The Wild Afterlife of MTV’s ‘Pimp My Ride’ Cars

Remember that MTV show where rappers and mechanics turned junkers into rolling circus acts? From a salmon-shooting cannon to a van with a hot tub, the modifications on Pimp My Ride were as bizarre as they were memorable. Hosted by Xzibit, the series ran from 2004 to 2007, giving 72 beat-up cars the full treatment.

But once the cameras stopped rolling, most of those rides didn’t last long on the road.

West Coast Customs and later Galpin Auto Sports handled the builds, but mechanical reliability wasn’t exactly the priority. Many owners quickly sold their cars or watched them fall apart. Jake Glazier, whose Buick Century appeared in season four, later wrote on Reddit: “My car was a piece of shit.

” He sold it soon after for $18,000 to MTX Audio, the company that installed the massive subwoofer in the back seat. Galpin’s Beau Boeckmann admits some owners preferred cash over the finished product. Galpin bought back four cars and still keeps two: an 800-horsepower biodiesel ’65 Impala built for an Earth Day episode with Arnold Schwarzenegger, and a Cadillac hearse with a roll-out coffin barbecue grill.

One car still with its original owner is Erin Falk’s Volkswagen Thing from season five, which featured a built-in snake terrarium. Her husband, Kersten, has become the show’s unofficial historian, posting nearly 100 YouTube videos tracking each car’s fate. With a friend, he’s located about 50 of the 72 vehicles.

“A lot of them are not drivable,” he says, but adds that 17 are still with their original owners. His obsession? T. Whether the Pimp My Ride fleet qualifies as special is debatable, but they sure made for unforgettable TV.