The Real Reason Why Inside West Coast Customs Ended
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West Coast customs is probably the most popular custom shop in the world. It was the custom shop behind the first really mainstream car show, Pimp My Ride, and since Pimp My Ride ended the shop has gone on to be behind another car show named Inside West Coast Customs.
The shop has a very interesting history too and is probably the one shop in the world that does not have an exact founding date. According to some, the shop was founded way back in 1994, and others say it was 1997.
In any case, what we do know for sure is that the shop was incorporated in the year 2000 by Ryan Friedlinghaus, a young mechanic who had a passion for building custom made cars.
However, Friedlinghaus had discovered quite early in his life that there were almost no garages that could do all everything needed to make a custom car in-house.
So he created West Coast Customs as a shop that could make custom cars from top to bottom without outsourcing any part of the vehicle. That was his vision for West Coast Customs, and for a while, that was precisely what the shop was.
At first, the shop did not get a lot of orders, but soon celebrities like Shaquille O’Neal started bringing their expensive cars around for custom effects and that is when West Coast Customs blew up.
Before long, the shop drew the attention of media giants MTV and they pitched the show Pimp My Ride to Friedlinghaus. But here was the catch, Friedlinghaus was not going to be the host of the show. It would merely be hosted in his shop and he would be the one to coordinate the actual work on the vehicles. The real host of the show would be a rapper named Xzibit.
In the end, Pimp My Ride was a successful show, but after the first few years, West Coast Customs started seeing the first problems that would eventually run the shop out of reality TV shows forever.
#InsideWestCoastCustoms
Building custom vehicles is a very high-stress job. In the late 80's and early 90's I worked at several custom shops. In the mid 90's I opened my own shop and lasted several years, until my divorce forced me to sell it. It really aged me! I think being a former employee made me a better boss, as my crew was pretty happy. I rarely had someone quit, and only ever had to let a few people go. Most shop owners can be tyrants, with unreasonable expectations.
Do you do custom vehicle jobs now, out of curiosity, @Wise Devolver? I always wished that someone could do a 1967-1979 Ford F-250 or Ford F-350 Crew Cab with a long bed custom job that had like the flush kind of Snug Top camper shell over the truck bed, but, instead of it being a flimsy aluminum top, it would be the kind of hard top that would be made out of the same type of metal as the truck itself, as well as also had its thickness and quality build, and windows that were also a bit longer on said new truck bed top. Now, after that, the metal part that is on the back of the cab section of the truck, as well as the front part of the truck bed, would both be cut out of the truck. Next, the gap that was between the truck bed and the rear of the truck cab would be filled in by the cut out metal that was melted, then refit, to help make a solid, as well as well a well built, link that is between the front of the truck bed and the rear of the truck cab. Now, after those things are done, the remaining metal can be added to the current truck steps, along with some more metal, to make some proper running steps below the doors of the truck cab. Now, after that, there could be a smoothing out of the ridges of the truck bed and then a third, possibly a fourth, row of seats, hopefully, bench seats, that could be completely folded down, could be put in the back of this truck. Now, after that, the interior could have the same kind of colors, as well as badges, but that everything, the truck insulation, and such, could be given a truly luxury upgrade, like a luxury SUV level upgrade. Now, after that, the suspension, as well as other parts, of the truck, could be massively upgraded with power, torque, luxury, adaptability, durability, entertainment, and timeless quality in mind. Basically, what would be built would be like an upgraded version of what my mother did once with a Ford F-250 Crew Cab that she once owned herself, or, in more modern terms, a 1970s interpretation of the Ford Excursion, but with the touches of the best, as well as biggest, SUVs of all time.
V , ,#9€
You should have never let her get half by signing that one paper lol
I am looking to do the same thing but no crazy deadlines just build art take your time and build something special
bullshit... lazy employees generally love to complain about conditions when they show up late almost daily, take many smoke breaks, check their phone every 2 minutes, take sick days when nobody is sick, putting the whole team behind on jobs, projects, and customers get mad. Us the owners have to deal with the customers when you fuck up also, think about that. Shops are teams, if you work like high school kids, you will bankrupt yourself every time... Issue is people don't like authority, and when you work for somebody, that somebody has to tell you what to do. I mean if you wanna do what you want to do, grow balls and open your own From a shop owner...
That was well documented. Great pictures and narrative plain, simple, easy to follow. 😎
One of the pimp my ride cars had a fish tank in the doors. There's about a million reasons why that was a terrible idea!
