Rapper T-Pain Gives His Beloved 1994 Honda a Glow-Up

• T-Pain has an extensive vehicle collection, including a 1,001-hp Bugatti Veyron.
• Also in his garage is a 1994 Honda Accord he bought in 2006 and modified as a homage to a 1956 Chevrolet Bel-Air.
• T-Pain's "Bel-Cord" is truly one-of-a-kind.

T-Pain, the most prolific user of Auto-Tune since Cher’s “Believe” in 1998, is experiencing a resurgence. He made a surprise appearance on the reality show The Masked Singer in 2019 and brought the house down, reigniting his career. And that surely means this car enthusiast will add more vehicles to his garage in the near future to join superstars like a Ferrari and Rolls-Royce already holding court.

He’s particularly fond of his 2009 Bugatti Veyron, understandably.

“It’s hard to beat 1,001 horsepower — and it’s such a unique and iconic car,” T-Pain tells Edmunds exclusively. “If I were a kid today, that’s the poster I’d have up in my room.”

You might be surprised to discover, however, that a humble 1994 Honda Accord has his heart. Sure, it’s a reliable car and it’s easy to maintain. Dubbed “The Bel-Cord” since the shell has been re-created as a homage to a 1956 Chevy Bel-Air, this Accord has a story.

“My 1994 Honda Accord started a special and really important friendship in my life with Rob Robinson,” T-Pain (born Faheem Rasheed Najm) says. “Rob originally owned the car when I came into his shop, Auto Extremes, for service on one of my other cars. We ended up being very fast friends and I eventually became co-owner of the shop. So, the Bel-Cord really kicked off a lifelong journey of friendship that could have only happened thanks to that car.”

The rapper likes to tinker, and he says he still works on his cars himself. His vintage Accord naturally needed a few modifications to make it more interesting and to keep it purring. T-Pain remembers his relationship with cars starting very early in life, originally as a “love/hate thing.”  

“Like a lot of young car enthusiasts, I loved [cars] because of their sheer beauty and capabilities, but I also hated them because MY car was never beautiful or capable,” T-Pain says. “So I spent the time to learn all about cars and started wrenching on them myself to make my relationship with them more love than hate.”

Outside of music, T-Pain says working on his cars is one of his favorite things to do. He learned how to work on his own cars in a world before YouTube tutorials that walked you through everything step by step. That was before he found success and started adding multiple fancy vehicles to his collection.

"As a teenager, if my beat-up car didn’t run properly enough to get to that party everyone was talking about that night, I made sure I turned myself into a master mechanic pretty quick to be able to go," he laughs.  

Seeing an opportunity to create a truly one-of-a-kind vehicle, the entertainer gave his Bel-Cord a refreshed look and feel complete with new performance exhaust and brakes, plus an underbody glow kit, touchscreen head unit with Bluetooth, backup camera, alternator, battery and more.

T-Pain says he wants to keep the Bel-Cord in his collection forever, but it needed a little love and these new parts and modifications make it more fun, more comfortable and more longevity. He also encourages others to work on their own cars and offers up some basic advice:

"I think everybody should start with the engine and a very basic tune-up, taking a look at stuff like their spark plugs, air filter and fuel filter," he says. "Having to work on the top and bottom of your engine will get you acclimated to how the powertrain works pretty quickly! From there, it’s easy to branch out to the exhaust, suspension and other performance parts."

In the meantime, the enthusiast has his eye on something a bit more modern for his next ride.

“I am eager to get my hands on the new all-electric Rolls-Royce Spectre,” he says. “Looking forward to seeing that classic Rolls-Royce styling with an electric powertrain.”

We have so much in common with you, T-Pain; so are we.

Edmunds says

Anyone else inspired to pop the hood and start exploring their own car?