Pimped Rides

From the neon lights on the dash to the DVD player in the trunk, nothing is too excessive for these tricked-out cars.

by Jim Di Paola

photos: Robert Stolpe

If you think HP stands for Hewlett-Packard and when people start talking about their new system you ask how much RAM it offers, chances are you’re not into cars. At least you’re not into them the way the people profiled on the following pages are into their rides. For them, HP means unbridled horsepower, and the new “system” they are talking about most certainly has a several-hundred-watt amplifier and 12-inch subwoofers that can make the cars stopped next to them at a traffic light shake from the force of the bass booming.

These motorheads think nothing about sinking thousands of dollars into their cars — in many cases more than what they paid for the vehicle itself. But this is not all about the Benjamins. It’s about that feeling you get when you hear the purring of a finely tuned engine. It’s about the awestruck responses you evoke from complete strangers when they see that custom “wet black” paint job or discover you’ve decided your ride needs two televisions, a DVD player and a PlayStation 2 to be complete. For these car lovers, it’s about cruising around South Florida looking for others who emanate that unmistakable smell of car wax and grease and respect them for it.

Name: Zoel Figueroa

Age: 18

Home: Tamarac

Employment: Hotel waiter

Ride: 2003 Mazda Protégé

Modifications: Cat-back exhaust, with HKS carbon-fiber titanium muffler, GReddy turbo timer, carbon-fiber boost gauge, carbon-fiber air/fuel ratio gauge, cold-air intake by Ingen Technologies, GReddy electronic boost controller, 17-inch ADR rims, KVR Performance cross-drilled brakes and carbon-fiber brake pads

Amount invested: $2,500

Favorite thing about this car: “The way it handles. It takes turns awesome.”

Dream car: 1963 Shelby GT 500

Name: Samantha Sunderman

Age: 18

Home: Fort Lauderdale

School: Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale

Employment: Blockbuster manager

Ride: 2000 Toyota Celica

Modifications: 17-inch rims, body kit, white neon running lights, blue and white neon on the inside, two 12-inch subwoofers in the back, exhaust and cold-air intake

Amount invested: $6,000

Dream car: 1994 Nissan 300ZX turbo

Name: Erkan Alci

Age: 26

Home: Pompano Beach

School: Florida State University

Ride: 1998 Acura Integra LS

Modifications: 17-inch rims, sound system, two 12-inch subwoofers, Orion amplifier, 7-inch portable TV, PlayStation 2 and white-with-purple-pearl custom paint job

Amount invested: $4,000-$5,000

Dream Car: Any Nissan 300ZX

Name: Roberto Moscoso

Age: 25

Home: Fort Lauderdale

Employment: GNC sales associate

Ride: 1993 Ford Probe SE

Modifications: $2,000 in full body kit, Ractive exhaust, RAD racing system, fog lights, Bazooka amplifier with two 12-inch Polk Audio/MOMO subwoofers, Infinity stereo system and 17-inch BSA rims

Amount invested: $3,500

Favorite thing about this car: The dashboard is suede.

Least-favorite thing about this car: The dashboard is suede. “It makes it kind of hard to keep it clean.”

Name: Jorge Vasquez

Age: 22

Home: Deerfield Beach

Employment: Wild Oats Market

Ride: 2001 Honda Civic LX

Modifications: Blue neon kit around the front seats and underneath the dashboard, PlayStation 2 and TV with DVD player

Amount invested: $7,000

Future modifications: Full body kit, 18-inch rims and sound system

Thieves like it: “[Someone recently] took off my dashboard to get my equalizer and radio and the subwoofers. It had to take them at least four or five hours. … I didn’t leave my wheel-lock key in the car, or they would have taken [the car], too.”

Last speeding ticket: A year and a half ago

Dream car: 2000-2002 Yukon Denali

Name: Mario Mc Donald

Age: 20

Home: Fort Lauderdale

School: Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale

Ride: 2001 Mitsubishi Galant

Modifications: Ingen Technologies cold-air intake, cat-back exhaust system, Cyber 2 body kit, 17-inch rims, TV, blue neon headrest and neon floor pads

Amount invested: $5,000

Dream Car: 1997 Chrysler Prowler

Name: Kyle Lozito

Age: 18

Home: Fort Lauderdale

School: Westminster Academy

Ride: 2001 Ford Ranger

Modifications: TV, sound system with subwoofer, PlayStation 2, installed a computer chip for more horsepower, cold-air intake, blue neon lights for undercarriage and neon on floor mats

Amount invested: $5,000

Dream car: Dodge Ram SRT-10. “It’s got 400 horsepower, man.”

Name: Keino Lewis

Age: 20

Home: Lauderhill

Employment: Wireless Dimensions salesman

Ride: 1999 Toyota 4Runner

Modifications: Air bags that make the truck move up, down and sideways; body kit; wet-black custom paint job; sound system; tan leather interior; and new girlfriend (pictured)

Amount invested: $10,000

Other car: 1990 Nissan Maxima

Name: Max Fox

Age: 16

Home: Fort Lauderdale

School: Pompano Beach High School

Ride: 1996 Mitsubishi Eclipse

Modifications: 18-inch rims, full cat-back exhaust, cold-air intake by HP, HP header, strut bar, new suspension system, custom metallic-black paint job. “Almost everything in my car is HP.”

Amount invested: $3,000-$3,500

Future modifications: “I’m about to put in new racing seats [and a sound system]. I got all the connections ready to go, though.”

Dream Car: 1967 Shelby GT 500. “That’s an amazing car.”

Name: Destin MacKenzie

Age: 19

Home: Pompano Beach

Employment: Construction worker

Ride: 1997 Mitsubishi Eclipse

Modifications: Ractive cold-air system and 3A Racing exhaust system

Amount invested: $1,000

Future modifications: “I want to rebuild the engine, put a turbo in it.”

Name: Jeremy Rice

Age: 19

Home: Fort Lauderdale

Employment: Video-store manager

Ride: 1995 Nissan Maxima

Modifications: “I’ve done the smart costly things, like, I put in the JL Audio speakers with Kenwood amp, Jet computer chip, intake and exhaust, blue neon upgrades in A/C vents underneath seats, above the amplifier and in the trunk.”

Amount invested: $1,000. “Because I know people. The stereo is, like, $600, but I only paid $350 for it. If you can’t do it yourself, don’t do it.”

Favorite thing about this car: Upgraded the horsepower from 190 to 225, but it still looks like a car his grandmother would drive. “People don’t expect it. You pull up to a light, and people think they are hot shit. And then, you just blow them out of the water. It’s the best.”

Dream car: 1997 Nissan S15 Silvia. “It only sells in Japan. It’s basically a Nissan 240ZX, but it has different headlights and taillights.”