It was only three years ago when Nasario and Hugo Bastida came across this '70 Chevy Monte Carlo for a little more than a thousand dollars. Their intent was to fix up this "fixer-upper" as a side hobby, but after some time, the M.C. was at the Uniques Customs shop a little too long for Hugo and he lost interest. Nonetheless, Nasario wanted to finish what was started and, as things went along smoother than expected, his interest to really turn this ride inside out took over.
The new direction for the Monte Carlo was to go to the top! An award-winning show car was the goal in mind, and with whatever customizations were done to the car, Nasario made sure that it was done with quality. Nasario, being the president of Uniques Car Club's seven chapters, had a plethora of connections within the lowriding community (many within his own car club) to get things done right.
Under the hood and beneath the vehicle, Nasario left nothing out when it came to chrome plating. "Vidal" of Polish & Chrome in Pomona, California, was kept busy plating and dipping just about all of the suspension components, engine accessories, bumpers, moldings and bezels. The entire hydraulic suspension system and its "life lines" (done in hard-lines) were also done in chrome finishes.
An engine bay with every detail attended to features chrome accessories, chrome flex hoses, mirrored firewall and custom-cut valve covers with the words "Unique Sport" along the tops. In the trunk, the double-whammy hydraulic pump floats above two 12-inch woofer speakers and a custom-designed trunk flooring with a mirrored Chevrolet logo. In a similar fashion, this ride's interior is matched in the same tweed material on the seats, door panels, walls, headliner and dashboard. A clean sound system provides the tunes during the cruises to the car shows and the stock 2004 Jaguar mint green color was sprayed for the body's exterior color. A detailed ghost mural was airbrushed on the trunk in an eye-catching green that seems to really "pop" when the sun hits it.
Nasario has definitely achieved his goal with this ride after investing more than $15,000. He tells LRM that he has taken home more than 12 trophies from car shows, including a Second Place award at the 2005 Las Vegas Super Show. He sends a big thanks to his whole family and all of the Uniques C.C. members for their help and support in building "Casador II." Nasario says that he's happy with the Monte the way that it is and will probably do nothing more to it for now. Besides, he tells us that this car can be seen as a preview to his next project: a '62 Chevy Impala convertible. That ride, he says, will be cover car status. After seeing what Nasario did with this Monte Carlo, we bet that his Impala will live up to that promise!