June is the beginning of summer with warm sunny days, which allow for plenty of outdoor activities no matter where you live in the USA. San Diego, California, is no different. Granted they probably have more sunny days throughout the year than most cities, but, hey, it's California.
June is also the perfect time for a San Diego stopover on the ever-busy 2006 Lowrider Tour. The San Diego show is always a hit. Great weather, beautiful women, some of Southern Cali's finest cars, great food and, did we mention beautiful women?
La gente were definitely out in force that day to enjoy the day's activities. Clubs were out in large numbers, too. Oldies, Majestics, San Diego, Groupe and Rollerz Only, just to mention a few, were all displaying classics and some new cars that were making their debuts after months of being customized to perfection.
You can't have a successful Lowrider Tour without sponsors and this year is no exception. Heavy hitter Harley-Davidson was out soaking up the sun and giving fans a glimpse of what's in store for 2006 and 2007. Quaker State had all of your hot summer woes handled by the many choices of viscosity oils that are available for new and used cars, trucks, imports and domestics.
Lowriders across the country can always depend on CCE Hydraulics for that bullet-proof hydro system with more bounce to the ounce that we all love, and, if you're bangin' the beats and you want a new audio system or are upgrading your existing system, Rockford Fosgate is your source for audio. We encourage you to patronize these fine companies. They care enough about lowriders to spend their money to be at our shows.
The San Diego show at beautiful Qualcomm Stadium was a scorcher, in more ways than one. The cars were hot, the ladies were hot, and the weather was hot. But that didn't stop the throngs of fans from enjoying the show, because another big sponsor of the 2006 Tour, Fuze Energia Positiva, was on hand and we can tell you from first-hand experience that their NOS high-performance energy drinks and Fuze Healthy Infuzions teas and juices kept the LRM staff energized enough to cover every aspect of the show.
From comida to die-cast cars, there was something for everyone at the San Diego show. One booth in particular was Collector's Choice from Los Angeles, California. Cesar, Pablo and Gaby had all of the latest die-casts that any kid or hardcore collector would want, and to top it off, they had David Gonzalez, the creator of the Homies characters that you see everywhere on T-shirts, model cars, hobby stores and in almost every gumball machine in the country. David was signing mini-posters for the fans and lovin' it.
One booth that we came across that had something that we hadn't seen before was that of Master Image Customs, who hail from Mission Viejo, California. They had a custom quad 4-wheeler that looked awesome, but the trick was the bolt-on MIC mini-airbag system. That's right, a bagged quad. Who knew? Adam Diaz and crew also had a super-clean R/T Dodge Charger from Rancho Cucamonga, California-based ICCE Wheels, who own the car, but MIC bagged it with their complete bolt-on air cylinder kit. We want one.
As all of you die-hard fans know, a Lowrider Tour show isn't just about cars. It's also about jams and no one brought it home better than hometown hero Lil' Rob, who busted out his hits with the crowd singing along to every word. Not to be outdone, Baby Bash took the stage and rocked the house, singing hits from videos that you've seen on MTV. Just when it couldn't get any hotter, the infamous Bikini Contest came onstage. Some of San Diego's loveliest ladies were on hand to drive the guys in the audience crazy.
Around 5:30 p.m., after the trophy winners were announced and as the fans started to exit the venue, and car owners and vendors were wrapping up their displays, Reed, the driver of our transport trailer, "Aztec Dos," had the daunting task of rolling up the big-rig for its next stop in Englishtown, New Jersey. As the LRM staff were preparing to leave, the sun started to sink into the Pacific and the ocean breezes started cooling everything down, making everyone of us realize how lucky we are to live here and enjoy another peaceful gathering and celebration of the lowrider culture.
San Diego Winners
Best Car of Show
First-Bowtie Connection South, '64 Chevy Impala
Second-Orlando Ceballos, '80 Cadillac Brougham
Third-Vernon Maxwell, '63 Chevy Impala
Best Traditional Lowrider
First-Freddy Pena, '61 Chevy Impala
Second-Tony Simon, '59 Chevy Impala
Third-Mario Mercado, '77 Cadillac Coupe Deville
Best Original '69 & Below
First-Mitch Ramirez, '65 Chevy Impala
Second-Luis Lupercio, '35 Chevy
Third-Art Frausto, '64 Chevy Impala
Best Truck
First-Guillermo Diaz, Chevy S-10 Blazer
Second-Leo Perez, Chevy El Camino
Third-Mario DeAlba, '60 Chevy El Camino
Best Bomb
First-Gene Bare, '51 Chevy Deluxe
Second-Emmanuel Castro, '37 Plymouth
Third-Roberto Carrillo, '38 Plymouth
Best Bomb Truck
First-Sal Sierra, '36 Ford pickup
Second-Daniel Gonzalez, '55 Ford pickup
Third-Alfred Carr, '46 Ford pickup
Best Custom Compact
First-Amor Barut, '88 Volkswagen Jetta
Second-Gilbert Rios, '88 Nissan Sentra
Third-Jarvis Malone, '93 Honda Civic
Best Bike
First-Dagaberto Duran
Second-Cierra Careaga
Third-Dino
Best Trike
First-Xavier Rojas
Second-Martin Madrigal
Third-Noah and Lorraine
Lowrider Excellence Award
Bowtie Connection South, '64 Chevy Impala