A pimpmobile is a term used to describe a large luxury vehicle, usually a 1970s-era
Lincoln or Cadillac car, that has been heavily customized in a garish, extravagant style. Customized features such as headlight covers {known as 'Superfly Headlights'} hood ornaments, LOUD stereo systems, unusual paint colors, and shag carpet interiors, Mirrors on the
floor/cieling of the car, were used by car owners/Pimps to advertise their purported wealth and major importance.
These customized vehicles were
popular with pimps in the ghettos of large cities of the US in the 1970s and 1980s, especially New York City, Detroit and Los Angeles, as a way of symbolizing their power to their community. By the 1990s and 2000s, the term was used to describe any car that was too
fancy/godi
Pimpmobiles became part of popular culture when they were depicted in 1970s films such as Superfly and The
Mack. In later days they also appeared in Austin Powers in Goldmember and Undercover
Brother. The conversions became
popular with Americans of all races, and several companies manufactured kits to convert late-model cars to pimpmobiles.
The most
popular cars for this customization were Cadillacs and Lincolns, especially the Cadillac Eldorado and Lincoln Continental produced between 1971 and 1978, although lower-luxury models, such as Chryslers, Buicks and Oldsmobiles, were also common.
One notable exception is the "Corvorado" used in Live and Let Die, which was a Chevrolet
Corvette with Eldorado body panels. Conversion was done by many custom cars shops across the country such as
George Barris, E &
G Classics and Auto Gard, Inc. as well as many smaller shops.
Probably the most famous pimpmobile fabricator was Les Dunham of Dunham Coachworks in Boonton, NJ. Les built the cars in Superfly, as well as the "Corvorado" and the Cadillac Fleetwood in the James Bond film.
