MTV‘s Pimp My Ride debuted in 2004, starring West Coast rapper Xzibit and a flood of young folks hoping to get their vehicles updated by the mechanics at West Coast Customs. But like most unscripted television shows, the action behind the scenes of Pimp My Ride wasn’t exactly befitting of the image the show cast.
The Huffington Post did a feature on Pimp My Ride, uncovering some of the secret dealings of the show and interviewing several past guests. Despite the glossy on-air production and the often zany additions the crew made that seemed so real, there was a lot of smoke and mirrors action. And if you weren’t all that enthused about how your ride got pimped, you might have had some other issues to contend with.
Check out 11 of the craziest things we learned about MTV’s Pimp My Ride show on the following pages.
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Photos: MTV/Justin Dearinger
Rides Often Got “Unpimped”
Justin Dearinger, a guest on the show’s sixth season, revealed in a Reddit AMA that the show’s producers actually removed items from the updated car. The show’s producer, Larry Hochberg, says that was done for safety reasons.
A Lot Of The Gadgets Added Was All For Show
Season 6 guest Seth Martino revealed that a robotic arm that was installed in his car was actually inoperable.
The Show Had A Flatbed Tow Truck On Call
Routinely, the cars would have troubles after leaving the West Coast Customs or GAS lot. The show’s producer admitted to this but said that it was most likely due to faulty wiring issues that the teams gladly fixed.
Hollow On The Inside
The cars on the show usually had a lot done to their exterior and driving area, but it was a different story under the hood. Hochberg said in the HuffPost piece that the show was about pimping rides, not fixing them.
Nobody Was Home…Literally
Every time we saw X to the Z knock on a contestant’s door, the shock and surprise was always clutch. Come to find out, it was all staged and the homes were usually rentals paid for by MTV.
Time Wasn’t On Their Side
Although the show appeared to zoom through repairs in a series of days, the cars actually stayed in the shops for up to seven months in some cases.
The Stories Didn’t Add Up
This might not come to be much of a shock since most know how reality TV works, but a lot of the contestants’ stories were made up. Case in point, guest Justin Dearinger told the MTV producers he hated the color red and the inside car was painted just that. Dearinger also added that the damage done to the cars was often exaggerated for effect.
Did The Show Take Shots At Heavier People?
Seth Marino thinks so. A big guy, the show made it seem like he drove around with candy in his car and dumped bags of candy inside in case he got hungry. Added insult: they installed a cotton candy machine in his trunk. Hochberg said it didn’t happen, of course.
One Person Was Asked To Dump His Girlfriend
With a show titled Pimp My Ride, the claims of guest Jay Glazier being told to leave his girlfriend because he’s a “pimp” with a pimped out tide makes sense. But Hochberg once again denies this.
You Don’t Wanna Mess With Big Dane
Glazier said that his low-key demeanor inside the car shop caught the eye of one Big Dane, a large man who put his arm around him and encouraged him to be a little more excited. Glazier, wanting to avoid the fade, turned up accordingly.
But It Wasn’t All Bad
For all the struggle Dearinger, Glazier and Martino endured, they all said they’d do the show again if they could.
