VALLEY DEALER TO `PIMP' YOUR RIDE GALPIN SIGNS ON TO MTV CAR SHOW.

Byline: BRENT HOPKINS Staff Writer

NORTH HILLS -- There's a madman wandering around Galpin Ford, and there's ``pimping'' going on in the back, but the owners couldn't be more pleased.

After years of tricking out trucks and crafting cars in custom colors, the megadealer landed a contract to handle the outlandish customizations for MTV's ``Pimp My Ride'' series.

Set to begin its latest season on the cable channel on June 15 and run from the Galpin Auto Sports, or GAS, division, the show will take on a rock sensibility to its previous hip-hop style.

This makes for an exceedingly strange scene at the dealership, Ford's top volume seller in the world. Sales managers in white shirts and conservative ties intermix with guys with faces pierced full of silver and curvy green tattoos.

In the middle of it all stands Michael Martin, known to the ``pimp'' faithful and his friends as Mad Mike, and Beau Boeckmann, the wild-haired, pink-shirted son of Galpin owner Bert Boeckmann. When they start talking cars, things get out of hand quickly.

``This is my house right here, this is where I'm most comfortable,'' said Martin, an Air Force veteran whose projects have included B-52 Stratofortresses and Rolls-Royces. ``Every wire, every cutter, every tool I could ever want, a $15,000 laser that Beau bought me. There's nothing I can't do here.''

Neither Martin, who's been hired as the customizing supervisor for GAS, nor Boeckmann would reveal much about the cars they'll produce on the show.

Martin mentioned a Mitsubishi that will incorporate ``the dopest microphones I've ever seen,'' a ``stupid, ridiculous'' Cadillac limousine and an ice cream truck that will become ``the best vehicle we've ever made.''

The two creative minds make an interesting pair.

Martin, a sedate, Compton-bred, self-taught mechanic whose first clients were drug dealers looking to make their lowriders jump higher, uses ``stupid,'' ``crazy'' and less printable terms to describe the creations. He dreams of one day inventing a car that will run on some sort of perpetual motion.

Boeckmann, who wears stylish suits and until recently sported a swashbuckler's waxed moustache, has pictures of himself with both Presidents Bush in his office. He first customized his grandmother's rotted out Mercedes sedan with a leopard print interior at age 15 and had his personal Lincoln Navigator end up in Michael Jackson's fleet of vehicles.

It's hard to figure out who's more outlandish.

Boeckmann landed the deal after showing off his portfolio of trucks with built-in pipe organs and barbecue grills to the show's producers.

``They were saying they were the first ones to put a chandelier in a car,'' he grinned. ``So I say, well, we did that in the '60s. Then they said, how about a fireplace. And I'd say, yeah, we've done that, too.''

That was enough to win over Rick Hurvitz, the program's co-creator and executive producer. After several seasons with the Corona-based West Coast Customs, he wanted to take the program in the more high-performance direction favored by Boeckmann.

And getting the wild vice president on the same team as Mad Mike proved irresistible.

``Watching those two interact is hilarious, and I mean that in the best way,'' Hurvitz said. ``They come from different backgrounds, but they're kindred spirits. They both dream excessively large. We look at Beau and sometimes he seems like the crazy one. And that's a compliment.''

All this seems mainstream now -- legitimized by television and starched-shirt corporate types -- but it continues an outlaw tradition begun long ago in grungy Valley garages.

Galpin got into the action back in the early '50s, making convertibles out of models Ford didn't drop the tops off, jacking up trucks to make 4x4s and fixing up vans for surfers in the '70s.

Though gearheads everywhere will always tinker with their cars to make them faster and flashier, the movement has always been particularly identified with Southern California.

``You want it to be entertaining, and transportation becomes secondary,'' said George Barris, a legendary North Hollywood customizer. ``Everyone's got a different idea. That's why you see someone like the guys at Galpin do so well. The reason they're so big today is that they do things right there. ... That's why they're the No. 1 dealer in the world.''

The show's designs, many of which cost tens of thousands of dollars, involve descriptions such as ``the world's largest'' and ``the first ever,'' a far cry from oversize wheels and booming sound systems that GAS normally turns out.

Steve Carpenter, the shop's fast-talking, hyperanimated sales manager, says ``pimping'' ain't easy -- crews put in 20-hour days, six days a week to complete the cars -- but it's necessary.

``The experimentation back there, the wheels, the tires, the audio, the paint, we can incorporate that into things people want here,'' said Carpenter, who's managed to run up $2,000 in bills fixing up his Mustang at his own shop. ``Now, if someone wants a 10-inch monitor or a dual iPod adapter, my guys can do that. `Pimp My Ride' gives us a way to experiment and learn how to do what people want.''

brent.hopkins(at)dailynews.com

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3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- color) Above, Beau Boeckmann sits in the tattoo car he customized at the Galpin Auto Sports shop. The workshop at the Galpin Ford dealership in North Hills is the new location for MTV's ``Pimp My Ride.'' At left, an example of the shop specialists' work.

(3) Jim Coutchure, left, and Kevin Whitney work on customizing a car at the Galpin Auto Sports shop in North Hills.

Ana Gutierrez/Special to the Daily News