(chain rattling)
(door squeaking)
- Hi, my name is Luis Loyola
and I'm a car interior guy.
(relaxed music)
Growing up in Culver City
and going to Culver City High School,
my passion was surfing.
And surfing always seemed to take me away from school.
A friend of mine offered me a job driving a tow truck.
And my boss asked me to pick up this
little Porsche Speedster it didn't have an interior in it
and it was going to a trade school out in the valley.
So, I towed it out to the trade school
and started talking to the teacher.
And it just fascinated me.
I love tinkering with old cars
but I never thought about doing interiors.
Here was this empty canvas
and it was going to be refurbished by students.
That really fascinated me and it just clicked.
I'd thought
this is what I want to do.
The funny thing is
some of my friends that were off to university
and getting careers in whatever it might be,
accounting or other professions,
that they kind of giggled at me and they go,
"Luis, you're actually gonna go learn how to sew?"
I go yeah it's what I like.
You know, I just want to surf
and this is what I want to do.
And basically nobody told me I couldn't do it
so I went ahead and did it.
Like a tailor would,
we'd lay material right on the seat,
chalk it off, mark it,
do our tailor marks,
our sewing guides.
And use the material,
get it on the sewing machine
and start to stitch it up.
Take it back to the seat, fit it.
It's a process you go back and forth
quite a few times to make it fit right.
We use scissors, we use a machine,
some glue, chalk, tape measures,
but basically no nothing's changed.
We're still using the same materials and supplies
that we were using in my case 30 years ago
but probably back in the 20's,
this is still the same.
(spanish guitar music)
I think the most important lesson I've learned
in doing this for so long
is to make sure the customer is happy.
But again,
if a customer comes to our shop
and has sort of outrageous demands and wild colors
and they want to create their own interior,
and I tried to explain I've done a few of these cars
so maybe I can help you steer you in the way
that it would look really good for this particular car.
It's not gonna stand out like a sore thumb.
And so, I try to stay focused on helping people
with designing the right interior.
My friends tease me a little bit about it.
I have a pension for old man colors,
old man designs,
cause I think should have been born in the 1920s, or 30s.
So, I built this 1929 Model A Roadster
and I used cream and tan colors
and basically earth tones
where as mot people are using really shiny colors
like reds and matte black.
And they want them to look really
traditional hot rod style.
So I went completely the other direction
and they said, "Those colors are hideous.
"What are you doing?"
I said well it's what I want.
I'm gonna build it for what I want.
So, this car ended up winning first place
in a prestigious car show,
the Culver City George Barris Show,
and it ended up on the cover of Rod and Custom magazine,
and it was invited to the Suede Palace
at the Grand National Roadster Show.
And again, some of my friends go,
yeah they shook their heads and go,
"Guess you were right after all."
(laughs)
I want my customers to see
all the lines are straight, all the stitching is consistent,
and we try to not let a car leave our shop
unless we're really happy with it ourselves.
Because then we know the customer is gonna be happy.
But I just want them to appreciate
how much time and effort goes into something
that we take pride in.
Because we know if we're happy with it,
they're gonna be really happy.
Some of friends that question my idea
of becoming a so-called seamstress,
they would tease me on that,
learning how to sew.
You know I just stuck to my passion
and they went on and did their own careers.
But I've talked to some of those people
at high school reunions and they go,
"Wow, you know, you really figure it out.
"You're doing what you love, you're happy,
"and I'm envious of you
"because I have to go to this job
"and I sit in an office and I'm stuck
"doing the same type of work every day."
Whereas, once every week,
we get a different project in here.
And it also gives me the freedom to enjoy my passions
such as enjoying the ocean.
I still love surfing.
I try to do it as much as I can.
What got me into paddling
was basically old age.
(chuckles)
Well, hopefully my future holds this.
I'm healthy enough to go play in the ocean
and my hands are strong enough to
still make people happy doing interiors.
I live a simple life.
I like doing traditional things
and just health and family is my future
and my aspirations.