The Grand National Roadster Show is a dream just to attend, but having your car on display is a whole different level. In short, the Grand National Roadster Show is reserved for the best of the best and it speaks volumes about dedication, patience, and craftsmanship.
“Busting out at the Grand Nationals and having my car showcased alongside my other LTD, which I call ‘True Blue,’ was the most memorable experience so far,” owner Rudy Sandoval says. Incredibly, the car you see before you only took two years and the end results are striking, phenomenal, and quite unreal.
With many cars being photographed in our studio, we’ll be the first to say that they’re all beautiful specimens, but the intricacies of this paintjob, and the color palettes used all work in perfect harmony to create a vision of depth, mystery, and power. It might also be the fact that it’s not your traditional 1963 or 1964 Impala, but a Ford LTD, and this was all done by design. For Rudy, he built this car to be different, while also reminding people of the beauty of Fords and their relevancy and influence in the world of lowriding.
Along with the help of his friend Sal Marquez, the LTD was brought back to life in the grandest of forms. Ray Customs built the suspension and it features all stainless hardlines, four pumps, four dumps, and four batteries, that are beautifully encased in a custom fiberglass enclosure, which is art in and of itself. The trunk setup is so far out of the norm that you can’t help but give him kudos for his creative vision. Far from the standard flat panels, which you usually find, it’s almost a sin to have a trunklid on the LTD.
Moving on inside, it’s safe to say that you might sh!t yourself. Executed by the gents at California Upholstery, it’s a translation of modern utility with traditional roots. The fiber-optic mood lighting found on the roof liner is sure to put a grin on your face, and the auditory excellence is controlled by a head unit that is in a custom fiberglass dash, surrounded by Dakota Digital gauges and a host of products from Apple and JL Audio. The fart catchers were all stitched in leather to perfection and to sum it all up, its inner beauty is as striking as it is outside—definitely no Kim Kardashian here.
Outside, the exterior was massaged and purified using a double D combo. The bodywork was done by Danny Galvez and the paint and pintsriping was done by none other than Danny D. Just looking at the details of the paintjob is enough to make you wonder how one human can lay down the details like that, and in all honesty it makes me feel like I have arthritis for Danny D. With countless hours of work in just the patterns alone, we couldn’t imagine how many miles of tape was used just to make this magic happen, but no matter how long it took this was definitely worth the wait.
In all, the car was inspired by the streets and to be appreciated by the masses. It’s also yet another fine example of what lowriding is all about and this car is sure to become one of the greats, and a case study car in the world of lowriding.
1976 Ford LTD Landau
Vehicle Nickname
Bad Blood
Owner
Rudy Sandoval
City/State
Los Angeles, CA
Club
Groupe SoCal
Engine
V-8
Body/Paint
Molded trunk, moonroof, and electronically opening and closing trunk. Multicolor Axalta paints were used
Suspension
Chrome whammy setup with 10-inch cylinders all around, four Delta dumps, four switches, four solenoids, and four hidden Optima batteries
Interior
Fiberglassed and candy-painted dash, Dakota Digital gauges, polished steering wheel, custom center console, Rolls-Royce starlight headliner, and the custom seats wrapped in leather
Sound
iPad head unit with JL Audio amps and speakers
Wheels/Tires
14-inch cross-laced Zenith with 520 Premium Sport tires
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