Pimp My Blog Entry

The L.A. Times meets the guys from West Coast Customs, the bling-bling garage at the center of MTV's wildly popular "Pimp My Ride."

Ryan Friedlinghaus first opened the car-customizing shop six years ago, and business took off after he moved West Coast Customs to Compton (and later, Inglewood), attracting high-end business from clients like Shaq.

Writes the paper: "We were looking for a shop that had some notoriety, and we knew that West Coast Customs had as a client base 50 Cent, Steve Harvey, Jesse James," said Lois Curren, executive vice president of MTV series entertainment.

MTV began filming in October and the show premiered in March on Sunday nights.

Unlike on the show, Friedlinghaus is quick to say, "We do new high-end cars for high-end customers." The work they do easily adds up to thousands of dollars for one vehicle. Rims alone can cost $8,000, stereo systems can run $10,000, and most customers ask for multiple installations at once.

With so many new clients and a camera crew to accommodate, West Coast Customs is moving up, once again. The crew and equipment are relocating to a bigger building on 104th Street near La Cienega Boulevard in Los Angeles. There will be a separate room for the "Pimp My Ride" show.