Photo: Garage in Trouble | YouTube
In 2007, Snoop Dogg walked on stage at the MTV Music Awards, sitting on top of the seats, surrounded by beautiful women, while his car bounced to the beat. Seventeen years later, someone found that car, restored it, and took it to Paris to show him. All they want is for him to sign the 1966 Cadillac Deville Convertible.
It was Sam Hard of Hard Up Garage who got his hands on the 1966 Cadillac Deville that Snoop [Doggy] Dogg used it on stage that night. But the car had apparently taken the shortest route from fame to destitution. He found it rotting in a field, covered in dirt. The body shop owner threw up while working on the interior. That's how bad it was.
The Cadillac Deville once had Snoop Dogg's signature on the center armrest wrapped in white leather. But the handwriting has been rubbed off over the years or simply scratched off by someone who didn't want it there.
Sam went through so many ups and downs with the Deville Convertible during the restoration that he lost track of it. Someone even wrote to him to say that there was no way in a million years that this was the car the rapper rode onstage in at the 2007 MTV Music Awards.
Photo: Garage in Trouble | YouTube
However, later, that same person approached him to say that he had shown the footage of the car to Snoop Dogg, and his eyes lit up. It was the car he had ridden on stage in 17 years earlier and that he had taken on a world tour that same year.
Fixing the Cadillac Deville was a race against time
Restoring it was no walk in the park. At one point, it seemed like a one-way ticket to hell. But Sam was stuck with the idea of fixing it up and taking it to Paris to show off to the hip-hop star himself during the Olympics.
It was a race against time and everything seemed to be going against him, even though he insisted a lot on his motto: “No problems, only solutions!“In fact, he was right. He found a solution to every problem that came his way.
After working day and night and setting it on fire due to a short circuit on the night of the departure for Paris, Sam managed to get the Caddy onto the ferry despite being late due to all the unforeseen events. But the ferry departure for France was delayed, which means Sam's arrival was actually on time.
He arrived in Paris, where Snoop Dogg would spend several days during the Olympic Games, appear on stage during the opening ceremony, and attend several competitions as a spectator.
Photo: Garage in Trouble | YouTube
Meanwhile, Sam and his team were driving around Paris in the Cadillac Deville Convertible, which was on a trailer towed by a Range Rover. They were on global news and everyone found out that they were trying to meet Snoop Dogg and show him the car he used in 2007.
Paris traffic plays nasty tricks on British visitors
Paris traffic can be tricky for those unfamiliar with the city. With the famous Champs Elysees becoming a pedestrian-only street on weekends, they headed straight for the boulevard with the only two cars on hand: their Range Rover and the Caddy on the trailer.
So, they had to leave before the police arrived. In reality, the police just waved at them, thinking they were part of the rapper's staff and were probably filming for him. This time they got away with it, but it wouldn't work on their second encounter with the police.
Riding in the Cadillac that's on the trailer attracts unwanted attention. But it's not for pleasure on a cold, rainy day in Paris, but for YouTube views.
Photo: Garage in Trouble | YouTube
British police working in Paris during the Olympics saw the car and wanted to take a closer look. But the French didn't like the attention they received, the crowds that gathered and especially the fact that they were traveling in a car on a trailer.
They spent 40 minutes talking to the officers. Sam says they almost lost the car and trailer. However, they were left to drive in the same format they came in. So, they will spend the next few hours in front of the luxury hotel where Snoop Dogg was staying, waiting for him to return from the swim meet.
At midnight, after seven hours of waiting, without food, but on the news and almost arrested, they still don't have the signature of the hip hop star they were hunting. Sam and his team are devastated.
