HOT WHEELS
By ROB WALKER, NYT

The influence of MTV's ''Pimp My Ride'' -- the car-makeover show in which ugly junkers are revived, tricked out and otherwise transformed into flamboyant mobile spectacles under the watchful eye of a rap-artist host -- can be felt, among other places, at Sprewell Motorsports near Los Angeles. The car-culture landmark sells many accessories for luxury vehicles, but lately Vincent Pan, a Sprewell account executive, has noted a different kind of would-be customer: ''I don't want to say the cars are nonfunctional,'' he says, clearly implying that they might as well be.

If this generation of auto-expressionists has reinvented one thing, it's the wheel. ''It's basically fashion now,'' says Peter MacGillivray of SEMA, the Specialty Equipment Market Association, which tracks sales related to automotive customizing. Putting on sharp-looking wheels that clearly aren't standard is relatively easy and offers instant gratification. According to SEMA, sales of specialty wheels, or rims, topped $3.3 billion in 2003 -- more than double the figure from 10 years ago. Custom wheels are ''the stepping stone'' for customization newbies, MacGillivray explains; modifying your engine or installing a plasma TV in the trunk come later.

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