Is There Any Redemption for this ‘Pimp My Ride’ Dodge Caravan?
From hooptie to hot wheels and back again, can YouTuber Tavarish revitalize this van a second time?
Most of us remember Pimp My Ride, MTV’s wildly popular early 2000s TV show. Participants would have the rapper Xzibit pick up their car and take it to West Coast Customs, where it would be thoroughly transformed in the span of a few days into a customized car.
Have you ever wondered where some of those cars ended up? Well, this 1999 Dodge Grand Caravan, once featured on the show, was recently purchased by famous automotive personality Tavarish.
The moldy minivan has been sitting derelict in a mechanic’s yard in Boston for almost four years. It’s covered in dirt and dust, the paint is faded, and the body kit is severely cracked. What’s more, no single wheel matches any of the others. That’s kind of an impressive feat, when you think about it.
Tavarish has set a goal to rebuild and restore this van in just 24 hours. Now, he’s better known for his DIY repairs on high-dollar European cars, so this should be a piece of cake, right?
Before he even starts tearing into the van Tavarish drops a bombshell about Pimp My Ride. “A little secret that they probably don’t want you to know is the fact that, a lot of times, they didn’t use the original car.”
In this case, the original van was a 1998 Plymouth Grand Voyager that was a total hooptie. The West Coast Customs crew sourced a clean 1999 Dodge Caravan to rebuild, scrapping the original Plymouth. Now, the Dodge van is a hooptie itself, and will be re-pimped for a new generation. It’s the circle of life.
Tavarish points out that one of the things that made these minivans so popular was that they had sliding doors on both sides. Unfortunately, one of those doors is blocked off by some sort of hastily-assembled in-car entertainment center, installed by Galpin Auto Sports all those years ago.
Donning gloves and a face mask, Tavarish heads inside, finding denim seat upholstery and the rest of the wheels it wore on TV. It’s at this time that we discover that the van won’t start.
A look under the hood reveals why. The drive belt is missing, the tensioner is worn, and the alternator is locked solid. After adding a fresh battery, the van surprisingly starts right up.
With a battery, Tavarish can also test the various 2004-era audiovisual equipment installed by Galpin back in the day. Most of it works, surprisingly enough. When a red laser starts painting the faded headliner with light, Tavarish exclaims, “There’s a little neon light show! Not even a Maybach has this!”
One of the buttons opens the rear door, allowing Tavarish and his crew to remove the accumulated junk and get a good look at the rear of the van. Most of the stuff installed on the show is present, but it has seen better days. Still, Tavarish is impressed with their workmanship overall.
After making a list, they head to the auto parts store for some parts and cleaning supplies. Incredibly, all of the hard parts were in stock. It’s a testament to just how popular these van were and are.
After printing off a CVS-sized receipt, store employees wheel carts filled with parts out to Tavarish’s waiting vehicle. It should be noted that it was daylight when they entered the store; it’s dark now.
Upon returning to the shop, the crew begins tearing into the former Pimp My Ride Caravan, removing body parts to send to the body shop, getting it up on jack stands, and removing the wheels. While the body shop is busy repairing cracked fiberglass, Tavarish and the team can focus on what’s important, and they set to work fixing the van’s various mechanical maladies.
When you dive into a project like this, you’re bound to find a few surprises. Most are bad, but some are good, too. In this case, the brakes may be a complete mess, but the underside of the van is remarkably rust-free.
With that, the episode ends — will Tavarish bring this ex-TV star back to its former glory? Tune in to the follow-up video to find out!
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