Looking to wrap up one more awesome 2002 Scrapin' Tour show in the great Golden State, Lowrider Magazine and the Go-Lo Entertainment crew rolled into the fog-enshrouded city of San Francisco by crossing the massive Golden Gate Bridge in style, using "Aztec Dos" as our vessel of choice. The gates of the Cow Palace were swung wide open to welcome yet another Bay Area bash, which was made possible only through the Tour sponsorship of Gumout, Quaker State, Nitto Tires, Dayton Wire Wheels, ShowTime and Thump Records.
The sights in San Francisco are awesome and the rides that were lined up in the Cow Palace parking lot made a breathtaking sight of their own. All of the builders took pride in their rides, which ranged from bone-stock vehicles to elaborate custom cars, trucks and bikes. The Euro scene was off the hook as well, with Best Euro going to Rick Fletes and his "Max'd Out" Nissan Maxima. Rick's decision to completely make over the car for the 2002 Tour is doing him wonders, placing him in the top at just about every show. Following behind Rick was Juan Ochoa's clean Honda Accord that has been modified to be a full show car. Juan's ride outscored Robert Leadbetter's unique Honda, which was definitely worthy of the winner's circle. There were many more outstanding vehicles in the Cow Palace that day. Just take a look at the pictures accompanying this article.
After San Francisco, only one Tour show remained on the schedule before the Super Show in Las Vegas, Nevada--the Alamodome Center in San Antonio, Texas, where some of the hottest rides in the Southwest were corralled under the bright lights and flashing cameras. The event drew crowds of lowriding fans to check out rides from throughout the Southwestern region of the US. Weather-wise, it wasn't too shabby for the move-in during the day before the show as Go-Lo Entertainment moved in dozens of cars, trucks and bikes into the large facility. By Sunday morning, the judging crew was busy with clipboards in hand, going through the aisles checking out the perspective classes. Cars, trucks, Euros, bombs, bikes and wild lowriders of all types were gone over with a fine-tooth comb.
In the Euro/Sports Car Sweepstakes category, Jon Chuck's '88 Chevy Camaro IROC, "Mr. Ouija," cut up the competition with its highly detailed chassis and extensively worked-over interior and engine bay. Coming in Second was a representative of Brown Impressions C.C. out of Laredo, Texas. That'd be Johnny Cordova with his intense '91 Ford Mustang, "Puro Untamed." Running in Third was Jason Watts with his plush '93 Honda Prelude. All in all, it was a good day with tons of rides and happy lowrider fans checking out all of the happenings at one of the Texas' best annual shows.
All that was left after the San Antonio shoot-out was the grand finale in "Sin City," specifically, on the Cashman Field premises in Las Vegas, where all of the cool Euros came out to play, and where all of the contenders took a major gamble in trying to capture the Euro of the Year Sweepstakes title. We already knew that the show was going to be one for the books once we laid eyes on the cool line-up of Euro cars, but once the gates opened, forget about it! The crowd rushed through and fell all over the fine rides. Even with so many outstanding custom automobiles assembled, there could only be three in the winner's circle. As the show drew to an end, the contenders knew that it was time to find out just who gets to take home the honorable Euro of the Year title.
It was a wild year in 2002 and Lowrider Magazine and Go-Lo Entertainment are teaming up once again in 2003 to deliver even more car show excitement with the Legends Tour. And you can bet your bongos that Lowrider Euro will bring you, our loyal readers, all of the exclusive coverage, beginning in Miami, Florida, this January and once again winding up in Las Vegas, where we'll crown yet another Euro of the Year champion. Who will it be in 2003? We'll just have to wait and see.
As the Third Place Sweepstakes number was called out, an elated Rick Fletes knew that he was going home a winner. Rick had a good run in 2002 as the winning new look on his Maxima really paid dividends. With one sweet Sweepstakes spot taken, there was only room for two more top Euro tuners. The competition boiled down to a points battle between defending champion Ronnie Payan and Reynaldo Rodriguez. Both Ronnie and Reynaldo's rides were awesome, but only one could be the winner. Who would it be? A hush fell over the crowd as Second Place was about to be called. Go-Lo head judge Lee Roy Gonzales began to reveal the runner-up's identity, "And Second Place Euro Sweepstakes goes to..." keeping a short pause that seemed endless... "Reynaldo Rodriguez!" And with that said, Ronnie knew that he had captured the Euro of the Year title once again. That's right, Ronnie retained the title and will reign supreme for one more year.
It was a wild year in 2002 and Lowrider Magazine and Go-Lo Entertainment are teaming up once again in 2003 to deliver even more car show excitement with the Legends Tour. And you can bet your bongos that Lowrider Euro will bring you, our loyal readers, all of the exclusive coverage, beginning in Miami, Florida, this January and once again winding up in Las Vegas, where we'll crown yet another Euro of the Year champion. Who will it be in 2003? We'll just have to wait and see.