- Low Rider Magazine blew me away.
It was 1978 and I seen the cars.
I seen a car hopping and I was like,
Oh, goodness.
This is what I want to do.
This is gonna to be my world now.
(upbeat music)
I own a 1962 Chevy Impala,
Super Sport.
It's Roman red,
chrome undercarriage,
complete front and back,
350 motor,
350 transmission.
I've done a lot of upgrades
and one special thing about low riding,
you get to think out of the box
when you start building these cars.
So, I did change the skirts on it a little bit.
I got full spot lights left and right.
I got two remote mirrors on both sides.
I got the color bar inside.
Yeah. I got a lot of bells and whistles.
I got 13 inch rims,
rare Remington tires, radials.
So, it runs smooth.
So, I got two pumps,
two high low pumps,
high power pumps that I can hop,
free wheel, you know,
side to side.
I got four dumps on it.
I got stainless steel tubing on it,
all chrome
and a customized trunk.
I did name my car The Crystal Ship.
It's a song from The Doors.
The reason I called it that is because when I'm driving
it just feels like it's like a spaceship or something.
So that's, that's the car I own.
I purchased the car about 20 years ago
and I didn't think I was going to keep it for so long.
I figured I'll fix it up
and then maybe sell it or get another one.
But, I decided to continue working on it.
And the more I worked on it,
the more I fell in love with it.
And it's just
I feel I'm gonna to keep this car until,
you know, I pass.
And I haven't decided what the instructions I have
for my wife and kids to do with it after I pass.
But for now,
I'm gonna cruise the heck out of it
and enjoy with the family all over the place.
My mom and dad are both from Mexico.
My dad was, he was born in Michoacan
and my mom was born in Guadalajara in Jalisco.
So, he dated her and they got married.
They had three kids.
They moved to the United States.
I was seven years old when we came over here.
So, as we're growing up in San Diego,
more and more Mexican people were buying homes in that area,
you know?
So, you kinda didn't lose that heritage.
You didn't lose that custom or that tradition
from living Tijuana during the Christmas,
during whichever celebration was going on,
Dia de los Muertos and stuff.
So, it was great growing up in that neighborhood
and having a lot of friends and family that were
Mexicanos, were Chicanos and stuff.
And of course,
it's real cool because we have the border.
From my house,
we have it 10 minutes away.
So, whenever we wanted real Mexican food
my dad said, "Let's go to Tijuana."
My mom had a lot of family in the San Jose area,
in a little town called Alviso.
And that's where I picked up the bug
of the low rider.
It got into my blood.
It was back in 1974,
my cousin Johnny and my cousin Pepe
rolled up on some low rider bikes.
And I looked at the bikes and I'm like,
"What is that?"
It's like, "Oh my goodness, that's something beautiful."
It's just, you know, like seeing Mickey Mouse
for the first time of your life.
It just blew me away.
My dad owned a lot of cars and he
worked on the cars.
On Saturday and Sundays,
the only time he had work on the cars.
He would tell me,
"Come on, let's go work on that car."
"Dad, I wanna go play."
"Nope, you're going to help me.
I want you to learn."
So, I picked that up in high school,
working on cars.
And then I noticed that a lot of my friends
weren't really into mechanics.
But, I was the one helping them out.
I was the one changing the belts,
alternators, stereos, suspension parts,
in high school.
And even the teacher told me, "You know what?
You have a gift in your hands that you should follow it."
So after high school,
one day one of my friends told me
they need a mechanic helper at one of the dealerships,
here in National City.
You should check it out.
So, I went down there,
talked to the manager and he goes,
"I need you to start tomorrow."
And I'm like, "Well, that sounds good."
So, I started as the mechanic helper
and I worked there actually for 24 years.
It was a Buick dealership.
While I was working at Jack Harrison Buick,
I got approached by one of my friends and he told me,
"The city's hiring mechanics.
Why don't you apply for the city?"
So, I applied and it took me five years to get in.
I got a call one day
from one of the directors there and he say,
"Hey, my name is so-and-so and we're calling from the city.
I want to offer you a job."
I'm like, "Okay.
What's the job offer?"
"Well, it's for the fire department,
working on fire trucks and fire engines."
"Well, you know, it would be an honor
for me to work for the fire department.
