West Coast Customs is a car remodeling company started in 1993 by Ryan Friedlinghaus on a loan from his grandfather, Edward Cifranic. It was originally located in Orange County, then moved to Los Angeles, and now its current location is in Corona, California.
West Coast Customs has franchises in Mexico, Malaysia, Dubai, Russia and Japan. New shops are planned in Canada and Australia in Melbourne, Victoria.
The company has expanded into the automotive industry with a new catalog of body kits and wheels. Together with the Japanese franchise, it also has opened a workshop called West Coast Customs Coach, in which coaches are also modified.
WCC gained celebrity status as being the original site for the MTV show Pimp My Ride, hosted by Xzibit. It also appears in numerous locations in the video game L.A. Rush.
They now have their own reality show on TLC and Discovery Channel called Street Customs (Custom My Ride in the UK). The show, produced by Pilgrim Films & Television, features some of the original cast from Pimp My Ride, including Ishmael ("Ish") and Big Dane.
Their newest series Inside West Coast Customs premiered January 2011 on Discovery HD Theater, now called Velocity. Season 2 began on February 12, 2012, and included celebrity clients will.i.am, Mark Wahlberg and returning customer Justin Bieber.
West Coast Customs began building custom Ford Mustang Cobras in collaboration with Carroll Shelby, the originator of Shelby branded custom street and race cars including the famous Shelby Cobra. On a recent showing of Street Customs, Ryan Friedlinghaus and his team built the first of these Cobras and invited Shelby to see the finished product, surprising him by presenting the car to him as a gift.
Read more about West Coast Customs: Cast and Crew
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