Nigerian automobile bodyshop gives cars some special effects.

*REUTER*  In a local suburb in Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos an automobile bodyshop promises a before-and-after transformation for even the most run-down jalopy. Filua Pimp My Ride was inspired by the popular MTV series “Pimp My Ride” and is owned by entrepreneur, Rasheed Filua Omolulu.

This car, Filua tells us, is getting the top interior luxury make-over and will be fitted with everything from leather seats to a fridge and a flat screen TV.

“So you look at it now, so you see the inside, it’s still empty and we are changing into sitting room,” said Filua.

“We have already done the painting and then the interior, and then the dash board to the same colour that the vehicle has. And then in the inside now, if you look at inside now, it’s empty so we are doing the sitting room that will have TV, flat screen TV, then fridge, DVD and then camera reverse,” he added.

Nigeria’s super rich are no strangers to conspicuous consumption, and there’s no better way to flaunt your wealth than with a car that stands out.

The oil wealth of Africa’s biggest producer has made multi-millionaires of its elite in the past few decades, and the middle class make up around 23 percent of the population according to a recent study.

But when Filua first introduced the idea here in 2007, he says his clients couldn’t visualize the end product. He started by “pimping” his own car as an example.

“When I started, people looked at it, ah, how can somebody turn car to another thing, you reshape to another shape, for BMW to Mercedes, or inside the motor you can sit down comfortably and watch TV. When people are looking at my own car… I used my own car to start… when people are looking at it….and then America’s “Pimp My Ride” assisted me in this country too much. When some people are watching America’s “Pimp My Ride“, they are watching Filua’s “Pimp My Ride” inNigeria, the people started off to pimp their own cars,” he said.

Filua was trained as a mechanic in Holland and Germany; he also worked in countries like Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Egypt and Malaysia before he finally set up shop in Nigeria.

But even with his expertise and a solid business plan, he says getting capital was tough.

With an initial investment of 4 million naira (24,242 US dollars), his business is now worth over 50 million naira (3,030,303 US dollars).

“Before I started my own company, I first of all had a contract with Coscharis Motors from the army. So I then used the one year to study how Nigerian business will pay me, and then before I started, I face a challenge before I can get money, before I got capital to start, I sold my car, I sold my land, most of my property I sold before I could become… because bank does not want to borrow, and no one wants to assist me,” said Filua.

Filua’s services carry a hefty price tag – clients pay a minimum of 950,000 naira (5,757 US dollars) depending on the level of design and customization.

“Coincidentally I just bought a new range rover, the HSE, and he came out and said, big boss why don’t you let us do this, I said I will have to bring the gadgets from the states, he said no, he still has some that he can…. I said okay go ahead. Although he gave me a fat bill but at the end of the day it came out good and interesting,” Oladapo Oladele, a businessman who had his Range Rover fitted with a minibar.

The garage works on a maximum of 10 cars monthly and all the car spare parts and paints are imported directly from Europe.