Mona, AKA Sad Girl.

I love Japanese culture and Mona loves ours. Her music is amazing. One day I am driving around DTLA and I freak, there is Mona! just walking down Main st.  I jump out of my car and run over to say hello. Mona was surprised to be recognized and happily posed for a picture. Please check out her music, I think you'll become a fan too. #monaakasadgirl #Japaneselowrider #chicano #DTLA

Mario Gomez and Walt Prey, The Candy Factory.

I can't tell you why, but I had to find this car, and it was not even mine. 

It was being parted out when found on a Japanese auction site.

The front fenders were available and with help from some friends in Japan, I got them.

Getting parts back home is not easy and not cheap.

I gave one to my brother, original owner of SM and the other will go on display here at home.

Gene Winfield

 I met Gene around 1987 when I was 19 years old and working as a cashier at Pick Your Parts junk yard in Sun Valley Ca. Gene came to my window to pay for some Mercury parts back when you could still find a Merc in the yard. Gene was surprised a kid my age recognized him. I stared naming some of his custom cars, the Solar Scene, the Jade Idol, Strip Star, and I told him I thought his fade paint jobs were the best. Back then we had a sliding price scale on all parts so I gave Gene the best prices I could on the parts. Gene returned to my window a few minutes later with one of his tee shirts and his business card. He offered me a job working for him at his shop in Canoga Park. I quit my job a few weeks later and started working for Gene. At the time I had VW bug I was fixing up so I had Gene louver the front fenders and deck lid. Gene eyeballed the lovers and it took him about 15 mins to do the whole job. The deck lid lovers came out perfect, the way the louvers followed the body line was spot on.  I left Genes shop to "get a real job" but I learned a lot working for him. Gene is eager to teach and he wanted to see his skills handed down to the next generation. In 2009 I took one of Gene's metal working classes in Mojave Ca. I took these Polaroid pictures with me and Gene remembered me and my VW. Gene is a real class act. They say, "do what you love and you will never work a day in your life"  Well, I left Genes shop to get a "real job" and today I work for a living. 

 

Walt Prey

My brother is rebuilding his car and asked me to do a little work on it. Like most show cars, they change to keep up with the completion and this car is getting a new paint job. We lost Walt a while back and a lot of his art work has been lost, damaged or covered up and I didn't want that to happen under my watch. 

YES, MORE! Classic Legends,

Some detail shots.

Speechless. Parliament Car Club, Japan.

All I could do was stare. 

I had seen pictures of these 2 Lowriders online and in print, seeing them in person was completely different from that. 

Perfect tape lines, dimension, asymmetrical styling that was complementary. It was 1970 and futuristic. 

WOW.

Classic Legends, Maria Rosa.

I was overwhelmed with all of the amazing cars at the Classic Legends car show. Row after row of candy covered American Lowriders, in Japan! Walking down one isle this Monte Carlo named Maria Rosa, stopped me in my tracks.  Owned by Atushi Takasawa , he is a member of Lafelis Car Club. This Monte had the look that I remember very well.  In the early days people were buying new or near new cars, installing “lifts”, spokes, and sometimes they painted their new ride. Clean original paint was acceptable, but it had to be a nice color, maybe with some “stripes” added to enhance the look. For little money you had a nice ride. This car hit that nail square on the head. Not over done, simple and understated, classic good style. There were a few guys standing near the car setting up it up for display, a Lowrider pit crew, if you will. I am sure one of them was the owner, but all of them wore a huge smile as I took pictures, they were all proud of the car.

 This is one car I really would liked to have seen cruising at night under Tokyo street lights.

this picture from NG Araki

Atushi Takasawa, owner on the left.

Classic Legends Show, Nagoya Japan Part 4

Here is more coverage on the Classic Legends show, Nagoya, Japan.

My entire trip was filled with good times and great people and its hard to break it down into just a few blog posts, but I'll try.

This time, I'll post some random cars that caught my eye. 

More to come.

Enjoy,

Happy Hoppy

BLUE JEWEL

                                                                       Blue Jewel II
                                                    Built by, Koji Kitanoya, Ecstasy Car Club

Show car, transformer or Radical custom? In a world of pampered trailer queens, this over the top Lowrider gets driven. A LOT! Imagination, courage and a lot of cutting blades went into this creation.

Classics Legends in the park, Locos United.

Classic Legends Lowrider & Kustom show, Japan.

On Saturday March 7th the day before the big show we were treated to an outdoor show sponsored by Classic Legends association and Old Memories CC Japan. Together they presented the Locos United show in the Aichi Tokoname Rinku bay area.

please check out,            http://classiclegends.jp/locosunited        for more information.

Situated along the shoreline of the Nagoya bay, it was a perfect location for an outdoor show. Music, BBQ, Hot soup, ( it was a little cold ) and great tacos!

And there were some cool cars too!

This first picture is Mr. Howard Gribble.
I had an opportunity to talk to Howard in Nagoya. He is such a great man and a wealth of knowledge. A car enthuisest and photographer, his collection of lowrider photography spans more then 5 decades and he often shares them with us. Thank you for your time and for attending the show.

Happy Hoppy