The Sky's The Limit - 1960 Chevrolet Impala

There Is No Limit To Where This Car Can Take Angel

By Saul Vargas

Photography by Saul Vargas

We originally caught up with Angel Ibarra on New Year's Day at the Majestics' annual picnic. Since then Angel has been putting in some traveling time, going to several lowrider shows around the country-Arizona, Fresno, California, Portland, Oregon, Denver, and San Diego-showing off his beautiful '60 Impala. His car, "Sky's the Limit," has taken him all over, giving his club a lot of exposure. Angel and the Stylistics have also received some recognition from the TV show Living the Low Life.

As soon as Angel had this car in his hands, he jumped into the project by taking it to his friend Jorge, at GM Customs in Long Beach, California, who tackled painting the Impala in a short timeframe. Since Angel had bought a solid car, Jorge was able to start blocking off the car and immediately prepare it for a fresh paintjob. Originally it was only going to be a stock baby blue but Jorge convinced Angel to let him spray some graphic patterns and paint over the baby blue foundation. The flaked-out graphics that Jorge did really bring out the elegant PPG two-stage powder blue paint. The graphics were originally dressed up by Mike Lamberson, of Riverside, California, who pinstriped this beauty. It was sent back to GM Customs where Jorge's homeboy "Curly" added some more pinstriping to finish the edges of the murals that Wiro had done on the cruising skirts and bumper kit.

While the car was there, Jorge and Juan took on the task of swapping out the stock 283 and replacing it with a '85 Chevrolet engine. The newer, small-block engine was painted to match the body of the car and it was outfitted with billet accessories that were bought during several trips to the local automotive swap meets. The billet cast pulleys, valve covers, and air cleaner, along with other engine compartment components, were sent out to the chrome shop where they also received a show mirror finish like the rest of the trim and undercarriage of the car. Most of the chrome was done through Danny, of DG Metal Polishing in Long Beach, while the anodized trim parts were refurbished by Ricardo, of D&R in Los Angeles.

Angel's car has it all, from a cool engine compartment to a custom trunk. The hydraulic setup was done by Rick Rock and his crew at Low Life Hydraulics in Inglewood, California. Rick had a vision for Angel's trunk, so Angel handed it over to him to work his magic. The result: a setup that was designed to go or flow with the wings on the car. Rick and Ricardo used four aluminum pumps that share fluid through the whammy tanks. Four Adex squares control each corner of the car with precision. With a fully wrapped frame the car could hop and keep up with the best, if Angel needed it to. He chose to only have eight batteries powering the system.

From hydraulics to music, this trunk has it all. Louie and Junior, of G-Rydes Customz of Hawthorne, California, made custom panels to cover the hydraulic batteries, the 10-inch kicker subwoofer, and the two Rockford Punch amps. Once the duo was done fabricating the trunk panels, the car was taken to Junior and Yoyas, of J&R Upholstery in East Los Angeles. Junior and Yoyas upholstered the custom panels and added plexiglass inserts to show off the intricate tubing that was plumbed to mimic the wings of the '60. They also brought the old interior back to life by wrapping the old seats with a new original design interior to match the exterior, which also wrapped up the build of Angel's '60.

During one of the car shows that Angel's Impala was at, a friend of his, Luis Estrada, from Inglewood, California, told him that he wouldn't want it. Angel and his close friends have put a lot of work into his Impala to individualize it as a classic-finned Chevy. The result shows us that one man's junk might be another man's treasure.

The Sky's The LimitOwner: Angel IbarraVehicle: '60 ImpalaClub: Stylistics Car ClubCity/State: Lennox, California