Ralph has influenced many people in his life, including his younger brother, Anthony Fuentes, and his kids. Ralph's kids had the opportunity to work anywhere they wanted, or to go to college, but they decided to work in the Lowrider field. They weren't forced to follow in their father's footsteps, Lowriding was just in their blood, and participating in this great lifestyle is what they enjoy doing the most. Ralph is credited to be one of the first ones to chop the top of his '78 model Monte Carlo, named "Altered Image." He converted it into a convertible, and locked it up like a spider, being one of the first in the Lowrider sport to do so. After attending many shows, his biggest competition was "Lethal Weapon," and it was not until attending the LA sports arena and seeing a Trans Am with a tilt front end that he decided on the perfect ammo to go against the "Weapon." Roger at Concepts took three weeks to do the modification, and Ralph's conquest was inevitable. The next time he attended a car show, he beat "Lethal Weapon," and began taking home many more first place trophies as well. His influence was felt, as many more people began chopping the tops and tilting the front ends of their cars in the hopes of achieving Ralph's look. This made Ralph take a step back and focus on his business with his brother at Homies Hydraulics. Homies Hydraulics started to get busier as the Boulevards attention and the shop's street credibility was booming. Soon enough, they were doing three hydraulic set ups per day and meeting deadlines for shipping cars to Japan and all over the world.
Ralph continue to influence the Lowrider Movement so much, especially in the Japanese Lowrider market, that our overseas friends have given him the name "Mister Lowrider." Japan even has a car club that they started in honor of Homies Hydraulics. Ralph never knew that his involvement in the Lowrider Scene would eventually influence Lowriders in Australia, Germany, Guam and even Brazil.
A few years later, Ricardo (Lowrider Magazine publisher at the time) went by Homies and asked Ralph to be the editor of LRM. After a few interviews, Ralph took on the job in May of 2002. Ralph caught on fast by learning the ropes from Ricardo, Steve Warner, and Tom Burghley. Ralph concentrated on the magazine and knew enough people in the industry to have nice cars featured, but all the while, he never forgot about the little guy that did not have the money to build award-winning cars. He chose to continue to feature the stories about these Lowriders building their cars with their families in their garage. After five years as editor for LRM, he is back on the grind doing what he loves the most; building cars.
Ralph explains that everything he has done was for the love of Lowriding, simply because it was in his blood. This explains why his kids got into Lowriders as well. Now with his new niece on the way, the bloodlines of the Fuentes' and the Tovar's will mix, so there is probably no way the young child will not be influenced by the Lowrider movement. Nowadays, Ralph just enjoys his days working on cars, being a DJ, and riding until the wheels fall off. This is just the tip of the iceberg for him, and the reason why Ralph Fuentes has been inducted in the Lowrider Hall Of Fame. Congratulations Ralph, we here at Lowrider would like to congratulate you as you receive the 2010 Lifetime Achievement Award.