vehicles was staged to look worse, including the removal of paint, trash in the interior, and bumpers loosened to the point of falling off. Some features added during filming were removed immediately afterwards due to potential issues with local and state traffic laws, and the participants noted that multiple takes were needed to film their reactions during the final reveal. Some were coached to express more amazement and enthusiasm between takes. The overhaul process, which appeared on the show to only last a few days or weeks, actually lasted 6–7 months, and the show's participants had to find their own transportation while their cars were being upgraded with no support from the network. In addition, the modifications made to the cars were often purely cosmetic and any problems with how the car ran—wheel alignment, engine, transmission—was still up to the participants to fix.[3] In an interview with HipHopDX, Xzibit explains about how he was the target of backlash on social media over his involvement in the show, even though he was merely the host and had no input in the actual vehicle modification.[4]
| Title | Region 1 | Region 2 | DVD Extras |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Complete First Season | March 22, 2005[5] | February 6, 2006[6] | TBA |
| The Complete Second Season | TBA | May 21, 2007[7] | TBA |
Official adaptations ofPimp My Ride, produced or co-produced by international MTV affiliates, include:
Viacom, owner of thePimp My Ride franchise, threatened legal action against a number of small businesses in 2006 over the use of the phrasePimp My... in business names. Pimp My Snack, a recipe-sharing website, received one such warning letter and later renamed the business toPimp That Snack. A British lawyer specializing in copyright concerns criticized the move, stating that trademark infringement cannot apply to companies that are providing different goods and services.[12]