CHECK OUT this awesome ride made famous by Tupac Shakur and now reimagined, repurposed and driven by low rider fanatic Lloyd, from Long Beach, CA. The Tupac fan jumped at the chance to own a piece of the late great artist's collection and this 61 Impala is arguably as rare as it gets. The car boasts a 616hp chevy 350 engine, Dayton 13” tires, measures 16ft and weighs a whopping 38,000lbs and of course has hydraulics. Prominently placed in Tupac's "To Live and Die in L.A" hit record, the car clearly turns heads wherever Lloyd drives it. Speaking to Future Studios Cars, he said: "I’ll drive down the street and someone will roll down the window and go, 'Is that the Tupac Live and Die in La car?' And the conversation starts from there. What makes this car unique is that he passed right after they used it and nobody ever put it back on the street."
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MotorTranscript
00:00I'll drive down the street and someone will roll down the window and go,
00:02is that the Tupac Live and Die in LA car?
00:05And the conversation starts from there.
00:07What makes this car unique is he passed right after they used it
00:11and nobody ever put it back on the street.
00:19I remember the first time I was ever in a hydraulic car, I was hooked.
00:22I would do anything to get it.
00:23So when Lloyd found the car for sale two years ago,
00:26he couldn't wait to buy it and drive it home.
00:28But the current owner suggested he towed it.
00:31I said, man, anything that starts has wheels on it.
00:33You don't even need brakes.
00:34I can drive it, no problem.
00:35He's like, no, I wouldn't recommend it.
00:36So he towed it to my house.
00:38I paid the guy the money.
00:39He dropped it off the trailer.
00:40The car started, ran, everything sounded perfect.
00:43As soon as he leaves, I tell my friends,
00:44hey, jump in, let's go for a ride.
00:46We make it about a mile.
00:47Everything's seasoned.
00:48The engine turns off.
00:49I hear all this noise in my transmission.
00:51The planetary gears completely explode.
00:53Ironically, when the 61 Impala was featured in Tupac's video,
00:57it wasn't a true lowrider.
01:00The production team had just made it look low by loading it with sandbags.
01:04But Lloyd wanted his car to be the ultimate LA ride.
01:08So he swapped out the engine and transmission
01:11and fitted the car with some top-end hydraulics.
01:14I added all the gold Chevrolet pieces, the gold wings, the purple halo headlights
01:20to give it that Los Angeles Lakers flavor.
01:22I went over to this performance shop.
01:24I really wanted to add a new heart to it because it originally had the 283 V8.
01:30And no matter what I did to it, I wasn't getting the power that I wanted.
01:33And I bought this Blueprint 350.
01:36I got a 350 turbo transmission, the upgraded power steering, the Champion's aluminum radiator.
01:41We're lowriders and we like to go slow and low.
01:44But every once in a while when I need to get over in traffic,
01:46I give it some gas and I can feel the power.
01:48It's a lot better than that 283.
01:54Those are my favorite wheels.
01:5613-inch gold Dayton's.
01:57I had the chips custom made.
01:59Usually Dayton comes with red lettering.
02:01I had this one done in yellow to match the car.
02:04I had the custom console made and I had the exterior wheel dipped in gold.
02:07I added the purple cabin lights in the trunk, the cabin, and on the tips of the antenna,
02:12just to kind of continue that Laker vibe all the way through.
02:19And this is my hydraulic system.
02:21These are the motors.
02:22These are the tanks.
02:23And inside here is the gear.
02:25If you're ever going to do any low riding and want to hop,
02:27you want a Versace gear and an 8X to the front.
02:30And these are the slowdowns.
02:31Both of these control the speed your car drops.
02:35This is where all the power is at, right here.
02:40To be able to say it was a Tupac car, obviously I love Tupac,
02:43but to me it being a 1961, bright yellow, convertible, gold everything,
02:48that's what makes it special to me.
02:50It's hard not to notice.
02:52I took it to the next level because that's just how I wanted it.
02:55I don't ever want to just have average.
02:57If I'm going to have it, I want to have the best of the best,
02:59or at least be up there with the best.
03:00When I pull up to a light and there's a bunch of kids
03:02and they're into lowriders and as they hit the switch,
03:05I'll bounce it right there, you know,
03:06and they're all cheering and laughing.
03:07I love that part of it.
03:12Um, I love it.
03:16I love it.
03:21Raise your hand up.
03:24You