Filed under: Aftermarket, Tuners, SUVs, HUMMER
LeBron's infamous HUMMER gets makeover on SPEED
click image above for high-res version
As many of you know, I hail from Cleveland, OH where only two things I know to be certain: the Browns will forever suck and LeBron James will forever be king of the smallest big city in the U.S. We weren't always sure he would become our king, however. James' mom presented him with a HUMMER H2 on his 18th birthday, which caused the Ohio High School Athletic Association to investigate the matter to ensure the SUV wasn't an inappropriately accepted gift. The turmoil surrounding the SUV almost prevented our dribbling deity from entering the NBA.
LeBron still drives that HUMMER, although it has received a makeover by Unique Autosports of Long Island for the season premier of Unique Whips on SPEED. The HUMMER got a new paint job, new grille, new wheels and a custom interior with enough gadgets and technology to make a West Coast Customs guy cry. James already received the redone H2 at his home somewhere in the "Heart of it All" Ohio, but you can watch the transformation of this infamous ride in the premiere of Unique Whips on Feb. 21st at 10PM EST on SPEED (check your local listingsv - isn't that what they always say at this part?).
Check out the full press release after the jump.
[Source: Unique Autosports]
PRESS RELEASE:
NBA All-Star LeBron James to be Featured in Season Three Premiere of SPEED Hit Unique Whips
Controversial High School Hummer Gets Major Makeover
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Jan. 31, 2007
NBA All-Star LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers will be
featured in the season-opening episode of the SPEED hit weekly series
Unique Whips on Feb. 21 at 10 p.m. ET. The episode, also featuring
performer 50 Cent, will focus on the James' controversial 2003 Hummer
H2.
"My man Jermaine O'Neal from the Indiana Pacers called me up and
told me anytime I need anything with a car, I should call this guy
Will Castro," James said. "Will is a cool dude and he was like
'Whatever you need me to do, let's hook up' and the rest is history."
Castro and his team from Unique Autosports on Long Island gave the
Hummer a makeover from top to bottom. The platinum SUV raised eyebrows
when James got the ride as an 18th birthday present from his mother
before LeBron joined the NBA. Ohio High School Athletic Association
investigated, concerned James may have violated his amateur status by
accepting an improper gift, but a two-week probe found nothing
improper.
"LeBron's Hummer had a life of its own before it ever came to
Unique," said Castro, founder and owner of Unique Autosports. "But it
was looking a little old ... a little tired, so we gave it some
special treatment and laced it out. Now, it's breathin' and ready to
stand out in the crowd again."
On the season-opening episode of Unique Whips, part of SPEED's
highly rated Wednesday night lineup, Castro and his team bring the
ride "back to life," painting it ebony black, updating the grill and
rims and loading the inside with a custom interior and the latest
electronic gadgets, including a touch-screen computer with Internet
access and a navigation system.
"I might as well live in here," James said when presented with the
car at his home. "All I need is a pillow and a blanket and I'm
straight. Nobody is better than Unique doing things with cars ... they
passed the test. They got an A-plus and a No. 1 on their report card."
Other celebrities to be featured during season three of Unique
Whips include athletes O'Neal, Al Harrington, Gary Sheffield, Andruw
Jones, Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon and Winky Wright, fashion icon Marc
Ecko and a wild season finale with actress Pamela Anderson and her
"Lovestream" trailer.
SPEED is the nation's first and foremost cable television network
dedicated to motor sports and the passion for everything automotive.
From racing to restoration, motorcycles to movies, SPEED delivers
quality programming from the track to the garage. Now available in
more than 74 million homes in North America, SPEED is among the
fastest-growing sports cable networks in the country, the home to
NASCAR on SPEED and an industry leader in interactive TV, video on
demand, mobile initiatives and broadband services.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Farris 7:28PM (1/31/2007)
Okay, I realize that this is old news (I must have missed it when it first hit), but the gift from his mother was interpreted as an inappropriate gift? I'm guessing he was still living at home at the time, so were the meals and housing she provided also inappropriate?
