When Clear Channel’s KISS FM in Pittsburgh decided to put together a spin off of their morning “Freak Show” and the infamous “Pimp My Ride” , they went to a few local car shows in search of someone in the aftermarket world with credibility to help develop this idea. After seeing what a strong presence our shop cars made at the show, they setup a meeting with me and asked me to help organize the program. “Freak My Ride” was off to a start. In return for assisting in the setup and details, my shop would receive prime advertising. I couldn’t pass this up so we proceeded.
What started as a caller winning the chance to have their car “pimped” ended up in a 3 shop competition and an “Unveiling” at the Hot Import Nights after some executive thought this would be more interesting. He also wanted the cars to go from start to finish in just 2 weeks and this seemed attainable as long as the winner’s vehicles were popular vehicles and the only damage would be minor scratches etc as promised by this same executive. The sales pitch was “This would allow the shops to show their aftermarket talents”. None of the shops knew what vehicle they were going to end up with. Somehow this same executive went at it again and this is what we ended up with without any notice of the changes again……
A 1981 Honda Civic 4 Door. It arrived on a flatbed because although it did run “barely” it was not drivable. After seeing this car get pushed into our shop, everyone that came down for the unveiling of the “secret car” , the unanimous decision by the audience was to immediately “call your lawyer”. The idea of this competition was to showcase aftermarket buildups, not to resurrect a car from the grave yard! Not only did they give us a car that was a huge safety disaster, they gave us a family car that had no aftermarket parts available for it.
For those of you who are not savvy when it comes to aftermarket body kits for a Honda I will fill you in….there were no body kits for a 4 door civic. KISS FM so graciously told us we could not spend more than $10k for parts (not including the labor – in which we would receive $10k in advertising to offset the investment) and we only had 2 weeks to build this car… After I got past my first thought of “Oh *@&*” I knew I was committed at this point. We researched for anything available for this car and we came up with zero…nada…zip! I was scrambling with this car and could not figure out a way to build this project and have it properly represent my shop for $10k in parts let alone have it done in 2 weeks. After a few days of going through business as usual and the Civic sitting in the corner of the shop collecting dust I figured I should at least tear it apart and see what I was dealing with…..
Where do I begin…blown out suspension, holes in the floorboards, a hole in the trunk was so bad that mildew from the rain made for very pleasant smells here, crushed exterior body panels, busted interior switches, inoperable windows and doors, the engine would start but only ran on 2 cylinders instead of 4, and every gasket on the engine poured fluid from it. This is no exaggeration! This project was supposed to be fun and get the shops exposure and it quickly turned into a huge nightmare…this was no TV show with false “budgets” and false buildup “time lines” , this was a real world disaster that seemed doomed at the start. I paused….took a deep breathe….and decided the only way a car was leaving my shop with my name on it was to forget about the competition…forget about the $10k budget…and show exactly what we are made of. I utilized employees, friends and family for this total recovery. I ordered wheels, tires, suspension, exhaust, seats, audio equipment, tv’s, and body kit for 3 different vehicles and so on.
By the time parts came in we only had three days left. For parts that were no longer available, I sent one person to the salvage yard to get switches, windows, body panels etc. We developed a body kit from 3 different doner kits, replaced all the body panels, repaired all other damage, painted the complete car, replaced shocks – struts – coil springs, brakes, all engine gaskets and replaced the complete ignition system, belts and radiator. Once all of this was done we moved into the interior and the trunk….4 – 12″ subwoofers were installed with amps, dvd, navigation, racing seats, and the interior panels were recovered. Tint was added along with graphics. The complete car was done in 72 hours straight….that is right…72 hours straight, no sleep. Actually we were even 20 minutes late to the gate at Hot Import Nights. After a few arguments to get us in since the “gates were closed” we rolled the trailer in and unveiled the finished project…A vehicle that not only stole the lime light and made the owner break down in tears, but was safe to drive as well! We lightened our pockets by almost $20,000 but it was the only way I could sleep at night.
Ray McClelland 