Former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal is well-known for his larger-than-life personality and his incredible love for cars. His passion for automobiles goes beyond merely collecting them; it involves crazy bets and wild customization requests that push the limits of what’s possible in car remodeling. One famous car remodeler recently shared some of Shaq’s most outlandish demands.
Ryan Friedlinghaus, the head of the renowned car remodeling shop West Coast Customs, spoke about his experiences with Shaq on The Tom Ford Show. Friedlinghaus revealed the extent of Shaq’s unique requests.
“Shaq, he still calls me to this day, like: hey I found this, we need to build this. He sent me these links: build me one of these, and it’s like a Mustang that you see in the water. It looks like a car but it’s a boat,” he revealed.
Friedlinghaus admitted that he had to turn down this request, telling Shaq that building a Mustang-boat hybrid was beyond their capabilities. However, this didn’t deter Shaq from making more crazy demands. One of the most memorable involved a car that had significant sentimental value to him.
Shaq’s father had given him a Bentley Azure, but due to his size, Shaq couldn’t drive it comfortably, so he asked West Coast Customs to perform major modifications, including adding a custom Superman logo to the steering wheel.
Ryan Friedlinghaus Recalls Shaquille O’Neal’s Crazy Car Demands on His Ferrari
Friedlinghaus shared another story that underscored Shaq’s unconventional ideas for his cars. This time, it was about Shaq’s latest Ferrari and his surprising request to turn it into a convertible.
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“He buys a Ferrari. He’s like, ‘I wanna make this Ferrari convertible.’ I’m like, wait, what? He’s like, ‘Cut the roof of the Ferrari.’ So we cut the roof of a Ferrari. These are things that he pushed me, and that’s where I got the sense that I can do anything,” Friedlinghaus said.
This request was particularly challenging, as modifying a high-end sports car like a Ferrari is no small feat. However, Friedlinghaus and his team managed to fulfill Shaq’s demand. Interestingly, O’Neal’s crazy demands cemented Ryan’s team’s belief in their ability to tackle any project.
