CARS: WHAT'S IN? TRICKED OUT.

A big black SUV tricked out with 20-inch chrome rims, smoked-glass taillights and a snarling, double-barreled exhaust cruised a crowded parking lot last week. "You've got some bling," one admirer shouted to the driver. It could have been a scene from a rap video. But it was a church parking lot in Clearwater, Fla., and the SUV's driver was Byron Hassell, a 40-year-old veterinarian. "I'm just a conservative suburban dad," he says, "but I want to drive something that stands out."

Forget cookie-cutter cars. These days, everyone's ride is pimped. Spurred on by car-makeover shows like MTV's "Pimp My Ride" and TLC's "Overhaulin'," American drivers spent a record $29 billion in 2003 accessorizing their cars with big rims, mesh grilles, neon cupholders--you name it. That's twice what we spent upgrading our wheels a decade ago. But now all those tattooed tuners on cable are giving Main Street cred to chopping (squashing the roof), slamming (lowering the ride) and dubs (20-inch wheels). "If you had big chrome rims a few years ago, people thought you were a drug dealer or a pimp," says Myles Kovacs, publisher of hip-hop car magazine Dub. "Now you could be a CEO."

Even the big wheels in Detroit are getting into the act. At the Detroit Auto Show this week, nearly the entire lower level of Cobo Hall will feature tricked-out rides from Ford, Chrysler, Honda and Toyota's Scion car line. Chrysler is working with Dub magazine on a customizing kit for its 300C (Snoop Dogg's ride of the moment). "We need to work with friends like Dub," says Chrysler executive Chris Cortez, "because we're old." GM even hooked up with "Pimp My Ride's" car designers, West Coast Customs, to overhaul its new Chevy HHR retro SUV, which debuted at the L.A. Auto Show last week. For the first time, a brand-new GM model shared the stage with a radically modified version of itself. West Coast Customs transformed the HHR into a wicked whip by lowering it, installing a monster stereo (operated by in-dash touchscreen), suede interior and "fiber optic" silver, blue and green paint job. It wasn't easy persuading the suits at GM to turn over a $3 million HHR prototype to the pimp masters. "I told management, 'These guys are not thugs'," says GM designer Clay Dean. "Pleasantville, U.S.A., is watching 'Pimp My Ride'." Now GM hopes to offer HHR buyers West Coast Customs bumpers, grilles and wheels right in the showroom. That would go nicely with the chrome dubs GM is already selling to guys like Byron Hassell. "I get a lot of looks," he boasts. "I guess my vehicle's a little blingy."

Uncommon Knowledge

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

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