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Pimped-Out Car

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Pimped-Out Car (trope)
"I don't get it. Who wastes money tricking out a car? It's frivolous and ridiculous. Not to mention it compromises the integrity of the vehicle."

Any car that's weighed down with aftermarket accessories, improvements, and optional trim. Done well and tastefully by a professional installer, this can result in a Cool Car, especially if the car becomes speedy, or durable, or loaded with gadgets that do something useful, like a towing winch on an off-road Jeep. Unfortunately, whereas in The '70s, the misguided customizer could only fit an 8-Track player and an imitation gold steering wheel, the onward march of technology also means an ever increasing amount of pointless electronic window-dressing can be fitted into a car, such as neon lights underneath, multiple subwoofers and a loud amplifier. In some cases, this can result in a Rice Burner. Some add-ons, like hydraulics, may be cool and fun on a Low-Rider, but you can't exactly fight crime with them.

Some of the improvements can even be mundane, like Cup Holders.

Not to be confused with a hot rod, which involves taking stuff out of a car and then stuffing a big V8 engine in.

A Super-Trope to Thememobile (character-style pimping) and Itasha (otaku related pimping the car). May relate to Absurdly Long Limousine.

For the clothing equivalents, see Pimped-Out Dress and Pimped-Out Cape.

This trope is Truth in Television, with tuning companies, coachbuilders and enthusiasts more than happy to modify almost any vehicle to become something like this. A specific subclass is the Lowrider, hailing from the Chicano car culture in Los Angeles, where 50's and 60's American cars are given lowered suspension and sometimes hydraulics that can make the car perform a up-and-down bouncing motion.


Examples:

    open/close all folders 

    Advertising 
  • Played for Laughs in Budweiser's "Real Men of Genius" with "Mister Pimped out Ghetto Car Driver"
    Announcer: Because nothing says "success" like a $400 car sitting on $8000 worth of tires and rims.
  • The Volkswagen "Unpimp your auto" commercials involve taking one of these, having a little laugh at its questionable modifications (like a massive spoiler), and then do something that "unpimps" the car by totaling it, then showing the VW GTI Mark V.

    Anime and Manga 
  • F is a famous example in The '80s, where the tractor that belongs to the protagonists of the series was modified with an old Porsche engine and is capable to race to 150+ km/h and even having a Nitro, seen in the first episodes that can easy overpass a racing citycar and make some competence to a BMW.
  • Wangan Midnight's authorical ancestor, Shakotan Boogie, features lots of Bōsōzoku-styled lowriders ranging from the main characters' Soarer, Fairlady Z, Skyline, and even minor character cars such as AE86 and other cars, to the extreme. Wangan Midnight itself doesn't feature this too much, with the closest we can get being Tatsuya Shima's widebody "Black Bird" Porsche 911 Turbo.
    • Nobu Setoguchi's RX-7 in the C1 Runner sequel/spinoff was also done this way.
  • GTO: The Early Years: Eikichi and Ryuji steal a König KS Benz car from a mechanic shop, mistakenly thinking it was the Cedric (also stolen) that they'd asked the mechanic to modify to look like a König. Eikichi then modifies it further by making the doors open vertically and adding teeth and eyes to the front.

    Comic Books 
  • Tank Girl. Several times, in fact!
  • Archie once had a shiny new exterior installed over his beloved, beat-up antique jalopy. It didn't fool anyone for long because "Betsy's" interior was as broken-down as ever.
  • The Batmobile.
  • The Redbird has many of the same improvements as the Batmobile plus a couple unique to itself.
  • Sin City has its fair share as almost every car has a souped-up engine and is in pristine condition for vintage automobiles.
  • Spider-Man: Overdrive has this as his superpower: he can turn any motor vehicle he gets near into a heavily armed, turbocharged street machine while also adding loads of bling as well. Unfortunately, this is all he can do, which means that he's completely useless any time he gets stuck without a car.

    Films — Animated 
  • The Tuner Cars in Cars 1 come upon Mack nodding off on the interstate and nudge him off the road. Ramone in Radiator Springs is a Lowrider, with the requisite Hot Paint Job, that also occasionally switches for a green pinstripe.
    • Mater from Tokyo Mater has received a Rice Burner makeover of a turquoise paint job with "Tomato" written in Katakana on the side, and a pavement-scraping body kit and blue neon underlights.
    • Also, Kabuto, the short's villain. At the end of the short, Kabuto loses to Mater in a race, and as a result, he is stripped of his modifications.

