Remember when rapper Xzibit was there to pimp your ride? In the new era of reality television, MTV really hit the mark. Let’s not talk about how MTV wasn’t playing music videos anymore. But the ultra-addicting, “reality-based,” and let’s be honest, trash television they cranked out. In the early 2000s, MTV produced a TV series all about flipping junk cars. But it wasn’t just about turning an old clunker into a working piece of presentable machinery. Oh no. This show was over the top, and it was everything we thought we wanted.

Pimp My Ride premiered in 2004 on MTV, airing a total of 73 episodes over 3 years. The premise was to transform a pretty beat up car into something more luxurious and customized to the owners’ life interests.

Now, if we are to take anything away from customizing vehicles in the late 90s and early 2000s, we already had some standard modifications that could be deemed pretty wild. Upgraded sound systems with speakers for days, extra-dark tinted windows, and giant rims just to name a few. Pimp My Ride took the idea of a makeover for your car to a whole new level.

Forget spinners, under glow, and trunks full of subwoofers that rattled not only your car windows, but all the car windows waiting along side you at the stop light. Now we’ve got a casino inside a van? I hope he at least could hire a pianist to be in there all the time so he’d always have ambient music.

Other wild mods included a pool table on top of a truck bed. And what about a hot tub? Although, I feel like this was very 90s anyhow. Remember the hot tub limousine? My neighbor friend’s Barbie had a hot pink one. Then there was a chocolate fountain installed in one car. And a fish tank in another. So it’s pretty obvious at this point, this is more about the aesthetic. Fashion over function.

The original show ended in 2007, with several spinoffs and even a recent “reboot.” But many years later, we now know the truth behind the show. Like most of the truth behind these extreme makeover shows, it’s all staged and performance art really. The cars modified in front of the camera were far different and practically impossible to use behind the camera. Most of the modifications didn’t work well or last very long. Some interfered with the vehicle’s safety features; therefore, had to be removed after filming. It’s also been revealed that MTV had a tow truck on standby as at time, after the modifications, the car itself just didn’t run.

But does this make anyone mad at this point? No. It all made for wonderful television and honestly, probably inspired a whole lot of innovative mods down the road. For example, check out these rims!  Just wild.

And who could get mad when the show generated a whole new meme that spread like wild fire? On the show, Xzibit would say something silly like, “I heard you like to eat shave ice so I put a shave ice machine in your car.” This meme first hit the software industry hard, and from there, the meme generation was endless.

So yes, there was a reboot of the show on Netflix last year, called Resurrected Rides. And while the reviews sit at 6/10 stars, Netflix seems to be planning a Season 2 in the summer of 2026. Without even watching Season 1, I can guarantee nothing will be able to match the nostalgia that is the original MTV series, Pimp My Ride.