Darth Vader's Ultimate Car by West Coast Customs

If you're one of the lucky people who gets the Velocity channel, then hopefully, you've been watching Inside West Coast Customs. This past episode of Inside WCC, viewers had the chance to see the blood, sweat, and tears behind the creation of the Dark Vader car that was once a 2012 VW Passat.

"The Force is strong with Ryan on this build. Lucas Films has asked West Coast Customs to build Darth Vadar's ultimate ride, and it's a dream come true for this Star Wars fan. Ryan channels his inner Jedi to come up with a car that will please."

Oracle Lighting was kind enough to post production stills (Behind the scene stills) of the final creation, since the Velocity Channel isn't good enough for Direct TV.

Sadly, I couldn't see if they cut me out of the Inside West Coast Customs Sema episode. It wouldn't be hard to find me, there were only a handful of girls taking their classes. I wonder if Luke came to the dark side after seeing this car? This could be the best Passat out- because let's be honest- how many fully customized Passats have you seen? Go ahead, I'll wait...

Sadly, Pimp My Ride isn't dead in Europe

The awful show Pimp My Ride may be dead in the States, but it's alive and kicking in Europe. I'm against that show because although the concept of fixing cars for the owners who can't afford to repair them is great, but the flashy colors and the electronic overload killed it. In a single vehicle, there could be more electronics than PC Richards or Best Buy. Plus the owners were on the careless side, so the cars were either stolen or they crashed them.

Hipnotic Wheels released some shots of two vehicles that were customized on the show and they're wearing their wheels...

It's always interesting to see how customizers infuse their perspective and vision onto cars, even if they live in a different country. Pimp My Ride did bring plenty of promotion to West Coast Customs and Galpin Auto Sports, but I'm pretty sure that their target market isn't 19 year old college students whose budget only allows them to eat McChicken sandwiches off of the dollar menu.

Recapping Episode Five of the Dub Magazine Project.

I'm actually recapping the show and typing this post at the same time. I was working Sunday (yes I am an actual full-time photographer. Someone has to pay for my traveling, as well as my bills), and I missed it the episode...

This week's episode of the Dub Magazine Project was mostly automotive related but it gave that fine balance of a automotive show and a lifestyle show. The host with the most is still The Game, and his co-star of this week happened to be a silver Ferrari.

Finally, a great segment that had to do with a celebrity that showed a mix of his lifestyle with his cars. (Cute) MMA fighter Quinton “Rampage” Jackson's segment started off with his story of how he got started. Having a hard life in Memphis, Tenn, he didn't have much of a childhood. Now that he's made it to where he is, he can be a kid and have toys. When he says toys, he means his cars. He showed off a '69 Lincoln Continental (sitting on 22" Rampage Wheels and Toyo Tires), An Audi R8 (sitting on 20" Rampage Wheels and Toyo Tires), An A-Team Van, Ford F-350 (sitting on 20" KMC Wheels and Toyo Tires, with a Kelderman 12" air suspension) and I did see a Dodge Challenger in the back as well. All of his cars have his name on his wheels, and most importantly, all of his cars are black.

I liked his segment a lot aside from looking at him, but because it was well put together. When I heard about this show, I thought the show would be like this particular segment because it showed a perfect combination of automobiles and lifestyle.

West Coast Rapper Alumni WC rode a dirtbike... I am beyond surprised at the truck he rode to the Kawasaki track in. Who would have thunk (yeah, I said thunk) that WC, would drive a Chevy Surburban that's been lifted sitting on 40 inch tires??? I never would have matched him to that type of customization to a truck. Then again, I don't know WC personally, in fact I never even met him.

Next segment belonged to the corny Brandon T Jackson. I liked the aspect of him arriving to a dealership and had the opportunity to test drive/promote a Tesla Roadster- a battery electric sports car. But before he took off, one of the Tesla employees briefed him about the car so you get to hear about the car from someone who knows what they're talking about. The Tesla can go from 0-60 mph in 3.7 seconds and it would never fail an emissions test for as long as the car can live. I like the sentimental aspect of how he went back to where he got his start, but Brandon T Jackson will always be corny to me. I walked out of the theater when I went to see that Big Momma's House movie he was in, it was just that bad.