I'll accept the job."
So, I remember the first day,
one of the guys asked me,
"So, what do you know about fire engines?"
And I'm like, "You know, I know nothing about them
but I know they're red."
But, I didn't know how to swim.
And I learned.
I didn't know how to speak English,
but I learned.
And I'm gonna learn how to work on these fire engines.
And I have a gift and it's in my hand.
And he goes, "Well, good luck.
Cause it's a big responsibility
and you're working for a company
that it's an emergency apparatus,
so we gotta be on top of things.
We can't second guess or think we're going to repair it.
You gotta make sure it's done correct."
So, that really stuck to me.
Like, okay, I want this challenge.
I really want this challenge.
So, I've been there for now 13 years working for
the City of San Diego Fire Department.
I feel blessed because being a low rider guy with tattoos
and everything, sometimes they look at you,
"He's a homie from the hood.
Yeah. He owns a low rider.
Can he do the job?"
And I'm really well-respected from all the guys,
all the crew,
because they've learned that when they get to the shop,
"Where's Marcos at?
We want him to work on our apparatus."
And I get my tools and I go right at it
and repair them and stuff.
And it feels real good to work on these trucks
because you know that they are something that will
save somebody's life,
somebody's home, maybe a cat up in the tree,
but you know, it feels really good.
And believe it or not,
there's been times that I'm picking up my tools
and on the radio, I hear, fire in the so-and-so,
the one I just worked on within seconds or a minute,
a man, not 45 or 50 year old man cardiac arrest.
And I'm like, "Wow!"
And I see the fire crew come out,
jump in their rigs
and just turn on the lights and fly down the street.
It gives me the satisfaction like,
"Wow, I'm gonna save their life."
Sorry, I'm getting a little.
But yes, it hits you.
The heart
feels good.
I feel honored.
Being the president of Impala's Car Club,
the San Diego chapter.
Throughout the years,
I've learned like, wow, you know
if you show a little love and a little respect
and put it all together in the same bowl,
you're gonna be very well-respected
and make sure you talk to people,
shake their hands.
I go to a lot of car shows
and a lot of low rider events.
And I'm always talking to people.
I've always told my club members,
if anybody ever comes and asks you a question
about your car,
don't shine them off.
Don't tell them, "Eh, nice car."
"Thank you."
"What year is it?"
"You know, 62."
Give them that one minute,
two minutes of talking to them.
"Well, it's a 1962 Chevy Impala.
You know, I've had it for so many years,"
and then believe it or not,
they'll open up and say, "Oh, my father had one.
My uncle had one.
I had one."
It shows the love that we have for our cars.
Well, last year I was going
about a hundred miles an hour in life.
I was working overtime, Saturdays, Sundays,
two, three four o'clock in the morning,
working with my club on Fridays,
going to car shows.
And one Saturday morning, June first,
I was at work and I started walking
towards the lunchroom and I noticed I was limping
and it felt like a charley horse.
There was something wrong with my leg.
And I didn't think much of it.
I sat down,
talked to my friends, my coworkers,
we were laughing.
When I got up, I noticed that I was getting worse.
So, I went inside the office and I told my boss,
"Hey, I don't feel good.
I'm gonna go home."
He said, "All right, you okay?"
I go, "Yeah, I'm fine."
So, I got home and my wife says,
"No, you're going to
urgent care."
So, she took me to urgent care.
I limped all the way inside.
They took me in right away.
The doctor looked at me.
He goes, "There's something wrong with you.
I don't want to be responsible,
but I think you're having a stroke."
So, they called the fire department
and my friends got there, like,
"Hey, what are you doing here?"
It's like, "Yeah, I don't feel good."
Alright.
Rush him to the hospital.
Hours went by.
I fell asleep and I woke up around one or two in the morning
at the hospital.
And I couldn't feel my right side.
Couldn't move my hand.
I couldn't move my leg.
I was slurring a little bit on my right side.
And I'm like, "Where's my hand at?
Well, my hand's there,
my leg is there.
I can move my left arm, fingers and everything,
and leg and everything."
So, it was four in the morning.
My brain went wild.
You know, my brain started thinking
of my kids,
my father,
my wife, my family.
What's next, my job.
