Evil '63

Allen Lopez of Newark, California, is a 33-year-old engineer belonging to Frisco's Finest Car Club. He's also the owner of the "Evil '63" Chevy Impala, a wickedly modified traditional ride that earned the 2001 Lowrider of the Year crown. Allen set a goal to win the coveted Lowrider of the Year title after getting used to being in the spotlight with several other high-profile lowriders.

With very little time on his hands, Allen kept adding to his one-time street ride. The candied-out Impala received a few upgrades and modifications since it was last featured back in the June '99 issue of LRM. The original paint job by Rudy Puga of Rudy's Customs in Salinas, California, with murals by Freddy Alfaro of San Jose, California, had more work added to it, including a few more murals by Freddy. Next on the agenda was a trip to Bob's Customs in Madera, California, where Robert Hernandez flipped the front end and molded the firewall, which was then painted to match the rest of the car.

Allen then moved on to the engine compartment, where the chromed and candied stock 327-c.i.d. engine was pulled out and replaced with a '90 Chevrolet Corvette engine with tune-port injection. The 350-c.i.d. small-block was dressed up with billet accessories, and chrome and gold. The retro engine received a serpentine belt system and an aluminum radiator which helps to keep the engine running cool. For stopping power, four disc brakes were added to the two-door hardtop. The rotors were also machined to give the effect of a saw blade.

As the owner of Midnight Customs, Allen had to build a killer hydraulics system. The hydros consist of four aluminum pumps that were chrome and gold plated, and dressed up with engraved backing plates supplied by Robert's Tires and Wheels of Denver, Colorado. The setup was plumbed in 3/8-inch pipe and, to ensure that the fluid won't heat up, Allen installed four hydraulic oil coolers. The setup is controlled by four Adel square dumps and powered by eight 31-series Trojan batteries. The fully wrapped frame was candied to match the car's exterior and can be seen when the car is locked up with the help of the 8-inch (front) and 10-inch (rear) cylinders.

With the Lowrider of the Year trophy in mind, Allen didn't cut corners and so sent all of the trim and undercarriage to be redone. In the engine compartment, the fenderwells were dipped in a show-finish chrome by Gary Patiller of Electro Forming in Richmond, California. Some of the trim also received a touch of gold thanks to the Midas-like Juan Serrano at Golden Plating in Santa Fe Springs, California. Evil '63 was coming together as Allen anticipated so he moved on to rolling on some custom wheels. Allen called Robert of Robert's Tires and Wheels who agreed to custom engrave a set of 13x7 reverse Masterpiece wire wheels.

Only four weeks before the 2001 Super Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, the immoral Impala was now ready for an intense interior makeover. John Kennedy of John's Exports in Long Beach, California, agreed to take on the commitment. The upholstery task was "tag-teamed" by John's master upholster Freddie and shop friend Gordo. The custom fabricated seats were upholstered in a two-tone tweed finish. The bucket seats were complemented by a center console which holds an Alpine head unit in place. For the rest of the sound system setup, Allen installed three JL Audio woofers and a pair of MTX amplifiers to power the four Alpine midrange speakers.

Allen was cutting it close as he loaded the Evil '63 into his trailer and headed for "Sin City." A few hours later when the smoke had cleared, Allen was the winner of the 2001 Lowrider of the Year. Allen's goal wasn't attained easily, and was only accomplished with the support of his wife, Juanita, along with help from his friends and crew.