Foolish Pleasure

Just remember, Francisco Franco's nobody's fool, period. He's as cool as they come with a drive for the street, his loving family and the nationwide Uce Car Club for whom he gratefully serves up the props. Pop the hood on his '84 Olds Cutlass and you'll find special one-off fabricated inner fenderwells chromed on the top and gold anodized on the bottom portion.

Las Vegas, Nevada, may be in a desert but there's no fool's gold here. The chrome and gold plating came courtesy of Automotive Plating Services (Las Vegas) and one guy making and breaking the rules is championship engraver Hernan D'Aloia at Hernan's Custom Engraving (Whittier, California). He gently crafted wicked designs on the mirrors, hydraulic pump pressure plates, window moldings and rear differential cover. Other details include Autometer Classic oldie gauges, banjo-style gold-plated Grant steering wheel and crazy window etching by "Big Will."

Like many other car builders, Francisco has a storied history about how he came to fame. The lowrider sport is a powerful force in a young man's mind. It's so strong that at 12 years old, little Francisco held up the magazine to his mom and professed that he would be a top dog driving the toughest lowrider in the magazine.

Years later, and after saving up more than a few coins in his piggy bank, Francisco found the cleanest Olds Cutlass that money could buy. The sucker was so clean that he screeched the starter twice because the engine was so silent. That was a rookie mistake made by a guy with a lot of heart who later became tired of being a spectator clinging to chain-link fences watching everybody else have all of the fun. At first, Francisco's mother didn't really share in her son's seemingly hopeless dreams and said that it was his only pleasure and that he was foolish for spending a bank of money on the car. Thus, he named his greatest custom "Foolish Pleasure."