Trick'd by a Knick

NBA star Stephon Marbury holds court in the landof mash-up custom cars.

By Rebecca Louie

While some star athletes opt to rule over movie theater chains and steakhouses, New York Knicks guard Stephon Marbury is the owner and CEO of Star Motoring, an auto shop in Englewood, N.J. There, he helps transform hoopties into the stuff of hoop dreams, building palaces on wheels from existing and custom parts. Though Marbury is not the mechanic (he rarely even drives, preferring a chauffeur), his role is creative. "I am the 'seasonist,' " he says, with pride. "I give designs the extra [flavor] that you don't got. That's what makes it taste good."

The Viant SLV 365 is a decadent example of what Marbury has cooking. A mash-up of luxury vehicles, the Viant has the body of a Cadillac Escalade with the grill of a Rolls-Royce Phantom. He concocted the machine out of what he saw as pure need.

"It started when I noticed a void," he says. "People like me who are constantly on the move need luxury transportation, with the option of conducting business from the back seat ... in style, of course."

Marbury's personal car comes with a set of Tyson Beckford 24-inch custom wheels and a 500-horsepower engine. The interior is decked out in ostrich leather and stainless steel. Tech toys include a PS2, satellite TV and wireless Internet. DVDs such as "Scarface," "Friday" and "The Usual Suspects" are on heavy rotation, and beats by Kanye West blow out of the speakers.

Although Marbury keeps the vehicle stocked with juice and water, there's a mini wine cellar and cigar humidor with a smoke evacuation system to keep the air fresh.

When enclosed in his Xanadu-on-wheels, the tattoo-covered 28-year-old experiences a sensation rare to his on-the-go lifestyle. "You have total peace in here," says Marbury, who boasts Jets running back Curtis Martin, Yankee rightfielder Gary Sheffield, and recording artists Mary J. Blige and Jay-Z as clients. "You have everything you could possibly want."

At a cost, that is. The Viant rings in at more than $300,000, a strapping sum for those of us without endorsement deals. However, Marbury insists that Star Motoring can pimp any ride in any price range; the trick is knowing the right upgrades to make. Low-frills jobs such as iPod or video game console installation or the addition of rims cost only a few hundred dollars.

"If you got kids, you should have a console, or slip-down TV, or monitor in the headrest," says Marbury, who got his first car (an Acura Legend) while he was still in high school in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn. "A little sound system, nothing too extravagant, gives you the movie-theater effect so the kids can jump and be excited."

For Marbury, the goal is to transform a car into a personalized experience. "It's like building your dream house, something you work hard for to get," he says. "We want to be dream chasers to help make your dreams come true."

And having his own auto shop satisfies dreams that being a pro athlete cannot. "The feeling you get when a project comes together is like nothing else in the world," Marbury says. "To stand back and look at this amazing work, a creation in every sense of the word, and say to yourself, 'Wow, I built this.' "

I am the 'seasonist,' " he says, with pride. "I give designs the extra [flavor] that you don't got. That's what makes it taste good."