    Films — Live-Action 
  • All the cars in the The Fast and the Furious series.
  • The DeLorean DMC-12 from Back to the Future trilogy, which Doc Brown converted into a Time Machine because of its stainless steel construction and, of course, if you're going to build a time machine into a car, why not do it with some style?
  • In Revenge of the Pink Panther we see Clouseau's "Silver Hornet" — a Citroen 2CV with ludicrous add-on fins and other accouterments. It falls apart into a heap in both scenes it's in.
  • The G-Mobile in Secret Headquarters. Originally just an ordinary VW microbus, Jack has added Source-powered jets, a Ray Gun, Smoke Bombs, and a host of other upgrades. When the kids are driving it, it goes 108 mphnote  before they have cops on their tail. It also seems to be able to stop practically on a dime. In the epilogue, Jack replaces it with a more modern and less conspicuous version that can turn invisible and fly.
  • Tank Girl has a whole montage of the tank being customized.
  • Q Branch of the James Bond series specializes in pimping out cars pretty much anything. Want to drive your car with your cell phone? Need some Frickin' Laser Beams in a wristwatch? A suitcase that hides everything from money to knives to a takedown-style sniper rifle? You got it! It's downplayed as much as possible - equipment issued to undercover operatives must look and function identically to whatever it's disguised as to not draw attention - but God damn, that is some top-notch pimping.
  • They Cloned Tyrone Fontaine drives a green 1976 Pontiac modified in the "Donk" style with large chrome rims, and at the finale as the Gangbangers team up against the conspiracy, they arrive at one of the entrances to the Elaborate Underground Base via a fleet of tricked out cars.
  • Moonlight (2016) Juan's baby blue Impala on big chrome rims, and later, Chrion's black Cutlass supreme, which is less conspicuously modified, but has some shiny rims and a souped up engine. As a connecting theme, both have a crown-shaped air freshener on their dashboard.
  • Machete at the finale, some of Machete's allies storm the enemy base with their lowriders, and even kill one mook by bouncing on him.
  • Kill Bill: Chuck, the abusive orderly, owns a custom truck called the Pussy Wagon, painted candy yellow with the name in large pink letters.
  • Red Rocket: there is the white Cadillac with Swanga rims belonging to Leondria, usually parked at her house, but signalling she has come over to visit one day when Mikey returns home.
  • Spring Breakers: Alien drives a 1997 drop top Camaro with red stripes on white paint and custom anti-spinner rims with chrome dollar signs on red disks that stay stationary even as the wheels move.

    Live Action TV 
  • Jesse from Breaking Bad has a lowrider complete with hydraulics, which becomes a plot-point when he and Walter go missing, and Hank is able to find them because the car has an anti-theft tracking device.
  • Walter Denton's jalopy on Our Miss Brooks. Although usually a wreck, sometimes he amps up the engine, other times he simply adds seat covers.
  • The entire premise of Pimp My Ride is to create such vehicles.
  • Psych: One episode sees Shawn and Gus investigating a chop shop. Shawn gets Gus's car pimped out in the process, much to the latter's horror due to it being a company car (and the modifications costing their entire paycheck). Shawn insists the new look is "fresh to death."
  • Naturally this is occasionally seen on Top Gear (UK), although it's not always 'Pimping' in the true sense.
    • One episode had them turning a Renault Avantime into a Mitsubishi Evo beater which was all about tuning the mechanicals not sticking TVs into the headrests.
    • The cheap police car challenge, where they strapped paint guns, wheel spikes and numerous blue lights on some old bangers was more in the spirit.
    • The amphibious car challenge where James May equipped his Triumph Herald with a detachable mast and a sail.
    • In another episode Clarkson namechecked Pimp My Ride, declared the typical results to be ridiculous and then set out to 'Quaint My Ride' by stripping out the interior of an old Mercedes S-Class and replacing it with an interior based on his house - wooden floor, stove, wingback armchair and a bookcase.
    • And then there was the attempt to transform a Fiat Multipla into the "ultimate car for old people." Among its many "improvements" it featured a 50cm long foam rubber front bumper, a speedo that only goes up to 20 mph, a transport cage on the roof for taking along a cat, a wooden box on the roof with a balloon and fireworks that are remotely activated so you can find you car again if you forgot where you parked it, gigantic side mirrors, cushion seats in the rear, climate control that could be set to either hot or cold (which was a failure as James May pointed out, because for old people there should be only one setting - "just right"), and the whole car was painted "hearing aid beige".
  • Though it's just an ordinary vehicle, in Better Call Saul, novice drug dealer Daniel "Pryce" Wormald's brand-new Hummer H2 - with spinning rims and flame paint job - gets treated like this because of his reckless spending. At one point, Nacho calls it "a school bus for six year old pimps", and upon receiving it as part of a tradeoff with Daniel that Mike had brokered, he announces his intentions to have it destroyed at a chop shop.
  • The titular Christopher Titus of Titus owns a Hot Rod shop, making cars like these.