No. It was for the viewers.
no way lol
The show ended, not the shop…
Forreal people don’t understand 🤦♂️ these people were actually professionals with real work and jobs to do the show was a side hustle for entertainment it wasn’t supposed to really be representative of the shop the shop was already established so all the shit work they did wasn’t cuz they didn’t know what they were doing it was cuz they had production telling them what to do all while they had real customers they had to do the real work on their cars 🤦♂️ people really think they only did this terrible work on those cars when it just wasn’t the case 🤦♂️
should have been the shop if they were turning out junk. think taking a very nice high dollar car there and getting it back with half not working. but then most of the people taking their cars there had more dollars then sense anyway
Darn it!
Thanks captain obvious we can read the title of the vid. It clearly says inside Westcoast customs. Just as ignorant as the ones you try to mock. 😂
Good job for rewording the title
His company basically proved that most people can't tell quality from shit. I've seen a lot of the cars they've done, and while some of his workers were skilled at what they do- I've never seen a car from that shop which displayed consistent high quality throughout the build. If it had killer paint, the interior was half-assed with pulls and crooked seams. If the interior was nice, it usually had wavy bondo or electrical problems. The average person likely doesn't know the difference, and being able to hose people out of money was the only reliable and consistent skill displayed.
I think the whole "in-house" idea comes at a cost. And I think that cost is quality
But average people have nothing to do with this shop… not for at least 15 years 😅. Let him fleece the wealthy! Get more of that hoarding money back into the economy!
This guy has NO idea what he is talking about....
@@nickohnmacht611 depends look at Brabus they do also most stuff inhouse and its just amazing but its also a german company and germany overall has higher standards just like with normal cars compare us cars with german cars and you will see germans are better put together. even engine wise we build more efficient ones.
This is an extreme example but Bentley had a mere 3% sales increase, but over 500% in profitability. The reason is customers can customize their Bentley to order. Bentley sometimes even flies their customers to their manufacturing plant to see your car being built. So customizing cars is very profitable business but probably high stress.
I live six miles from rolls royce factory,they have a center there where can build your car from the start,you can choose what ever you want,colour of the body,what you want the carpet colour to be,what colour leather seats you want plus big list of other things you can have put in the car,all for a price of course.
@@philipdavison3862😂😂😂
exactly, a lot of companies are now offering some level of customisation now, and there is a lot more aftermarket parts that people can DIY now as well. his customer base is down to celebrities trying to stand out. i remember a car he did for snoop dogg, and the price leaked, was like $250k back in early 2000s, which was stupidly high, you could get a supercar back then for that.. snoop paid the rich person tax on that. god knows what shaq was charged for all those custom jobs, but shaq wasnt as money wise back then like he is now.
It’s sad that business owners screw employees on pay.
As a biz owner, what he did could have easily been avoided by hiring an Accountant and Lawyer
he was doing it on purpose. he hired workers without papers as well and was underpaying them big time. he'd need a dirty accountant to bury his dirty tactics.
I was surprised when I went to the 2022 SEMA show and they weren't there. 2021's show after the reopening after covid they had a huge display outside
I never liked the vehicles he turned out. I thought they were cheesy and had way too much thought. I would've never taken a car there
Most of the custom work is done for shows, not for everyday driving. So those vehicles that went caca few weeks after where just for showing off to make more sales n BS. One thing I've noticed about the shop is, there where never long term employees there. That alone says alot about the stress level at the shop. ✌️
“Everything turns to chit” Tony Soprano’s best quote!!!
As a foreigner watching WCC, I was always thinking "God, impossible is not an American word !"
Nor is: "Not my problem" which I still hear as an ex-foreigner.
Nor is "reason", "class", "compassion", "elegance", "self-awareness", "responsibility", "multilingual"...
Car customisation is becoming a thing of the past.
Lol yeah ok...
you drink Starbucks and wear Capri pants for sure .... As long as Men exist there will be customizing
Yep. Customizing cars is for boomers.
@@baconatorrodriguez4651 and you're a girl
@@dimebagvinnie644no one is saying it is going away: just the popularity of it has waned quite a bit… also, young folks don’t have boomer money. Read: high income, low work hours, equals more time to build cars.
Honestly all he has to do is buy airtime and resell commercials. That's the formula that's been done for decades in order to get a show out there. Not to mention he could ink a deal with hulu or netflix to do cars yet have sponsorships built in .
Chip foose. True car builder & treats his team well.
agree
Amen
Exactly & another fraud is danny counts kustoms who always lies that WE CRAP & in reality danny has never gotten his hands dirty with a single build in his entire life. But sure takes all the credit & being a hands on car builder for decades I can call danny out for being a fraud. Which I know there are many other hands in car builder's just as myself that feel the very same.
