This turquoise '51 Chevy is the best rolling billboard for custom painter Rudy Gonzalez.
When working on custom cars for some 25 years, you get to see a lot of trends and changes. At least that's true for lowrider Rudy Gonzalez of Fontana, California, who's been in the game since he was 16 years old. As an automotive painter, Rudy has seen it all.
From the Bug and mini-truck craze in the late '80s, to the California custom van market, well, Rudy has just about painted any and every kind of vehicle. All told, he estimates that he's painted more than 1,000 rides. So what does a man drive who's worked with some of the best in the automotive business? For the self-employed owner of Rudy's Color in Fontana, one of his completed cars is this very sweet '51 Chevy Deluxe dubbed "La Turquesa."
"I came across the car through a friend of mine who decided to give up on finishing it and gave it to me for free," reports Rudy. "I've been working on lowriders since I was 16. I bought my first lowrider, a '61 Chevy Impala, and since then I've been loyal to my lowrider roots. I've worked on many cars in my life, but have always preferred the bombitas."
Before he even made it home, the wheels in Rudy's head were spinning; he could already see in his mind's eye what he would do with his new acquisition and how it would look. The car wasn't complete and he scoured places like Pick-A-Part salvage yards with his faithful family in tow. It took Rudy and company some three years to finish the '51, and in 1994, he had the pleasure to meet Art from Oldies Car Club. That's when Rudy decided to join the club and the rest, as they say, is history.