Word: customs
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...edge discipline in Britain), and he's teaching himself Swahili. He confesses that he was initially unhappy at St. Andrews and considered dropping out. "I was a little uneasy," he says. "I don't think I was homesick; I was more daunted." He also confesses to trying the local custom of wearing a kilt. His verdict? "It's a bit drafty." Gotta protect those crown jewels...
Popularized by rap artists (Snoop Dogg, Jay-Z, Nelly) and NBA stars (Latrell Sprewell, Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant), custom wheels come in thousands of eye-catching shapes that resemble everything from the blade of a buzz saw to the barrel of a revolver. Specific models, sold under brand names like Bling Image and AutoCouture, can race in and out of fashion in as little as six months. "People want big chrome one week, silver the next," Don Sabino says of the 10,000 customers at his Rent-A-Wheel chain in the southwestern U.S. But in the oversexed world...
This phenomenon, referred to as "plus sizing" in boardrooms and "big balling" on the street, has pushed U.S. sales of custom wheels up to $3.2 billion last year, from $1.2 billion in 1991, and every company from Toyota to Mattel is trying to get in on the action. Two years after Mattel started licensing miniature rims for its Hot Wheels toy cars, the firm will unveil a line of wheels for real cars. Rimmakers are also expecting a boost from this summer's sequel to the 2001 surprise-hit movie The Fast and the Furious, which opens June 6. Amid...
...Cadillac Escalade. Five of these luxury SUVs were stolen in March from a dealer's lot in Laguna Niguel, Calif.; four were found the next day missing only their wheels and tires. The thieves had cherry-picked the Escalades that were decked out with 22-in. custom rims, including some chrome Momos that retail...
Toyota is taking a different approach to the customization craze. Its new line of Gen Y-oriented Scions will hit dealer lots in June with a standard package that lets buyers choose from three wheel-cover designs--or pay $665 to upgrade to ritzier alloy rims. "A lot of people go right out and buy custom wheels," says spokeswoman Ming-Jou Chen. "We want to give them a choice from the factory." A choice, mind you, that is no bigger than...