(gentle guitar music)
- This car is one of the things that I've
always wanted since I was a teenager.
My friend Mark's older brother
used to live right down the road from us.
Everyday I'd see him drive back and forth
in the black convertible.
You know, I'd go over there and
help him mess with it.
I had to hold the wire because
the battery wasn't charged and then he'd start it,
"Cool, thank you" and then he'd take off.
I loved that car.
So that's what brought the love
for the '63 Impala for me.
I bought the '63 based off of
a few conversations,
20, 30 pictures over the internet.
When I decided it was time to
start working on it,
that's where you can start seeing what was wrong with it.
There was a panel, it was riveted on top of the
original sheet metal with the silicon behind it,
and as I took that off, there was no bottom of the car.
It was just straight rot and rust.
There was an actual stop sign that was
molded for the floor pan.
I didn't have money to send it to a shop at the time.
So, we had to fix it on our own.
After we took all the rust out that we could,
I had half a car.
Talk about an overwhelming feeling of
"Holy smokes, what did I get into?"
(car engine)
I just wanted a clean, original look,
but also add subtle touches to it.
I was gonna put airbag suspension.
I wanted her to lay when I parked somewhere,
and then just enough to raise her up,
and be on my way.
The vanity mirror has the comb on there, you know
flip down your visor and you can slick your hair back.
It has an old Dinsmore compass.
Back in '63 as well, that was a
rare option back then.
The older I get, the more my taste changed
and I was like, "I don't want to go for flashy.
Let's go for classy.
Let's go for subtle."
I take this car out to relax,
to clear my head.
That's my time to slow down.
I'll take her from here to the mountains,
and I'll just turn around and bring
that same road right back.
But on the way down there,
I have all these people giving me the thumbs up,
saying "Hi, beautiful car, can I take your picture?
Can I take the cars picture?"
It makes me feel good.
(car engine)
Growing up here in Albuquerque
cars were a way to keep me out of trouble.
We grew up on the west side of town.
The gangs were bad up there.
The car is what kept me away from drugs,
and kept me out of trouble,
and the same thing with my brother.
It kept us at home,
or it kept us with a group of guys that
were into the same thing that weren't
into getting into trouble.
They just wanted to work on their cars.
If it wasn't for cars
I would probably have a different life right now.
I really think that it saved us from
taking the wrong turn and
heading in the wrong direction.
(car engine stops)
I do feel like I'm part of a bigger tradition
especially with this car here.
The low rider lifestyle is more than cars,
I believe its family because you see a car
passed down from the grandfather
to the father to the son.
In the low riders,
they hold true to that.
A lot of these guys work 9 to 5's, you know
they're piecing these cars together little by little
but they're doing it with the help of family and friends.
You'll see a little boy out there,
wrenching on his car with his dad.
I have lots of pictures where I have
my kids out there taking off bumpers
and stuff like that.
(car door shuts)
(engine starts)
We put the Ramirez plaque on the back
of the car because
this car is and was built by the family.
It was me and my brother, my wife,
my boys had their input on it.
And so, this car is us.
So when we made this Ramirez plaque
it was the intention of, "This is my family.
This is what we're about. This is just a family affair."
(car engine)
My little boy is into this car.
He understands what it's about.
That probably is the most rewarding part of the car.
It has nothing to do with any kind of
accolades or anything like that.
It has to be that he has a goal now,
and he strives for it.
I'm hoping that he continues to keep it
and that he'll pass it on one day as well.
My name is Juan Ramirez
and this is why I drive.
(car engine)
(music and engine fade)