I really hope Shaq is acting. Who's bad idea was it to feature him on every episode? The Game should be on every episode because he hosts the show. Myles Kovacs (I keep wanting to call him Ernie Kovacs. I really need to stop watching I Love Lucy) should be on the show because he started the Dub Empire. If there's a season 2 of the Dub Magazine Project, please, PLEASE don't have Shaq on this show. I'm pretty positive that the Dub Garage has less annoying, but more entertaining clients that Shaq. For the final time, if you don't want your car to look like anyone else's, then don't broadcast the customization process of the Mustang. How stupid could you be??? Then again, we are talking about Shaq. Ugh...

Another segment that I liked was inside look at the Galpin Auto Sports shop. The shop was originally founded by Frank Galpin back in 1946 (that was a good year... ) but later purchased by Beau Boeckmann, who provided the tour for this segment. I loved Beau's 1950's slicked back hairstyle, as well as the cars on the showroom floor. I hate the fact that they signed on to do Pimp My Ride, it was great promotion for the shop, but bad as far as showcasing of what they can do.

The final segment wasn't automotive related, it fit the lifestyle mold better. It had to do with Machine Gun Kelly, an up-and-coming rapper from Cleveland who was in LA for his first show. MGK was preparing for his show and the segment covered hours before the show as well as the performance itself. Best part of the segment was when he pulled up to the venue and the fans who were excited to see him as well as when he discovered that he was in the best newspaper in the world (his words, but I do agree with him), the New York Times. P.S. I really love his stage game- Machine Gun Kelly. Very Mafioso.

Here's the episode...

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The DUB Magazine Project

I know one thing, when they have the Amber Rose segment, it better be longer than 2 minutes. I just have a slight girl crush on her.

Recapping Episode Four of the Dub Magazine Project

This Sunday was episode four of the Dub Magazine Project. The series is starting to become more and more of a lifestyle series, and a smidgen less of an automotive series. Which means I can't really comment, or I chose not to comment if it's not about cars.

(Photo by JDizzle)

The host of the show, The Game and his co-host for this week, an old school, lowriding Chevy Bel Air sitting on Forgiano Ritorno Wheels. This is actually the first car that I've seen him with on this show that I would knock him over to get to. Something about those Bel Airs, but lately I've been seeing them more and more at different car shows (i.e. The Lowrider Car Show (ESPECIALLY in Los Angeles) and the World of Wheels Car Show)

Before a commercial break, Dub pieces together clips from interviews with different people answering the same question. This question had to do with cars, and asking famous people if they have the skills to work on a car. Surprisingly Nick Cannon said that he's worked on cars, changing breaks, etc. But poor Waka Flocka admitted that he can't do anything to a car other than drive it, he doesn't know how to change the oil.

Oddly enough, I like the Skatebording series with Paul Rodriquez and Terry Kennedy, and I don't know the first thing about it. Nike Sponsored Skateboarder Paul Rodriguez pulled up to Ghost Motorsports to get wheels and tires put on his silver Jaguar XJL and it looked gooooooooood. That Jaguar has my heart, even the non-supercharged XJ makes my eyes twinkle. Terry Kennedy pulled up in a Nissan GT-R (insert confused look here), but I gave him credit when he mentioned how those from his area of Long Beach tended to gravitate towards sports like basketball and football, and how he didn't want to be like everyone else.

Poor Ernie and his shop still dealing with Shaq's nonsense and changing his mind about that Mustang as often as he probably changes his underwear.

The extremely brief yet most informative Under the hood segment had to do with Borla Exhaust and how they create their famous stainless steel exhausts.

To still watch the episode, just hit play....

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The DUB Magazine Project, MTV Shows

P.S. I'm still waiting for that Amber Rose episode. And also, how come there hasn't been any New Yorkers on this series yet? New Yorkers like cars...

