Rolling in a luxury lowrider like this '94 Cadillac Fleetwood from Pueblo, Colorado, may look like nothing but good times, but there's often another side to the story. Seeing a luxury low rolling slow on the streets is an inspiring sight to many of us, but if you talk to the owner you can bet that he had to roll with the punches to overcome an obstacle or two in order to get that beauty on the boulevard.
Case in point, Cipriano ("Cipie") and Dominique ("Niqua") Romero's '94 Fleetwood, flying the Uce Car Club plaque in Colorado. Cipie works for the Colorado Department of Corrections, but he's also an accomplished automotive paint and body man, as well as a veteran cruiser. "I've been into lowriding since I was little through uncles, cousins and my dad," says the long-time lowrider.
Cipie's latest effort is this candy orange Caddy, which he found on a used car lot and which wasn't always orange, even during its days as a car show low-low. When we first saw the car at the 2004 Lowrider Magazine Tour event in Denver, Colorado, it was sporting a candy brandywine finish, but not for long, explains Cipie. "Two weeks after the show, I was caught in a hailstorm which caused $5,000 worth of damage to the car," he says.
So what did Cipie do? Did he throw his hands up in the air, sell the Cadillac and buy a Honda Civic? Hell, no. Instead, he recognized the setback as an opportunity to remake his custom Cadillac (called "Hate It Or Love It") better than ever. "I completely rebuilt the car in two weeks," he tells us, "including adding the sliding ragtop, new rims, full interior and orange paint."
Cipie completed the makeover just days before the 2004 Las Vegas, Nevada, Super Show. In fact, says Cipie, the Fleetwood went right from the garage to being loaded on the trailer bound for the big event, where it won First Place in the '90s Luxury Semi-Custom class. A wily veteran of the custom car game, Cipie knows that he couldn't have done it by himself and credits "the entire Uce Car Club, especially the Pueblo chapter" for their help, as well as his wife for her patience. Now you've gotta love that.