Why Did MTV Rush to Stop the Secret Sale of a $18k “Pimp My Ride” Car?
Do you ever look back at your childhood and wonder, “How did I have hours to religiously watch a show like Pimp My Ride—yet retain absolutely zero memory of when it aired, what season I was on, or how time even worked?” Same! That show was pure, unfiltered chaos in a tricked-out car—MTV’s answer to “what if your life needed more subwoofers and lava lamps?” For a huge chunk of us, Pimp My Ride existed in that weird time warp where days, seasons, and logic didn’t matter. All I knew: Xzibit might show up, turn rustbuckets into wild, impractical masterpieces, and somewhere, even the worst Buick could become a legend… sorta. But what really went down behind those custom paint jobs and outlandishly rapid “transformations”? Buckle up, because some of the secrets—from seven-month-long builds to contestants’ lives turned upside down—are even wilder than those neon-lit trunk aquariums. Want to know the real story? LEARN MORE.
Pimp My Ride is a core childhood memory even though I couldn’t tell you what time of the day it was on or even when I watched it.
It’s something that I used to have on religiously as a kid without having any idea of what season was on or how many there were.
A quick Google search will tell you that the OG Pimp My Ride ran for six seasons on MTV from 2004 to 2007, with each episode lasting about 27 minutes.
In reality, the show made the car upgrades look like they took a few days or weeks but the actual builds took six to seven months to complete.
Another surprising claim comes from previous contestant Jake Glazier who appeared in the fourth season in 2005, when his 1986 Buick Century was pimped.
When he tried to sell his car, however, all hell broke loose after he broke the terms of his TV contract.
Pimp My Ride contestant Jake Glazier has revealed what really went down on set (MTV)
‘My car was a piece of s**t’
“I actually had to sign a contract that prohibited me from listing their final product on eBay, which I did,” Jake said (per Jalopnik).
“I was contacted by Viacom [MTV’s then parent company] about three hours later, ordered to take it down. I then got the contact info of the company that made the Jackhammer woof and made a deal.
“The problem with the show is, they don’t fix any of the mechanical issues, and my car was a piece of s**t. What they did was make my piece of s**t sound exceptionally awesome, which is great. Just not great enough to drive on roads.”
Eventually, Jake was able to sell his $500 car for a whopping $18,000.
“I sold it to MTX (the company that manufactured all ‘pimping audio components’ within),” he added.
Pimp My Ride indeed pimped his ride (MTV)
MTV didn’t film at Jake’s real house
As I’m sure you remember, the best thing about the show was host Xzibit turning up to strangers’ door with the surprise that he was going to, well, pimp up their car.
Jake revealed that MTV didn’t actually go to his house to surprise him.
“It wasn’t my house. It was a place owned by one of the crew members,” he explained.
“I was actually surprised when Xzibit showed up to the door, because up until that point everyone with MTV had led me to believe that I was merely ‘one of five finalists’ and that it was just practice to see how I would react if it was Xzibit at the door.
“When it was, I knew it was real. So even though a lot is for show, there definitely was an element of surprise maintained for certain moments.”
Anyone remember this? (MTV)
1 August: MTV aired for the first time
MTV made its TV debut on 1 August 1981 at 12:01am as ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’ by The Buggles was the first ever music video that played on the network.
During its 24-hour debut, MTV aired 116 music videos across 209 spins by using a heavy rotation schedule.
But because the music video format was completely brand new, the network had a limited library and repeated popular tracks multiple times throughout the opening day.
The first 10 videos that aired consisted of tracks from Rod Stewart, The Who and Cliff Richard.
Although MTV is still on the air, it permanently shut down its dedicated 24-hour music video channels globally on 31 December 2025.
Sorry if this has made you feel very old.
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