Much of a particular project starts out as a picture in one's head. Luckily, everyone's head is just slightly different and that gets translated in the cars that we build. "Bear" and Kisa Evans set out to do it their way and combined all of their favorite tricks to come up with "The Formula." Bear's passion for lowriders goes back to his early days, living down the street from "Porky" from Supernaturals. Riding around in his clean Cadillac Brougham, Bear got intoxicated from the feeling of having "all eyes on me" as they cruised through the hood with heads turning and nodding.
Kids growing up in the barrios and hoods across America see lowriders rolling through and say, "I want one of those." Knowing that, like Jay-Z said, "If I woulda grew up to be a doctor, my nephew woulda grew up to do the same," Bear wanted to show the kids in his neighborhood that you could stay outta the "life" and still own a car of this caliber.
Bear went to take a look at a couple of cars that a friend had for sale in his backyard and one of them was a '59 Chevy Impala. Bear had never really considered a '59 until he saw "Big Rat's" '59, "Christine," years before. Thinking it would be good to do something different from the other cars that he had built, Bear asked his friend how much he wanted for the car. His friend had to check with the wife about selling it, though. And, of course, she told him no way could he sell it for $4,000, the asking price that his friend had offhandedly mentioned.
Being smarter than the average bear, Bear pulled out an envelope with $4,000 in cash and waved it in the owner's face. Bear further sweetened the deal by telling the owner that he could always buy his wife something to smooth it out. With that, the deal was done and Bear hooked up the car and dragged it home.
On putting the '59 in his garage and opening the door, two huge rats jumped out of the car and scurried down the street, sending Bear's big homie who was helping him running too. That night, the adrenaline was pumping and Bear broke the car down right then, starting his two-year odyssey building The Formula.
Initially, Bear was going to cut the car and make it a convertible, but the lack of the proper parts, along with better judgement, got the best of him, so he scrapped that idea. Much of the car was done with help from his Certified Ridaz Car Club members, "V-Max," "Deep C Dippin" and "L-Boogie," along with his wife and family.
It was all bear strength building this car, too, with not a compressor in sight. After work each night, Bear and everyone else involved would spend countless hours in the garage working on the car. Even his four-year-old daughter now knows the difference between a socket wrench and a crescent wrench.
Drawing since he was a child, Bear had a drawing of the car that he was building in his head and that first sketch was a '59 Impala in a burnt orange color. But that, along with the cost of the paint and bodywork, seemed to continually change and get higher as the project progressed. Finally going with sea foam green, it all started to come to light. After a seven-month wait on the frame, the project went into full gear. The nights working got longer and his picture became stronger and more sharply focused.
What Bear ended up with was the one thing that drew him to lowriding in the first place-a super-clean ride that says "all eyes on me." From the interior wrapped in leather and suede to the murals on the wheels, along with a four-pump setup in the trunk and chrome undercarriage, his fine '59 took him back to the days of cruising with Porky in his clean Brougham.
Winning First in class at the LRM San Bernardino, California, show, and more importantly the respect of everyone who sees the car, reinforced Bear's feelings of accomplishment. As a matter of fact, the car caught the eye of Eddie from Los Angeles C.C. who waved enough cash in Bear's face to make him let go of the car. It seems like in the end, green really was a part of The Formula.
The FormulaOwner: "Bear" and Kisa EvansVehicle: '59 Chevrolet ImpalaCity/State: Moreno Valley, CaliforniaClub: Certified Ridaz C.C.
Engine/Drivetrain: A '91 Chevy 350 featuring a Zoop's serpentine belt kit, and Edelbrock intake and carburetor was connected to a Be Cool radiator, Magnaflow exhaust and 700R4 transmission by the owner.
Body/Paint: The sea frost green paint with green pearl was laid by Benjamin at M&M Auto Body in Perris, California. Mike Lamberson of Draggin' Lines in Riverside, California, took care of the pinstriping. Sal of Sal's Airbrushing in Riverside did portraits of Mya, Christina Milian, Melissa Ford and Bear's wife, Kisa, on the rims. Best Chrome and Polishing in Pomona, California, handled all of the plating.
Interior: Suede and leather dominate the interior from top to bottom. It also received some multi-level texturing via sculpting and stitching by Roger Valdez of the Top Shop in Moreno Valley.
Sound System: The stock head unit resides in the dash while an Alpine CDA-9855 hides out in the glove box. A Rockford Fosgate amp powers the Pioneer five-way 6x9s. The system was installed by the owner.
Setup: A four-pump setup with 8-inch (front) and 14-inch (rear) cylinders, and 14 batteries was installed, along with a custom X-frame, extended and molded A-arms, adjustable upper trailing arms and a Ford 9-inch rearend. "V-Max" at Ultimate Hydraulics in Moreno Valley, along with "L-Boogie" and the owner brought it all together to make it work.
Tires: P175/75-R14 Hercules
Wheels: 14x7 Dayton wires