Chris wrote:
>  Amy Guskin  wrote:
>
> > People are pimping out Civics where you live?  Why bother?
>
> i'm in CA, if it has 4 wheels it gets "pimped." the cheaper it is, the
> more likely the pimping is.

I recall a Chevy Chevette back in the mid 1980s that had been
customized almost unrecognizable.  Amazing, but *far* from the
most amazing cars I saw during the 24 years I lived in LA metro.
Maybe the most amzing where the limo conversions.  Though
I think the Chevy Chevette rated up there with the Armor Hot
Dog wieny-mobile that I see wandering around every so often.

Second wierdest one was a Honda Accura about the first year
that mid-range model came out.  Barely bigger than a Civic,
this Honda had been turned into a stretch limo.

Far and away the wierdest was a Lambourgini Contach that
had been limo stretched into a station wagon.  It was at a
gas station San Pasqual and Lake in Pasadena in the early
1980s.  I just stood there staring in astonishment for a whle
then I got down on the pavement and tried to look underneath
from a distance.  Really nice welding job as it looked almost
factory issue, but a two hundred thousand dollar car converted
into a station wagon?  Welcome to Southern California where
the city of Newport Beach has not one but two Ferrari dealerships!

> they "pimp" pretty much anything with a
> honda/acura logo on it, also mitsu's, toyota's, scion's(ugh. these ugy
> beasts seem to have been made with no other purpose in mind except
> "pimping" why else would they look so generic at the start?) the only
> american cars that generally get this treatment are Saturns and Neons.
> trucks and more expensive cars like bmw's and especially the new
> chrysler 300 gets some minor detail work done(mostly rims/spinners,
> chrome plating on parts, etc) but usually not as drastic as the
> previously mentioned cars

Lately I've been seeing well crafted pictures painted onto cars,
trucks and vans.  You name the topic, some I like, some I don't,
but I admire the artisanry.

> it's really kinda funny how the "car pimp culture" is different from
> western PA to southern CA, back in PA most of the car guys seem to want
> to build a car from the ground up as a hotrod which they only take to
> shows and cruises and other events, out here every kid who gets a car
> needs to buy crazy accessories (that yellow racing stripe adds 25 horse
> power!) and drive it every day.

Here in Chicago metro classic restorations are popular.  But some
of them are more customizations than restorations.

> of course, the truly funny part is when they get smoked by my stock
> model 300m(not the ugly new one, the pretty old one) because it's
> actually on a frame that can handle the power inside it(no, i don't
> race, but sometimes in onramp situations i see one of these toy cars try
> and out accelerate me so i don't get in front of them as i get on the
> freeway, or similar situations, and it's funny).

Or my little Ford Focus going around some sportster on the onramp
so I can merge at 70 MPH because that's how fast the traffic is
flowing so that's the speed I want to hit the top of the ramp at.  And
then end up getting passed by that same sportster 3-4 times in the
next 30 minutes as I hang out in the same lane most of the rest of
my commute ...

No broadcast B5 in forever.  I was looking in IMDB about Stargate: SG1
and I noticed Terry Rothery (Doctor Janet) listed Babylon 5: The Lost
Tales in her credits list.  Yahoo!  New B5 stuff heading down the pipe
enough that it's all over IMDB.  Not broadcast but DVD works better
than broadcast in most senses ...
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