George Barris
@@bikrbastrd7339 You too knows the hands of a true car builder & there are many of us out here that knows danny is a fraud. He's all about burning client's & taking all the credit for the builds but in the real world every true hands on car builder as myself "KNOWS" that danny couldn't even build a model car with video instructions. BOTTOM LINE danny IS JUST ANOTHER BOTTOM FEEDING SCUMBAG. "VALE VERGA"
Idk why they would complain the accessories they put in most cars would buy a better one than they brought in .
Well the problem is they never fixed any mechanical problems and most of the accessories they would put in they'd have to take out immediately after filming cause california doesn't allow mods like that, so it would actually end up devaluing the car
Quality work takes time , Shtty quick work gives shtty product. Alot of things can go wrong. Wrong parts, late parts delivery, sick employees, etc.
I always thought it was difficult to keep on top of this. You have to keep the vehicles rolling through almost constantly. I've worked for an airline and it can get pretty manic trying to squeeze things in. You don't want cars sitting too long in the shop, you need to turn them around to keep that profit flowing. It has a burnout rate on the crew. I've seen a few of these car DIY programs, one had quite a few of the mechanics defect and build another shop of their own just down the road. A lot of what you don't see is the mechanics having ding dongs with one another because they have driven each other insane or bodged something so spectacularly that they've cost the shop a few thousand dollars.
The shop is open in Burbank across from the shopping center off the 5 freeway
Help would be needed to up their game so they can come back and give us some smashing products
You know this video has shots from West Coast Customs and Galpin Auto Sports. They are not the same business, in fact they were competitors for a while.
What car do we see at 2:08?
Should be Justin Biebers Rolls Royce i believe. He wanted it to look like its floating or some sht so they covered the wheels to make it look like it does.
if a shop is willing to do what they did to make a dollar it shows ya
Anybody know where West Coast customs originated from?
Super garage sa serait un rêve de rencontrer l équipe
Some people roll up in a clown car and then if you call them a clown they get their feelings hurt.
If that shop crew had a different boss that didn’t treat them like shit like friedlinghaus and Rawlings do their employees… I bet that show would be amazing.
You could already see that after the first episodes of pmr, and it got worse later on. Where he tried wcc Europe...he sounded like that Austrian Diktator where he was running around the construction site
I'm tired of click bait, too many KZheadrs do it too often.
The Shop is Still going!!!!?? So why say it is closed??
I was young when the show was airing. I'm not trying to be rude, but they were at the sacramento autorama this year, and I didn't know who they were. They were very nice, though.
I don’t know how to feel about this video, the dude is still very successful without TV now and his business is still successful with positive rates online.
Positive ratings online... Ok, guess you can't buy Google reviews... right?
they have awful reviews check out yelp , one women said they destroyed her Bentley
The guy who made the video thinks having a show is the only way to be successful. It's clickbaity.
Yeah is totally different the stuff they did for tv was definitely unrealistic but has nothing to do with the real work they do in cars is definitely click bait title
*West Coast* We've been watching here in Africa 🌍 🇰🇪 Early 1998 it was best Custom TV show ever in you Guy's are amazing # Pimp my Ride 🎉
Dude seemed shady to me.
its not still open????
Kinda notice his narcissist, everytime he explains details to the client he always refer to "I" not "we" or "me and my team" kinda reflect that he's not a team player or a good boss
Если ответственность на нём, он может говорить я
@@ym-us2ck нет, вы это представляете, как разговор об успехе, якобы успех это общее дело.. Но, когда речь идёт о неудаче, за неё несёт ответственность кто? Тот кто всё организовал.
I'm a great fan and admior especially when you're grandfather gave you 5 thousand dollars to start your company and you made it a success I just hope this is a bogest post and if it is the hell with these haters and if it's ture don't worry because there is a lot of people love you you will be fine you will jump right back into action especially Mr onel and so many friends is not going to have that peace out always wishing you all the best
I remember before West Coast Custom there was 310 motoring
Has exzibit ever had a car built there?
go up again 💪
Its sad small biz have to shut down. We the people need to cooperate and make small businesses successful. Help would be needed to up 3:58
West Coast is alive and well. In Burbank Ca.
Once someone experiences success they try the rest of their lives to duplicate it, but it never returns.
7:10 ahh..the ole take it from the small man trick -ca-roo
The man was still successful.
they went too far in tech but they should have standardized some innovations. or created their own retros per ever car model. the parts for the pimped cars am sure were too expensive
The best shop owners are the ones who work in the shop, not sit in the aircon office counting money. Good cars are only built when everyone who works on it takes pride in their work.
Not paying employees is true.
I remember a gangster type bully was hired as shop supervisor.
I know who you talking about “ big Dane “ I hate that mother 🤬
The owner acted like a gangster too. Jewish kid spending his family's money and he tried to act like a street gangsta.