CEC Wheels on Ice Loves Coco and the CoCo Edition Car

Don't judge me, but I do watch reality shows. Not shows like the Bachelor or Survivor, but like Jerseylicious and Girls Next Door. Sundays at 10:30 on E is the time slot for the show Ice Loves Coco, starring Ice T and his wife, Nicole "Coco" Austin.

Sunday's episode had to do with Ice and Coco renewing their vows after 10 years of marriage, and they did it in LA. A portion of the show had to do with CEC Wheel Company because Ice's son, b.k.a. Lil' Ice happens to work for CEC Wheels in LA.



As a 10 year gift to celebrate their marriage, Ice decides to purchase a White 2011 Rolls Royce Ghost sitting on 22" CEC Wheels for himself and Coco. I wish E had some clips, so this clip of Ice T showing off the car was as best as I can do.



Aside from the Rolls Royce Ghost, they do own several cars like an Aston Martin, a Bentley Continental GT (breakdown coming soon), and Coco's "Coco Edition" Cadillac CTS that she's commonly photographed with.

Dubbed "The CoCo Edition", her Cadillac CTS is subtly customized with a body kit, chrome accents, the Coco Edition badging, White aftermarket wheels with chrome inserts, etc. I'm not sure about the interior seeing how I haven't exactly seen it, but all in all it looks great.

Recapping Episode Three of the Dub Magazine Project

This Miami based episode was a little different in a great way. The underlying theme, and I’m not sure that Dub did this on purpose, but it was inspiration.

The host of the show was the Game along with his co-star, a black Lamborghini with Savini on the rear. He was looking kinda cute in this episode. (Sorry, girl moment)

I enjoyed DJ Khaled’s segment. It started out riding around in his Baby Blue Rolls Royce Phantom (no, he wasn’t driving); Quick tour of his studio, then we get back to riding to one of his shows in Miami. His segment wasn’t about cars, but I enjoyed it because it was inspirational. When you’re around people who don’t understand what you want to do and just want to bring you down, you often enjoy when someone you may not personally know can inspire you to do great things. And his inspiration to what he does is those who have made it. At times, you need to hear things like that, cause especially in this point in time, there's many people who are out there to steal your joy.

Cool and Dre… Their piece was more of a lifestyle piece which is the first segment that could fit the category of lifestyle. I’m noticing that the new Miami trend is to grow your beard out. See what Rick Ross started… Dre showed off his Maybach 57S, Cool showed off the Saks Fifth Ave Mercedes that I’ve talked about before, as well as the 1971 Chevy Impala. If you go back in time for a second when Cool and Dre was on MTV Cribs, that same Chevy Impala was on that episode. Maybe owners do value their old school vehicles a bit more than their newer cars.

Again, the demanding Shaq is at it again. But does Shaq realize that because they’re showing the customization on tv, they’re going to run into the same problem again, since someone will copy the customizations that was done. But I’m anxious to see the finished project seeing how he keeps changing his mind.

Street Scenes Equipment segment was great because it gave that insight on how to make a grille, even though the segment was all of two minutes.

Gym Class Heroes’ Travie McCoy’s segment. I didn’t realize how eclectic he was. You couldn’t tell by that gunmetal grey Porsche Carrera 4 he pulled up in, but I thought his artwork was great, but again, this segment wasn't about cars.

The DUB Magazine Project - MTV Shows

All in all, I really liked this episode, despite it being more of a lifestyle episode rather than an automotive episode. However, I still can’t wait until the Amber Rose episode. Stop judging me.

Recapping Episode Two of the Dub Magazine Project

Episode two of the Dub Magazine Project... with the Game as the host with the Rolls Royce Phantom as his co-star.

The headliner of the DUB Car Show tour, Waka Flocka Flame had the opportunity to test drive two cars around LA, courtesy of Spade Kreations. The first car was a completely customized Red and Black Dodge Challenger RT. The second car was their famous green Incredible Hulk Impala sitting on 30 inch tires and butterfly doors. Waka seemed to love the Impala more than anything.

