Nintendo unveils road-ready Mario karts at LA Auto Show

West Coast Customs, the auto shop made famous for building dream machines in the show 'Pimp My Ride,' recently joined Nintendo at the LA Auto Show to roll out two life-sized and fully operational racing karts based on the cartoony vehicles featured in the upcoming Mart Kart 7 for the 3DS. No word yet on how many big-screen TVs and turntables can be found in the trunk, or if they put a copy of Mario Kart 7 inside the kart so you could play Mario Kart inside of your Mario Kart...

The electric rides are carbon copies of Mario's four-wheeler and Luigi's Bumble V karts. Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime was also on-hand at the LA Auto Show to take them for a test drive and record this promotional clip:

The karts were created as one-of-a-kind promotions, so don't expect to see them driving down your street anytime soon. However they are set to be given away by GameStop to two lucky (and, we hope, licensed) members of its PowerUp Rewards program.

Mario Kart 7 launches for the 3DS on December 2 in the UK, and December 4 in North America. Get a lead on the competition by reading our online multiplayer preview and keep checking back for more coverage of Mario's racing debut on Nintendo's new handheld.

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Matt Bradford wrote news and features here at GamesRadar+ until 2016. Since then he's gone on to work with the Guinness World Records, acting as writer and researcher for the annual Gamer's Edition series of books, and has worked as an editor, technical writer, and voice actor. Matt is now a freelance journalist and editor, generating copy across a multitude of industries. 

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