Sally Geistweidt thought she was doing a great thing.
And really, she was. While her heart was in the right place though, her
husband’s 1970 Boss 302 ended up in a very wrong place.
Sally’s husband, Ed, has owned the grabber orange Mustang
since his father willed it to him after his death in 1994. Ed has kept
the car in climate controlled storage until he could “restore it the way it
deserves to be restored.” Sally, knowing how much Ed loved the car,
thought she would help out by applying to several of the auto restoration
television shows she’s come across. Much to her surprise (and joy), she
was selected by the MTV production, Pimp My Ride.
Pimp My Ride is hosted by rapper and auto enthusiast,
Xzibit, who shows up personally to take the selected “ride” to Galpin Auto
Sports for restoration and customizing. This is where things went awry
for Ed and his cherished muscle car. The Pimp My Ride ‘modus
operandi’ is to customize each car to fit the personality of its owner, usually
by outfitting the car with items that match the owner’s hobbies or
interests. On the application Sally filled out for the show, she listed
Ed’s interests as “eating, sleeping and listening to classic rock.”
When Ed and Sally were brought in to see the newly restored
Mustang, Ed was shocked to see the car now had a gas stove where the passenger
seat was, a bed (complete with bed posts) where the trunk and back seat once
were and a sound system that allows people as far away as Sintown to hear Ed
playing his old Boston CD’s.
Ed tried to remain calm and put on a good face for the
camera, and more importantly, for Sally. But the eyes do not lie.
“Oh my God, I’m about to be sick,” was Ed’s first response. “I know,
dude,” said Xzibit, “this car is sick!” Ed walked to the back of the
garage. “No, no. I’m about to vomit. You trashed my car.”
Even before he spoke, Sally knew immediately Ed was
disappointed at best, and on the verge of catastrophic violence at worst.
But he held it together until the taping was over.
After the taping, Ed was still beside himself. “I
can’t believe they did that to my car. I mean, didn’t someone at the
shop, or one of the producer’s, know what they were dealing with? It’s
one thing to put a smoothie machine in a ’92 Sunbird or a hair salon in a ’95
Astro Van but this is a real classic. This car – I just don’t get how no
one stopped to think while they were, say, fabricating miniature bed posts or
installing a grease hood for a Boss 302. It just doesn’t make sense.”
Ed believes the work done to the car, while of the finest
craftsmanship, has actually lessened its value. “The car as was could
have netted a hefty sum. And if you watch the Barrett-Jackson auctions,
the Boss 429’s and concourse restored 302’s have been getting six
figures. Now? It’s worth about the price of that Coleman stove and
Sealy mattress that now make up my interior.”
by Larry Appleby
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