For those of you who have watched the Reality show about car modification that airs on Indonesian television, of course you are no stranger to the Pimp My Ride program, this event has successfully sedated young Indonesians who are fond of motoring so that it becomes a reference for Indonesian modifiers to work. MTV took West Coast Customs home modifications to handle the modifications that will be made for the purposes of filming the Pimp My Ride show.
West Coast Custom or often called WCC is a car repair shop that focuses on vehicle modification. West Coast Custom itself was founded by Ryan Friedlinghaus and Quinton Dodson in 1994, he started a business with a 5,000 USD loan from his grandfather to start this home modification business, but several other sources claim that he raised money to build the business. Ryan Friedlinghaus used to work at his father’s liquor store where it is said he collected part of his salary to build a West Coast Custom. Ryan Friedlinghaus and West Coast Custom have received support from several celebrities and figures in America such as Shaquille O’Neal and Sean Combs. West Coast Custom received high ratings and fame after collaborating with MTV,
Despite the many controversies regarding Ryan Friedlinghaus and West Coast Customs regarding the termination of the employment contract with MTV, unequal employee salaries, employee working hours, bankruptcy issues, and several modified cars that have serious problems with the modification results, this modified home has not lost. his life to continue to produce the dream car of his customer. Some Hollywood celebrities and well-known brands still entrust their vehicles to be modified West Coast Customs. Some of the celebrities and well-known brands who entrust West Coast Customs include:
- Shaq O’Neal – Chevrolet Suburban
This basketball player is a friend of Ryan Friedlinghaus, where he is one of the people who supported the West Coast Customs from scratch. Several of Shaq’s cars had already stopped to get beautified at the West Coast Customs. One of the vehicles from Shaq which is famous in the West Coast Customs modification is the Chevrolet Suburban he entrusts the West Coast Customs to modify the interior and the wheels. Because of Shaq O’Neal’s large body, this big SUV is very suitable for him carrying a 6.5L V8 engine so this vehicle is very capable, some shaq cars that have also been modified in the West Coast Customs are the Jeep Wrangler, Polaris Slingshoot, and others.
- Alienware – Hummer H1
In 2010 the leading US gaming laptop manufacturer “Alienware” teamed up with West Coast Customs to modify the Heavy Duty car, the Hummer H1. This car was modified in order to promote the newest Alienware product, the modified part of the Hummer H1 is a matte black car paint, the front is given a bullbar which is specially designed for the placement of 3 ATI Eyefinity gaming monitors and other devices, on the front. On top of the car, there is a roof rack that contains gaming ammunition gimmicks, and the interior also smells like Alienware gaming.
- Will I Am – Chevrolet Corvette
The famous singer of the grub Black eye Black Eyed Peas, Will I Am entrusted West Coast Customs to beautify his ride, the 1959 Chevrolet Corvette. This car is red with white accents which makes it look exotic on the road. Several modifications were made to the West Coast Custom for this Chevy including the iPad which was placed in the center console and integrated with car audio, the engine part of this car was swapped to a newer engine, the Corvette C6 LS2 V8 engine which has an output power of 400HP.
- Best Buy & Ford –
Best Buy and West Coast Customs created an event entitled “7 steps to customize your ride” which was sponsored by Best Buy Geek Squad. “This season, Best Buy has chosen the Ford Fiesta to be an example of how to modify cars. The Fiesta is a compact car with a youth style at an affordable price,” said Ryan Friedlinghaus. The 2011 Ford Fiesta gets a 3D Carbon kit on its body and a blue paint coating. The interior gets a custom refinement with the Roadwir leather seat kit, and suede touches on the headliner and interior panels so you can ride in comfort. An interesting finishing touch is on the sub-woofer cover which is designed like the yellow Best Buy tag. in pair HRE 20 inch rims wrapped with Continental tires.