LL Cool J has restored the red Audi from the cover of his Bigger and Deffer (BAD) album.
LL, who was inducted into the HOF last week, is giving back to the organization by donating the antique car from his second album cover.
The Audi was LL’s first big purchase after signing his initial Def Jam record deal. He kept the car all these years — storing it in the garage at his grandmother’s house — which he also kept in the family.
According to TMZ, LL towed the car to custom auto body shop Unique Rides in NYC to restore it.
The shop’s owner, Will Castro, tells TMZ that LL approached him last year during the pandemic, asking if the UR crew could restore the rust bucket.
He said the Audi 5000 was in pretty bad shape and needed new bodywork, fresh paint, custom 2-tone black leather interior with red piping, stereo system with Blaupunkt cassette deck, amps and subs, red lighting, BBS wheels and a full engine rebuild.
Castro says the final tab came to around $35,000.
The BAD album, released in 1987, featured LL standing on the hood of a red Audi outside his former high school in Queens.
LL, 53, attended Andrew Jackson High School until he dropped out in the 10th grade to pursue a rap music career. LL is pictured with his then-girlfriend Simone Johnson in 1988.
The BAD album, which many LL fans consider a classic, featured the No. 1 hit “I Need Love”, as well as the singles “I’m Bad”, “The Do Wop”, “My Rhyme Ain’t Done” and “The Breakthrough.”
In 1988, the BAD album made the Source magazine’s 100 Best Rap Albums list.
