Mauro wanted a show car that was more than the clothes that it was wearing.
Mauro Cobain can't help himself. Well, actually he can help himself, but it's really not his fault that he's obsessed with lowriding. Mauro grew up in Paramount, California, one of "the" hotbeds of the lowriding scene in the early '90s, and, like many of you, he cut his teeth on model cars. He built quite a few, cutting them up and custom-painting them, all the while dreaming, no, fiending, for the day that the scale would jump up 27 points.
Mauro's cousin Oscar was building some of the finest lowriders around and Mauro wanted in on the action. His first car was a flaked-out burgundy Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham, followed by an '86 Chevy Monte Carlo. The latter car was done up enough to take to the '96 and '97 Lowrider Super Shows at the L.A. Coliseum. At the time, the sport was riding high with record attendance and just a glowing love for the cars.
A few years later, knowing that Mauro wanted a project car, Majestics C.C.-Los Angeles president "Big Rich" told him about a car for sale at his shop. The '81 Buick Regal was not a pretty sight. Even with missing parts, a blown motor and looking like a lost crack-whore, Mauro could see the potential beauty underneath. A trade of $600 for the pink slip was made and it was once again time to build a low-low.
Having gained some years and wisdom, Mauro decided that this car would be a beauty queen and no expense would be spared. Like that girl that you've been trying to get with for years now, Mauro knew that his best game possible was going to be spit at this fair lady. Chrome, paint and pinstriping are all that this car is about, with every metal part being touched by one of, if not all, of these things. The undercarriage is totally detailed and the engine compartment has most folks wanting to yank their engines out, cut the wheelwells and smooth the firewall.
A year and a half in the making, one can only wonder what J.R.'s Chrome Plating in Los Angeles made off of this guy. We get the feeling that someone just added a pool to their house, but Mauro's tilting back a shot of Casadores tequila and smiling at his wife and kids along with those other ladies wrapped around "Bare Elegance."