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Family looks to ‘pimp’ late son’s ride in remembrance

William Ferchland
Dan Thrift / Tahoe Daily Tribune / The Ingenluyff family, from left, Sarah, Michael Jr., Sean, Laura and Michael Sr., stands with the car they want fixed up, a 1987 Acura, bought by son and brother, Joseph, who died in a car accident in November.
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The 1987 Acura Integra has to be pushed out of the garage. The back seats are worn and tattered. The right side panel is scraped. The owner paid $500 for it and had plans to fix it up.

But the owner, Joseph Ingenluyff, never got the chance to fulfill his vision for the Acura he bought last summer. Ingenluyff, a 21-year-old Lakeside Inn and Casino employee, died in a car accident when the car he was driving flipped and crashed into a concrete pillar and farm house near Pleasanton, Calif.

So his family and friends thought of contacting MTV’s “Pimp My Ride,” a television show featuring rapper Xzibit, who takes deteriorated cars to have them modified at West Coast Customs, in hopes of submitting Ingenluyff’s car and finishing his dream. But they need the help of people to go on pimpmyride.com Web site to vote for the car, and perhaps even write a comment or two in the forum section.



“We’re not sure exactly why it’s not running correctly,” said Laura Ingenluyff, Joseph’s mother.

“That was kind of his pride and joy,” she added.



Two cousins who were passengers in the accident, David Christopher Crevelt, 47, and James Gurevich, 17, also died at the scene when the Lincoln Ingenluyff was driving crashed. The three were attending a Thanksgiving party at Crevelt’s home in Livermore.

“It’s the worst nightmare,” said Michael Ingenluyff Sr., Joseph’s father.

For Ingenluyff’s surviving immediate family – a mother, Laura; a father, Michael Sr.; an older brother, Michael; a younger brother, Sean; and a younger sister, Sarah – talking about Joseph is arduous. Eyes water, words are caught in throats, tissues are sought.

“Joseph had a heart of gold and we miss his laughter,” Laura said. “That was his special gift.”

A dresser in a corner near the kitchen, where Laura and Mike Sr. cooked breakfast for Joseph’s friends who congregated for a couple games of capture the flag and would sleep on the living room floor, held mementos of Joseph.

On top of the dresser was a lit candle. A small vase filled with flowers. A picture frame holding photos of Joseph, Crevelt and Gurevich. A photo book containing pictures of Joseph at parties, with family or by himself. A stuffed heart. A prayer.

“It’s been pretty hard,” Laura said.

For Laura and Michael Sr., the pick of the Acura to be professionally refurbished would be a tribute to their second child. For Sarah, the youngest child and a senior at Whittell High School, it would mean a car she could use for college.

Joseph would likely be comfortable with his car being used by Sarah. The family said he would be protective of his sister, calling friends to locate her when she was late getting home. He would shield her from interested boys.

“If she was a minute late he’d be on it,” said Sean, the youngest son who shipped off to Texas on Wednesday morning for training with the Air National Guard.

One suggestion was a “flaming volleyball” decal to denote Sarah’s skill in the sport when asked what they would like to see done to the car. Michael, the oldest son who is a jet engine mechanic with the Air National Guard is going to Iraq for another rotation Friday, thinking back to Joseph’s crash, said an internal, hidden roll cage would be good for the Acura.

But for the improvements to be made people have to visit the Web site and vote for the Acura.

“It would be a very personal remembrance of Joseph,” his father said. “Like any kids his age he was into (improving) his car.”


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