San Francisco

NorCal's top lowriders herd into the Cow Palace for a Scrapin' Tour extravaganza.

By Rene Vargas

Looking to wrap up one more awesome show in the great Golden State, Lowrider Magazine and the Go-Lo Entertainment crew rolled into the fog-enshrouded city of San Francisco by crossing the massive Golden Gate Bridge in style, using "Aztec Dos" as our vessel of choice. The gates of the Cow Palace were swung wide open to welcome yet another Bay Area bash, which was made possible only through the Tour sponsorship of Gumout, Quaker State, Nitto Tires, Dayton Wire Wheels, ShowTime and Thump Records.

The sights in San Francisco are awesome and the rides that were lined up in the Cow Palace parking lot made for a breathtaking sight of their own. All of the builders took pride in their rides, which ranged from bone-stock vehicles to elaborate custom cars, trucks and bikes. Anxious builders were ready to battle it out amongst each other on the car show floor to see who would be top dog at this Tour event.

The sheer number of vehicles wasn't quite as high as last year's San Francisco show, but the increased quality of the vehicles more than made up for it. The Go-Lo staff quickly filled the two main halls with custom rides and then called up for back up, having the facility's management open up five more halls, which were quickly filled with more fine lowriders.

Among those busting out for our San Francisco show was Favian Garcia from Rollerz Only C.C., who drove up all of the way from San Antonio, Texas, with his tricked-out Chevy Monte Carlo that sported plenty of custom items, like a hand-crafted frame with rack and pinion front suspension, full-blown small-block, molded interior and other modifications. It was a hands-down victory for Favian in Frisco as his Monte Carlo took Best of Show. Following behind the mighty Monte was runner-up Doug Vigil's '64 Chevy Impala Super Sport (this issue's Lowrider of the Month). Doug's super tricked-out ride earned him enough points to place ahead of Narciso Plancarte, who rounded off the top three with his "Legalize '65" Impala.

The Best Truck trophy was awarded to Aaron Hodgson thanks to his clean '79 Chevy S-10 Blazer, which sat on jackstands basking in its glory and blinding everyone with its fully plated undercarriage, tricked-out engine compartment and awesome paint scheme. In Second Place was Junior Terra's Mitsubishi, which sported almost the same amount of body mods as Aaron's S-10 and was crafted almost as well. In fact, many were shocked in the Cow Palace when Junior's number was read as the runner-up. Octavio and Alviter were more than happy to be in the winner's circle; their '85 Toyota earned him enough points to keep him on the road to victory and the road to the Super Show to try to score another trophy.

The Traditional class was just as hot as Chris Roark's clean '57 Chevy Bel Air hardtop scored highest on the judges' score sheets. Jose Paixao scored enough points to hold down the Second Place position thanks to the great craftsmanship that he put into his '60 Impala. The only other person left standing was Anthony Martinez, who rounded out the class with his '59 Impala. Congratulations to all of the guys in this class because we know how difficult it is to build a traditional car that can rack enough points to get a Best Traditional award.

The Best Bomb award went to Joe Phillips and the Chevy that he calls "Funky '51." Joe's funky ride was one up on the competition with custom paint and chromed-out engine bay. Second Place went to Frank Sanchez and his phat '50 Chevy bomb. This old school ride was trick out to the max from the engine to the interior, and ran neck and neck with Joe's '51 until the end, but there could be only one top dog and Frank had to settle for Second Place. Marco Rodriguez and his '41 Chevy finished in the Third spot.

The cream of the Bomb Truck class consisted of Demetrio Garcia, who placed Third with his old school '53 Chevy truck. Demetrio's truck was beaten out by Juan Dominguez' '57 Chevy pickup, which racked up enough points to nail down the runner-up spot, as the points earned by Juan were no match for Richard Wright's unstoppable '54 Chevy truck. Richard's truck outscored all of the others to place its owner at the top of the Bomb Truck food chain.

The Euro scene was off the hook as well, with Best Euro going to Rick Fletes and his "Max'd Out" Nissan Maxima. Rick's decision to completely make over the car for the 2002 Tour is doing him wonders, placing him in the top at just about every show. Following behind Rick was Juan Ochoa's clean Honda Accord that has been modified to be a full show car. Juan's ride outscored Robert Leadbetter's unique Honda, which was definitely worthy of the winner's circle. We can't forget the Best Original Lowrider award, which went to Ricardo Alvarado, who drove up from Los Angeles, California, to compete in the Bay Area. Ricardo's '37 Cadillac took home the award that many have strived for but have fallen short of.

