Breaking tradition is what this "Wanted '37" Chevy Cabriolet is all about. The Tovar brothers of Hawaiian Gardens, California, have been building classic vintage Chevys with lowrider flavor for years. Their style has always been about totally restored Chevys and they always make sure that the rides lay on the ground with the help of a hydraulic suspension and wire wheels. With that being said, Michael Tovar decided that with his next project (after he finished his '39 Chevy convertible, "Varrio Style"), he would totally break with Tovar tradition and create a vintage Chevy convertible; he just didn't know what he was going to build.
With this in mind, Michael knew that he had to make a call to someone who could pull a rabbit out of his hat. Michael called his good friend and vintage car collector Don Peralta, and it just so happened that Don was at a car auction back East. Don told Michael that there was a pair of Chevy convertibles (a '37 and '38) coming up for bidding on the auction block the next day. Michael had to make a quick decision if he wanted to bid on either of the cars. He was reassured by Don that both cars were very clean and unrestored. Michael knew that the '37 Chevy was a really rare car, only 1,724 were built, so he opted to bid on that bomb.
Now with the clock ticking and only Don's word to go on, Michael thought to himself, "La vida loca" (it's a "crazy life" so live it to the fullest) and he told Don to do it. Don called Michael the next day and told him that the car was his. It took about three weeks for Michael to actually get the car and when it was delivered it was better than he could have imagined. Michael had read a Chevrolet collector's book and told himself that one day he would buy himself a car like the one in the book. Well, when he got the car home, he found out that it was one of only four such vehicles known to exist and that the one that he had purchased was the exact car pictured in the book!
Now with the car in front of him, Michael described to brother Eddie what he wanted to do to this special vehicle. First, he wanted to lift the car. Second, they would totally chrome plate the car from top to bottom. Third, and this is where Michael started to break with tradition, he said, "I want to candy and flake the car with some murals." Eddie told Michael that it would be a sin to cut a car that's so rare, but Michael replied that it's only a car and there are a few more out there.
Michael and Eddie started on the rear suspension, which was "C" framed with step-downs. The floor was tunneled, and up front they replaced the straight axle with a '39 Chevy coil spring suspension with modifications. As for the hydraulics, Michael asked his old friends Anthony and Richard of Homies Hydraulics to build him an old school Pesco pump setup.
With the suspension done and the vehicle totally disassembled, Michael called upon another family on the lowrider scene, the De Albas of Mario's Auto Works, to paint the car. Although a little surprised by Michael's choice in paint, not being the typical Tovar-style "original stock," Mario completed Michael's choice of SEM Color Horizons candy apple red with flakes. The three-stage paint job comes closest to the traditional lacquer finishes from back in the day when lacquers were legal in California. The fenders and running boards were flaked out to appear as a solid color from far away but give the body a two-tone look when you walk up close to the car.