Liked show
@5:21 ... No Delorian is worth $700k. Even if you put $700k cash on the drivers seat......
I like the old school pimp my ride.
Pimp my ride was the ultimate ricer show, but it was my childhood
The show was good when it first came out, showed them arguing and being friends, then went to a dumb scripted show
есть инфа что кличко/и как талисман , за нм все по п....де идет ))))))) помниться он был гостем на шоу )))
Texas metal is the new top dog custom shop.
Stay clear from anyone from that Tribe
I always thought this show was fake in the beginning and then kinda thought ok he can’t be paying these guys top dollar with all the dead lines no way he could make a great profit or he could by not paying them OT .
When are people going to realized that the majority of people tune in to be entertained after day at work or stressing out in life. Just give us entertainment that is still pretty to look at and we ill come back.
When X left the show, the show left with him
The show was fairly shit which was a shame because some of the staff had brilliant talents, they were the unfortunate ones.
Watched it once, and that was a Torture.
Well he's still does vehicles and he still has his shop
Yes
West Coast Customs is the Philip Plein of automotive world
The show ended not the shop.
HE should stick with fixing cars and forget about the media format he have to realize that the recognition is damaging his business in that business you are better off with hearsay recommendation the name and ownership us blacklisted of fact of the media format the concept of customization of car is a personal matter
this is why BRABUS doesnt have to do ton of ads nor any shows!! Cause they do QUALITY for REAL CAR PEOPLE!! Even Mansory!!!!
Firefall was an awesome game destroyed by really bad management.
Oh my God, what happened do you get no more orders or are there no more special people who want such crazy cars you have to help them it must not end !!!
Theyr actual business is doing fine and they got orders. The Inside WCC show and others had to stop since u cant build for months for those shows.
dont know where you get you info from bro but the company is still very much active the show ended but yeah the shops still going
Westcoast custom still open
The shop didn’t do much work two the engine so if it broke down it was on the customer not West Coast customs
Their KZhead channel reach 900K
I want to join you guys
He has alligators hands 😂
I remember spotting how shitty the paint jobs on most of those cars was during the reveals but hey it was all done in just a few days
The K-Mart bus was poo. I'm still trying to figure out who that was for. The suits to get a trip to California while there was still a couple of bucks in the budget?
he just needed to put it on youtube. 🤷♂
Best car custom shop is CHIP FOOSE. Never saw a better customizer then Chip. He is pinnacle in customizing .
The thumbnail. I just noticed the tears. Are those tattoo tears for each show or car dude has destroyed.
Shop is still open
Make your own Network
Game over
I suspect West Coast Customs is the inspiration for GTA's Los Santos Customs.
it is a parody of West Coast Customs. Almost every company, building, thing in GTA is a parody of something from real life.
He was doomed to this outcome when he had "self made " tattooed on his fingers not only is it arrogant and low class but it show not mess our creator. Case in point look at what happened to the Beatles and others
The guy's name is Ringlinghouse?? I thought they were brothers.
@ Sunahama Nagai My bad but I always thought it was dingleberry.
The shop is still open
I thought after they built Bieber’s Rolls Royce customers abandoned them.😂
hahahaah, bingo! That was he dumbest shit ive ever seen. hahah RR must've been pissed?
They are still around
RYAN “THE RUNT” 🤡🎬🇺🇸😂🤣😂
Those that CANNOT DO, criticize
There was a lot of pressure on them after the debacle that was pimp my ride Search for word result that they fight a lot of what they claim that they were doing. Pet, my ride made the decision to move to gas, which is under galloping. And they've been around long enough so they know what they're doing And West Coast Customs don't But the show was kind of stupid and in the first episode moron goes out there and says we have to get more business or we're gonna close That's how bad that shop needed money
Sounds like OCC.
For me comeing from Europe West Coast Customs always was a kind of 'back yard garage' with only look alike "builds" than real custominsing with substance. Would never bring a car there because the appearence at all doesn't look 'professionel' like I think/imagine of a company which has knowledge in all their kinds of workfields they offer. Most I'd see came out of there looks more or less not thought out and loveless to clumsy build in the end. They were overhyped by the TV show (were their "builds" were even more like shi*boxes) and some s.c. 'famous stars' who came there to get just another (in the end ruined and the price not worthy) kind of super/luxury car from an overrated 'custom shop'.
..well there goes Los Santos Customs.
It’s running on
We have so many better shops now. So GAS was another shop entirely owned by Galpin motorsports who took on the Pimpmyride projects.
"Pimp my ride" started out with a group of Black and Mexican guys and the foreman was a Black man. Xibit was the host and he would go to everyday people and customize their cars ans they were not the wealthy.
He made tons of money it last so long in tv