There were many more outstanding vehicles in the Cow Palace that day. Just take a look at the pictures accompanying this article. There were also other distractions at the Tour stop, including the bikini and hardbody contests, as well as entertainment featuring Lisa Lisa, Lighter Shade of Brown and comedian KJ from Cali-Swangin'. And then there was the Hop (see complete coverage elsewhere in this issue).

So until next year when LRM once again rolls in through the thick fog of San Francisco, and we get to check out all of the clubs and individuals who come out of the woodwork to show off their rides, adios Nortenos. In the meantime, maybe we'll see you at the Scrapin' Tour grand finale in "Sin City," where we'll make the "Wild West" look like a peaceful stroll in the park, as only the cream of crop and the best of the best will come out and play.

____________________________________________________________________

On the scene at the last California Tour stop before the Las Vegas Super Show.

Among the attractions at the Lowrider Scrapin' Tour date at San Francisco, California's Cow Palace was an indoor hop sponsored by ShowTime Hydraulics. This was the last California Tour stop before the Las Vegas, Nevada, Super Show. The San Francisco hydraulics showdown was the Bay Area's biggest hydraulic competition as 27 of the nation's top hoppers and dancers came out to compete for the gold and qualify for the grand finale in Las Vegas.

David Marquez won the Single-Pump class as his '63 Chevy Impala soared to 47 inches. Second Place was secured by Lee Decker's red '63 Impala, which reached 37 inches. The Double-Pump class also fielded two competitors: the first was Oxnard, California's Augie Gomez, whose 56-inch hop fell short of his record set in San Diego, California, by 2 inches. Next up was Marco Perea who hit the switch on his '61 Impala and reached 40 inches to secure Second Place in the Double-Pump class.

In the Luxury class, three victors would emerge once the dust settled. C&L Hydraulics dominated the class by hopping to 54 inches with their '82 Oldsmobile, Cutlass. "Chino" of C&L missed beating his own record by a mere 2 inches. Second Place was claimed by Antonio Sanchez on the strength of a 38-inch mark with his '85 Cutlass. Third Place in the Luxury class was won by Jesus Gonzales with his '84 Cutlass.

The much-anticipated Radical class had three competitors striving to beat the 106-inch record set by Jorge Guzman of Blvd. Hydraulics. First up was Alvino Moreno, who brought a beautiful '93 big body Caddy that set the height to beat at 38 inches. Second up was Armando Vigil, who only reached 20 inches with his '81 Chevy El Camino. The mood was set for Jorge Guzman, who brought out his '87 Toyota to try to beat his old record. As Jorge started to swing the truck he reached a height of 93 inches; not enough to break his old record, but enough to win that day.

Four dancers faced off in the Street Car Dance after one bumped himself up to the Radical class. First Place was won by Leo Guerrero with his '81 Cutlass that set the score to beat at 27 points. Second Place was won by Vicente Sanchez with his '80 Cutlass that danced to a score of 24 points. Coming in Third was Kilder Garcia, who danced to a beat of 20 points. Jose Castillo dominated the Street Truck Dance, scoring 21 points with his '85 Chevy S-10. Mike Kaufman's '80 El Camino managed to limp into Second Place with a one-point score when his solenoids blew out.

The Radical class boasted five of the nation's top car and truck dancers competing for the glory. First up was Juan Chavoya, who moved himself up after his street ride didn't run. It didn't matter as Juan set the pace at 28 points with his '88 Cutlass, "Twister." Next up was John Markiewitz, whose '88 Mazda truck, "Raising Hell," tallied 14 points. All of the way from Las Vegas was Ron Eggers, who brought his '94 Nissan Pathfinder, "Voodoo," and danced to score 15 points. Brett Kopitz who recently disappeared from the scene made a guess appearance on the switch of Hi-Low's '88 Nissan and scored 20 points. Last up in the Radical class was Mike Reynaga, who brought out his '82 Monte Carlo, which also scored 15 points tying for Third Place.

This concluded Northern California's hydraulics showdown. The next stop for most of these big-name hoppers and dancers will be in Las Vegas. You can bet that we'll see you there.