It's like, "Oh man,
am I gonna be able to drive again?
Am I gonna be able to walk again?
What's gonna happen to me?"
I was there for three days.
The doctor have told me what's gonna to happen?
He says, "Your brain is going to have to
teach yourself how to walk again,
how to move your hands, your fingers.
It's gonna be a rough road
but, there's only one way you're gonna get through it,
if you stay positive."
If you become a person that's gonna be negative
or is not gonna have the will to want to continue,
you're gonna stay like that.
You won't be able to walk.
I'm a very positive guy.
I enjoy life
and I always stay positive.
Even when there's something going on,
I try to stay positive.
So, I made up my mind.
I said, You know what?
I'm gonna get through this.
Somehow, some way, I'm gonna get through it.
My wife says, "Don't worry, babe.
We're going to get through this.
We'll take it one day at a time."
She's been my doctor.
She's been my nurse, my support,
just everything for me
and I truly from the heart,
appreciate that very much.
Once I got home,
I remember sometimes I would be sitting there
and I'll hear this noise.
Two or three fire trucks would pull up.
Some of the crew,
"Hey, how are you?
How are you doing, man?
You know, stay positive, stay positive.
We want you back in the shop.
Or do you want us to bring the rigs here?
You can work on em here,"
joking around and stuff.
So, within I believe a month and a half,
I started to use a wheelchair.
And once in a while, once or twice a week
I would go to the garage,
open the garage door,
look at my car and says, "I haven't forgot you.
I'll be back.
You and I are gonna go somewhere
one of these days.
I'm gonna drive you again.
Don't worry.
I'm gonna drive you."
So, after I was able to walk,
one day I walked into the garage.
I told my wife, "Check this out."
I went with my cane.
I opened the garage door,
I go, "Check this out, babe."
I went out there and grabbed my keys.
She goes, "What are you gonna do?"
"I'm gonna turn my car on.
I think the battery is still good."
I turned it on and I opened the garage door,
the main door.
Car was still dusty.
Car was still dirty.
I put it in reverse.
She goes, "Are you sure?"
I go, "Yes."
I put it in reverse,
I rolled down the driveway.
And I said, "I'm back, baby."
So, with time I started driving more and more.
I didn't want to go out just yet
to any picnic, to any event.
I didn't want to get bombarded by all the love and prayers.
"Hey, how you doing?
Oh my goodness."
Because everybody wanted to know what happened.
And my wife, we joke around,
baby steps, baby steps.
Oh yes, baby steps and stuff.
And one time I just said, "You know what?
I'm ready.
Send a text out.
We're gonna be at J street, at a picnic.
Whoever wants to come out here."
So, my club will respond,
we're all going out there.
I parked and got off the car with my cane.
And I noticed nobody approached me.
Everybody kind of stood back.
So, that felt real good.
They gave me my space for awhile.
And after an hour of being there and stuff,
I told my members,
"You know, I'm a little tired.
I think it's time for me to go home and stuff."
And I jumped back in my car and as I was leaving out,
I felt like I was in a parade.
Everybody, "Rabbit!
Good to see you, Rabbit.
See you later, Rabbit."
It felt real good.
I got home
and of course you get inspired more.
You get more energy.
You feel really positive.
And I got home.
I told my wife Ann, it was incredible.
It was beautiful to see everybody again.
They say that you can count your friends in a hand.
I've heard that saying.
But I think I need about five, 600 hands because
I've gotten so much love from so much friends,
so much families.
My wife, she's been, like I said,
my caretaker and it's just beautiful.
Some of the cards that I've gotten from around the world
that people that I've met sending me cards, text messages,
it's been great.
And of course that lifts up your spirit
that you wanna keep going.
And you wanna say, I can do this.
I can do this.
When I see people now they say,
"Hey, you're walking now."
"Yes."
"Wow. That's great, man.
Congratulations!"
You feel true love.
And you feel very honored that these people are saying it
with true love from their heart.
Not just, "Hey, what's up, man?
How are you?
You look good."
No, they literally stop to talk to you.
You feel the respect
and you feel the love from these people.
I'm very blessed to say that.
My name is Marcos Arellano.
I work for the City of San Diego Fire Department and I am
a Low Rider Role Model.
(relaxing music)