Global InformationPimpmobile information
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A pimpmobile is a large luxury vehicle, usually a 1960s, 1970s or 1980s-model Lincoln, Cadillac, Buick or Chrysler vehicle, that has been customized in a garish, extravagant and kitsch or campy style. The style is largely an American phenomenon.
Aftermarket features or modifications such as headlight covers, hood ornaments, expensive stereo systems, unusual paint colors, and shag carpet interiors were used by car owners to advertise their wealth and importance. Once considered a pejorative,[1] these customized vehicles were popular with pimps, drug dealers, and gang leaders in the ghettos of large cities of the United States in the late 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, especially New York City, Kansas City, Chicago, Oakland and Los Angeles as a symbol of their wealth and power. By the 1990s and 2000s, pimpmobiles included any large, extravagantly customized vehicle, including foreign makes such as Mercedes Benz, Infiniti, Lexus, BMW, Range Rovers, Porsche, Jaguar, Bentleys, Audi and Volvo as well as SUVs and trucks.
- ^ David L. Gold, American Speech Vol. 60, No. 4 (Winter, 1985), pp. 362-366