... ...Jeremy New didn’t quite know what to expect two weeks ago when he handed over the keys to his smoke-gray 1989 Ford Probe to have it “pimped.”
“It had a lot of problems,” New said. “The door handle wouldn’t work. The rearview mirror on the passenger’s side was knocked off thanks to my friend Mark. It was full of dents and dings, and it was smoking ... literally.”
Sunday night, he got his car back after about $7,000 worth of improvements, performed courtesy of alternative worship center XL, which selected New as the winner of its “Pimp My Ride” contest.
New stood speechless as the car was revealed, bearing a new fiery orange paint job, black and orange leather seats with the XL logo on them and new chrome rims. Inside, the car was equipped with a DVD player and custom-built sound system.
“I thought it would be orange and black, because my favorite holiday is Halloween,” he said. “But I had no
Jarrod Roberts talks to Jeremy New about his car (front). William T. Martin / Rome News-Tribune |
idea about the sound system or anything else.”
Located at 3006 Martha Berry Highway, XL seeks to attract young people who might be turned off by a traditional church setting.
It was during a November card game with friends that New first learned about the contest, in which XL would imitate the MTV show “Pimp My Ride” by overhauling some lucky winner’s automobile.
“My roommate told me about XL’s program,” he said. “So I went on the Web site and printed out the application. We filled it out, and I even borrowed a Polaroid camera to take the pictures at 2 o’clock in the morning in the Wal-Mart parking lot.”
Within a few days, the list of contestants was narrowed to 20, then down to four, and then one. New was the winner.
“They called me and asked me what my expectations were, and I told them I’d be appreciative with anything they did,” New said. “I mean, anything was better than what I had.”
XL’s Program Director Jarrod Roberts said that after they were given the automobile to work on, they put in a lot of long days and nights to fix it.
“We got the car on Dec. 3,” said a smiling Roberts in front of Sunday’s crowd. “And we finished it at 4:52 p.m. today.”
Roberts compared the work done on the car to the work God can accomplish.
“I am a potentialist,” said Roberts, “and I can see the potential in things, just like this car. And God’s the same. He can see the potential in all of us.”
Although most of the interior and exterior appearance has been fixed, the team said the engine still is in need of some work.
“Jeremy, Rome Auto Service has promised to fix the smoking problem this next week, but then it’s all yours,” Roberts said.
New said the repaired car would give him more reliable transportation to attend DeVry University, as he has been planning to do.