Alright... stepping down now...
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John P. 7:29PM (1/31/2007)
Sure beats that *cough* Rolls Royce we saw earlier. I wonder which one gets worse fuel mileage? Not that it really matters to the owners of these beasts.
Yeah, it's kinda cool.
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Farris 7:29PM (1/31/2007)
This comment is to make sure Mozilla saves my password. Sorry for the wasted space.
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Marty Vance 7:44PM (1/31/2007)
That's it. SUV now officially means "sickening ultimate vulgarity".
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Chuck 7:53PM (1/31/2007)
LeBron is a pretty cool dude afai can tell, but isn't this sort of thing awfully cliche? I saw a suburban housewife in an H2 with 24 inch wheels, and that's when it hit me that this is no longer where it's at
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Richard 8:54PM (1/31/2007)
Brilliant! He drives that thing?
W/ those 24 inchers and those teeny-tiny little brake discs I bet this thing goes from 60-0 in about, oh, 1,000 feet.
Brilliant!
Brandi?
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FLR 9:48PM (1/31/2007)
Unique Whips? Other than the fat owner having a short fuse and cussing everyone out, why are they famous? All they do is add systems and wheels to cars...that's it. Pep-Boys does that!
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Dustin 10:30PM (1/31/2007)
They are famous because they um... let's see..
..have a tv show??
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retsel 10:48PM (1/31/2007)
dude... thats 30 inch rims.... and i did not want to put 18 inches on my car... i thought it would look tacky...
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Robert 12:39AM (2/01/2007)
I wonder how that Hummer would do on the streets of Baghdad.
Note:That's not political, just a joke. I know it's in poor taste, most jokes are.
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i64X 9:20AM (2/01/2007)
Unique Autosports is a fuckin joke. Anyone with half a brain can install a stereo and bolt some rims on.
The first time I saw them spray painting a dash with that rattle can vinyl paint outside I was leery about the show. When I heard the guy doing it say "We're doing this the right way" all credibility for those idiots went right out the window.
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Mr. Oak 10:50AM (2/01/2007)
Hey #11 I'm with you on that one. Saw that sprayed dash on some idiot's Yukon.
Unique Autosports = Beauty Salon for cars. No engineering whatsoever. If Will Castro's johnson was big enough, he'd blow himself.
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Ken 11:05AM (2/01/2007)
I got a Hummer from LeBron's mom, too!
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thatjerryguy 12:27PM (2/01/2007)
Still sounds weird that LeBron got a hummer from his mom for his 18th birthday.
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jj 12:48PM (2/01/2007)
#1 Farris -
"Okay, I realize that this is old news (I must have missed it when it first hit), but the gift from his mother was interpreted as an inappropriate gift? I'm guessing he was still living at home at the time, so were the meals and housing she provided also inappropriate?"
No, absolutely not.
Do a few minutes of web searching and you'll discover that the "inappropriate" factor stems from the notion of either Lebron or mom accepting cash or other high-value items for his sports play while still in school. Most (all?) school sporting organizations explicitly forbid this.
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Stephen Roach 1:34PM (2/01/2007)
Rolling pieces of shit like this are the reason I watch Overhaulin' instead
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Fabulo 6:41PM (2/01/2007)
I wonder how much those rubber band thin tires and huge (and probably very light) wheels improve ride quality.
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Justin 9:51AM (2/02/2007)
I wonder how it fares when it hits one of Cleveland's many potholes...
I hate these.
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tina 10:53PM (2/02/2007)
Hey Everyone...check out this web site, barbaraterry.com
http://barbaraterry.com/
This lady is a total car expert and really has it going on!
Reply
Tom andrews 10:54PM (2/02/2007)
Hey Everyone...check out this web site, barbaraterry.com
http://barbaraterry.com/
This lady is a total car expert and really has it going on!
Reply