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Fabulous
‘39 II
1939 Chevy Master Deluxe
Owner: Manuel Rodriquez
Car Club: Bomb Heaven
East LA Santa Fe Springs
Models: Vivian
Photos: Sick 1
Text: Eddie Camacho
Picture this, it’s 1980 in south Gate, CA and you’re
rolling in your lowered pearl green ’39 Chevy and behind
you is your wife in her ’48 Chevy Fleetline. When you
roll into the show you notice that you are the only two Chicanos
in lowriders showing and you’re surrounded by nothing
but hot rodders giving that look, of you don’t belong
here. That’s what oscar and Sylvia Ruelas went through,
as they were the first lowriders to show at the South Gate
car show. Setting trends, making history and making clean
street lows isn’t nothing new to Oscar and the Ruelas
family, for they have been doing it since the late ‘50’s.
In this special issue that we are featuring street lows from
1939, we are pleased to bring you Oscar Ruelas’s ’39
Chevy know as “Fabulous ’39 II,” who is
one of the co-founders of the Dukes CC in 1959 and that was
officially started in 1962. This is the sequel to Oscars first
’39 and since that memorable day in South Gate the ’39
has gone through a complete make over.
To let it be known, this ’39 did not become famous over
night, it took a lot of time and work to make something this
fabulous. The fabulous one rides with a rebuilt 235, dual
carb, with an electronic ignition that’s all chromed
to score Oscar those extra points at all the shows. Before
I go on about “Fabulous ’39,” Oscar and
his brothers built this ride, because if you want something
done right, you have to do it yourself, que no! At the time
of the creation of the fabulous one, the Ruelas brothers had
thir own show called Ruelas Customs on 43rd Street and Los
Angeles. That’s where they stripped the vehicle down
to the metal to make sure the ride has no waves, and no bondo
was used. Like I said when you want something done right you
have to do it yourself. Next it went to the paint booth where
Oscar’s brother Fernando sprayed the ’39 a lavender
with burgundy flakes ad the fenders with a metal flake. Then
it was his good friend Mike Perez’s turn to get his
hands on the ride and he would stitch a beautiful custom diamond
tuck and roll in black. Next Oscar with the help of brother
Ernie installed two o.g. pumps, square dumps, 6” o.g.
Red’s Cylinders, which is hooked up to the car battery
and is controlled by two switches. Next it was his brother
Rene who then hooked up a Kenwood head unit to Infinity mids
and highs, which are powered by two Kenwood 150 watt amps.
The only part of the customizing no done by the Ruelas boys
was the chrome plating, which was sent to Christiansen Plating
in the City of Vernon. They re-plated the bumpers and molding
and chrome plated the whole front end in with Oscar says was
the first ’39 to have chrome A-arms. To finish off,
Oscar laced up the ‘39 with all chrome Zenith wire wheels
with crossed laced spokes.
As you can see only good things can come out when a family
works together and puts in a lot of love and dedication, for
this ’39 has been featured in many magazines and movies.
Oscar would like to thank all of his brothers and all the
members of the Dukes CC (all chapters) for their support,
his mom Josephine who played a big pat in the foundation of
the Dukes CC and a special thanks to his wife Sylvia who has
supported him, the Dukes and the low-rider community. |