Dub used an interesting test driver for the dirtball challenge- the two feet, 8 inch Verne Troyer. In the past, Dub has customized vehicles for him, like the Mercedes CLK he was driving in the episode, as well as a Rolls Royce Phantom, to make it where he can actually drive it safely.

Car Shopping with Tyreke Evans, the 2010 NBA Rookie of the Year. He pulls up to the Lexani offices, where he burns rubber in a 2010 Fully Customized Camaro as well as looking at the Lexani Mercedes Benz Sprinter, which is an office on wheels.

Shaq presented the Dub Garage with a minor task, to create another car since the Dub Mustang that was presented to him influenced many people to copy off of him. Sadly, I have a sinking feeling that he will be featured on every episode. The most pointless segment of the show

The most interesting piece of the show had to do with Rennen International and the process it takes to make aftermarket wheels. That segment could have been expanded more.

Nick Cannon rides around LA in a Drophead Rolls Royce Phantom discussing why his name is Mr Showbiz... But he doesn't mention anything about cars, so my opinion wouldn't matter.

The DUB Magazine Project - MTV Shows

All and all, I still stand by my original comment... There's too much content jammed into 22 minutes of a TV show.

Recapping Episode One of the Dub Magazine Project

After seeing the Dub Magazine Project, it was exactly how I thought it would be. It is literally the magazine in video format. That's almost good thing because the magazine itself is a well published publication. The photos look good, the articles provide insight into the person, etc.

(That's a hot photo of the Game, and he's not even my West Coast Rapper crush)

DUB Magazine Project chose West Coast rapper and occasional Dub Magazine Cover Boy- The Game to host the show. I didn't mind it, simply because I have a thing for guys with raspy voices.

Wiz Khalifah talked about his car- how it was a tribute to the his hometown, Pittsburgh, yadda yadda yadda. I say yadda, yadda, yadda because his segment was the exact version of his magazine interview in video format, which means if reading isn't your strongest point, you can still understand the meat and potatoes of the interview.

Big Sean did some offroading. I didn't pay attention to him.

Glen Davis' segment was interesting only because it was funny watching him squeeze into those small cars. He was in town looking for a car and he settled on a BMW from Platinum Motorsport. Maybe he should have gotten the Lambo and allow Myles Kovack's crew at Dub Garage work their magic on it.

Poor Myles and his crew had to do some major rearranging in order to fit Shaq in a Ford Mustang, and by major rearranging, I do mean I have to admit, the Dub Garage did their thing to fit such a guy like Shaq in a Mustang. But the finished product looked great.

The Mack Maine segment didn't discuss cars at all. The most you've seen was when he was pushing a Bentley Continental GT around Miami. Although, some of those girls screaming when they saw Lil' Wayne as he walked down the street with Mack Maine. I didn't scream all the times I've seen/met him. Again, I can't discuss his part, nothing personal, Maine.

Here's the full episode

The DUB Magazine Project - MTV Shows

At the end of the episode, I came to the conclusion that this is a good show. It was well rounded but I'm sure that they had more than enough footage to make this an hour show. Hey MTV, feel free to extend their time. I felt like every segment was only a statement long, even though that was too much time to hear Shaq mumbling. Flex's show had a bit of a personal touch with how his interviews were conducted, but the bad acting, shorter amount of airtime, lack of conversation about cars killed the show for me.

I'll be watching next week...

Video: The Dub Magazine Project Coming July 10th

The hit-or-miss guys at Dub Magazine have a new TV series- The Dub Magazine Project, set to make its debut on July 10th. Somehow, I thought that the Funkmaster Flex show would have been like this show. Judging by the previews, the show appears to see a visual version of the magazine. One thing I can say about Dub is that they can present a great finished product (the magazine). Their events can use a little work, but that's a different story...

Tags: The DUB Magazine Project

Tags: The DUB Magazine Project

Tags: The DUB Magazine Project

The DUB Magazine Project - MTV Shows