Shaq Commissioned a Custom, Two-Door Lucid Air
Shaquille O’Neal may no longer bend NBA games to his will, but the same can’t be said for his cars.
When you’re 7 feet 1 inch tall—which is 16 inches taller than the average American male— fitting into a car is anything but easy. That’s why the Hall of Fame center recently commissioned a one-of-kind Lucid Air two-door coupé.
The Inside the NBA star shared images of his custom ride on Instagram on Monday. The modified EV is the handiwork of Burbank, California-based West Coast Customs, the same shop that Mark Zuckerberg tasked with turning a Porsche Cayenne SUV into a mini-van for wife Priscilla Chan earlier this year.
West Coast Customs has shown time and time again that it knows what it’s doing, and Shaq’s Air will do nothing to dispel this. Although the EV is only available as a four-door sedan, the shop’s two-door version looks like it rolled right off of Lucid Motors‘ production line. That’s because this job required a more subtle touch than the shop’s usual work. The B-pillar has been pushed back a fair deal and the front doors replaced with a much larger set. The back doors, meanwhile, have been jettisoned completely. The changes are major, of course, but they do nothing to detract from the original design’s sophisticated sleekness.
Unfortunately, neither Shaq nor West Coast Customs have shared images of the modified interior. We’d be willing to go out on a limb and guess that the front seats are significantly roomier. If the back row remains, it’s probably pretty cramped. Other changes to the vehicle include the Lucid badge being replaced with one that reads “Diesel,” the primary nickname Shaq has gone by during his 30-plus years in the public eye. The rims also come adorned with Superman logos.
It’s unclear what Air variant Shaq opted for, but based on his vehicle collecting habits—both custom and stock—it wouldn’t be a surprise if he opted for the top-of-the-line Sapphire. This version is a true super sedan, with a quad-motor powertrain that makes 1,284 hp and a driving range of 427 miles. That setup is powerful enough to rocket the EV from zero to 60 mph in 1.89 seconds and to a top speed of 205 mph. The EV starts at $249,000, but considering the work Shaq had done on his, that price tag is probably a fair bit higher.