    Music Videos 
  • "Ice Cream paint Job" by One-Hit Wonder Durrough Music starts with describing the car that's the topic of the song, with it engine tuned, new exterior and interior, large bumper and rims, and a wood grain steering wheel.
    Chevy tuned up like a NASCAR pit stop
    Fresh paint job (check)
    Fresh inside (check)
    Is the outside frame in the trunk wide? (Yes)
    Are the rims big? (What)
    Do it ride good? (Good)
    Lean back right hand on the pinewood
  • In The Offspring's music video "Pretty Fly For a White Guy", the titular protagonist drives around in a convertible Chevrolet with hydraulics, although the lyrics reference him driving a Pinto.
  • My Chemical Romance's "Na Na Na" video. The Trans Am with a rocket launcher.
  • "Otis" by Jay-Z and Kanye West features the duo rapping in front of a large American flag and taking a Maybach and cutting off its roof and doors, and adding steel wheel covers before racing it around with some models in the back around a yard full of shipping containers.
  • "Candy Paint and Gold Teeth" by Ludacris, Bun B and Waka Flocka Flame celebrates two traditions beloved in Southern hip-hop; Gold Fronts and custom cars, all on display in the music video.
    Ludacis:Fresh out the shop and the candy coated Cadillac stacked on amazin' wheels
    Seats look like I hollered at the Reese's peanut butter company and made a deal
  • "Telephone" by Lady Gaga and Beyoncé features the Pussy Wagon from Kill Bill
  • Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg display their love to Los Angeles lowriders on the music videos for both "Nuthin' But A G Thang" and "Still D.R.E."
  • "Ridin' Spinners" by Three 6 Mafia demonstrates the fleeting early-2000's trend of spinner rims, which are rims with a disc part on the front that keeps spinning when the car brakes.
  • "Bad Girls" by M.I.A. features a bunch of car stunts performed on mostly stock vehicles, but also a segment of people dancing around some elaborately modified cars including one with transparent panels and neon lights.

    New Media 

    Toys 
  • Many customized cars based on real cars in Hot Wheels are this trope, either original customizations or based off real custom cars in car shows (for example, the 2014 SEMA Show Mustang). Some original Hot Wheels cars made real, like the Twin Mill, are basically Pimped-Out Hot Rods.

    Video Games 
  • Need for Speed features this since High Stakes, with Underground expanding on this idea. It was removed in Hot Pursuit 2010, meaning that it wouldn't return (other than Shift 2: Unleashed and possibly The Run) until the 2015 reboot onwards.
  • Juiced obviously follows up from Need for Speed, but the game's racing style has more emphasis on racing simulation until the more arcade-y Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights released.
  • Forza allows you to do your cars Need for Speed-style, before bringing them to race tracks. Hot Wheels expansions in later games are also filled with this trope by default due to having cars made real in custom car shows.
  • A staple of the Grand Theft Auto series
    • In the top-down 2D era, you could recognize cars belonging to specific gangs from their distinctive, usually flaming paint jobs.
    • While car modifications are unavailable to the player in Grand Theft Auto III, the flame-painted Diablo Stallion with its blower scoop stands out, and the Yardies ride Lobo's with hydraulics and leopard print interiors.
    • Finally made available for the player in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas with the Loco Low Co lowrider garage in Willowfield that allows you to add hydraulics and custom paintjobs (flames or pinstripes) on a selection of cars. Meanwhile, at TransFender and Wheel Arch Angels, you can chose a custom color instead of the Pay And Spray's random selection, and for some cars, add features like spoilers, skirts, hood scoops, custom exhaust, wheels, and even a Nitro Boost. However, you need to be careful as he cars can only be saved in garages, so if a car is destroyed or despawns when you start a mission, it's gone. The Truth drives a psychedelic Hippie Van with colorful body art, and San Fierro pimp Jizzy B, appropriately enough, has his purple Pimpmobile.
    • Grand Theft Auto V introduces West Coast Customs after Franklin and Michael save Michael's son Jimmy, and Franklin has to go fix the car they overheated during the chase. Later, we see also that Jimmy had taken liberties with his dad's car, adding a custom horn and rims with large dollar signs on them onto it. The modifications available to the player are also pretty extensive, and now personal vehicles will save by the player's current safe house.
      • Grand Theft Auto Online ramps up from V, as the game has been online and bi-annually updated since 2013, new cars, and modifications have been added, including lowriders for the Lamar Davis Lowriders missions, the Los Santos Car Meet and Auto Shop in the Los Santos Tuners update, and in the 'Arena War'' update, we are introduced to the titular game show where contestants participate in deadly games of demolition derby-style events in cars kitted out with all sorts of spikes, plows, guns and wacky paint jobs.
  • Saints Row 2 had even more and better car-pimping options than San Andreas did.
  • Ratchet & Clank: Ratchet's ship in Going Commando could be massively upgraded with weapons, boost, shield, that affected its exterior. Also some purely ornamental shape upgrades, and many different paint jobs that could be unlocked then purchased. Up Your Arsenal has the same ship, but it only has the cosmetic upgrades in that game.
  • Rage (2011) gives you upgrade options for engine, armor, suspension, etc.
  • Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune from the third game onwards introduces the Dress-Up system. Completing Ghost Battle races fills up a meter that, when full, grants you new cosmetic upgrades for your vehicle, such as tires, spoilers, decals, and even neon underglow. These parts don't influence your car's performance, so you can be as plain or as ricey as you want.

    Web Animation 
  • Poked fun at in the Strong Bad Email "Car", where Homestar tricks out his hat.
  • In Mystery Skulls Animated, Lewis uses ghost magic to pimp out what was originally a delivery truck into a dekotora monster covered in pink flames, skulls, and thorny vines.

    Western Animation 


Alternative Title(s): Pimped Out Vehicle

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