The old adage “Behind every great man is a great woman” is a powerful quote, and for fellow lowrider Luis Morales he’d tell you firsthand that the quote just couldn’t be more accurate of a description when it comes to his wife—and his life.
You see his wife, Nelly, has been an instrumental part of his life in more ways than one. But before we get into that let’s go back a few decades.
Growing up, Luis fondly remembers when he bought his LOWRIDER magazine. He was hooked from the first feature, and soon started taking notes on the cars and the lifestyle. As each issue would arrive, he’d take notes, read the magazine from cover to cover, and what began as an interest soon turned into an obsession and informal therapy.
Now it’s relevant to mention that Luis was diagnosed with dyslexia in the fourth grade. At the time, Luis would do everything he could to get out of reading, but when it came to LOWRIDER it was a much different story. Page by page, Luis found himself memorizing every word and detail of the cars he admired. That soon turned him to creating custom model cars, and his room became a temple of all things lowriding related.
Now fast forward to eighth grade and Luis met a lovely young lady named Nelly who would become not only his wife—but the rock and the motivation that kept him grounded and focused on finishing school. Looking back, Luis remembered the days he would tell her about his dreams—his dream of one day owning a lowrider of his own, and her response was always cheerful encouragement to pursue and realize his dreams.
Years later Luis converted from model cars for their fullsize counterparts, and after going through a couple of custom cars builds his heart was still set on a 1965 Impala.
In August 2014 the couple was rolling in at the at the Denver LOWRIDER show. Two rows over from them sat a stock triple-black 1965 Chevy Impala convertible. Immediately Nelly hit her husband’s shoulder and told him how beautiful it was.
As luck would have it, they found themselves parked directly next to them in the show. So as they made their way over to admire the car, the owner put a For Sale sign on the window, and at that moment, Nelly turned to Luis and said, “Do you want it?” and as they walked away Luis responded “Yeah right!”—all the while thinking to himself that it was most likely unattainable.
As they walked away to enjoy the show, that Impala was stuck on his mind. Even the night after the show was over Luis couldn’t stop thinking about it. So that following Monday morning, he received a phone call from Nelly who says, “When do you want to pick up the car?”
She had purchased Luis’ dream girl for him.
That Friday, they took the day off and together they drove to take delivery of his prized possession. Upon getting it back home, he didn’t wait but a day to contact Truspoke to order the classic wheels he wanted. From there his buddy Antelmo Hernandez cleaned up the paint, and then Luis had some subtle pinstripe added.
Next on the list was his engine. Rebuilt from top to bottom, the engine’s revamp was handled by Luis and his buddy Charles. From there, the final step was to do a few tweaks followed by the installation of a full Hoppo’s setup, which completed everything he had wanted.
And with the lowrider all built, it’s become not only the prized possession of the Morales family, but also a vehicle of expression that speaks volumes about love, trust, and the power of compassion and lowriding.
1965 Chevy Impala SS convertible
Vehicle Nickname
A Woman’s Love
Owner
Luis & Nelly Morales
Club Affiliation
Boulevard Bullyz
City/State
Greeley, CO
Body/Paint
PPG Tuxedo Black, silver and red pinstripe done by Mike Trujillo at True Paint & Body in Pueblo, CO
Engine
Chevy 350 swap, Billet Specialties serpentine kit, Edelbrock chrome intake and carburetor, Billet Specialties valve covers, air cleaner, and breathers
Suspension
Hoppo’s two-pump whammy tank Engrave It series, engraved blocks, motor, and endcaps by Hernan D’Aloia at Engrave It, hard-lined and installed by Luis Morales and Charles Luera
Interior
OPG interior kit
Sound System
Alpine head unit, 1,000-watt Alpine amplifier, two Alpine R Series 12-inch subwoofers, Memphis Audio components
Wheels/Tires
13×7 1976 52-spoke Truespokes, 155/80 Remington whitewalls
Shout-Outs
Luis wishes to thank God for blessing him with all the beautiful people in his life. This journey wouldn’t have been possible without Nelly as his inspiration and partner and his beautiful daughter, Belicia, as well as his son Lil’ Luis. He wants to thank his brother Charles Luera for all his help and late nights in the garage and his entire Boulevard Bullyz family for having his back.
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