If you ever stop by Effortless Motors in Riverside, California, you’ll notice immediately that the automotive shop puts a lot of effort into its work.
“We love cars. We like customizing them. We love sports cars, exotics,” said co-owner Ahmad Abdelrahman. “It’s not really a job, you know? This is like a hobby, man.”
Well, this “hobby” has earned Abdelrahman and his fellow co-owner, Daniel Ubario, some serious business courtesy of some big-name clients — perhaps none bigger than Los Angeles Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal.
“Anybody that’s fortunate enough to get to work with Shaquille O’Neal, the number one thing you don’t want to do is let Shaq down, man,” Abdelrahman said.
“The Diesel,” after having work done on several custom sports cars from Effortless, came back in June with a gas-powered request.
Would these exotic car enthusiasts be up for restoring a 1996 Toyota Land Cruiser — the one driven once by Kobe Bryant and his family?
“We didn’t even think twice. I told them, where’s the car,” Abdelrahman said. “I’ll get it picked up within a couple hours.”
“It felt unreal knowing that it’s Kobe’s car coming to our dealership,” Ubario said.
After surviving years in Bryant’s snowy hometown of Philadelphia and most recently sitting outside in the Las Vegas desert sun, the SUV did not arrive in hall-of-fame shape.
“It was in a little rough condition,” Ubario said. “The paint, we had to do a fully, fully restore, 360 restore. Interior was a little rough.”
Shaq’s request came with a few challenges, including to restore the vehicle to its 1996 factory condition — no modern bells or whistles.
“It was wrapped. We had to unwrap it, do some bodywork, paint the original color, touch up,” Abdelrahman said. “The interior seats weren’t working. We had to fix all seats.”
O’Neal also wanted to know, could they finish the job in under two months by Aug. 23, for what would’ve been Bryant’s 47th birthday?
Kobe Bryant’s family is remembering the late athlete on what would have been his 47th birthday, 5 years after he and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna died in a helicopter crash.
“He’s really impatient, really impatient. Let me reiterate, he’s really impatient,” said Anthony C. Hall, O’Neal’s best friend and right-hand man. “So when they get on top of something, they’re on it. And I think that’s what he loves most about them.”
Hall said O’Neal had a good reason for the tight deadline.
The restoration was a gift for Pam Bryant, Kobe’s mother.
“She was super happy,” Hall said. “Everyone was going — because they saw the vehicle beforehand — and they were going, this is the same car?!”
“That’s why I love [O’Neal]. What it is, he’s just really, he’s just a giving person,” he added.
Shaquille O’Neal talks about spending $1,000 on his pedicures, the time he gave Kobe Bryant a piggyback ride after he sprained his ankle and his SHAQ-A-LICIOUS XL Gummies.
O’Neal was happy, too, a testament to the skill that can be found at Effortless — workers with equal parts talent and passion.
For Abdelrahman and Ubario — both lifelong Lakers fans — the entire project was a dream come true.
“She was extremely thankful and to be there on Kobe’s birthday, and I met her for the first time. It meant a lot to me too,” Abdelrahman said.
