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Mike Lopez' 2000 Chevy Impala
Wifez Enemy [/FONT]
Mike Lopez' 2000 Chevy Impala
Wifez Enemy [/FONT]
[FONT=Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, san-serif] Is it a BMW? Is it a Mercedes? No, it’s "Wifez Enemy", the Chevy Impala owned and tuned by Mike Lopez. [/FONT]
[FONT=Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, san-serif]©2006 Isaac Hernández [/FONT]
[FONT=Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, san-serif]I discovered Mike Lopez’ Chevy Impala at the DUB Show in Los Angeles in 2005. Actually, I didn’t even know it was a Chevy until I saw the steering wheel… and then, I thought it was a Chevy Malibu. Mike thought my confusion was really funny; but how am I supposed to know? From the front it looks like a BMW 7 Series, minus the blue and white propeller from Bavarian Motor Werks; but from the rear, it looks unlike anything you’ve ever seen. The Mercedes S600 tail lights make the body look very narrow. And from the side, it could be just about anything; courtesy of a Razzi body kit and very pronounced fender flares. But the car has no logos, not even door handles. It’s very smooth all around, just the way Lopez likes it. [/FONT]
[FONT=Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, san-serif] Mike is looking for a sponsor to provide him with new headlights, as the ones he has right now are used and show some wear. “I actually got a great deal on the headlights: I paid $300 for the set. If I had bought them brand new, I would have paid about $800 a piece.” [/FONT]
[FONT=Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, san-serif] The DUB Show Los Angeles was the first big show where it was ever shown, and Mike went home to Norwalk with a third place trophy. “Hopefully after all my ‘mods’ (modifications) are done I’ll start to take 1 st place,” he said then proudly. [/FONT]
[FONT=Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, san-serif] I met him again on several occasions, each time the car was more finished, but never done. He changed the original chromed 22” D’Vinci wheels and Nitto NT-SSS tires for 22" Hypnotic wheels with 245-30-22 Pirelli tires. He redid the red Coach Suede interior with black leather accents, adding suede to the ceiling. He also chromed some engine parts, painted red accents on the grille and the engine cover, and added some more suspension parts. He still wants to do a custom fiberglass trunk with audio. “The trunk is a mess right now; please don’t take a picture.” [/FONT]
[FONT=Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, san-serif] When he bought the car new in 2000, for $22,000, he had no idea it was ever going to become what it is now. His father has been a lowrider for over 30 years, and is president of “Old Memories South LA”, a lowrider car club with cars ranging from the 1920s to the 1950s. Most of them are Chevrolets. Perhaps that’s why the son went for the Impala. [/FONT]
[FONT=Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, san-serif]“I got into the whole tuning thing because of my dad.” But Mike’s approach, as that of many Latinos of his generation, revolves around tuning modern cars. “I would consider my car the new era of lowriders,” says a proud Lopez. The majority of the people that worked on the car have been Latinos. According to Mike, at least about 85% of Latinos are into tuning. Why? “It expresses the love that Latinos have for their cars.” [/FONT]
[FONT=Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, san-serif] That love is evident in Swift (www.swiftcarclub.com), Mike’s car club, which has about 38 members. There are many different kinds of cars here, from sedans to SUVs, from Japanese to American. Their only “philosophy is to outshine the rest to be the best.” And it did at the DUB Show Los Angeles, where it earned the trophy to the Best Club...
(Excerpt from full story. Please contact us for licensing of text and images)
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THE MAN [/FONT]
[FONT=Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, san-serif] Name: Mike Lopez
Age: 23
[/FONT][FONT=Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, san-serif]Profession: Check processing for Bank of America
[/FONT][FONT=Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, san-serif]Hobbies: cars, sports
[/FONT][FONT=Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, san-serif]Residence: Norwalk, California. [/FONT]
[FONT=Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, san-serif]THE CAR: [/FONT]
[FONT=Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, san-serif] 2000 Chevy Impala
Engine: 3.8
Chrome engine components, engine cover painted in body-color ($500) [/FONT]
[FONT=Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, san-serif] Air ride by Barn Yard Kustoms, Norwalk, California, “installed by my dad, Tony Lopez”. 10 switches: front, back, side to side, pancake, individual corners and sea saw. 3 Viair compressors, 2 5-gallon air tanks, Parker valves and Universal air strut bags. ($3500) [/FONT]
[FONT=Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, san-serif] 22" Hypnotic wheels ($2500) [/FONT]
[FONT=Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, san-serif]22" 245-30-22 Pirelli tires ($1200) [/FONT]
[FONT=Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, san-serif]Mercedes S600 tail light conversion ($2500) [/FONT]
[FONT=Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, san-serif] BMW 7 Series headlight conversion with Collectizone 7 Series front bumper body kit and grille painted with body-color accents. $3500 [/FONT]
[FONT=Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, san-serif] Fender flares, molded Razzi body kit ($1100) [/FONT]
[FONT=Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, san-serif] Kandy Apple Red House of Kolor Paint, painted by Estevan and crew at Auto Explosion, in Gardena, California. [/FONT]
[FONT=Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, san-serif] JT EVO “lambo” doors manufactured and installed by JT Auto Style [/FONT]
[FONT=Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, san-serif] Coach interior with 2 tone suede and black leather inserts, installed by Joe at California Upholstery, Bell Gardens, California ($1500) [/FONT]
[FONT=Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, san-serif] Alpine cva1006 10” in-dash monitor ($200) with Alpine DVD player. Power Accoustic 13 monitors throughout the car: headrests, mirror, dash and visors. Installed by Dv8 Styles, Downey, California. [/FONT]
